Page 4 - DCA - Construction Excellence Awards 2020

NEXT PRESIDENT MIKE PEET WILL GUIDE DCA THROUGH PANDEMIC
By Jacob Owens
Delaware Business Times Editor
How will you define success for the DCA in 2021?
We have to position ourselves to best handle this COVID-19 situation. So that’s going to require some outside-of-the-box thinking and maybe some adjustments on how the DCA operates. Obviously, some of our events are our biggest fundraisers, so we’ve been working on ways to change things up a little to better position ourselves to at least try to do some marketing functions and DCA events, but it’s been challenging at best.
What challenges do you anticipate the pandemic will continue to play next year for the industry?
Some of the specialty trades contractors are working on strategies to help combat COVID and so they’ve been busier than usual. Some of our contractors have seen a decrease in building construction due to it, and obviously there’s some challenges working on job sites with maintaining proper safety practices as far as social distancing and masks. There are some inefficiencies that come along with that.
From a road standpoint, DelDOT is trying to get a lot of the road construction done due to the decrease in traffic. Manning our field
is tough. A lot of kids don’t want to get into the construction industry, or they want to go to college. We’ll continue to focus on our workforce development in addition to trying to get some diversity in our construction course as well.
The pandemic has definitely been a challenge for us in the industry, but we’re the ones who can adapt and change quickly. We’ll do better than the ones who can’t and are kind of stuck in their ways.
As the president, I think it’s my job to try to help everyone kind of navigate through this the best way possible.
Are there other challenges you expect to face in the industry outside of COVID?
For every three people retiring, we’re only getting one person entering the industry. So, it’s been a challenge. We’re finding more and more college graduates who are looking for construction jobs because they can’t work in their field.
I have guys who work for me who make $150,000 a year with no college degree. As a specialty contractor, we do smart building technology systems programming and a lot of stuff that you learn on the job.
You don’t need a college degree to enter the construction industry and there’s a lot of opportunity for people to make really good salary and benefits in this industry. So as president I want to try to raise the awareness of that and try to get more kids out of the feeder programs, like seventh and eighth grade and the vo-techs, interested in entering the construction industry.
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in your own business since starting Modern Controls back in 1989?
I would say ever-changing technology. It’s changing so rapidly in the last three to five years that it’s really difficult to stay ahead of
it. You don’t want to be jumping on the bandwagon of every piece of technology that comes down the way, but we want to offer our workers as well as our customers the best solutions moving forward for building their buildings.
We have to be able to adapt to that technology. We have to stay ahead on it. We’ve got to be willing to change and those that can
Mike Peet
change quickly are going to succeed and those that don’t want to change are probably going to be left behind.
I always tell my guys, “If you hate change, you’re going to really hate extinction.”
Where do you see the industry a decade from now?
You’re going to see more off-site fabrication of building panels. They’re building central plants, and chiller and boiler plants, off-site now and bringing
them on the job and assembling them.
4 | DELAWARE CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION 2020
I think you’re going see more “smarts” and less field labor. The equipment that we install
in HVAC is getting smarter and smarter and the need to train and teach our technicians and our construction workers to stay ahead of this technology is instrumental in the health of our company.
So, we’re trying to spend a lot more money on training and sending guys to school to try to stay ahead of this curve. It’s a big challenge.
What do you tell young people who are considering, or not considering, a career in the trades?
If you enjoy working with your hands and working construction, not sitting behind a desk all day that’s definitely something you want to consider. You move around to different job sites and you get to work with different people. Some people really like that, and some people don’t.
It all depends on if you have a mechanical aptitude. Do you like to work with your hands? If so, I think it’s definitely something that you should consider.
My mom and dad wanted me to go to college. They sent me to St. Mark’s in ninth grade and I failed algebra. So, my dad said you can go to Delcastle [Technical High School] and you can get Ds for free there. So, I went and took a trade and it led me down a much different path than going to college.
There’s definitely success to be had if you work hard and you want to learn. In the construction industry, there’s lots of opportunities to be successful and make a really good wage and have really good benefits.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received and from whom?
My 10th grade shop teacher at Delcastle, Mr. Charles Paul, told me that with the air conditioning business, “If you want to work hard when it’s hot out, you can make as much money as you want. You can drive a new Corvette every year and live that lifestyle, as long as you work hard and put your time in.” Sort of like, “You’ve got to make hay when the sun shines.”