Dirt World Summit draws hundreds to Houston

BuildWitt hosted the inaugural Dirt World Summit Oct. 25-27 in Houston. Photo: P&Q Staff

The workforce has been a yearslong problem for the construction industry.

The age-old issue took center stage last week at the inaugural Dirt World Summit, hosted by BuildWitt, at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston. The event attracted about 750 people from various construction trades for workshops and discussions related to the workforce.

The meeting focused on areas such as hiring, training, leadership and industry promotion.

“No matter where you are, what is that one thing you need to go do [or] that one thing you need to go apply?” says Aaron Witt, CEO of BuildWitt, during a Dirt World Summit keynote presentation. “Because if 800 leaders of the Dirt World do just one thing next week to help develop themselves as leaders or others as leaders to recruit that next generation, we’re going to start making a massive impact. That is how you change an industry.”

What speakers shared

A Dirt World Summit panel explored approaches to workforce issues. Those pictured, from left, are Blount Contracting’s Randy Blount, Hoopaugh Grading Co.’s Katie Page, Gayanga Co.’s Brian McKinney Sr., Jurgensen Companies’ Jackie Alf and Granite Construction’s Jorge Quezada. Photo: P&Q Staff

In addition to Witt, the Dirt World Summit featured a slate of speakers who challenged attendees to break away from industry norms and change in the name of bettering the industry.

Barry-Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman, for example, discussed a concept dubbed “truly human leadership” and the impact companies and managers have on their employees.

“The way we lead impacts the way people live,” says Chapman, the co-author of a book titled “Everybody Matters.” “When we began this journey to try to transform managers into leaders [and] we started teaching people how to care for the people they lead, 90 percent of the feedback was how it affected their marriage and their relationship with their kids. That startled us.”

Dan Garcia, president of C.W. Matthews Contracting Co., was another Dirt World Summit speaker who shared his company’s story. Specifically, Garcia detailed how C.W. Matthews tasked someone within the company to better connect C.W. Matthews with local schools as a means to attract talent.

Additionally, Granite Construction’s Jorge Quezada offered his view of the workforce as a panelist, discussing novel approaches to the industry’s problem.

“If you think out 25 or 50 years from now, the demographics in this room will be different,” says Quezada, vice president of people and culture at Granite. “We will have more women in this room – close to 30 to 40 percent. The question we have to ask ourselves [is] what do we have to do different today [for] our companies to have 30 to 40 percent women.”

A construction industry made up of 40 percent women might seem unachievable today, Quezada says. But the industry must open itself up to untapped talent pools if it’s going to effectively compete in the decades to come.

“Twenty-five to 50 years out, we’re going to be multilingual,” he says. “We’re going to have to figure out systems and ways to communicate differently. We have to prepare ourselves. We have to think about childcare. We have to think about how we get childcare companies to open up their doors at 4:30 in the morning to allow for more women [in the workforce].”

Producer perspective

Representatives from Wm. D. Scepaniak (WDS) were at the inaugural Dirt World Summit – including Bryan Scepaniak, Ty Clintsman and John Scepaniak. Based in Minnesota and serving the Upper Midwest, WDS is a family-owned and -operated aggregate services contractor whose history dates back more than 50 years. Photo: P&Q Staff

Although the Dirt World Summit was not designed specifically for aggregate producers, the messaging imparted in Houston certainly applied to those with crushed stone, sand and gravel businesses.

That’s not to say aggregates was not represented at the summit. Jackie Alf, executive vice president at Ohio-based Jurgensen Companies, sat on the workforce issues panel alongside Quezada. John Scepaniak, director of operations at Minnesota-based Wm. D. Scepaniak, was on hand, as well.

“I think what [the summit] illustrated for me in terms of the people issue is it seemed to transcend industries – even outside of the blue-collar world,” Scepaniak says. “What I liked is all the presenters seemed to have a very clearly outlined system or framework you could work within. Some of them talked about marketing your business outwardly; others about the nuts and bolts of managing people. I have a lot of good takeaways.”

Scepaniak suggests the industry’s workforce issue won’t be solved anytime soon. But he recognizes that businesses like his must take steps to address the problem.

“Businesses need to continue to evolve their approach,” he says. “They need to have outreach in any way they can to attract new talent, and they need to understand that employee dynamics are different today. You might bring somebody on board as an employer who’s fantastic but, for whatever reason, they might not stay with you. As long as you continue to make your particular business a great place to work, you’re going to, over time, accumulate the right people. And you’ll get the right amount of people to stay.”

To Scepaniak, employers listening to employees is part of the solution to the workforce problem.

“It’s important to have a group of staff who are not only focused on attracting talent but on retention,” Scepaniak says. “A lot of that responsibility is placed on your field managers who are boots on the ground with people every day, trying to scope out people who are really excelling in their positions and shuffling them around throughout your company to try new positions.

“I think what people are looking for is to have variety thrown at them in a shorter period of time,” he adds. “I don’t think people like the idea of sitting in a piece of machinery for two to three years before they get to do something else.”

The 2024 summit

The next Dirt World Summit will also take place in Texas yet shift to San Antonio. The dates for the 2024 meeting are Nov. 4-6, with the Grand Hyatt serving as the host venue.