The Blue Hills Contractor Incubator is getting ready to offer a new tool to the small construction businesses in its program: group mentoring.
The incubator, which launched in 2013, already offers training, office space and other resources, but now, the nine participating companies will be given four mentors—a financial professional, a construction industry expert, a construction lawyer and a fourth professional who has expertise in a specific need at that business.
Each business owner and his or her mentors will meet once a month and work toward three or four goals for the business, said Adrienne Haynes, the manager of the contractor incubator. It’s practically a built-in advisory board.
Construction companies typically spend about three years working in the blue Hills incubator, which has room for 10 at a time. It takes applications on a rolling basis, so Haynes encouraged entrepreneurs to apply. (Contact her at ahaynes@bhcsmo.org or (816) 333-7870 ext. 207 for more information.)
Representatives from some of the region’s biggest and best construction companies, banks and law firms have agreed to serve as mentors for Blue Hills’ group mentoring effort. They include:
- Arthur Tanner, Tinmaster, Inc., Former President
- August Huber, A.L. Huber, Inc., CEO
- Ben Anderson, CBIZ MHM, Senior Associate
- Ben Shultz, LaborChart, CEO
- Bill DeBauche, Esq., Brown & Ruprecht, Shareholder
- Byron Ginsberg, Ginsburg Consulting, Founder
- Carlose Estes, Storehouse Planning, Principal
- Colleen White, Strategic Workplace Solutions, Inc., President and Owner
- Courtney Kounkel, Centric Projects, Partner
- Cynthia Herron, Liberty Partners Financial Services, Investment Advisor
- Dan Axtell, Lexington Plumbing, Chairman of the Board
- Dan Schmidt, Emerging Business CFO, Founder and CEO
- David Disney, JE Dunn, Senior Vice President
- David Waters, Esq., Lathrop & Gage, Partner
- DeVonia Marino, Straub Construction, Business Development and Marketing
- Diane Lewis, Esq., Brown & Ruprecht, Shareholder
- Don Greenwell, The Builders’ Association, President
- Donald Maxwell, Esq., Donald E. Maxwell, LLC, Managing Member
- Ed Doering, SCORE, Vice President
- Greg Sikora, The Weitz Company, Vice President
- Jason Carter-Solomon, Enterprise Bank and Trust, Vice President
- Jeff Parrish, The Weitz Company, Senior Project Manager
- John Hendricks, MoKanRef, Vice President of Training and Development
- Juan Ramirez, Arvest Bank, Business Banker
- Karla Jones Wilson, Esq., Foutch Brothers, LLC, General Counsel
- Kathy Lewis, Westlake Ace Hardware, Human Resources
- Kevin Waddell, Foley Company, Estimating Manager
- Lee Brumitt, Esq., Dysart Taylor, Shareholder
- Luther Salonen, Salonen CFO Services, President
- Michele Markey, Kauffman FastTrac, Vice President
- Pam Mosher, Enterprise Bank and Trust, Assistant Vice President
- Rita Cortes, Esq., Jewish Heritage Foundation, Executive Director
- Stanley Buss, Financial Cares, Inc., Owner and President
- Susan McGreevy, Esq., Stinson Leonard Street, Partner
- Victor Hammonds, Liberty Bank & Trust, Vice President of Commercial Lending
- Willetta Proctor, SPHR, Bethesda Lutheran Communities, Human Resources
