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Dylan Yore - Executive Interview.

A few weeks ago I spent the day shadowing Jon Hautau. I had a great time attending a couple of meetings and then finishing up with a one on one interview with him. It was very insightful being able to sit in on meetings that involve Jon. I got to witness some very interesting behind the scenes work. 

I really enjoyed the interview I conducted with Mr. Hautau. We talked about a lot of topics that I feel opened up my eyes towards bettering myself as a student and a worker.

Jon and I spoke about a variety of topics that were very informational. I felt that our conversation would be good for anybody going through internships or looking for full time employment to hear. 

We started off talking about him and his past. As we progressed I focused on Jon's position in management. We discussed leadership pretty heavily. 

Jon commented, "As a leader you have to make yourself approachable. Go out of your way to make sure you are engaging with people so they feel comfortable."

The PDPM programs have a weekly meeting with Jon on Wednesdays to keep up with safety incidents, talk about awards, new employees and so on. This is an example of how Jon makes himself available and gives others the chance to have a voice. It has been a pleasure soaking in knowledge from Jon because he has always been available for my questions and is always willing to give his insight on a topic. 

I asked Jon if he had any advice for someone going into a leadership position and he responded, "Check your management skills to see if you need some classes. Some people are born leaders or managers while some may need a tune up. But advice for someone coming into that position for the first time would be to get to know your people. You have to know they have your back."

Having passion for your work is very important. Having a passion for the work that you do comes first hand when you enjoy and truly love what you do. Having passion for you work is much easier when you enjoy who you work with. It is refreshing to know that Ideal Contracting's upper management cares as much as it does about its people.

Hautau brought up a great point when he expressed, "People are the biggest thing, we have to make sure there is good culture and that the people working here are happy."

When happiness is in the air, passion makes its way through as well. Jon and I discussed key traits a manager would look for when interviewing a possible employee. Passion was up there heading the list. Jon Pointed out that people with passion care about what they do and are usually very easy to work with.

It has been an Amazing experience working at the Warren Tech Center with Ideal Contracting this summer. This internship has shaped me into a more well rounded student, worker, and most importantly a better person. I worked with the most amazing group of people. I came into work everyday knowing that I was surrounded by hard working people who cared about me. Ideal
Contracting has given me an awesome experience and I cannot thank everyone enough!

THANK YOU FOR SUCH AN AMAZING SUMMER! 

Dylan Yore - WTC final week. 

 Last week was very eventful for everybody. I spent majority of my week making sure I was ready for my presentation. I spent a lot of time rehearsing in front of people and buttoning up my power point. At the same time, the nerves set in as I sit back and realize we're all back to school in a matter of no time. I hope everybody had an awesome experience and enjoyed it as much as I did. We had an great intern group and I enjoyed spending time with all of the interns and mentors. I appreciate everything Jon, Alex, and Yesi did for us this summer; You guys really knocked it out of the park! I'd also like to show some gratitude to my Mentor Gus. Gus did everything he could to make sure I had the best experience I could and was exposed to as much as possible. He opened up my eyes and expanded my mindset on this great industry. It only made me fall more in love with the work we do here at Ideal Contracting. Gus "is good people." I quote him and some of the people here at WTC when I say that because I've adopted that saying over the past few months. Thank you everyone for this summer, it was an awesome experience that I will cherish forever!

Dylan Yore WTC. This is for the last two weeks,,

Last week I spent a day with Paulina shadowing her in the morning and experiencing what a hard dollar project is like. It was very cool to see that side of the construction spectrum. Then that afternoon I took her all around the places of our campus that she had not experienced and showed her all of the jobs I have been on this summer.

I also spent a day with Steve Sinn2 out at the Red Wing's new stadium. That was an amazing experience and truly eye opening. It was crazy to see all of these trades working together all at once. We enjoyed lunch downtown and then came back to watch the 426 ton crane make a couple of picks. I look forward to tracking the building of the stadium because one day when I go to see a Wings game, reminiscing on the construction will be a great feeling.

I also took care of my executive shadow and interview with Mr. Hautau. I had an awesome day standing in Jon's shoes. we sat in a couple meeting which sounds boring, but again was so eye opening and very inspirational. To go from being in the field day to day to experiencing all of the behind the scenes leg work Jon and the upper management do to support our day to day functions was inspirational. I am currently in the process of doing my write up on the interview between Jon and I. We had a great conversation and discussed a lot of informational topics. I have a fantastic day Jon!.

This week I have been practicing my presentation and helping Erin Wolf out with daily field reports that have to be entered into a computer program manually. The presentation is going great and I am feeling more and more comfortable presenting it in from of people. We have been working on this very important monument for a plane crash that occurred several years ago. Yesterday we poured the base of this monument with a rebar cage and sonotube which brought me back to last summer working for the electrical contractor I worked for. We did this a lot.

Dylan Yore - -WTC Week 10

         This week was mixed with lots of meetings, hands on work, and some estimating. We had our typical meetings but one in particular was pretty funny. My best friend's father works for GM and I knew that. Although I never knew he worked at the Tech center or that he was involved with GM's construction. I went into a pre-bid walk through with Ideal's team an the subcontractors only to find out that my buddies dad is the GM rep for this job!
          Putting meetings aside, I hit the field as much as I could too! I went to all of the jobs Gus is affiliated with at least once. GM likes to have progress photos on hand to track the work that is getting done. So, I provided our reps with their photos and more. Today I placed a concrete sidewalk for the entrance of the Cadillac building. As the boys raked the mud into place i hammered the dowels into the fresh slab and bent them. It was face paced and hard work but looking at a smooth finished beautiful product at the end always feels rewarding!

Here are some photos of the sidewalk we placed today. All three show a finisher finessing!

 The Engineering South lobby had foundations placed today, in last weeks blog you could see the excavator with the breaker preparing the are for these new foundations. The new foundations are pictured below

 We are buttoning up our Man-C lobby right now. New asphalt, concrete sidewalks, curtain wall, and travertine floors were installed to renovate this lobby.  

Dylan Yore - Week 9 WTC

 This week I spent a lot of time on site following the schedules and making sure the crews were following along. I spent an afternoon forming curb on the tunnel with one of the laborers Reggie. I tried to branch out and understand some of the other positions in the office, like Miss Lynn. She helped me understand what she does to create contracts in SAP. I then wrote a few contracts for our subs.

 Our lobby renovations are coming along well. Everybody is on schedule and progress is coming along. Engineering South pictured below had concrete excavation ongoing this week. 

 These road ways pictured below had to be paved by the time all of the GM employees came back from their July 4th shutdown Saying this, our guys did an awesome job and really put the pedal to the floor to meet the needs of GM.

 I spent an afternoon with Reggie and Jose forming the curbs for the sidewalks around the glass "hut". It was cool to spend some time with a veteran carpenter and take in the advice he was more than willing to give. Just another example of the great people Ideal Contracting employs. They curbs were poured, the tunnel top was finished with its waterproofing process, and then back filling began. 

 This man is installing the expansion joints for the new sidewalk around the glass hut

Dylan Yore - Week 8 at the WTC

This week was very busy for Ideal at the tech center. The July shutdown was in action and we had a lot more room to work as the GM employees were off for a week. That being said, our crews had the opportunity to put the pedal to floor and really see some progress. We had crews doing parking lots, roads, concrete, and roofs. I spent a day with Dylan Cook showing him around the Tech center and letting him kind of compare his PDPM site to ours. I spent a lot of time this week focusing on my presentation and getting my outline done. We had a lot of progress meetings for our jobs as well as some emergency work. We got a big rain last week that cause our tunnel to take on some water. As usual, Ideal handled this problem calm and collectively!

Dylan Yore - Week 7 WTC

I started off this week doing something very different! I had Travis following me rather than me following someone else! It was a nice day to have Travis at the WTC and expose him to the activity i get to witness on a daily basis! There is a lot going on at the tech center and if anybody would like to come for a day get ahold of me! I am sure Travis will vouch for me and admit that it was fun. This week has been very busy. I have been to a lot of meeting, met a lot of people and walked a bunch of jobs. To single out one job, I would have to say I enjoyed watching yet another concrete pour.

 This is a photo of me drilling holes for dowels. An example of a dowel would be those steel triangle pieces Gus showed us at the pour in Fort Wayne. 

Dylan Yore  - Week 6 Warren Tech Center

This week was amazing. Glenn and Derek had us out in Fort Wayne, Indiana visiting the GM plant. We started out our trip with a great meal and bonding time with everyone. It was a ton of fun to get out there and actually spend time with the other interns. The site visit was really cool. Our group of interns experienced a lot in the few hours we were on site witnessing what daily progress on a major job site looks like.

Ryan Maibach and I in the job trailer. Ryan was my mentor Gus' intern once upon a time. He is ding great for himself now. It was a pleasure to meet him!

This is Mr. Chuck Binkowski, Gus' brother in law and the Senior VP of Barton Malow. Chuck actually coached my older brother in football. We enjoyed a few laughs and a nice conversation. 

Dinner was AWESOME!

Dylan Yore - Week Five WTC

This week has been eventful. I have been flustered, amazed, and filled with immense joy all in one week. Toward the beginning of the week I spent hours and hours sitting at the desk creating a drawing on AutoCad. I persevered, learned from my mistakes, and ultimately finsihed with a product to be proud of!

Toward the middle of the week Spent the entire day on our tunnel job finishing concrete, condensing material, and hand digging. I enjoy working with our Laborers. Jose and Darren make me feel welcome and do their best to test my knowledge and correct me if I am wrong. 

 This is a control joint with a water stop. A control joint is placed between slabs to CONTROL the cracking of concrete which is inevitable. The water stop is placed to STOP the water from seeping into the joint of our tunnel.

 The vertical rebar you see is a dowel. A hole is drilled into concrete and a dowel is placed inside of it so when a new slab is poured, they have something connecting them preventing the slabs from moving apart.

 Rob pictured above, is a concrete finisher who works for Barton Malow. He is seen here finishing our cap with the Bull Float.

 Here is a video of me slowing running the bull float.

 We excavated dirt and an existing slab so we can pour new concrete.

 This is a new $60,000 glass enclosure that we excavated around. Due to the possibility of breaking the brand new glass.. Your's truly zipped in the flexible boar onto four, 16' - 2x4's. We then stood this up to act as a barrier between the glass hut and anything that could pose a possible threat.

Now I am pleased to explain why I was filled with immense joy this week. My mentor Gus Cerku has been with Barton Malow for 40 years as of today. It has been a blessing to be Gus' intern. He and a great role model, an awesome teacher and an even better friend. To celebrate his 40th year at Barton Malow, we threw a surprise party for him. I personally trashed our office! It is amazing here at the WTC. We are one big family and everybody is here for everybody.