Jun 2, 2026 · 30 min · 12 segments
Melissa Drew is the Founder and President of InSite BUILD, a construction management firm based on Maryland's Eastern Shore that specializes in complex state-procured projects. After 20 years with…
Melissa DrewGuestEric AndertonHost
So we like that- that government space and where we think we can add- add a lot of value to the complex projects.
Can you give us a little bit of your background in terms of construction and who you've worked with?
I spent, uh, most of my career was with Holder Construction, so I started, uh, interning with Holder when I was, uh, in college at Purdue University, and, uh, started when I was 18 and went to work there full-time after college and spent, uh, 20 years of my career with Holder.
I had a short little stint where I, uh, went to work for Gilbane Building Company, had a great experience there.
Got me a little closer to home, but then, uh, took a, a little turn and went back to Holder Construction to focus on some quality for a little bit before breaking off and starting Insight Build on my own right at four years ago.
I spent a lot of time in Maryland, so where I'm located is more on the, the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Small town, different, different niche, so when I wasn't in these big metropolitan areas, I, I found that sometimes the, the big bureaucracy, uh, the corporateness of these larger companies sometimes didn't fit how the work was happening on site, uh, uh, when you were dealing with smaller companies, local companies, uh, particularly on the Eastern Shore here.
I wanted to try it on my own, where I could take some big project experience and do it in a smaller, more nimble way.
And so broke off, used those relationships to have a fantastic start to the company, and it's never looking back since then.
So we like that- that government space and where we think we can add- add a lot of value to the complex projects.
Can you give us a little bit of your background in terms of construction and who you've worked with?
I spent, uh, most of my career was with Holder Construction, so I started, uh, interning with Holder when I was, uh, in college at Purdue University, and, uh, started when I was 18 and went to work there full-time after college and spent, uh, 20 years of my career with Holder.
I had a short little stint where I, uh, went to work for Gilbane Building Company, had a great experience there.
Got me a little closer to home, but then, uh, took a, a little turn and went back to Holder Construction to focus on some quality for a little bit before breaking off and starting Insight Build on my own right at four years ago.
I spent a lot of time in Maryland, so where I'm located is more on the, the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Small town, different, different niche, so when I wasn't in these big metropolitan areas, I, I found that sometimes the, the big bureaucracy, uh, the corporateness of these larger companies sometimes didn't fit how the work was happening on site, uh, uh, when you were dealing with smaller companies, local companies, uh, particularly on the Eastern Shore here.
I wanted to try it on my own, where I could take some big project experience and do it in a smaller, more nimble way.
And so broke off, used those relationships to have a fantastic start to the company, and it's never looking back since then.
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