About The Author

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I began my construction career while I was still in high school, working part time for a gentleman who owned two backhoes that he would rent with or without an operator. One Saturday, someone came into our shop with an emergency - a waterline had broken on their property and they needed to excavate down for repairs. However, they didn’t feel comfortable operating the backhoe themselves. I had never really operated a backhoe either, but I had driven them down the road for fuel, and unfolded them to grease, so that made me slightly more qualified. I managed to dig a trench next to the broken waterline (without damaging anything else) and the rest is history. By the time I was out of school, the full time operator had quit, and I inherited his job. That led to another job for a small civil contractor, which led to another job for a concrete contractor, and so on and so on. Along the way, I became skilled at operating almost any piece of equipment. I learned the art of concrete finisher and form carpenter. I was promoted to crew foreman, then general foreman, Project Engineer, and Project Superintendent. Back in 2006, I changed course completely and became involved with the implementation of some new software for the company I worked for. The software vendor was HCSS, and the product was called HeavyJob. HeavyJob is Project Management software that allows foremen to complete digital time cards, record Safety meetings and inspections, and most importantly see how they performed each day compared to their budgets. For the next 15 years, my focus was on training people to use the HeavyJob software, along with other HCSS products, and supporting every aspect of how my company used the software. I was known as the HeavyJob Guru. Over the years, I’ve trained hundreds of foremen, and hundreds more Superintendents, Project Managers and Project Engineers. In 2020, I decided to change course again, and I accepted an offer to work directly for HCSS as a Product Manager. I still get to help users and also help HCSS maintain their leadership in the construction software industry. Don’t worry - this blog will not be limited to HCSS software, but there will be discussions about the software when it relates to making you a better foreman (or even a better supervisor in general).