Speaker Topics

Speaker Topics at NPE 2023

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Management
  • LINES OF CREDIT- HOW TO USE
    • When is the best time to get a line of credit
    • Building company credit
    • Seek banks when your company doesn’t need money
    • Using your Line of Credit to offset customers with 60-90 day payments
    • SUBCONTRACTING
      • Building a strong relationship with top vendors
      • How to use subs and to keep them to a high standard
      • How to add profit and maximize profitability when subbing
      • Making sure Subcontractor has proper insurance
      • JOB COSTING AND ESTIMATING SOFTWARES
        • Understanding true costs of Equipment and ownership costs to capture burdens
        • Understanding Labor costs, Salaries and capturing hourly rates fully burdened
        • Software that simplifies the job costing process
        • Foreman job costing and capturing every item for true job cost

       

      • IPAD PRO IN THE FIELD
        • Purchasing the right IPAD
        • Pen and protective cases
        • Training the Field Managers to properly use
        • Communication from field to office
        • Job Costing
        • All job info in IPAD Files – No More Paper
        • Pictures, Change Orders, Estimating, Maps ETC.

       

      • UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY FOR TODAYS CONTRACTOR
        • Setting your office up with the proper computers (Mac or PC)
        • Cell Phones
        • IPADS, Surface Pros, Laptops to be able to work in or out of office
        • GPS units for trucks
        • Zoom meetings, Microsoft Teams, Facetime
        • How combining the technology will eliminate double work and create efficiency
      Paving
      • MILLING BASICS – WHEN TO BUY A MILL
        • High Flow Skid Steer with Mill Head (24” 40”)
        • Trimmers- Cutting edges, use for trenching
        • Purchasing your 1st mill.
        • Understanding the true cost of ownership
        • Using Subcontractor
        • Moving Machine- Buying a lowboy trailer
        • High Maintenance
        • Proper equipment used with milling
        • Sweepers- Best sweepers- Pick Up, Truck Sweepers, Vacuum
        • Best method of maintaining pickup sweeper damage

       

      • ADVANCED MILLING – MULTIPLE MACHINES AND HIGH PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
        • Maximizing milling in parking lots
        • Corners- best way to profile corners to eliminate broken asphalt
        • Milling around utility structures
        • Maintenance and best teeth options
        • Leasing vs buying
        • Understanding ownership costs
        • Building an A team – Proper Equipment and team
        • Sweepers- Best sweepers- Pick Up, Truck Sweepers, Vacuum
        • Best method of maintaining pickup sweeper damage

       

      • RESIDENTIAL PAVING DRIVEWAYS AND SMALL LOTS – BUILDING DRIVEWAYS
        • Purchasing the right equipment to be productive
        • Removing driveways- Excavator, Skid Steer, Milling- Best and Fastest method
        • High Costs of disposal of broken asphalt
        • Decorative edges- Creating designer driveways
        • Best Specifications for driveways
        • Best Compaction Method

       

      • COMMERCIAL PAVING- PARKING LOTS, ROADS
        • Overlays vs Milling
        • Once milled and cleaned- Reconstructing failed areas
        • Best Specifications
        • Clay subbase vs sand – Specifications
        • Proper Equipment Selection- Milling Machines, Paver Size, Roller Size
        • Importance of compaction
      Leadership
      • HOW TO BUILD A STRONG TEAM
        • Building Project Managers and Foreman’s
        • Accountability- Understanding the power
        • Middle Management drives the profitability
        • Understanding how to elevate your crews
        • Learning how to have crucial conversation
        • Creating respect from your peers
      Office
      • GROWING PAINS-HIRING A STRONG OFFICE STAFF (Small Company) ▪ Delegating and empowering job duties
        • Hiring the right people
        • Bookkeeper or Financial Controller
        • Outsourcing Bookkeeping
        • HR, Payroll, Project Coordinators to create job packets
      • CHANGES TO HR LAWS
        • Overtime
        • On-duty meal breaks
        • Prevailing wage
        • BYOD traps
        • Diversity & gender

       

      • UNDERSTANDING PAYROLL, HUMAN RESOURCES, OUTSOURCING PAYROLL, WORKMANS COMP AND INSURANCE (Large Company)
        • Payroll Services- Timeclocks best way to capture employee hours
        • Human Resources- Keeping employee info and best way to store the info.
        • Workman’s Comp and Insurance
      • GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TEAM – UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF FEELINGS
        • Personality Profiles- DISC TESTS
        • Learning how to understand personality profiles to best communicate with team members
        • How to build your teams by personalities to create “A” Teams
        • How to use this tool for hiring and putting people in the right positions
      Cracksealing
      • CRACKFILLING AND MASTICS
        • Purchasing the right equipment
        • Push Kettles, Crackfill machines and trucks to pull material
        • Cleaning cracks
        • How to handle settlement
        • Routing vs blow and fill
        • Using sand, spray to prevent tracking
        • Crackfiller that sticks to tires in hot weather – complaints
        • Mastics to fill wide cracks
        • When is it too late to crack fill

       

      • CRACK SEAL 101
        • Crack seal safety
        • Crack preparation
        • Why do we crack seal?
        • Difference between crack sealing to filling
        • How clean is clean when preparing cracks
        • Material A-Z
        • Hot pour vs. Cold pour
        • Direct fire vs. Oil jacket kettles
        • Hand carts, pour pots and squeezes. Advantages and disadvantages of each.
      Sealcoating
      • SEALCOATING FOR BEGINNERS – LEARNING THE BUSINESS
        • Purchasing the right equipment
        • Equipping your trucks to win
        • What size tank to buy?
        • Truck pulling Trailer vs Truck Mounted
        • Coal Tar vs Asphalt Emulsion
        • Applying by hand brush, squeegee, spray wand or spraybar
        • Using additives and sand
        • Coal tar shortage and price increases
        • When is it too late to seal

       

      • SEALCOATING PRO TIPS
        • Purchasing the right equipment
        • Yard Tanks – 8,000 – 10,000 with meters
        • Ride on applicators
        • Double Coat vs Overlap
        • Creating Sealcoat Plans for your customers
        • Proper timetable for sealcoating – Not over sealing
        • Coal Tar, Asphalt Emulsion, Rejuvenators
        • Discuss Tire scuffing
        • Price Increases and Shortages- How to handle the supply shortages
        • How to handle white spots that come through the sealer
        • Pricing Strategies
      Pavement Marking (Striping)
      • LINESTRIPING FOR BEGINNERS
        • Purchasing equipment – Ride On or Push Unit
        • Understanding Layouts
        • Stencils
        • Paint Types
        • Equipping truck to win
      • LINESTRIPING ADVANCED
        • Using Lasers
        • Layout Techniques – How to use the auto layout
        • Striping on radius – layout tips
        • Thermoplastic – Units for beginners
        • Thermoplastic – Truck Units
        • ADA Layout

       

      • ADA COMPLIANCE
        • Understanding the ADA laws
        • Using a 2-foot smart level – 2%
        • Concrete ramps
        • Truncated Domes
        • Proper Signage
      Sweeping
      • USING STORMWATER AND AIR POLLUTION DATA TO SELL SWEEPING SERVICES
        • University and private studies are clear on the environmental benefits of sweeping
        • Use this data to create credibility and need, in your sales pitch
        • Help in getting local entities to not ignore national regulations that require sweeping
      • JOB COSTING FOR SWEEPING SERVICES
        • What your numbers should be telling you
        • How to develop your own primary KPI’s or KSI’s
        • How to use non-numerical data as a KPI (i.e. Customer Satisfaction)
        • When are you measuring too much
      • NEXT GENERATION SWEEPERS – ELECTRIC, AUTONOMOUS
        • Discussion includes infrastructure needed, mechanic training, financing with grants
        • An over the horizon look at what is coming AND what is already here
        • Timelines in some states for mandatory adoption (Electric)
        • The changing legal framework for autonomous fleets
      • USING THE ANSI POWER SWEEPING STANDARD TO PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS AND HOW TO USE IT AS A SALES TOOL.
        • How best to reference it in your contracts to maximize protection
        • What to share with your defense team when involved with trip & fall litigation
        • How to make sure it is not used against you
      • GETTING BUY-IN FOR DASHCAMS AND IN-CAB CAMERAS
        • Privacy issues
        • Eliminating Distracted Driving: How Technology and Coaching Can Improve Fleet Operations
        • Sample employment policies and forms.
        • Machine learning and artificial intelligence are making fleets safer.  How it is introduced can make a big difference.
      Sales and Marketing
      • DIGITAL MARKETING
        • Using the proper platforms ( Linkedin, Facebook,Instgram, Twitter etc.)
        • Website design – Creating a clean impactful site that is easy to use
        • SEO
        • Using Drones in the field to create strong Before and After
        • Keeping your company relevant
        • Highlighting your services with great videos and client testimonials

       

      • SELLING TO COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS
        • Understanding Customer needs
        • Discussing budgets and expectations
        • Creating maps and clarity of areas in need of repair
        • With retail and commercial building not 100% occupied – finances are low
        • How to create a multi-year plan to get site in top standing

       

      • CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION: AFTER JOB IS WON- BEST WAY TO COMMUNICATE
        • When Qualifying customers finding the best way to communicate
        • Setting Schedule and keeping customer updated
        • What happens if rain or production pushes project
        • Unhappy customers if project moves and customer can’t be onsite
        • When crews arrive on site – Communication method- (Text, Phone, Email etc.)
        • How to handle customers that do not want to meet onsite
        • How to wow your customer