Skye Kelley, Manager of Membership Engagement

An Interview with Amanda Kurt, finalist for Equipment World’s 2023 Contractor of the Year

The best associations are filled with a diverse array of members. Such diversity powers expansive thought and challenges industry growth. At the surface of the concrete industry, though, diversity can be hard to appreciate and even harder can be the observance of equity. Yet, if one pulls back the outer layers or steps through the hardened exterior, there is a rich and vast culture of success in the concrete world. Such diverse and equitable success, however, is neither natural nor produced easily. As the calendar turned to 2023, one story of such success began for Amanda and John Kurt, vice president and managing partner of Kurk Inc. in Union Grove, Wisconsin. I spoke with Amanda Kurt to hear about the challenge she answered—a challenge she now issues to her peers throughout this industry.

This story begins more than a decade ago with a father-daughter duo assessing the future of the family business. After gaining a degree in engineering, Amanda returned home to pursue the passion for concrete that was passed on to her at an early age. She and her father, John, quickly saw great opportunities. Amanda also began to identify some of the struggles she would face and found the support that would be critical to breaking assumptions surrounding cultural norms.

I asked Amanda, “you’re a trailblazer who isn’t afraid of a challenge and just puts herself out there. What advice do you have for others who aren’t sure where they fit in in this industry?”

Someone a long time ago told me, “You must meet the people where they are.” For me, if I want more people in construction, and more women, I must show up where they are. I think so many people don’t realize they can do it, too! It’s important to me to be involved and to show people they are valuable. It’s what drives me to be engaged with schools, professional organizations, my community, etc. If you can positively impact just one person, it’s enough.

Concrete is an industry of teamwork. You must rely on the strength of a team to achieve quality results. This means that young leaders, particularly those who are female, find themselves working to listen, relate, and assert without alienating. The torch isn’t just handed over and immediately recognized by others. Consistency and intentionality lay the groundwork for trust and value.  In asking her to consider this truth, Amanda responded:

Part of what I’ve learned over the last couple of years is that you have to be intentional with where you want to impact. Specifically, for us, our employees were coming from a specific geographic area, and their kids all were in the same community. We realized that it was the school district and community we needed to be in and touch. That was where our people were!

Knowing that it isn’t often easy to identify or follow such a path to success, I asked Amanda to elaborate on how she got there and what she attributes most to their progress that others might also identify?

Specifically, I need to direct advice to women in the [concrete] industry. I fully believe you need a male champion who supports your progression in the industry. It’s exceptionally beneficial. This industry is male-driven, and the roots are male-oriented. Having a male champion can help bridge a gap and support you, especially when you are looking for advice. My dad convinced me there was a place for me and walked the early steps. Most importantly, he modeled confidence in me to everyone around us, which solidified my purpose and commitment.

A platform for success like Amanda has found through choosing the family business is often sufficient for many.  Relying on an already successful company, leading through such a recent number of tumultuous times, as evidenced over the past decades can be rewarding. Yet for women, broader roles, goals, and responsibilities define individuality and require exceptional flexibility and perseverance. Amanda has steadily built her platform and responded to the growing challenges life has presented. Her company continues to refine their processes and maintains a commitment to developing their people to be the best versions of themselves. Their vision is to continue trending upward as a leader in their area and market, one that is mainly rooted in multi-family concrete construction projects, their specialty.

In my research, I have found evidence of Amanda’s voice all over the place and a wide variety of activities and engagements.  I was compelled to ask her to consider this partial list of being a partner Kurk Concrete, a mom, and being actively involved in her local community, as well as serving on the Executive Committee for Crew Collaborative, and participating as a member of the CFA’s Board of Directors. Most recently I noted her having been selected as a speaker for ConExpo, and submitting topics to become a speaker for World of Concrete. So with all that experience, I wanted to see what she felt might be next?

Personally, I want to figure out a way to interact more with young children to show them that construction is an opportunity for anyone. At 7 years old, you start eliminating career paths, typically it is gender-based decision making. As an example, you’re a boy and you decide you can’t be a ballerina. Likewise, you’re a girl and you don’t see girls driving dump trucks. Obviously, parents can only show their kids certain things based commonly on what is easily visible around you. Without real examples or easy visibility of women driving heavy equipment, how do we keep young girls from eliminating construction as a career path?

I appreciate the opportunity to join the CFA Board. It is easily identifiable that every male board member of the CFA is a male champion for someone; I believe that. They are open and progressive thinkers who are passionate about making the industry better. They use these traits to turn around and share or speak into others, empowering them to join in the power of networking.

The CFA Board of Directors has, historically, provided a strong representation of the thought leadership in this industry. Committed to the regular offering of networking events and ensuring that each one is a valuable experience, whether it is regional education, a board meeting, or an annual convention, board members have maintained a lead-by-example mantra. It was appropriate and exciting to realize that the risk Amanda took during the summer of 2022 is one a fellow CFA Board member, Jeff O’Risky of O’Risky Excavating in Evansville, Indiana, took a couple decades ago.  This risk was a self-nomination for Equipment World’s 2023 Contractor of the Year.  I had to ask her what interested her in taking such a risk?

Our company has maintained an interest in the heavy-equipment side of the industry. Preparing for Con Ag/Con Expo, I learned about this recognition, thought it seemed a cool program, and was convinced we would be a good fit. 

Established and hosted by Equipment World, the media arm for Con Ag/Con Expo and a major outlet for the construction machinery industry, the Contractor of the Year is a program that seeks to elevate some of the finest examples of construction companies throughout North America. Nominations are largely submitted by individual companies themselves, for which they must meet an impressive set of minimum qualifications. For starters, the company must have annual revenues between $3 and $15 million, be able to demonstrate a consistent and excellent safety record, and own at least five ride-on construction machines. The individual nominated must also have at least ten years of construction company ownership experience and be able to represent the construction industry in a positive way. In 2023, there were 50-60 applicants from which twelve were selected as finalists to be present during the event and eventual selection. Amanda was one of the twelve finalists for 2023 and twenty years prior, Jeff O’Risky was a finalist in 2003.

During the Fall 2022 CFA Board meeting in Dallas, Texas, Amanda’s selection as a finalist was brought to everyone’s attention by Jeff O’Risky. He made sure the rest of the contractors recognized how big a deal this was and encouraged support for the recognition. I asked Amanda if she knew ahead of her nomination and subsequent participation that Jeff [O’Risky] had been a finalist, and if so, did he provide any guidance or insight? 

No, one day, I got a random text from him! I didn’t realize he had also been a finalist but thought it was so nice of him to reach out. I also think it’s phenomenal that two CFA Board members have now been Contractor of The Year finalists for this prestigious award that many would think outside of the expertise or focus!

Seeing that this was a significant personal and professional experience, I wanted to know more and asked Amanda, what was her biggest takeaway from this experience?  

I found it reassuring to learn that all of us share similar struggles. The twelve finalists came from diverse portfolios. Listening to excavators and pavers, for example, share challenges that I could identify with was impactful. We’re all finding solutions to the same issues but in different ways. Hearing what they are doing and how they are facing challenges was invigorating. I had a wonderful conversation with a pavement contactor finalist and found how they were building community within their company. I took some of these tips away from that conversation and am implementing them at Kurt Concrete already this year! We’ll see how our team reacts.

Wanting to know a little bit more, I asked what was her favorite moment from your Equipment World experience in Las Vegas? 

It has to be the interaction with Caterpillar. Not only did they sponsor the awards ceremony, but they also took us on a VIP tour of their exhibit facility space. It was really cool to interact with them and see what innovations they are working on. Caterpillar is in the forefront of the industry and technology; they are progressive. Their people were inspiring—they just get it!  

Another overriding trait or perhaps a cultural norm for the contracting industry is a resistance to the recognition that comes from award programs. Annually, there are significant award programs through the various industry organizations and press outlets. The Concrete Foundations Associations offers its members an annual competition to show the high-quality and challenging constructions—the Projects of the Year—as well as professional recognition awards for Contractor of the Year, Innovation Award, and a Kick-Starter Leadership award. Career emphasis and impact to the industry is recognized through the MVP Award, Life-Time Achievement, and the prestigious Robert D. Sawyer Award.  It is a challenge to find people in general, much less this industry, willing to put themselves out there for awards consideration.  Knowing the risk she took, I asked Amanda if there is any advice she would like to give someone who is thinking about nominating themselves for this or similar awards? 

One of the questions on the application was what other awards you have won or are there any articles published about you. I think this could be a challenge for other contractors, especially those who don’t have a public relations or marketing team. Larger, corporate companies tend to have an entire team in charge of media, but smaller organizations typically don’t. The reality is most of the awards you see people win are ones that require self-nomination. My advice is to go sign up for the award and nominate yourself!  

Amanda advises that in today’s marketplace, you need to “tell your own story.” If you do not, someone else is going to describe a version of your story for you, or they are going to take the opportunity to create a different one for themselves. 

One way is to get comfortable reaching out to your local newspaper to humbly brag about the work your company is doing. 

When it comes to identifying which stories to tell, it is particularly important to describe the non-business or cultural value efforts within your local market. Additionally, Amanda encourages companies to “reach out to the associations you’re in, just do it!” 

Like the CFA, each association has different awards that can further tell your story and reward your efforts. Then, create press releases for them. “It’s great for your crew members to see and to get more recognition locally.” 

The CFA congratulates Amanda Kurt on this selection as a finalist for this prestigious award from Equipment World as 2023 Contractor of the Year. For more information on this particular award program, visit Equipment World’s announcement at https://www.equipmentworld.com/contractor-of-the-year where you can find information on the 2024 nominations beginning in this summer. For more on the finalists selected for 2023, visit the press release from Equipment World: https://www.equipmentworld.com/contractor-of-the-year/article/15303618/equipment-world-names-2023-contractor-of-the-year-finalists.

Skye Kelley is the CFA’s Manager for Membership Engagement. She continues to challenge current members to tell stories that need to be told while finding new ways to engage them and bring the power of the Association to their attention. The networking avenues offered by the Association are the most valuable tools, and she consistently talks about those avenues to contractors who aren’t yet fully benefitting from being an industry supported and defended by the CFA. In order to find out how your company can begin benefitting and connecting with the many #CFAConcretePros, contact her at skelley@cfaconcretepros.org.