The Builders' Table Ep. 155: Mike Greenawalt

Well, you know, I developed traveling for Rosen and we went to a lot of remote locations and acquiring labor was a challenge.

And we came up with a lot of creative ways.

We would look at just following our gut, what people like, what people need to do to earn a living and what's going to attract them and get them there.

And that really excited me.

I look back to the opportunity that I had, that I took.

and just trying to get that opportunity out.

There's so many people out there that are like me that, you know, high school kind of left them flat.

Next thing you know, they're graduated and they're out in the wind looking for something to get them there.

And construction, you know, it has kind of a bad stigma.

People think about, oh, you know, I'm not there yet.

But I look at it as the best opportunity in the world, especially if you're not going to college.

there's apprenticeships.

There's an apprenticeship for everything.

So I developed the bug, I'd say the last 15 years at Rosadin, traveling a lot for the company, opening offices, getting brand new people in, hiring people out in remote locations and people, some of the places we were testing them in the field.

And if they could screw bolts together, we'd put them on building unistrut racks and working with the local unions and the apprenticeships to say, hey, we're going to get these kids into your apprenticeship.

We're going to get them to work.

And if you don't have it for them afterwards, they can take it and they've got a skill set they can take and advance it somewhere else.

And as I was getting towards retirement, I just really liked working with young adults, people trying to get into the business.

I anytime somebody said, well, I've got a son or a daughter or a nephew, it was like, send them into me, send them out.

I'll talk to them.

I'll take them.

I'll take them.

I'll, you know, let me, let me add them, you know, we'll get them into, we'll get them into an apprenticeship somewhere.

So, uh, yeah, the bug bit me and I, I was working with a program that I, that helped start at Grand Canyon university.

Uh, and we can, I'll probably talk to that a little bit more in a minute, but that really lit the fire.

Well, you know, I developed traveling for Rosen and we went to a lot of remote locations and acquiring labor was a challenge.

And we came up with a lot of creative ways.

We would look at just following our gut, what people like, what people need to do to earn a living and what's going to attract them and get them there.

And that really excited me.

I look back to the opportunity that I had, that I took.

and just trying to get that opportunity out.

There's so many people out there that are like me that, you know, high school kind of left them flat.

Next thing you know, they're graduated and they're out in the wind looking for something to get them there.

And construction, you know, it has kind of a bad stigma.

People think about, oh, you know, I'm not there yet.

But I look at it as the best opportunity in the world, especially if you're not going to college.

there's apprenticeships.

There's an apprenticeship for everything.

So I developed the bug, I'd say the last 15 years at Rosadin, traveling a lot for the company, opening offices, getting brand new people in, hiring people out in remote locations and people, some of the places we were testing them in the field.

And if they could screw bolts together, we'd put them on building unistrut racks and working with the local unions and the apprenticeships to say, hey, we're going to get these kids into your apprenticeship.

We're going to get them to work.

And if you don't have it for them afterwards, they can take it and they've got a skill set they can take and advance it somewhere else.

And as I was getting towards retirement, I just really liked working with young adults, people trying to get into the business.

I anytime somebody said, well, I've got a son or a daughter or a nephew, it was like, send them into me, send them out.

I'll talk to them.

I'll take them.

I'll take them.

I'll, you know, let me, let me add them, you know, we'll get them into, we'll get them into an apprenticeship somewhere.

So, uh, yeah, the bug bit me and I, I was working with a program that I, that helped start at Grand Canyon university.

Uh, and we can, I'll probably talk to that a little bit more in a minute, but that really lit the fire.