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Construction Manager

Construction managers are the foremen of a sustainable future

Construction managers are the foremen of a sustainable future.
As our older infrastructure has deteriorated, construction has evolved to be completed faster and more efficiently than ever before. Net zero buildings that generate as much energy as they use are now in high demand, and construction managers have a major impact both on meeting sustainability goals and reducing a project’s carbon footprint.

Construction managers plan, coordinate, budget, and supervise construction projects from start to finish. They may have a main office, but they spend most of their time in a field office onsite, where they monitor projects and make decisions about construction activities.

Construction managers typically need a bachelor’s degree, and they learn management techniques through on-the-job training. Large construction firms may prefer to hire candidates who have both construction experience and a bachelor’s degree in a construction-related field.

Robert DeYoung works as a construction manager for DPR Construction. DPR Construction is a commercial general contractor and construction management firm that has consistently ranked among the top 50 general contractors in the country by Engineering News-Record since 1997.

With the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the construction industry is poised to see a boom in business. “A lot of the infrastructure that was built 50 years ago is getting to its point of deterioration,” says DeYoung. As more environmentally friendly practices and sustainability initiatives take hold, construction managers who possess green skills, such as a knowledge of weatherization techniques, will be in greater demand. “A lot of clients are chasing greener buildings – buildings that are net zero energy.” Construction managers such as DeYoung are instrumental in ensuring that these new or modernized structures minimize the carbon footprint.

In 2020, the national average for construction managers is $97,180 per year, and in Pennsylvania these managers earn roughly $10,000 more each year than the national average. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of construction managers is projected to grow 11 percent from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations. About 38,900 openings for construction managers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.