Presenting the 2022 Board Nominees…
It’s that time of year again to present the new nominees for Building Congress & Exchange’s leadership.
The proposed 2022 Executive Committee is as follows: Michael Martin of Live Green Landscape Associates as president; Ted Bowes of Excell Concrete Construction as vice president; Rick Scheetz of Gray & Son/Maryland Paving Management as treasurer; Jeff Hossfeld of the Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. as secretary; and Thomas Koch of Plano-Coudon Construction as Member at Large. Wayne Matheu of Matheu & Associates will serve as Immediate Past President (a non-voting member) of the Executive Committee.
The nominated board slate includes a second term for Jonathan Goetz of Oak Contracting and Fred Marino of Design Collective. Two new board members have also been nominated: Douglas McGinnis of Bunting Door and Hardware and Dennis Walsh of Floors Etc.
Ballots will be sent out electronically later this month and must be returned by Oct. 27. The new board will be introduced at the Annual Meeting on Dec. 8.
Meet the New Board Nominees:
Douglas McGinnis
Owner, Bunting Door and Hardware
When he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with an economics degree, Doug McGinnis wanted to learn a business, any business.
“I didn’t know there was such as thing as a commercial door business,” McGinnis said.
But he jumped at an opportunity to join a door company and began learning the construction industry.
“What I love about construction is it’s tangible and you see what you do. Also, the companies tend to be smaller so your work makes a big impact. That’s all rewarding,” he said.
McGinnis, who will celebrate his 30th anniversary at Bunting Door and Hardware in October, relished developing a specialty within the industry, embracing new technologies (such as electronic locks and access control systems) and mastering the financials of a construction company. In 2003, he completed an MBA with a finance concentration from Loyola University. In 2007, he entered a partnership to buy Bunting.
“Previously when I heard the term entrepreneur, I never would have put myself in that category. I am not a big risk taker,” he said. But he was committed to the future success of Bunting so he developed “a growth mindset, but a slow-growth mindset.”
These days, McGinnis views mentoring as one of his main jobs and devotes time to developing Bunting staff into leaders.
“I try to make sure our people aren’t isolated and focusing only on construction. There are a lot of good ideas that come from other businesses, other industries. I want people to fully develop and learn that broad range of business lessons that are out in the community,” he said.
BC&E and the BC&E Foundation support that growth throughout the construction community, McGinnis said, both by fostering relationships among varied companies and interacting with schools and other community organizations. “Even in the middle of a pandemic, we could focus on an industry group, get support on business issues and together figure out how to move forward. We even kept doing some good in the community.
Dennis Walsh
Senior Vice President, Floors Etc.
Returning home to Baltimore following a stint of playing minor league baseball, Dennis Walsh began wondering what he should do with the rest of his life. His father was an engineer and surveyor, some relatives worked with Harkins Builders and a friend had just landed a job at Floors Etc. Walsh who had earned a business degree from the University of Alabama, decided to try construction and applied to Floors. Twenty-seven years with the company have shown that he made the right decision.
“You have to learn the industry from the bottom up. The team here at Floors has been great in giving me the freedom to go out, explore and develop the commercial side of the business,” he said.
Over the years, Walsh has worked most functions within the company.
“One thing I like about this work is there is always something different, something challenging. There is always a new building and something unique in the day,” he said.
Business development, however, became a passion for Walsh.
“Business development is all about communication and taking care of your clients,” he said. That care extends from learning a client’s business to value engineering projects to ensuring that any mid-project issues are resolved promptly. “Being proactive, not reactive is very important in this business. You have to communicate even when its not what the GC or developer wants to hear, but it makes problem-solving easier.”
A member of sports teams since age 10, Walsh has valued developing a strong team within Floors Etc. As a member of the BC&E Board of Directors, he hopes to help foster more collaboration and development within the industry.
“It’s time for me to share my experiences and work more with the Building Congress,” he said. “Maybe I can bring a different perspective to the table that helps us do things better or differently.”
Why I am involved in BC&E:
Jonathan Goetz
Senior Project Manager, Oak Contracting
“Relationships are the result of networking and the construction industry is built on relationships. In order to grow your personal brand, your company’s brand and your network you need to get out there and make it happen. No one is going to do it for you. Building Congress and Exchange is a great organization for doing that.”
Fred Marino
President and CEO, Design Collective
“One thing I really love about this organization is the variety of perspectives you get to hear – architects, owners, engineers, GCs, subcontractors, suppliers and others. What they say about costs, labor shortages and other issues teaches me about conditions that could impact our projects. We all benefit from learning from one another, growing with one another and working together as a team.”