|
Neal Burnett on Building Midwest Constructors
|
After years of working in the construction business, Midwest Constructors owner and operations manager Neal Burnett and partner Tom Arnold took some well thought-out steps back to the bottom in order to build the company they've always imagined.
|
|
|
A carpenter by trade, Neal grew up helping build several family homes with his father, who was a genetic engineer at Eli Lilly. "Building was my Dad's hobby, and he and my grandfather were very mechanically-inclined," said Neal. With a degree in construction engineering from Purdue under his belt, Neal worked up through the ranks and landed at construction giant Huber Hunt & Nichols (now Hunt Construction). But when the company began leaning toward the management side, Neal said, "We were doing a lot of their self-perform work, and that set Tom and me on a path--we like to build, it's what we do." They ended up at Baker Concrete, where Neal became operations manager. When the company made noise about moving the pair out of town, that was the tipping point. "For 10 or 15 years, Tom and I would chat about going out on our own, so this became the crossroads, and we decided just to do it."
|
|
But they weren't flush with cash, which forced them back to square one in order to take on new clients. "We couldn't afford to rent the air compressor to remove the concrete, so we had the bright idea that we would use 20-lb. sledgehammers," Neal said. One of those well-used tools sits in the corner of his office (above) as a reminder of the hard work it took to launch the company. "Back then, we were happy to have a stretch of sidewalk, and after coming from a large company doing projects in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars, it was very humbling," he recalled. Today, they work alongside several former executives and co-workers from their previous company and employ roughly 250 people. "We've gone from that sidewalk in 2007 to doing all the concrete work for Market Square Tower in 2015," he pointed out. Midwest partnered with the Indianapolis Zoo to build the orangutan enclosure, performed the concrete work on Slate in Fountain Square, and has been hired by Lafayette-based Trinitas Ventures to work on its 11-story student housing apartment/retail project slated to break ground at 1201 Indiana Ave. next spring.
|
 |
|
Neal (above with his wife Karen and five of their seven children) is all about family, and that extends to his employees. "We had three goals when we started--to have insurance, to have fun,and build some really neat things... and to eventually be an employee-owned company," he said. As they work on the future, Neal keeps a tradition going that started when he was young: He noticed his grandfather would throw an expensive coin into the first pour of every concrete job he worked on. "I use a medallion instead--one of the patron saints. I put them there to promote safety, taking care of our guys, and to protect us."
|
|
Brian Gildea Drums Up Change at Develop Indy
|
It may have been a surprise to some that Develop Indy VP and executive director Brian Gildea moonlights as the guy who keeps the beat for Indy Chamber's "in-house" band. Speaking to the crowd during IndyCREW's annual luncheon last week at Prime 47, Brian likened the role of a drummer to the job ahead for Indy Chamber as it outlines plans to drive future economic growth in the city.
|
"Like a drumbeat sets the tempo for the band, Indy Chamber sets the tempo for economic development in central Indiana," Brian said. A native Hoosier from Elkhart and an IU grad, Brian worked in economic development both in his hometown and Austin, TX, before accepting his post at Develop Indy in 2013. "I understand the trends in the Indy market and how we can move forward," Brian offered. The outline for change has some complex challenges, but he noted that joint efforts have created a plan called the Community Economic Development Strategy to "figure out how we play in the same sandbox together without duplicating our economic development efforts."
|
The four pillars of the strategy, he explained, are to attract and retain talented workers, bring innovative and enterprising businesses to the area, create attractive and connective spaces, and recreate the image of Indianapolis. On the agenda: early-childhood development programs, reaching out to high schools to educate students on the skills needed for manufacturing careers, seeking more venture capital to help companies grow, and supporting legislation for both greater local control of necessary tax initiatives and a statewide "equal rights for all" ordinance. "The image of a city is real and dictates how people see a community. We're trying to build a positive brand for Indianapolis, and Indiana," he concluded.
|
After lunch, we snapped this photo of Hagerman Inc.'s Karen Schutte, Bose McKinney & Evans' David Duncan, and B&W Plumbing and Heating's Melissa Luebbert
|
We wonder if there is a "clip-up" chart for IndyCREW event attendance! Familiar faces include Ryan Fire Protections' Whitney Phillmann, Zeller Realty Group's Donna Grau,and Indiana Statewide Development Corp.'s Sandra McCleese
|
|
Dress for Success executive director Barbara Ellsworth (left) poses with Cushman & Wakefield's Terri-Lynn Mitchell and Heather Meyer, Blackwell Burke & Ramsey's Cynthia Reese, and Plews Shadley Racher and Braun's Ali Sylvia. IndyCREW presented a check for $10k from their fundraising efforts to Dress for Success.
|
What was your very first job? Send us your story and we'll include it in an ongoing series in our newsletter. Click here!
|
|
|
|
Monday, September 21, 2015
|
|
|
