Business Summit 2024 Speakers

Revolutionizing Electrical Construction: The Role of AI and Robots in Shaping the Future

Seth Anderson, Founder and CEO Weifield Group Contracting

As a Weifield founding partner and Chief Executive Officer, Seth Anderson is responsible for providing leadership, developing strategic plans to advance the company, and promoting revenue, profitability, and growth. Seth has extensive experience in design-build, design-assist, and plan/spec across a multitude of verticals, including high tech buildings, the U.S. Government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, education, high- and low-rise buildings, and mixed use projects. He has a degree in Construction Management from Moorhead State University in Minnesota.

Seth has led Weifield to become one of the top five electrical contractors in Colorado through proactive planning, a solid process foundation, superior hiring practices, and strategic alliances. Seth’s current and future goals are geared toward ensuring that Weifield is on-track to becoming one of the largest electrical contractors in the United States. Seth is a member of Young President’s Organization (YPO), and is serving on the Specialty Contractor Council Board for Associated General Contractors (AGC).

This November, Seth was the recipient of the 2023 Denver Business Journals’ Most Admired CEO Award.

The Long and Short View: How Trade Advocacy Can Build Your Bench

Michelle is a former classroom teacher turned corporate learning manager. With her team, Michelle provides learning solutions both internally & externally by designing, developing, delivering, and maintaining comprehensive training programs reaching 2500+ users. Michelle also oversees career development programs including internships, apprenticeships, licensing, leadership & management training, and the Career LAP (Leadership Advancement Program). As Curriculum Director for ACE Mentor of Greater Tampa Bay, Michelle works with the team to raise awareness about ACE Careers through mentoring and support.

Investing In Your Business

Patrick Cunningham is a National Account Executive in the Association Risk Management Services department of Federated Insurance. Patrick is responsible for managing Federated’s national association and buying group partners.

Since 1998, Pat has spent his entire career working in the marketing areas of Federated Insurance where he was a successful Marketing Representative, Account Executive-ARMS, District Marketing Manager, and Senior Marketing Representative. Pat earned the trust of hundreds of business owners in the areas of safety, risk, and business management by focusing on value, service, and relationships. Pat was awarded membership into Federated’s Chairman’s Council, Big Hitter Club, Monthly Leadership Council, and Life and Disability Income Contest winner. He also participated in various company Focus Meetings and workshops, “Street-Talk” seminars, Risk Management Academy seminars, and pilot programs.

A native of Kansas City, MO and an alum of the University of Central Missouri with a bachelor’s in business management, Patrick and his wife are the proud parents of three daughters and two grandchildren.

Detect and React to Job Site and Schedule Changes Early to Minimize the Impact on your Project Results

Dr. Perry Daneshgari is the founder, President, and CEO of MCA Inc. MCA is a research and implementation company that focuses on implementing process and product development, waste reduction and productivity improvement of labor, project management, estimation, accounting, and customer care. MCA, Inc. has worked with various national and international companies all over the globe. Dr. Perry has taught several classes and conducted several presentations for MCAA, the Electrical Contracting Foundation, NWCCC and was the keynote speaker at the 2009 annual IEC National Convention. Dr. Perry has completed over 12 research projects for construction and distribution industries and as well as published several papers and articles. He has published several books, most recently the "Prefabrication Handbook for the Construction Industry”: as well as 4 books on Industrialization of Construction.

Your Organizational Culture: Impact to People and Results

Michael Evans is a leader within Talent Learning for Milwaukee Tool. Michael has spent the last 20 years learning and leading in multiple sales, training, service, and brand marketing roles. Michael is a servant leader focused on educating Milwaukee teams to serve our partners and end users in the construction industry. Michaels’ passion for people and culture has allowed him the opportunity to work as a chair for the Milwaukee culture team, driving the celebration and recognition of our diverse people. As a founding member of the Pudwill Leadership Center, Michael worked to design and deliver engaging training in both digital and live hands-on, taking user and product knowledge to a best-in-class level of immersive experiential learning. Michael is a dynamic speaker and facilitator who aims to foster an environment where people learn and grow together toward measurable results.

Emerging Solutions for Planning & Installing EV Chargers

Bill Fowler manages EV infrastructure solutions Southwire offers to the electrical market. His primary focus is developing new and innovative solutions for safe and efficient EV cable installations while working with key decision makers at electrical contractors to train, implement, and support these solutions. Bill works with or industry partners to help educate the next generation of electrical contractors to use innovative solutions and critical thinking on the jobsite.

Bill joined Southwire in 2012 and brings a wealth of knowledge from 30+ years working in the construction, electrical and low voltage industry. Bill innovative approach for installations has led to him being granted several US patents for innovative product designs.

Bill has a passion for giving back to the industry and his community. He contributes to Southwire’s presence in the electrical industry by educating contractors and students on innovation, Safety and more productive ways to install wire and cable.

Opening Keynote: The Safari Way to Greater Happiness

The Safari Way: Roaring Success with the Right Peeps in the Jeep

Steve Fredlund is a multi-passionate visionary who has had profound impact as an award-winning actuary, humanitarian, coach, consultant, author, speaker, podcaster, entrepreneur and leader of African safaris. His research into happiness combined with his safari experiences into something remarkable, the “Big 5” factors that are increasing individual happiness and team success around the world. Steve is a two-time TEDx speaker and author of “Do the Unright Thing” (releasing January 2024) who holds an MBA and fellowship in the Society of Actuaries. When not working, he can be found on the disc golf course, playing a poker tournament or suffering through another season as a Minnesota sports fan.

The New Era of Energy and Electrification

Bryan P. Holland is the Managing Director of the Technical Field Representatives Program at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). He is a principal voting member on the NFPA 780, NFPA 78 and NFPA 1078 Technical Committees, the ICC Commercial Energy Code Consensus Committee, ICC Sustainability, Efficiency, and High-Performance Code Action Committee, and IEC SEG 13 Electrical Equipment Under Extreme Climate, Environmental and Disaster Conditions Committee. Bryan currently holds forty-one ICC Certifications including Master Code Professional, Electrical Code Official, and Energy Code Specialist. He also holds twenty-six FEMA Certifications and is a Certified Standards Professional (CStd) by the Society of Standards Professionals. Prior to his tenure with NEMA, Bryan worked for the City of North Port, Florida as Building Official and is a licensed Building Code Administrator, Plans Examiner, and Inspector in the State of Florida. He also serves as an instructor and course developer for the Electrical Council of Florida and is a member of the Florida Electrical Technical Advisory Committee, FLASH Technical Advisory Council, ICC Pandemic Task Force, and ICC Existing Building Safety Inspection Work Group. Bryan is a member of the IAEI, ICC, NFPA and SES.

Emerging Solutions for Planning & Installing EV Chargers

After spending most of his early career as an electrician across the southeast, Ian worked as a designer and draftsman at an electrical engineering firm based in Birmingham, Alabama, leading many trips into the field to assess the condition of existing electrical systems. This led to months of out of date records, poor quality photos, and messy, error filled, hand written notes and single line diagrams per job.

This process meant wasted time and money for the facility as well as the engineering firm. Ian knew there had to be a better way. After taking a step back from the industry and still seeing no improvements in its processes, Ian began developing the idea of Condoit, a method to more accurately and efficiently document electrical system records.

Detect and React to Job Site and Schedule Changes Early to Minimize the Impact on your Project Results

Dr. Heather Moore is VP of Operations for MCA, Inc and has taught numerous classes for NECA, IBEW, IEC, MCAA, and MCAA of Canada; contributed to several research projects for the Electrical Contracting Foundation, MCAA, the New Horizons Foundation, and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. She holds a Ph.D. in Construction Management, Michigan State University. Additionally, she holds an MBA and a B.S.E. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. She specializes in process design and operations research. Dr. Heather was a contributor to the ASTM Standard E2691, the only construction standard for “Job Productivity Measurement". Dr. Heather has also co-authored 4 books on the Industrialization of Construction and most recently the industry's first "Prefabrication Handbook" based on MCA, Inc.'s work for over 20 years.

Closing Keynote: 2024 Economic Forcast

Stephen Moore is a visiting senior fellow in economics at the Heritage Foundation, the largest private research institute in Washington, D.C. He served as a senior economic advisor to the Donald Trump for President campaign where he helped write the Trump tax plan and worked on energy and budget issues for candidate Trump. Moore is also a senior economic analyst with CNN, where he provides daily commentary on the economy, fiscal policy and politics. From 2014- 2017 he served as a Fox news contributor. From 2005 to 2014 Moore served as the senior economics writer for the Wall Street Journal editorial page and as a member of the Journal’s editorial board. He is still a regular contributor to the Journal’s editorial page. He is a frequent lecturer to business, investment and university audiences around the world on the U.S. economic and political outlook in Washington, D.C. From 1999-2004 Moore served as founder and President of the Club for Growth, a 25,000-member organization dedicated to helping elect free market, tax cutting candidates to Congress. In his tenure as president, the Club for Growth became one of the most influential and respected political organizations in the nation. In 2003-04 the Club for Growth raised nearly $22 million for Republican congressional and Senate candidates, making the Club the biggest single money raiser for Republican candidates outside the party itself. In 2007 he received the Ronald Reagan “Great Communicator” award from the Republican party for his advancement of economic understanding. Mr. Moore has served as a Senior Economist at the Joint Economic Committee under former Chairman Dick Armey of Texas. There, he advised Mr. Armey on budget, tax, and competitiveness issues. He was also an architect of the famous Armey flat tax proposal. From 1983 through 1987, Mr. Moore served as the Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Budgetary Affairs at the Heritage Foundation. Mr Moore has worked for two presidential commissions. In 1988, he was a Special Consultant to the National Economic Commission. In 1987, he was Research director of President Reagan’s commission on Privatization. Mr. Moore is the author of 6 books. His latest book is “Trumponomics: The Inside Story of the Trump Economic Boom.“ His previous books include: “Fueling Freedom: Exposing the Mad War on Energy” by Regnery. He is also author of “Who’s the Fairest of Them All? The Truth About Taxes, Income and Wealth in America” published in 2012 by Encounter. His previous books include most recently Return to Prosperity: How America Can Regain its Economic Superpower Status.“ That book was a finalist for the F.A. Hayek book award for advancing economic understanding. His books also include: “Its Getting Better All the Time: The 100 Greatest Trends of the Last Century,” and “Government: America’s Number One Growth Industry.” Mr. Moore is a graduate of the University of Illinois and holds an MA in Economics from George Mason University. In 2010 he was awarded the University of Illinois alumni of the year.

Detect and React to Job Site and Schedule Changes Early to Minimize the Impact on your Project Results

Phil Nimmo is the VP of Business Development. Phil has a B.S. Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University as well as an MBA Technology Management from University of Phoenix. Phil has been with MCA since 1999 he has conducted research projects for several industries, has led numerous projects to help clients implement the research results effectively incorporating these into their businesses, and participated in publication of both research and case study results. Additionally, he has Owned and Operated several small businesses, led operations for a large multi-state / multi-location distributor focused on serving the needs of contractors. Phil has also led operations and training departments for certificated air carriers, Managed digital controls, and mechanical equipment installations, and is accomplished in Automotive advanced product engineering, receiving both US and European patents for vehicle traction control and antilock brake systems.

Avoiding or Minimizing OSHA Citations and Compliance

Phillip Russell is a board-certified OSHA and employment lawyer, litigator, and advisor. He has practiced for more than 27 years and has developed a reputation for being a strategic, practical, and trusted partner to clients on labor and employment matters. One of Phillip’s strengths is developing teams and deploying firm resources to ensure clients receive the best possible service and results. He is a long-time IEC member and represents contractor members all across the country. Phillip is a strong strategic partner and adviser who has helped IEC members maximize their compliance with all employment and labor laws regulating the workplace and defending them in court and in front of government agencies such as OSHA, the DOL, and the NLRB, and he has helped them lawfully remain union-free. He holds many peer-reviewed honors and speaks often to construction industry associations, such as the IEC and its Chapters.

AI Forecast: Top Construction Technology Trends for Maximum Impact

Claire Wilson is Head of Construction Solutions at Siteline, the only A/R management software built for trade contractors. Previously, Claire was a project manager at Tishman Construction in New York City where she worked on monumental projects including Hudson Yards and JP Morgan’s Corporate Headquarters. It was her experience there that gave Claire a direct view into how construction billing works and why trade contractors need software specific to their workflows. Claire has a BS in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University. She lives in San Francisco and serves on the board of the Bay Area Subcontractors Association (BASA). She has spoken at the North American Iron Workers' IMPACT Conference in 2022 as well as the 2023 Steel Conference and the 2023 Glass TEXpo. In her free time, you can catch Claire running across the Golden Gate Bridge, enjoying all of San Francisco's incredible restaurants, or watching any and all sports—especially the Patriots.

Charlotte, North Carolina