SPEAKERS

Stripes

Stripes

Anirban Basu

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sage Policy Group, Inc.
Anirban Basu is chairman and CEO of Sage Policy Group Inc., an economic and policy consulting firm that provides strategic analytical services to energy suppliers, law firms, medical systems, government agencies and real estate developers. Basu is chair of the Maryland Economic Development Commission and the Baltimore County Economic Advisory Committee. He is also ABC chief economist and chief economic advisor to the Construction Financial Management Association.

Norman Adkins

Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Wire and Cable at Southwire

Norman Adkins is executive vice president and chief commercial officer of wire and cable at Southwire, serving the residential, commercial and tools markets in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Before joining Southwire, Adkins worked at Corning Incorporated in diverse functional areas of engineering, operations, sales, marketing and international business development.

Dale Asplund

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at United Rentals

Dale Asplund is executive vice president and chief operating officer at United Rentals. Asplund previously served as senior vice president, business services and chief information officer. Since joining the company in 1998, he has had responsibility for supply chain, fleet management and shared services. Asplund previously worked for United Waste Systems Inc. as a divisional manager.

Mike Bellaman

ABC President and CEO

In his role as ABC president and CEO, Michael D. Bellaman leverages the merit shop philosophy to help members develop people, win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which they work. He leads the association to deliver on the following long-term strategic goals — establishing ABC members as the world-class standard for health, safety and environment; increasing the political influence of ABC; ensuring ABC is the leading force for workforce development and education; and continuously growing and delivering value to a diverse and committed membership.

Michael Bennett

Vice President, The Cianbro Companies

Michael Bennett is vice president at The Cianbro Cos. An AQC and STEP Diamond participant, Cianbro strives to send their team members home in better condition than they arrived every day. Bennett chairs ABC’s National Health and Safety Committee. He has served on ABC Maine Chapter’s board of directors since 2000 and as chair in 2008 and 2018. Bennett also serves on the NCCER board of trustees and is its immediate past chair.

Nick Espinosa

Cybersecurity and Network Infrastructure Expert
An expert in cybersecurity and network infrastructure, Nick Espinosa has consulted with both small business and Fortune 100 clients. He is a member of the Forbes Technology Council and an award-winning co-author of the bestselling book "Easy Prey." Espinosa hosts the radio show "The Deep Dive," and is the spokesperson for the COVID-19 Cyber Threat Coalition. He serves on the board of advisors for Roosevelt University’s College of Arts and Sciences and the school’s Cyber Security Center.

Ty Findley

Managing Partner, Ironspring Ventures

As a managing partner for a digital industrial venture capital fund, Findley leads investments in innovative companies changing the way our world designs, builds, distributes and operates sustainably. He brings a decade of digital industrial experience from his time at Boeing, GE Ventures, and Pritzker Group Venture Capital, where he supported companies such as Pype, Smartvid.io, SMS Assist, DroneBase, Desktop Metal, FreightWaves, Plus One Robotics, project44 and Xometry.

Danny Gibson

President & Chief Operating Officer, MetroPower Inc.

Danny Gibson started his career in his family business, and after 43 years in the industry he still proudly identifies himself as an electrician. During his 34-year tenure with MetroPower, which has 12 offices primarily in the Southeast, he led the effort to establish the company in Georgia and the Carolinas. He is a past president of the Georgia Chapter of Independent Electrical Contractors.

Michael Herman

Michael Herman, Director of Construction, Central Division Starbucks

Michael Herman is in his third year as director of construction, Central Division for Starbucks. He leads a team that manages construction across the 27 states in the Central Division, covering new store builds and existing store renovations. Before joining Starbucks, Michael spent a decade with Walt Disney Imagineering, leading many construction efforts domestically and internationally. Michael has served on regional boards for Habitat for Humanity as well as the Lean Construction Institute and is a licensed engineer in the state of Florida.

John Hinson

Division President, Marek Brothers Systems, Inc.

John Hinson is division president of Marek Brothers Systems Inc. He started with Marek in 1984 and has been a DFW division president since 1989. John has had oversight of various branches since 2021. He’s served as president of AWCI in 2016, and served on boards or as an officer on the Construction Education Foundation; Drywall and Acoustical Contractors Association; Steel Framing Industry Association; TEXO; and the American Subcontractors Association. John was instrumental in the construction of various projects, like AT&T Stadium, ExxonMobil’s world headquarters and the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Ben Nemtin

Author of What Do You Want To Do Before You Die?
Ben Nemtin is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of "What Do You Want To Do Before You Die?" and a star of the MTV show "The Buried Life." A decade ago, Ben was knocked off his feet by a heavy depression. In an attempt to feel more alive, he created the world’s greatest bucket list with his three best friends. Every time they accomplished a dream, they helped a stranger cross something off their bucket list. Ben’s bucket list quest has inspired millions to chase their dreams.

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Frank Nerenhausen

Executive Vice President and President of Access Equipment, JLG Industries

Frank Nerenhausen is executive vice president and president of Access at JLG Industries, responsible for all companies and associated product lines in the Access business unit of the Oshkosh Corporation. Nerenhausen previously served as executive vice president and president for the commercial segment. Nerenhausen is on the Association of Equipment Manufacturers CE Sector and Shippensburg University School of Business Advisory boards of directors.

Dana Piscopo

Color Your Life LLC

Finding herself spinning through the tunnel of addiction, Dana Piscopo pulled herself up by her high heels to climb her way back to freedom. She became a certified whole-self sobriety and recovery coach, creating her trademarked program Reclaim Your Moxie. At Oracle Corporation, where she serves as the senior manager of sales operations for the Americas within the Construction & Engineering Global Business Unit, Dana holds weekly sessions for employees who want to work on a positive growth mindset to reach their goals. She also created a weekly SAFE, or Sobriety Awareness For Everyone, support group. She is the owner of Color Your Life LLC, offering coaching, workshops and corporate sessions on addiction awareness.

Stephanie Schmidt

President, Pool Anderson Construction

Stephanie Schmidt, president of Poole Anderson Construction in State College, Pennsylvania, is chair-elect of the ABC board of directors. Schmidt also serves on the Pennsylvania College of Technology Construction Management Advisory Committee and the Pennsylvania Council of General Contractors. She is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering.

Stacy Scopano

Vice President, National Prefabrication and Manufacturing Director, JE Dunn

Stacy Scopano provides overall direction, development and leadership for JE Dunn's integration of prefabrication and manufacturing processes for commercial construction, identifying and developing partnerships with key designers, trade partners and manufacturers. Scopano was on the executive leadership team at Skender, which produced modular and prefabricated components for commercial projects, and also served as an innovation and strategy executive at Skanksa USA, Autodesk and Trimble.

Mandy Rennehan

Blue-Collar CEO™  and Founder, Freshco.ca
Host and Designer, HGTV’s “Trading Up”

Mandy Rennehan is called the “blue-collar CEO” for her ability to seamlessly navigate between the white- and blue-collar worlds and to respectfully “tell it like it is.” Not only is she the host, designer and contractor for HGTV’s new show, “Trading Up,” Mandy is a sought-after speaker, award-winning entrepreneur, philanthropist, trade industry ambassador and CEO and founder of Freshco.ca. Mandy defies labels. Her uncensored honesty is matched by her quick wit, East Coast humor and big heart. It is impossible to remain unchanged after encountering this authentic, self-taught and self-made powerhouse. Her vision goes well beyond building successful businesses. Mandy is “redefining the collar, blue.” Mandy is challenging the misconception that white-collar jobs are “better” or “more desirable” than blue-collar ones; society needs both collars! She is also a lead adviser to the federal government’s national campaign encouraging apprenticeships and promoting the skilled trades as a career. Mandy has a new book coming out, “The Blue Collar CEO: My Gutsy Journey from Rookie Contractor to Multi-Millionaire Construction Boss,” on April 19, through HarperCollins Publishers. 

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Greg Sizemore

Vice President of Health, Safety, Environment and Workforce Development, Associated Builders and Contractors

In his role at ABC, Greg Sizemore is a key leader in the construction industry and the public sector on safety and workforce development. Prior to joining ABC in 2015, Sizemore worked at Zachry Industrial, where he played an integral role in the formation of Zachry’s competency-based safety, professional and craft workforce development programs. He is a past chair of the ABC National Craft Championships Committee and NCCER Workforce Development Committee. Currently, he serves on the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health and the board of directors of NCCER and chairs the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

Dave Walsh

Senior Director of Project Management

Dave Walsh is a senior director of project management for Marriott’s Global Design–Classic and Distinctive brands, supporting a talented group of account-based project managers focused on unit growth for all new build, conversion and adaptive reuse pipeline hotels in the United States and Canada. In addition to his day job, Dave is focused on Marriott’s Modular Program and supporting efforts to drive modular alternative learnings across hospitality development, as well as the design, construction and manufacturing communities. As a highly valued subject matter expert, Dave has participated in numerous speaking engagements within the hospitality, development, construction and modular industries. Dave has been with Marriott for 24 years, supporting the design and construction of over 3,000 hotels. In that time, he and his team have been two-time winners of Marriott’s Global Design Distinguished Service Award for outstanding service and leadership.