Innovation Overload

“You have to be open minded and look at problems as opportunities if you want to have a culture of innovation.” Curtis Harbour, Senior Vice President at The Brandt Companies joins the Innovation Overload Podcast to offer invaluable insights into strategies and techniques for cultivating a culture of innovation within a company. His discussion extends into the intricacies of team dynamics, highlighting the importance of recognizing and utilizing their strengths and explores how behaviors and relationships within the team can contribute to elevating creativity and productivity to unprecedented levels.

We're looking at an estimated 1.5 million skilled tradesman shortage over the next 10 years.  We really have to leverage all of the advanced technologies that are becoming available to fill that gap.  As a contractor you need to be nimble and you have to be able to identify the opportunities within this marketplace and adapt. Collin Weiner, President of CalEnergy Corporation, teams up with Jared Christman, Director of Innovation and Technology at Big State Electric, and Sean Lazarian, CFO of ESSCO, on this Contractor Takeover episode of Innovation Overload.  Together they offer a contractor's perspective on the pivotal technologies fueling America's drive towards electrification and the imminent era of intelligent, interconnected structures. Check out their insights on highlights from the NECA 2023 Convention, the paradigm shift towards automation tools to streamline workflows, the mainstream integration of AI solutions to amplify productivity, and the transformation of futuristic concepts such as microgrids into tangible market opportunities for contractors to expand their capabilities and evolve their businesses.

“I think the younger generation is definitely where you want to start, you want to start in middle school and high school.  I was a sophomore in college before I got into Construction Engineering.”  Join the contractor Takeover as Jared Chrisman, Director of Innovation and Technology at Big State Electric, and Sean Lazarian, CFO of ESSCO interview the student chapter finalists of the Electrical Contractor Innovation Challenge to discuss their individual journeys and explore what motivates them and younger generations to get involved in the construction industry. 

“Coming here really opens up your knowledge to a lot of product that you didn’t know about, which is huge for us!” Mike Oakes, President of First Choice Electrical Solutions and Andy Sellers, Management Executive at Quality Electric join Sean Lazarian to discuss valuable tips, strategies, and experiences they’ve had attending the NECA Annual Convention.

Definitely plan your schedule out for conventions, look for what's going to make you happiest and get you the most productive.  Join Innovation Overload as we hit the road to the 2023 NECA National Convention in Philadelphia, PA.  Gain insights from Todd Reed, the host of Graybar's Keepin' The Lights On podcast and a corporate innovation expert, as he shares his expert tactics for conference readiness and time optimization at meetings and events.  Discover his invaluable approaches to absorbing knowledge, fostering post-event discussions, and capitalizing on the in-person experience. In this episode, two introverts share their best tips for enhancing engagement and fortifying connections to elevate your personal and professional innovation journey.

"Innovation to me is the opportunity to think, to explore, and to take risks in an effort to solve a challenge, remove an obstacle or optimize a process." Dr. Pauline Mosley, Full Professor, Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems for Pace University discusses part of being an innovator is to be a mental gladiator, having fortitude and resilience.  Listen to Dr. Mosley discuss closing the Stem gap.

“We’re going to see AI affect us in ways that we didn’t even anticipate in the next year.”  Check out Adam Davis, VDC Project Manager at Miller Electric, as he discusses project coordination, EV charging, AI, robotics, and future opportunities for electrical construction.

Innovation is just improvement. You can be innovative in any sector of your operation, it doesn’t have to be just technology focused.”  Sean McGuire joins the Innovation Overload podcast to talk about mental health, process improvement, fabrication and practical ways to get started in applying innovation across your business.

“It’s about constantly changing and critiquing the process and making sure that what you’re doing is the correct path and learning from successes and failures and constantly moving , ...you have to avoid complacency at all costs.”   On this episode of the Innovation Overload Podcast Sam Rokowski, Director of Training & Construction Technology at Maddox Electrical Company dives into the challenges of keeping pace with the rapidly changing electrical industry and discusses innovative strategies for success  today and what will be required in the future. 

"I never try to seem like I'm the expert because I'm definitely not when it comes to the actual construction side.  If I can keep that mindset right and keep the five 'why's, I can get to the root of the problem and hopefully find the right solution."  Travis Voss, a practicing construction technologist, discusses the value of being a 'professional novice' and going in without presumptions to tackle problems and apply innovation to an organization.  Join Jared Christman, Director of Construction Technology at ELECTRI, and Sean Lazarian, CFO of ESSCO, as they host Travis Voss on Contractor Takeover.  Stay tuned to hear an exciting announcement within the episode.

"The world is big enough for collaboration." Cindy Sanderfur, Communications-DEI&B Manager at Electrical Training Alliance dives into the journey of the apprenticeship from how they started to where they are now.  Listen to her perspective of the evolving culture of the electrical industry.

"When we were on paper, it could take 30, 45 minutes, to even an hour to complete an invoice. Now, we're probably down to under 5 minutes,"  Toby Mitchell, President of Classic Electric Consulting joins Jared Christman, Director of Construction Technology at ELECTRI, and Sean Lazarian, CFO of ESSCO, on the Contractor Takeover to delve into the vital but often overlooked field of construction accounting. This episode provides insights into accounting fundamentals and highlights game-changing tools and software that they utilize to save time and streamline processes.

“It’s easy to identify or see problems, potential pitfalls, or risks. Use your community of professionals to form perspective. Then start working down the innovation cycle to implement a plan.” Jarret Bergkamp, the Executive Director of Preconstruction at Decker Electric shares his views of innovation from a technology, culture, and efficiency standpoint.  Listen in to this discussion on finding the better, quicker, more resilient way to problem solve at all levels of an organization.

“One of the most simple tools that everybody has, it’s free, we choose how much or how little we use it. And that tool is communication.”  Jared Christman, Director of Construction Technology at ELECTRI and Sean Lazarian, CFO of ESSCO dive into the nuances and opportunities in office to field communication.  From cloud sharing to security, Bluebeam to Navisworks, QR codes to communication principles, join the experts for this episode of the “Innovation Overload Podcast: Contractor Takeover” where innovations in the electrical industry are discussed from one contractor to another.

“Change takes time.  It’s like everything else in life, you’re going to be a little apprehensive until you start seeing the fruits of whatever you’re trying to do and realize that it’s a timesaver and beneficial to you and the company.”  Join us as Joe Aikens, Vice President of Technology at Cannon & Wendt shares his views on innovation to foster creativity, diversify revenue streams, and ‘build a better mousetrap.’  In this episode we tackle how the power of innovation influences culture, the importance of caring for your team, the value of peer groups, and the evolution of technology to drive better customer-focused services.  

“It’s all about taking meaningful steps in the right direction and embracing failure along the way.” Alex Bunda, Director of Innovation of Southwire Spark, shares the importance of staying up to date on future innovations and the need for adoption to stay competitive. Tune in to learn about Southwire’s Spark Lab and how NECA contractors can benefit from this amazing resource. Listen to future disruptions that are on the horizon and how they will impact the electrical contracting industry. 

“Innovation is pairing technology with a customer problem and making someone's life better.”  In this episode Landon Boyer, Vice President of Engineering at Schneider Electric explains the agile process they use to create and innovate products.  Landon also provides insights around supply chain challenges and worker shortages and how the solutions Schnieder is developing will help the industry triumph over the challenges of today and beyond.  

“Innovation is an idea that was divorced from a purpose.” Jonathan Marsh, CEO of Steel Toe Consulting, shares the importance of purpose driven innovation and matching key players to the correct roles in your business. Tune in to learn about process mapping and how curating workflows can help improve your business. Listen to how innovation and technology create a synergy that will improve the health of the electrical contracting industry.  

“We need to be better at selling our industry as something other than construction; we need to be better at showing what our industry really is, what it can be, what roads come out of an apprenticeship or a four-year degree, and how diverse that can look and be.” Shane Snyder, President of Cannon and Wendt joins us in the Innovation booth to discuss the extraordinary career opportunities electrical contracting offers how we can all do a better job evangelizing for the electrical contracting.  Shane also shares strategies his company uses to recruit and retain talent and tells his own story about how he was introduced to the industry.  These topics and more on this edition of the Innovation Overload Podcast!  

“Reality capture will revolutionize the way we do business.” Jacinda Matherne, Senior Manager of Industry Alliances and Josh Berger, Sales Manager of Trades at OpenSpace discuss the importance of tracking the process of a job with reality capture and how beneficial it is to visualize the job site. Listen to the barriers of adoption with new technology and how to combat them with Jared Christman, Director of Construction Technology at ELECTRI on “Innovation Overload Podcast: Contractor Takeover,” where innovations in the electrical industry are discussed from one contractor to another.