The Building BITE

Podcast: The Building BITE

Episode: Fact or Fiction, Supply Chain Disruption is a Covid Problem

Please tune in to this episode of The Building BITE Podcast, as we hear from industry experts about key topics to help you be successful. The Building BITE hosts Valerie Bono and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Cheri Hanes, AVP, Risk Engineering Team Leader for AXA XL.

We open the show by welcoming back our first repeat guest in the newly appointed Risk Engineering Team Leader for AXA XL, Cheri Hanes. After connecting with Cheri on her new appointment and responsibilities, we revisit her background, where we learn about her operations experience and her passion for subcontractor default work. For a deeper dive into Cheri and her background, please visit Season 1, 5 Considerations for Mass Timber Construction with Cheri Hanes.

Diving into the topic at hand, Cheri proceeds to share her take on whether or not supply chain disruption is in fact strictly a covid problem, and some tips on how to prepare for supply chain issues.

1. Take charge of the big picture: The number one piece of advice is to put someone or a team in charge so that they can get their arms around the big picture. This will allow for the team to strive towards continuous improvement and adaptation where necessary.

2. Stay in your sweet spot: If Builders make an effort to do work that is within their “sweet spots” for owners who are collaborative and reasonable, they have a better chance of being successful.

3. Don’t be too quick to default or terminate: Really think strategically about what that will do to your situation. These issues are complex, and you may run around in circles looking for an alternative supplier.

To learn more about these observations with an industry expert, listen to our full podcast episode with Cheri Hanes, Fact or Fiction: Supply Chain Disruption is a Covid Problem.

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Podcast: The Building BITE

Episode: Sustainability, and 3 ways Sustainability is Building Momentum in the Construction Industry

Please tune in to this episode of The Building BITE Podcast as we hear from industry experts about key topics to help you be successful. The Building BITE hosts Chris Epps, PSP, LEED AP, and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Patrick McBride, Head of Construction Property at Zurich North America along with David Edsey, Climate Director, and VP with Zurich North America.

We open the show with David and Patrick giving us an overview of their careers before jumping right into our content-rich episode with these two experts.

Throughout our conversation, Patrick and David lay out their take on the state of the market as the momentum continues to build. Some key takeaways:

1. Driving Forces: A key factor when discussing the driving change for sustainability in the construction industry comes from the bottom line. It is becoming more common to see contractual obligations introduced on projects, with contractors being told they must commit to specific metrics to build for that owner/company.

2. Regulation and Public Opinion: Another critical element to the push for sustainability comes from what many view as the consumer’s growing preference for green companies, and future legislation that would penalize companies for not building sustainably. This has a trickledown effect as many corporate customers are mandated to implement these strategies in their supply chain regardless of whether they are publicly or privately held.

3. Alternative Resources becoming more available: With case studies suggesting that 50% of emissions come from embodied carbon associated with construction, new materials and methods are becoming more popular, more available and more cost efficient. Whole-building Designs such as Mass Timber structures are entering the market at an elevated rate, along with alternative materials in cement, such as fly ash and slag, which can significantly reduce the embodied carbon content of concrete.

To learn more about these topics through the lens of our experts, listen to our full podcast episode with Patrick McBride and David Edsey, “Sustainability, and 3 ways Sustainability is Building Momentum in the Construction Industry.”

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Please tune in to this episode of The Building BITE Podcast, as we hear from industry experts about key topics to help you be successful. The Building BITE hosts Valerie Bono and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Jessica Hill, Vice President and Head of Core Construction at CNA Insurance.

Jessica opens the show by sharing her career journey, where she started as an Underwriter and then became Construction Casualty National Practice Lead with Zurich. Next, she joined CNA as the Head of Construction Liability, which led her to her current role as the Head of Core Construction. This episode highlights business resiliency and tackles what steps businesses can take to achieve it. Jessica shares real examples that are pertinent across the industry, including catastrophic weather and the unique disruptions that result from its impact, skilled labor shortage, and supply chain disruptions. With the industry adapting to enhance its business resiliency, Jessica shares that she believes better communication between Insureds and Carriers will drive success with contingency and risk mitigation practices.

Jessica leaves us with three takeaways regarding business resiliency. Those are:

1. Work to understand the changing risk landscape

2. Advance your internal resilience capabilities; things can always be better!

3. And Implement strategic Insurance coverages to help offset those risks and challenges, both seen and unseen.

Throughout this conversation Jessica reminds us it is never a bad idea for listeners looking to build business resiliency today or tomorrow to scrutinize and review your risk management strategy. It’s more important than ever to review your strategy and make sure there are no oversights regarding recent developments.

To learn more about business resiliency and tactics to achieve it, listen to our full podcast episode with Jessica Hill.

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Please tune in to this episode of The Building BITE Podcast, as we hear from industry experts about key topics to help you be successful. The Building BITE hosts Valerie Bono and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Rachel Walsh and Kristen Weber of Liberty Mutual.

Rachel Walsh, Regional Vice President of Northeast Claims for Liberty Mutual, graduated from Law School and worked primarily as a surety and construction lawyer in private practice. Fast forward, she would go on to join Liberty Mutual, where she part of the team that stood up the SDI product when Liberty Mutual decided to start a new product line.

Kristen Weber, Underwriting Officer for SDI, shares her background, having worked for several of ENR's top contractors. She started in risk management, continuing to grow within coverage, claims avoidance, management, contracts, and risk transfer. Kristen shares how she was drawn to the insurance side of the business when she knew she could offer a different perspective, providing empathy for what insureds may face.

In this episode, listeners get an inside look at potential challenges that often result in missed opportunities within the SDI space. First, Kristen shares challenges of what a team can face amid a crisis in groupthink. Then, she offers solutions to avoid groupthink and how listeners can better position themselves if faced with that situation.

Rachel shares the importance of communication and coordination when dealing with a potential claim. It's essential to ensure familiarity and compliance with all contracts that govern the parties' relationship. These include the governing SDI policy and the subcontract covered by that policy. And it's best if there's some level of familiarity before a claim arises. Finally, Rachel rounds out the discussion around the issue of subrogation and that it should be front of mind to avoid having actions impair your SDI Carrier's rights to recover losses from the at-fault party.

In addition to addressing other Common challenges and missed opportunities within SDI, they leave are audience with the following three takeaways:

1. Be objective when you assess the situation and the possible paths to resolution.

2. Identify your resources and do not hesitate to engage those resources, both internal and external.

3. Think about the long-term consequences of your actions as you handle a default—and as you formulate a plan, be ready to pivot where necessary.

To hear more challenges and missed opportunities within SDI, tune in to this episode!

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Please tune in to this episode of The Building BITE Podcast, as we hear from industry experts about key topics to help you be successful. The Building BITE hosts Chris Epps, PSP, LEED AP and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Paul Holley, Professor within the McWhorter School of Building Science at Auburn University.

Paul begins the episode by sharing his background as an Auburn Undergrad and then working as a project Superintendent for Robins and Morton, one of ENR’s top general contractors. After that, he became a Division Manager at BL Harbert International and continued his education at Auburn and Harvard. Paul describes stumbling back to teaching after a former professor reached out to him. Twenty years later, he is still there.

Paul then takes our listeners into the main topic of solving industry imperatives in higher education. He shares the Innovation Center’s first project nearly 15 years ago and how students and industry partners worked together to identify problems – or as he describes - industry imperatives. These are thought leaders in academia who are problem seekers. These collaborative minds work together to develop solutions. Finally, listeners get an inside peek at some of the current imperatives, including using technology on the job sites and how they are working to address the skilled labor shortage.

For an industry that is often slow to change or adapt to technology, Paul shares his three takeaways for those in construction, which include:

1. It is a roller-coaster. Easy to get passed by if you are not going to innovate: Change in the construction and academia world is happening at an increasing rate – it’s easy to be passed by if you are not innovative.

2. Working with academic partners has significant benefits – you get student and faculty perspectives. These are often fresh ideas that can impact change.

3. If you want to work with an academic partner – you have to be patient. Academia runs on a different calendar. Can provide excellent and innovative solutions but require a longer timeline and willingness to partner long term.

To learn more about how Auburn University is solving industry imperatives, tune in to his podcast episode!

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Please tune in to this episode of The Building BITE Podcast, as we hear from industry experts about key topics to help you be successful. The Building BITE hosts Valerie Bono and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Hamzah Shanbari, Director of Innovation at The Haskell Company.

Hamzah opens the show by sharing his background, having attended the University of Florida with their VDC group. One of the first courses that led him to Construction was Building Information Systems. Hamzah was intrigued by this course in that it was centered around the concept of innovation, enhancing efficiencies while also increasing safety. This interest stuck with him, even throughout his Ph.D. dissertation where he looked to improve the education aspect using technology. He designed/created a video game that simulates a construction project that taught students construction management skills.

In his episode, Hamzah shares more about Haskell’s Innovation program centered around its people – Dysruptek. Dysruptek is Haskell’s venture arm dedicated to scouting, piloting, and investing in emerging technologies, as well as capitalizing on the innovations born within its diverse employee base. Our listeners get an inside look at some of their current endeavors, including pipe welding, testing piping within buildings, and how they are tackling solutions to existing problems while getting out of the mindset of “we have always done it this way.”

Hamzah leaves are audience with three takeaways which include:

1. Innovation is a mindset: Just because you are using technology or tools, it’s a constant mindset and continuous cycle of always trying to be better while being more efficient. Similarly, Hamzah recommends always trying to be safer and deliver a higher quality product.

2. Technology is not the overall solution: Sometimes, it’s not technology; it’s the workflow and process. It’s looking at how we get from point A to B and finding solutions to recalculate the process.

3. Capability Trap – After you get through the first two takeaways, many people fall into the capability trap – which is when you introduce new technology or workflows, productivity will dip and go down. It takes time to work through it efficiently – which circles back to innovation is a mindset.

To learn more about Haskell and their technology adoption, tune in to Hamzah’s episode on Driving the Construction Industry Forward through Innovation and Technology.

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Please tune in to this episode of The Building BITE Podcast, as we hear from industry experts about key topics to help you be successful. The Building BITE hosts Chris Epps, LEED AP and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Chief Economist for the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Ken Simonson.

Throughout the episode, Ken dives into AGC’s latest U.S. Construction Outlook and addresses hot topics in today’s climate, including the labor force, supply chain issues, and materials. Ken dives into several compelling statistics throughout the episode, including what GCs can do to help find and retain talent when bid prices are still lagging input costs by almost 20% (17.5) on the Producer Price Index. Another segment addresses Federal work increasing by 37% due to the new Infrastructure Bill, and an industry outlook as a result.

Ken leaves us with three takeaways stemming from his report.

1. If you’re optimistic, you’re in the right frame of mind. It appears there will be quite a pickup in non-residential construction work and continuing activity on multifamily.

2. Expect a lot of volatility in prices. With that, it’s essential to be nimble about when to buy and how to bid.

3. Be prepared for a long-term scramble to find workers you need to retain and the ones you want. Retaining and attracting top talent is undoubtedly a big takeaway.

Ken leaves our listeners with his recommended action item, to invest in making your workforce nimbler and more aware of doing the job. It starts with the CEO ensuring that the workforce is more aware of other ways of doing business, being safer, and helping workers feel most comfortable and enthusiastic about doing their job in the first place.

To learn more about Ken’s latest construction report, listen to our full podcast episode with Ken Simonson.

Please tune in to this episode of The Building BITE Podcast, as we hear from industry experts about key topics to help you be successful. The Building BITE hosts Valerie Bono and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Inga Mackereth, CPA, Corporate Insurance Manager at Hourigan Construction.

Inga opens the show sharing her background in accounting and passion for taxes. Inga, a boomerang employee, joined Hourigan as a Project Administration, then left to join a small CPA firm. She returned to Hourigan, where she now leads as their Corporate Insurance Manager. She shares her role and Hourigan’s approach to the current market environment, including their holistic approach to preconstruction, material tracking program through construction, and their educating of Owners to understand how the state of the market may impact schedules.

At Hourigan, the team is a valued partner and trusted adviser to their Owners. They offer their Owners solutions so that they do not just weather the storm of supply chain disruptions but emerge better positioned. Inga shares her three lessons learned from the current state of the market, which includes:

1. Plan, Plan, Plan: No matter how many times we try, it is impossible to predict the future. Understanding your internal process and project goals thoroughly helps to streamline success and reduce miscommunication. When the challenges are understood, project teams are empowered to identify and remedy these issues with speed and precision.

2. Be Forward Thinking: Success is a mindset. A suggested method to reach that mindset is to challenge ourselves constantly to think critically and understand what challenges lie ahead. Inga states that “We always need to have someone in steps 5-10, and not just 1, 2,3. That way, when we look ahead and plan forward, we can try to eliminate those instances that happen that throw the project for a loop.”

3. Be a Leader and a Team Player: By enlisting the help of all parties involved, Inga shares how miscommunication can be avoided and ensure that proper expectations are set for both the project team and the owners.

To learn more about these predictions through the lens of our expert, listen to our full podcast episode with Inga Mackereth, Navigating the Current Landscape of Supply Chain Disruption Through the Lens of a Corporate Insurance Manager.

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Please tune in to this episode of The Building BITE Podcast, as we hear from industry experts about key topics to help you be successful. The Building BITE hosts Valerie Bono and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Tricia Kagerer, CPCU, CSP, ARM, CRIS, EVP of Risk Management for Jordan Foster Construction.

In this episode, Tricia discusses the importance of communication. Communication is paramount for one’s overall success. TEDx Speaker and author of The B Words: 13 Words Every Woman Must Navigate for Success, Tricia shares how effective communication helped her advance from Jobsite Risk Mitigation to representing the 1% of women in the C-Suite for the construction industry. Listen, as Tricia takes us through her journey, beginning with her initial passion for jobsite safety.

Tricia leaves us with three takeaways regarding career advancement, explicitly targeting females who wish to defeat the odds and navigate the C-Suite one day:

1. Check Your Limiting Beliefs: One of the most significant barriers to female leadership is Limiting Beliefs – the voice in our head telling us what we can and cannot accomplish. Keep an open dialogue with yourself to continually check on your internal voice as it might be presenting you with a false narrative.

2. Respect Everyone’s Journey: It’s important to avoid creating an echo-chamber where all voices and views are the same. As an expert commentator for IRMI, she’s written about this concept in “Breaking the Bro Code”. Respecting the differences between you and those who surround you will foster an environment of opportunity

3. Give People Opportunities to Tell Their Stories – Meaningful connections are maximized by respecting everyone’s journey. By allowing others to tell their stories and respecting the differences of their journey, your Limiting Belief will diminish. Keep an open dialogue with yourself and others as it is a crucial component to personal and professional progression.

To learn more about the importance of communication and how it can help you in your career path, listen to our full podcast episode with Tricia Kagerer, The Importance of Communication; From Jobsite Risk Mitigation to Navigating the C-Suite as a Woman.

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The Building BITE hosts Valerie Bono and Mike Diercksen, CRIS, welcome Jake Concannon, Vice President of Gallagher’s Construction Practice.

Jake opens the show sharing his journey growing up in the Bay Area in California and attended the University of Arizona – where he studied Political Science and played Rugby. He joined Gallagher in 2005 as an intern and was offered a full-time position and has remained with them ever since. He purposely rotated through all departments early on in his tenure, working various construction risk and insurance programs like Wrap-Ups, Sub Default Insurance, Surety Bonds, Builders Risk, Captives, Professional, Pollution, etc. This exposure laid the foundation for advising Builders on risk management strategies, where he now works directly with Owners, GCs, and trade contractors.

Diving into the topic at hand, Jake proceeds to share his 3 Bold Predictions for the future of the Construction Industry. They are:

Talent & Culture: With the changing landscape of the talent pool, finding, retaining, developing talent, and creating a culture where everyone on the ship is rowing in the same direction will separate the best from the others. According to Jake, people are the company’s number 1 asset and most significant risk.

Information and Tech to become a key voice within the C-Suite: There are strategic opportunities to capture data and use it advantageously. Some tech is worth a more significant investment than others. Experts with this mindset can bring this knowledge to the C-Suite. This ties back to prediction 1: Companies that invest in the right people will be the most competitive in technology. Likewise, good Tech is needed to attract and retain talent.

Opportunities within Mass Timber: According to a recent study, there are 400 Mass Timber buildings in design or construction in the United States today. In 2026, it’s expected to be 4,000, and in 2030, 10,000. Mass Timber is faster to construct with, renewable, and fire-resistant, making it attractive to utilize. However, a considerable gap remains between supplying, building, and insuring mass timber. That must change in order to see these projections become reality.

To learn more about these predictions through the lens of our expert, listen to our full podcast episode with Jake Concannon, 3 Bold Predictions for the future of the Construction Industry.