Building PA podcast. This is Chris Martin with Atlas marketing
And John O'Brien from the Keystone contractors association.
And we are here today with Jennifer Landau, with Landauer construction and we are talking, continuing education. Welcome Jennifer. Thanks for having me. Well, we're glad you're here. Um, we're talking, continuing education. So Jennifer, can you, can you kind of introduce yourself and , and let our listeners know why you're here?
Um, well , uh, my name is Jennifer Landau and I'm a vice president at Atlanta Appleton company, or mid-sized general contracting firm in the Pittsburgh area. And , uh, John invited me on because I'm always pushing continuing education throughout the community. Yeah, let's see. I have a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in civil engineering as well. And , uh, I work with all the local groups and try to keep continuing education in everybody's mind.
Well, that's , that's a , that's a wise thing. Um, especially coming from somebody with , uh , with the degrees in the background that you have. So that's great. Um, John, do you want to jump in and ask some questions, firearm ? Sure, absolutely. Get this . And we'll keep this moving.
I'm glad you accepted the invite, Jen , and it's awesome to have you on here. Um, why don't we just start with the degrees, the bachelor's and the master's . Um, you want to touch on them? Where'd you go? And , um, are you still involved with any colleges at all?
Ah , yes. I , uh, I actually got both degrees at the university of Pittsburgh, so go Pitt and I'm still very active in their construction management program. So both my degrees are in civil engineering, but I concentrated in construction management. Um, so throughout the years I've been on an advisory board once I started working , um, is just to keep the university in touch with what's going on.
Industry-wise um , I know there's been some questions about, you know , what kind of employees are needed out in the real world. So they want to make sure that they are not just teaching things that, you know, will not be useful in the long run. So they like to stay in touch with a whole advisory board.
That's made up of a bunch of local general contractors and , uh , we just, we give input and , uh , kind of help look at the different classes that they're teaching, make suggestions on, you know, new things that are coming up because, you know, in our industry, I mean, it's an ever evolving industry. Technology keeps changing things and everything's faster paced and no more , um , paperwork everywhere.
It's all online and cloud-based so just keeping everybody updated and make sure we're on the same page.
Awesome. And, and also at Pitt , I believe it might be the fifth anniversary or so, but about five years ago, Pitt joined and became an AGC student chapter.
Yes, they did. Yes, they did. Um, so the , um , master builders association of Pittsburgh does help support them. Uh , we help with their kickoff meetings and try to get more young kids involved. It seems to kind of go up and down throughout the years , uh , depending on who's spearheading it.
Um, but John Sebastian is running the construction management program there and has really done a, an amazing job of keeping all the kids , um , interested and involved and doing building tours and making sure they see real life experiences outside the classroom.
Awesome. And through the master builders, I believe they still offer a yearly scholarship, which you're involved with. You're kind of, kind of help Pitt all around there.
Yeah. Yeah. We just picked the winners , uh, last week. I think it was so, yeah, that'll be announced here. I think fairly soon, if not already, which is fine to be able to give , uh , I think it's $15,000 total. We give out a year to Pitt students that are , um, working in the construction industry or look forward to working in the construction industry.
Jennifer, what does that, what does that money go toward? Just just general scholarship or opportunity.
It's a general one. So technically can , uh , go towards anything, know the cost of college is high, so it does not go directly to the school. It goes to the student so they can use it for books. They can use it for rent. They can use it for pretty much whatever, Technically a party on Friday night if they really wanted to. But I can't say no at that point,
Just invite us. Right.
Well, that's kind of a Britain in small letters at the bottom of it .
Well it have , have you seen the, you know, the, the changes that you have shared with the, the advisory board through the advisory board, I should say, have you seen those changes over time, been adopted and impacted or not impacted, but benefiting the, the industry as a whole?
Oh, definitely. Definitely. Yeah. I don't want to admit my age here, but I've been in the industry now when I was finishing up college is when I started working here at Landau , uh , as an internship. So I've been here for over 20 years now. And , um , just watching again, technology is probably the easiest to say, because, you know, it's, it's exploded over the past 20 years.
So just watching those changes and keeping up with them and seeing how the industry has changed , uh , for the better, I believe , um, makes things a lot more efficient , uh, keeps the lines of communication open better , um, and just, you know, everything's organized in a clean way. Um, just the speed, you know, that you're getting the information and the guys in the field and what they can do on an iPad now is absolutely amazing.
So it's keeping all the processes, the submittals, the [inaudible] , you know, our guys in the field can snap a picture and write the RFI and send it out. And we can FaceTime if an architect's not in town and, you know, look at the issues that we're having face-to-face versus, you know, waiting a couple of weeks till the next time someone's has a scheduled meeting. So yes, it's , it's been really interesting to watch kind of the whole industry of it .
That's great. That helps. That helps. I see it in our industry too, in , in the advertising and marketing industry, how things have changed so drastically and quickly, and it , and it's a big help, like you said, FaceTiming, and even doing this. I mean, we're all in different locations and having the opportunity to talk and having it literally sound like we're in the same office. So it's , it's fantastic. That's great.
How's the , uh, how's the feedback from , uh , you mentioned the field, how was the feedback from the field? Um , do you see a more productive, better, better workforce out there and any sort of negatives at all when it comes to continuing education?
Actually , you know, at the very beginning, I mean, I don't know . You can remember us, you know, when things kind of started turning to smartphones, I can remember all of my , uh, kind of the , the older generation superintendents saying, no, I'm not going to use one of those. I do, you know, I don't want that. And then now days they're , you know, clicking on things and Googling stuff on their phone and sending me pictures.
And so you've got the obvious, you know, we've always done it this way. I don't want to change, but once everybody gets over that, I've seen everybody kind of , uh , really evolve themselves and, and do things a lot faster, a lot more efficient, again, even communication lines of communication, there's so much better. And , uh, between the generations in the field, you know, we've got easily three generations right now working in the field together.
So it's kind of fun watching them do things like, look at drawings on an iPad and , um, having the younger guys, maybe show some of the older guys how to get things quicker or to send stuff to me quicker and , uh, different ways to do the same thing that they had been doing, but , uh , in a new way. So it's , it's, it's been interesting to watch the field , um, kind of evolve with everything else and the carpenters . We do a lot of stuff with the carpenters training center.
They have continuing education classes that , um, leased all of our field guys. Who've been jumping all over and taking when they can , um , just to learn, keep up with everything.
Awesome. Chris, did you have a question, I mean, to cut you off earlier? No, no.
I was just gonna , you know, I think , and I think you just asked it or answered it, I should say is, you know, what's the impact of technology on the industry. Um , and again, I think you just, you just answered it. So that's, that's great. It's a huge, huge, huge projection for the industry moving forward.
Well , and not even just technology, we do a lot in the healthcare field. So the Iqra the containments, the particle readings, the , um , filtration systems, the HEPA filters, the, the carpenters have kind of been on the leading edge on keeping everybody updated and making sure everyone knows how to not only keep patients safe when you're working in a hospital environment, but to keep our workers safe as well.
You know, the new OSHA laws with silica and, you know , we're just learning more and more about what's out there and how to do things a lot safer and , uh, hoping in the long run where we're all better for it. So those are other classes that I always push to make sure we all understand what's going on and moving forward. Well , why new laws or new regulations are put into play and what they mean and how they will help us.
Cool . Very, yeah .
Um, also I, with continuing education, I think you can see kind of a direct positive results, but there's also maybe an indirect, you know, you mentioned how better communications, you know, better team, more productivity, all that good stuff that's internal, but then external outside of your company. Um, you know, you and I got to know each other through your , uh, involvement in the NBA , uh , young, young , uh, constructors. And we did a lot with various companies and architectural firms.
So, you know, I saw it firsthand that it builds the bonds and builds the relationships beyond your company. And maybe it opens doors for your company. Have you seen that? And have you seen , uh, you know , uh , the benefit to your company due to all your involvement?
Oh, definitely. I mean, we, as an industry, we're a fairly contained industry and I always comment that the people that you meet now might not necessarily be in sync company, but you're going to know this person, these people throughout your careers. So staying involved , um, learning more about all different aspects of the industry has helped everybody kind of in the long run. And yes, our company and we've meet met people.
That's, you know, maybe we wouldn't have met before, but now we ended up working with closely , um, working with the other kind of groups of our industry helps to , you know, working with a young architects , um, working with the young marketing group, the green building Alliance as a young emerging professionals, I think is theirs .
So staying involved , um , with all the different aspects of our industry and learning as much as you can, again, working with the apprentices , um, and all the different trades as well, cause you know, construction, we need all of us to get projects done. So the more we understand everybody else's positions and things that they are doing, it kind of helps.
And communication, understanding empathy, even our industry has already kind of made that term from a adversarial relationship that you'd see, you know, everybody pictures , construction, and the screaming old man and yelling and fighting and, you know, kind of this all for one, all for yourself type of mentality. Whereas now everything's kind of a team, you know, everybody works and collaborates together.
You know, architects work with the guys in the field and the project managers and, you know, we all come together , um, with the carpenters, with the, you know , bricklayers and try to come up with a right solution to make everybody happy at the end.
So I think those , you know, continuing this education of not only what you need to know for your own project or your own position , um , but to learn more about what everybody else is doing and how that affects you, I think helps everybody in the long run and definitely benefits the company as a whole.
You know, it's funny Jen, that you you've said that the, you know, the, the old white guys yelling and , and , um , I remember my , my first job, I worked at a, at a general contractor , um, you know, handling marketing and PR for them. And you're, you're absolutely right that , you know, that was admittedly over 25 years ago and that's literally all, it was just yelling. And now it's, you know, let's, let's sit down and have a discussion. Let's talk about where we're going.
And , and I think the , the biggest thing, especially for younger younger people coming into the industry is the opportunity where they're , they're working together. Like you said, with the building trades, the architects, the engineers, the contractors, everybody wants to do a really good job.
Um, so, so with that, you know, from your perspective, what are you looking for when you are talking to a young, you know, a young professional or considered can con considering hiring somebody at Atlanta?
Um, you know, I'm looking for a lot of different things that maybe traditionally as much as, you know, I push continuing education, but your original education , um, is important, but maybe not the number one thing I'm going to look for. I'm going to look for a willingness to learn a willingness to be involved, a willingness to , um, again, understand everybody's perspective. I don't want somebody who wants to come in and say, you know, everybody has to listen to me, my way is correct.
I want somebody who will come in and understand that, you know, we all have a say in this and , uh , our way is not always the best, the way that we learned. And maybe in college, maybe the field guy has a really good idea and that's going to help all of us achieve the goal in a different manner than what you originally expected. So I think that, you know, personality is , uh, you know, we're extremely fast paced industry , um, continues to get faster and faster.
Every time I blink, I swear , uh, timelines get shorter and shorter, but so I'm looking for somebody who is, you know , ready for that fast paced , uh , very well organized , willingness to learn , um, and really is just a team player. And then I think that with those kind of traits, if you start with, and if you continue your education in different ways , um, you can succeed for sure. It doesn't always necessarily have to be one class or another.
It's kind of a combination of everything going to building, you know, trade events and checking out the trade schools and going to young professionals , um, seminars and hearing people talk and just discussing things within the industry. You learn a ton from that.
Hmm . So, okay. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Yeah, I was going to say , uh , okay, so you found the young PE the young project engineer. He has the willingness to learn. You could see he sh he, or , and, or she is a go getter. So they're hired now. They turn to you and they say, what are some good groups out there that I should look into? What advice are you giving them?
Oh , I definitely have them start with the , um , master builders association, young contractors. Um, they always have, I don't know, five or six events a year, so I always send them to that. Um, at the beginning before they know the , um , really a lot of people in the industry, I make sure we take them to , um, building a vaccine excellence awards for sure. Uh , try to get them involved with the ASA, the subcontractors association , uh, reach out to the AIA young architect group.
I think that's the YAF. And , uh, and then I try to figure out what's going on with Pitt , if Pitt's having , um, one of their AGC student chapter events, they always open that up to our young professionals as well. So it's nice for the college students to be able to talk to some young professionals. Um, and then from there, it's kind of see what their interest lies in.
And, you know, if they're into green building, let's, you know, get them involved with green building Alliance or, you know, I really will support anything that, you know, they seem passionate about.
Hmm . Yeah. You seem to support various groups and you're active amongst various groups. So I wanted to make sure we gave you an opportunity to plug some of them.
Yeah , thanks . Yeah .
Um, Chris, you got anything else?
Sorry. I was muted there. I think this is great. I think everything we've gotten is , is in a , we're in a good spot here. Um, I would say, and , and obviously we're going to edit this part out, but you know , if there's anything else that you'd like to add, I have no questions at this point .
I don't know if you want to touch on lane. You want me to ask a lane question or no? No. Okay, good. Okay . Wait , just had Penn state down here two weeks ago, John back there was always pushing lanes .
I know , I know. I mean the concepts I like , but I mean the whole class I wanted is just it's gets a little ridiculous if you asked me. But
Yeah, there was a marketing person from a , I forget what firm there was a Pittsburgh firm. They drove four hours just to hear Bechtle talk and they sat at our table and, and , and the lady was like, Oh, make sure, make sure to ask him a really good lean question. He loves to talk about lean and ,
Oh my gosh . Yeah, no , I can't think of anything else. I don't know. Pushed peds , you know, you're in the Penn state group, so yeah. It's all good. All right. Put a little editing on it. What's that
Fighting?
Yeah. Oh, what kind of energy do you want ,
Chris? Do you want it ? You started it. You want to shut it down? Sure.
Well, as you heard today, we're talking about continuing education and the value that it has , that it brings to our industry , um, want to thank , uh, my partner, John and also Jennifer for taking the time here today to talk about this. Um, more exciting topics are coming from the building PA podcast . So stay tuned and in the meantime, feel free to download the podcast and share it with all your colleagues.
Thanks, Jen .
Thank you guys so much for having me take care. You too. Bye. Okay. That's a wrap.