BUILD St. Louis

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, host Kerry Smith speaks with Ron O'Connor, owner of O'Connor and Partners, about reputation management in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. Ron defines reputation management as the process of managing a firm's reputation as an asset and emphasizes the need for a long-term and proactive plan to manage reputation. He also shares insights...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, host Kerry Smith interviews Steve Houston, Founder and Owner of Compass Communications LLC, about building effective working relationships with the news media in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Houston shares insights on how to make a project newsworthy, when to approach the media, and communicating with clients about deadlines. He also...

In this episode, Charlie Hinderliter, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at St. Louis REALTORS, discusses the challenges of navigating building codes in St. Louis County and the Safer, Simpler St. Louis County coalition's goal to propose policy solutions for building code consolidation. The coalition aims to reduce inconsistencies in inspections by delivering resources to local government...

In this episode, Kerry Smith and Doug Peters discusses the impact of the pandemic on companies' approach to innovation and growth, highlighting the importance of agility and resilience. He also emphasizes the role of culture, leadership, diversity and inclusion, data, partnerships, creativity, feedback, and technology in driving innovation and growth.    For more information, check www.information...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, Tony Thompson, Chairman and CEO of the Kwame Building Group, Inc. (KWAME), talks with host Kerry Smith about building project diversity in the construction industry. Thompson shares his experience as a minority-owned business owner in the construction management arena, and how he has worked to attract and retain a diverse workforce. He also discusses the challen...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, host Kerry Smith interviews Tracy Hart, President of Tarlton Corporation. Kerry and Tracy talks about the lack of women in the construction industry and what Tarlton Coporation s doing to support women in their choice to play a role in the industry. Tracy also shares her own path into the industry and offers advice to women who are considering entering the const...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, host Kerry Smith and Joel Fuoss, principal of Trivers Associates, discuss the importance of preserving historic buildings in St. Louis. Joel stresses the importance of willingness and money in embarking on these projects, as well as the need for creative thinking and working with what the building gives us.   For more information, check www.informationworks .org...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, host Kerry Smith interviews Amy Berg, president of S.M Wilson and Company, a St. Louis-based design build construction management and general contracting firm. Berg, who has 30 years of experience in the construction industry, discusses her experience as one of the first women to hold the title of the Office of President in St. Louis Construction History. She ta...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, Jennifer A. Beckage, Esq., CIPP/US, CIPP/E, founder and managing director of The Beckage Firm, discusses the unique vulnerabilities that construction companies and developers face from cyber attacks. She outlines two main categories of attacks: fraudulent wire transfers and ransomware, and provides a checklist for protecting against these threats. Beckage also s...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, host Kerry Smith interviews Steve Bannes about the lack of interest in public projects from contractors and the potential reasons behind this. They discuss the traditional delivery system and alternative methods like design-build, as well as the federal government's use of QBs for project execution strategy.   For more information, check www.informationworks .or...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, host Kerry Smith interviews attorney Quinn Murphy, who heads the construction and receivable recovery industry teams at Sandberg Phoenix. Murphy discusses construction defect litigation and provides six tips on how to avoid it. The episode covers topics such as the parties involved in construction defect claims, types of claims, and the importance of a well-defi...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, Kerry Smith interviews Timothy S. Sullivan, in the Department of Economics and Finance and the Director of the Office of Regional Economic Analysis in the School of Business at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. They discuss the shortage of workers in the construction industry, particularly among young men. Tim shares statistics on labor force participat...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, host Kerry Smith interviews Sandra Marks, Senior Vice President at Clayco. They discuss Clayco Rising, the company's diversity, equity, and inclusion program, and specifically its efforts to promote minority participation on job sites. Marks explains that the program is the culmination of over 25 years of work by the company to be inclusive of all contractors, r...

In this episode of the BUILD St. Louis podcast, host Kerry Smith interviews Steve Zuber, a partner at BARBERMURPHY, about the rise of speculative industrial space in the St. Louis region. Zuber discusses the supply of industrial warehouse space, the difference between heavy industrial and consumer good users and the challenges of finding enough labor to support the growth of industrial space. For...

In this episode of BUILD St. Louis, host Kerry Smith interviews Scott Byrne, St. Louis regional director of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council. Scott discusses the increasing demand for construction workers in the St. Louis region and how the Carpenters are addressing the workforce shortage. He talks about the importance of recruitment, especially among women and minorities, and how the u...

In this episode, Kerry Smith interviews Mary Lamie, Executive VP of Multimodal Enterprises at Bi-State Development. Kerry and Mary talk about the factors that influence the St. Louis freight corridor, including the role of Interstate 70 and multimodal connectivity. Mary also addresses the challenges of funding and delivering projects in the current climate, highlighting the importance of being cre...