FMI Built-In Podcast

How can firms treat compensation as an investment in talent, performance and retention rather than a cost? In this episode of "Built In," FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead speaks with Priya Kapila, partner and head of FMI's Compensation and Rewards team, and Kenia Washington, principal in FMI's compensation practice, about how firms can use compensation to improve performance, keep key emplo...

Roughly $1 trillion of investment is headed into U.S. energy and power over the next five years. Whether the industry can build it is the harder question: transformer lead times now run three to four years, permitting fights drag on with local jurisdictions and everyone is bidding for the same small pool of skilled labor. Backlogs have never been bigger, and this conversation keeps coming back to...

For a heavy civil contractor, the fleet is often the single biggest capital position on the balance sheet. So why does the person who runs it usually hear the strategy after it's set? In this episode of Built In, FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead talks with Mike Clancy, FMI partner and strategy practice leader. Mike has spent 25 years in construction and advised more than 100 CEOs. His diagn...

What if your organization's greatest competitive advantage isn't your strategy, technology or market position, but your culture? In this episode of Built In , FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead sits down with Paul Grunau, Chief Learning Officer at API Group, a global provider of life safety, security and specialty services with more than 29,000 team members operating across 20-plus countries....

What does it take to grow a business while staying true to the values and culture that made it successful in the first place? In this episode of Built In , FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead sits down with Tony Bond, President and CEO of BOND Brothers, a fifth-generation family-owned construction and utility infrastructure company serving the Northeast. Together, they explore how BOND has nav...

In this episode of FMI's Built In Podcast, FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead sits down with Nate Koetje, CEO of Feyen Zylstra. Feyen Zylstra is a 600-person commercial and industrial electrical contractor headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with offices in Nashville, Charlotte, and Charleston. Since stepping into the COO role in 2008 and becoming CEO in 2013, Nate has led one of the mor...

What does it take to grow a construction company from $27M to over $1.5 billion — without losing your culture along the way? In this episode, Scott Winstead sits down with Tim Paulson, Co-CEO of ESS Companies, to unpack the philosophy, decisions, and hard lessons behind one of the industry's most remarkable growth stories. Tim shares how becoming an ESOP in 1999 unleashed an ownership mentality ac...

What separates elite contractors from the rest? In this episode of Built-In, Scott Winstead sits down with FMI Partner Scott Kimpland to unpack the fundamentals behind operational excellence in construction. From disciplined project selection and bid-day cost accuracy to labor productivity tracking and process compliance, Scott shares practical insights drawn from decades advising top-performing f...

In this episode of FMI’s Built-In Podcast, host Scott Winstead welcomes back Jay Bowman , senior partner and head of FMI’s market research practice, for a grounded and strategic look at the U.S. construction market heading into 2026. After several years of broad-based growth, Jay explains why the conversation is shifting from chasing volume to making smarter, more disciplined decisions in a market...

The FMI Built-In Podcast is back for season 4! FMI Capital Advisors Managing Director Alex Miller joins FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead to talk about themes driving mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the engineering and construction market in 2026. The conversation offers practical perspective for owners, boards and leadership teams evaluating how M&A fits into their broade...

As 2025 wraps up, we're revisiting the standout insights that shaped this year’s conversations about leading and growing in the built environment. From turning talent strategy into a business imperative to understanding why project management still fails, our guests shared practical lessons for building stronger, more resilient organizations. We explored how leaders can drive real change, navigate...

In this episode of Built-In, host Scott Winstead sits down with Steena Chandler , FMI Partner and leader of the firm’s Leadership and Organizational Development practice. Together, they explore why talent strategy isn’t just an HR function—it’s enterprise risk management. Steena talks about how weak leadership pipelines can quietly erode profitability, what it takes to align structure with strateg...

What does it take to scale a $3 billion construction company without losing its soul? In this episode, FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead sits down with Rob Fallow , President and CEO of Fortis Construction, Inc. , to uncover how Fortis balances entrepreneurial agility with disciplined strategy—and why culture is their ultimate competitive edge. Rob shares insights on guarding against cultura...

In our next episode, Scott Winstead interviews Brian Skipper , corporate director of project development at Hensel Phelps, about navigating the changing construction landscape and crafting a disciplined approach to growth. They discuss the strategy behind how Hensel Phelps determines: Where to operate What projects to pursue How to say no to projects that don't fit the strategic priorities Don't m...

Operational excellence doesn’t happen by accident. Yet in today’s construction environment, many firms continue to leave it up to chance. That’s one of the central takeaways from our forthcoming industry study on project management and a key message from this episode of the FMI Built-In podcast. Led by FMI’s Gregg Schoppman and Nelson Newman , this three-part survey reveals where project managemen...

In our latest podcast, host Scott Winstead talks with Bob Uhler, former CEO and chairman of MWH Global, and Garry Sanderson, former MWH executive and author of "The Change Engineer," about what it takes to lead lasting change at scale. Bob transformed MWH from a $100 million firm to a $1.6 billion global leader in water infrastructure. Garry's behavioral science lens helps decode why strategy ofte...

Succession planning isn’t just about ownership or leadership — it’s about aligning both. In this episode, Jake Appelman and Matt Godwin of FMI sit down with host Scott Winstead to explore: The evolving landscape of exit strategies. What great looks like — and where firms often get stuck. How to build leadership readiness in advance. Strategies for mitigating financial risk and safeguarding the bus...

"Leaders were really the biggest constraint we had to reach our potential," Scott Peterson, CEO of Interstates tells FMI's Scott Winstead in this episode of the FMI Built-In Podcast. Through its emphasis on people development and adaptability, the company has grown from $12 million in revenue in 1995 to $500 million in 2024. By focusing on building strong leaders and shifting to a more collaborati...

After retiring from the Air Force, Chris Stricklin found his calling as founding president of Dunn University, a division of the Dunn Family of Businesses. Dunn University exists to recruit, train, develop and retain the best skilled workforce possible, while improving [their] communities and industries in pursuit of achieving both [their] corporate and individual true potential. As a result of hi...

In this episode of the FMI Built-In Podcast, Scott Winstead sits down with Ed Kutschke, executive vice president at Aldridge Electric , to explore how the company has stayed ahead of the competition in their more than 70 years in the infrastructure space. Specializing in electrical infrastructure and large-scale transportation and power projects, Aldridge built a reputation for field-first innovat...

The built environment is entering a transformative era. Connecting the dots between evolving trends, market forecasts and what they mean for your business is crucial in today's landscape. In this episode of FMI's Built-In Podcast, Partner and leader of FMI's Research and Analytics Practice Jay Bowman joins host Scott Winstead to share his perspective on the Overview. They talk about sector-specifi...

We're excited to kick off season three of the FMI Built-In Podcast with FMI Capital Advisors Managing Director Alex Miller . He joins FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead to talk about themes driving mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the engineering and construction market in 2025. We'll look at what areas might be hot, considerations for companies thinking about M&A and other...

We had such an incredible year, that we decided to share some of the key insights from our 2024 guests. Leadership isn't just about solving today's problems. It's about building an organization that can thrive long into the future and through any type of transition. Discover some of the best advice and practices from top leaders in the built environment. Enjoy this year-end wrap-up as you start pl...

In this episode of the FMI Built-In podcast, host Scott Winstead is joined by Les Hiscoe , CEO of Shawmut Design and Construction. Shawmut is 100% ESOP-owned and has made Fortune’s best workplace list 16 times during Les’ tenure as CEO. Les talks about Shawmut’s shift to a more sustainable business model, touching on navigating change, strategic leadership, company culture and talent retention.

Tom Gilbane, Jr. , joins host Scott Winstead to discuss the origin and evolution of Construction Inclusion Week. Construction Inclusion Week unites the built environment to create a more welcoming and inclusive industry. Tom talks about how companies can get involved to solve problems, attract and retain talent, and innovate with more people. Don’t miss this special episode of the FMI Built-In pod...