Let's Talk Shop

In Episode 13 of Let’s Talk Shop, host Angie Simon, CEO, Western Allied Mechanical and SMACNA President, talks with Kevin Ginley, VP of commercial sales at Majestic Steel, and Brennan Hall, senior HVAC project manager at Johns Manville on how their companies have adapted to stay competitive amid COVID-19, the impact of the “V-shaped recovery,” and the forecast for 2021.

In the latest episode of Let’s Talk Shop, host Angie Simon, CEO, Western Allied Mechanical, talks with Matt Sano, president of Fisher Balancing Company, a testing and air balancing contractor, and Jennifer Lohr, a technician with the company.“We’ve been called on by our clients to get involved with them and help them prepare areas of their hospital that need to have a negative pressure for the pro...

This episode of Let’s Talk Shop features host Angie Simon talking about how she and other contractors are dealing with the issues and shutdowns related to the spread of COVID-19. Rick Hermanson, CEO of Hermanson Company, and Joseph Lansdell, president of Poynter Sheet Metal, discuss working remotely, how they are handling safety and operations on jobsites, what changes they foresee concerning futu...

For Women in Construction Week, SMACNA president Angie Simon, CEO of Western Allied Mechanical, talks with Carol Duncan, CEO, and her daughter Ashley Duncan, mechanical division manager at General Sheet Metal. General Sheet Metal has grown from 25 people when Carol took over the company to 180 employees today. Ashley officially joined the company in 2015 and has taken more of a leadership role. Ca...

Lets Talk Shop, Episode 9: City Logistics with Al Labella by SMACNA

What are the benefits of integrated project delivery? In this episode of Let’s Talk Shop, Angie Simon, CEO of Western Allied Mechanical and SMACNA president, talks with Matt Cramer, president, Dee Cramer, on how he got started with integrated project delivery (IPD). Dee Cramer has completed eight IPD projects in Michigan and have noticed a great increase in customer satisfaction when using this pr...

In Episode 7 of Let's Talk Shop, host Angie Simon, President, Western Allied Mechanical and SMACNA President-elect, is in Australia with Russell Telford, managing director of A.G. Coombs and national President of the Air Conditioning & Mechanical Contractors Association (AMCA) and Sumit Oberoi, National Director of AMCA and SMACNA Chapter Executive. They talk about some of the similaritie...

In Episode 6 of Let’s Talk Shop, host Angie Simon, President of Western Allied Mechanical, talks with James Morgan, President, and CEO of Worcester Air Conditioning in Ashland, Mass, about lean construction techniques.

In Episode 5 of Let's Talk Shop, host Angie Simon President, of Western Allied Mechanical, and SMACNA President-elect talks to Tony Kocurek, owner of Energy Balance and Integration LLC in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their conversation centers on smoke/fire damper testing and certification. Tony talks about his work in air testing and balancing as well as how his company got started in fire/life...

Joe Isom, vice president (former president), California Sheet Metal is featured in this episode of Let’s Talk Shop. Host Angie Simon, president, Western Allied Mechanical, and SMACNA president-elect talks with Joe about his company’s conversion to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). They discuss how this succession strategy has improved the culture of the company and how it has changed the wa...

In Episode 3 of Let’s Talk Shop, host Angie Simon, CEO of Western Allied Mechanical and SMACNA President, sits down with Matt Cramer of Dee Cramer, Inc. and Jack Knox of R.F. Knox Company. This conversation takes a look at peer groups and their value to the industry.

Produced by SMACNA, Let’s Talk Shop is hosted by Angie Simon, President of Western Allied Mechanical and SMACNA President-Elect. The first episode features Joseph Lansdell, President of Poynter Sheet Metal, on trends in prefabrication and its impact on the industry. The 20-minute conversation focuses on why and how contractors should get started with prefabrication and what cultural shifts need to...

In Episode 2 of Let’s Talk Shop, host Angie Simon, President, of Western Allied Mechanical, and SMACNA President-Elect talks with Guy Gast, President, The Waldinger Corporation, Iowa Division. Their conversation focuses on their companies’ journey into design-build and how this system has benefited their businesses. They discuss the highlights of a solutions-first approach and the advantages of be...