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Construction U Education
ABC Wisconsin offers comprehensive education programs for our members designed to support and grow construction professionals from the apprentice through the experienced contractor. Construction U education programs are designed to make a great impact on your team, your projects, and accelerate your career in the industry.
Construction U offers a wide variety of craft and professional development education in a variety of formats. Whether it is in-person, online, or a customized in-house education experience, we have something that meets the needs and budgets of our members. Please contact our Education Department at 800-236-2224 or 608-244-5883 for more information on any of the classes listed within our program.
Who Should Attend:
Mastering communication and interpersonal skills are an essential in the success of projects. Construction projects follow a chain of communication from one person to the next, and from one party to another. With strong communication skills and workplace relationships, you can avoid delays, rework, and costly misunderstandings. Communication Skills was designed to enhance communication and improve teamwork which ultimately impacts your project success.
What You Will Learn:
*This course counts for 7 hours of Unpaid Related Instruction (URI)!
November 1, 2024, Professional Development Center, ABC of Wisconsin, 5330 Wall St., Madison, WI
Course Session Time: 7:30a.m. – 3:00p.m.
Registration Fee $200 Members; Refreshments and lunch will be provided.
Instructor: Dan Paulson, InVision Development International, LLC
Who Should Attend:
Construction foremen play a critical role in successful construction sites. They act as leaders and managers on complex construction sites; provide communications between the field and the home office and are often on the front line with the customers. Being a successful foreman requires skill. This person is an individual who not only produces a high-quality final product, but also one who is profitable, productive, and personable.
What You Will Learn:
December 5, 2024, Hausmann Group, N25 W23050 Paul Rd, Pewaukee, WI
Course Session Time: 7:30a.m. – 3:00p.m.
Instructor: Bill Rozga, Trade Talk, LLC
Registration Fee $200 Members & Apprentices
Who Should Attend:
Each worker on a project is critical to the overall success. When each team member understands how and why decisions are made, the likelihood of project success and profitability increases. A shift from field worker to “business owner” ensures that everyone is working towards the same goal.
What You Will Learn:
Who Should Attend:
Reading construction documents and plans are fundamental skills necessary for anyone striving to be successful in the construction industry. This Plan & Spec Reading course has been designed for individuals with little to no experience with reading construction plans and specifications. This course will provide a basic overview of construction plans and specs including, Civil, Site, Foundation, Floor, Roof, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing.
What You Will Learn:
Plumbing apprentices are still required to take Plumbing Blueprint Reading.
November 7-8, 2024, Tundra Lodge Resort, 865 Lombardi Ave., Green Bay, WI 54304
Course Session Time: 7:30a.m. – 3:30p.m.
Registration Fee $300 Members; $600 Non-Members
Who Should Attend:
The Project Coordinator is an integral member of the construction team. This person must be organized, detail-oriented, and able to handle project documents, contracts, progress reports, and closeout documents. This program offers project coordinators and office support staff the ability to enhance their skillsets and operational understanding in project life cycles, plans and specifications, organization and team collaboration.
What You Will Learn:
Begins March 18, 2025, Professional Development Center, ABC of Wisconsin, 5330 Wall St., Madison, WI
Course Session Time: 8:00a.m. – 3:30p.m.
Registration Fees: $1,500 for the first person, $1,200 for each additional person from the same company OR $325 for individual classes
Registration deadline is 5 days prior to each course offering.
Instructor: Jenna Milis, Milis Flatwork
Through engaging peer discussions, attendees will discuss the roles and responsibilities of Project Coordinators through the life cycles of Project Delivery as well as the characteristics that help to make a Project Coordinator successful. This session will also provide insights on how to identify and prioritize important tasks to maximize your ROI on time investment and minimize non-productive activities.
Instructor: Gretchen Bockenhauer
Through work and review of documents used within a construction project, participants will gain an understanding of the impact and importance of documents from the building permit to the design build.
Instructor: Gary Roehrig
Reading construction documents and plans are a fundamental skill necessary for anyone working within the construction industry. Attendees will work with a set of construction plans and specifications to learn common terminology and symbols used within construction documents.
Instructor(s): Josh Levy & Rachel Potter
In this session, attendees will learn definitions and terminology used in construction contracts as well as discuss the concept of breachless contract. Attendees will learn communication models that positively impact negotiation practices both in and out of the office.
Instructor: Brandi Davis
Attendees will identify their communication style preferences, learn how to be more effective with the people they interact with daily, and learn how they may be perceived by other styles as well as explore best practice steps of effective conflict resolution. This session will also provide tips and techniques that will keep meetings running smoothly.
(This session is a half-day class followed by a celebration lunch and not available to purchase as a stand-alone session)
Instructor: Brandi Davis
Now more than ever, organizations are needing to find innovative, creative solutions to remain competitive. In this energetic and interactive session attendees will learn strategies for enhancing creative problem-solving to go beyond our current patterns of thinking.
Who Should Attend:
In the evolving world of construction, moving from fieldwork to the office can be a big adjustment. Transitioning to this new role may require a new set of skills and a different set of abilities. ABC of WI has developed a course that will help those in this transition phase learn a new set of skills that are required to be successful in this role.
This full four-day course gives the transitioning worker an opportunity to develop their skills, share experiences, and ask questions from industry experts that will set them up for success in their new role.
Course Session Time: 8:00a.m. – 3:00p.m.
Where: Professional Development Center, ABC of Wisconsin, 5330 Wall St., Madison, WI
Registration Fees: $1,000 for the first person, $850 for each additional person from the same company OR $325 for individual classes
Instructor: Lee Hill, Koppers, Inc.
In the project management field, there are large differences between managing teams and projects in a technical or office environment vs. leading projects in the construction world. In the session, we will dive into the specifics of what it takes to lead, manage, negotiate, and successfully thrive in the construction project industry.
Instructors: Diana Schmidt, Jay Zahn, & Ken Alderden, Hausmann Group
Claims for damage to property or persons often arise in connection with ongoing or completed construction projects. Transitioning leaders need to understand insurance, bonds, and establishing a safety culture to help minimize their claim risks. This session will provide an understanding of the world of construction insurance including underwriting, decision making, and financial analysis. Attendees will discuss the key concepts of what drives insurance costs and how to manage his or her Worker’s Compensation Experience Mod as well as other emerging risks contractors face today.
Instructor: John Schwab
Understanding financial statements is essential to the short term and long-term success of construction companies. This course will remove the complexity of their financial statements that will drive making informed business decisions, help quickly and easily identify areas that need attention, provide insight into the operations, improve predictability, and enable greater management of cash flow.
Instructor: Howard “Buck” Barker
Lawsuits and legal conflicts are a legitimate concern for anyone working in construction. Through the use of real-life case studies, attendees will understand how to identify construction and design practices that cause litigation and how to avoid an escalation of legal actions. This interactive session will provide tools and procedures for assessing a threat when it arises and remedying it before lawyers are involved.
Who Should Attend:
Safety professionals are critical to the safety culture of the workplace. Safety leaders are tasked with extremely important initiatives such as creating and implementing health and safety policies, training employees on safety standards, and conducting safety inspections. This program provides ABC Wisconsin Members with the tools and skill sets required to develop safety professionals into safety leaders.
Course Session Time: 7:30a.m. – 3:30p.m.
Where: Consolidated Construction Company, 4300 N. Richmond St., Appleton WI
Registration Fees: $1,400 for the first person, $1,200 for each additional person from the same company
Instructor: ABC of WI Safety Staff
Participants will understand the importance of leadership commitment, cultural transformation, and the safety management processes in achieving a world-class safety culture.
Instructor: Mark Miner
Participants will learn their role, responsibilities, and value as a safety leader, including the key components of a safety program and their relationship to regulatory requirements.
Instructor: Mark Miner
Participants will learn the elements required to develop a site-specific safety plan to meet specific job conditions. This will include how to manage the flow of post incident information, managing on-site emergencies, and crisis planning.
Instructor: Mark Miner
This session will prepare safety professionals on how to develop and deliver effective training as well as facilitate efficient and value driven safety meetings. Participants will learn how to assess needs, develop objectives, prepare content, and analyze end-of-message results, including daily pre-task analysis. Participants will learn techniques to coach personnel to address safety problems and will receive an overview of the OSHA, MSHA and DOT training requirements.
Instructor: Mark Miner
This session will cover response to incidents. Learners will review methods commonly used for conducting incident reviews, record-keeping, and documentation for regulations and insurance needs as well as higher level incident data examination for systematic analysis.
Who Should Attend:
The Project Supervisor is responsible for the overall success of the project delivery including the planning phase, safety components, employee relations, and overall details of the construction project. Advance your career and excel in project supervision principles. The interactive program consists of multiple sessions taught by industry leaders, covering construction-specific topics every supervisor needs to know.
The Project Supervision program gives both seasoned and newer field managers an opportunity to develop their skills, share experiences and best practices and enhance their role as Project Supervisors.
Course Session Time: 8:00a.m. – 3:00p.m.
Where: Professional Development Center, ABC of Wisconsin, 5330 Wall St., Madison, WI
Registration Fees: $2,400 for the first person, $2,200 for each additional person from the same company
Instructor: Jim Bunkelman, Royal Construction, Inc.
This session discusses the transitional skills required to move into a leadership position, the format to deliver a profitable project, and examine a project from the initial estimate to closeout. Attendees will discover why projects go wrong, examine common reasons for cost overruns, and learn how to efficiently plan and maintain your projects.
Instructors: Josh Levy & Rachel Potter, Husch Blackwell
Project supervisors are often on the front line of disputes or potential disagreements between contractors and subcontractors. This session will discuss the concept of breachless execution. Attendees will learn common terminology, issues and resolutions, progress billing and the payment process, performance issues, default, and termination. Through interactive discussions, attendees will practice dispute resolution and how to avoid disputes through best practice standards.
Instructors: Denita Schreier, W.D.S. Construction, Inc. and Sam Daniels, Daniels Construction
The success of any project requires effective control of construction costs on the job site. This session specifically focuses on construction cost and applies principles and practices associated with cost awareness and production control to different elements of a project. Cost control begins with the estimate and then continues through work and cost analysis, production scheduling, reporting, production control and ends with project evaluation. Attendees will solve common construction problems using case studies and discussion of common cost control issues.
Instructor: Lee Hill, Koppers, Inc.
Project supervision goes beyond simply managing the job. You are charged with the responsibility of ensuring the project is completed on time, safely, and financially responsible while caring for those in your charge as well. Consequently, a successful job hinges on the fundamentals of being able to gracefully navigate the communication puzzle we encounter every day talking to many different people. We also have to ensure our teams have the necessary skills and forethought to be able to think ahead, look for obstacles and be your eyes and ears when you are not present. Investigating swiftly, following up, delegation, communication, critical thinking and long-term planning are all skills that we will discuss to help both you and your team become more successful and efficient.
Program attendees will select from a variety of safety, personal development, leadership, and business management sessions taught by industry experts that will best meet their needs. This three-day also offers the opportunity to network with peers.
Instructor: Dan Paulson, InVision Development International, LLC
In the often-high-pressure environment of a construction site, effective communication is crucial for ensuring project success and safety. This session introduces the DISC model as a tool for understanding and adapting to different communication styles within your team. Participants will learn how to identify and interpret the four primary DISC personality types and how these styles are demonstrated in team interactions. Attendees will understand the importance of their role in the flow of communication and learn how to overcome the barriers necessary for productive workflow within the team, and on the job.
Instructor: Dan Paulson, InVision Development International, LLC
Strategic planning provides both a process and a set of outcomes that help you find the answers to core questions about projects and direction. Attendees will learn the role strategic planning plays in enabling long-term success by understanding the strategic planning process and its essential components and how it applies to complex problem solving.
Whether you are toying with the idea of exiting the business in the next few years or are 10 years away, it is never too early to start planning; it certainly can be too late! This course was designed for business owners to evaluate their leadership team, current operations and financial position and build strategic exit plans to help maximize their reward for years of hard work and effort.
Who Should Attend:
What You Will Learn:
October 17-18, 2024, ABC of Wisconsin, 5330 Wall St., Madison, WI
Course Session Time: 8:00a.m. – 3:00p.m.
Registration Fee: $499 Members
To learn more about this opportunity to gain brand awareness and exposure at Construction U education events contact the Director of Education, Brandi Davis.
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