Business View Magazine | September 2022

66 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 9 they shifted to virtual monthly training meetings. “There is a lot of value to those in- person meetings,” admits LaVé, “because there is a lot of hands-on training in our industry. So we are now reintegrating some of the onsite hands- on training while still meeting online monthly. We’re getting more continuous training, but we are also getting some of the hands-on training that you can’t really do over a Zoom meeting.” One might assume their training sessions are primarily about construction techniques and practices but LaVé states that many of their training sessions actually focus on something else. “A lot of what we’re working on is just good business sense and business philosophy. We’re a construction company that understands that we’re actually a service company. In order to be a top level service company, you have to have a top level business philosophy. And that business philosophy has to get put down into the trenches where that business philosophy of pressure that’s been put on us because we are able to do a lot of the projects with smaller teams, so we haven’t had to really hit anywhere close to what our peak manpower has been in the past.” In an industry saddled with labor shortages, having consistent leadership is vital to the success of Precision Precast Erectors. “We’re creating one of the best places to work in the industry. The low turnover that we have in our leadership is proof of that,” states LaVé. “Caleb, our Operations Leader, has been here eight years now, my General Superintendent Cory Dawson joined the team nine years ago, and most of my foremen have been here for four to six years, with some even up to 13 years.” Before COVID-19 hit, Precision Precast Erectors had quarterly training meetings in person. When they needed to revamp their training and development practices during the pandemic, A CONCRETE INVESTMENT IN OUR FUTURE Knife River currently operates prefab/prestressed concrete operations in Harrisburg Oregon and Spokane Valley Washington and is doubling down on its investment in the region by building a new 185,000 SF indoor facility. The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is not just an investment in operations but in the work environments for our team members, making it one of the most advanced in its class. 922 N. Carnahan Spokane Valley, WA 509.536.3300 OREGON WASHINGTON 23505 Peoria Road Harrisburg, OR 541.995.4100