Brad Leavitt Podcast

Kristine Newman with McCarthy Building Companies

Feb 28, 2021

01:13:35

The company currently has around 150 active projects spread across different regions, each of which has its own Vice President of Finance. A financial reporting group accumulates data from all of these regions each month.

Listen in as Kris speaks on the finance side of running a large commercial contractor that she has had the pleasure of working for over the past 15 years. She describes how contracts are negotiated and why she expects field staff to have a high level of financial acumen to run the business that is their construction project. She also explains how McCarthy’s employees are able to literally own a part of the company via their ESOP.

Finally, Kris shares her experience finding success as a woman in a male-dominated industry and how she balances her immense responsibilities at work with time at home with her husband and six kids.

Topics Discussed:

[00:44] How often Kris evaluates the company’s performance financially
[03:46] How McCarthy acquires new projects and negotiates budgets with clients
[17:04] The most important metrics to track when looking at the overall balance sheet
[19:42] Dealing with slow-paying clients and building those relationships
[25:51] Why field staff should have an extensive understanding of the financials
[27:59] How incentives for all involved parties are decided on
[31:16] Deciding who to assign to different projects
[34:58] Monitoring the sweep account
[38:02] Managing the complex multi-region company structure from a cash perspective
[43:14] The challenges of working with unions
[45:03] The purpose of McCarthy’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
[51:34] Finding success as a woman in the male-dominated industry of construction
[56:56] How Kris achieves work-life balance with a demanding career and a large family

Connect with Kristine Newman & McCarthy Building Company:

Connect with Brad Leavitt of AFT Construction:

Key Quotes from Episode:

One of the things that makes us successful is this mindset of continuous improvement and learning from past projects and past situations. They’re never identical, but there are always lessons to pull through from various scopes of work.
We think of every one of our projects as a small business. We expect our superintendents and project managers to have a high level of financial acumen to run the business, not just build.
Every single day, our projects are trying to kill someone. What we do is really, really humbling. We build America, and it’s risky; not just financially—it’s risky from a safety standpoint as well.
Male or female, finding an edge in your career is all about relationships, personalities, and communication.
Find someone to emulate, male or female. What characteristics of that leader do you want to become, and how do you go about developing yourself and finding those blind spots within yourself to meet that?