Professionals Collaborate, Compete, and Connect at Unified Group’s Debut Design-Build Forum
HVACR leaders share real-world lessons, debate best practices, and discover new approaches at industry’s inaugural event in Denver
STORIES: More than 40 industry professionals swapped stories, strategies, and ideas during the Unified Group’s inaugural Design-Build Forum, held in Denver.
A spirit of collaboration ran deep as more than 40 HVACR professionals from coast to coast connected at the Unified Group’s first-ever Design-Build Forum in Denver, where sharing “success, growth and innovation” wasn’t just a catchphrase – it was the reality, inside and outside the meeting rooms.
Structured as part bootcamp, part brain trust, the two-day forum moved well beyond the typical panel-and-presentation routine. Attendees swapped war stories, dissected RFP strategies, and broke into open debates around budget headaches and scope creep. From the first session to the final bocce ball toss, firms large and small pulled back the curtain on how they make design-build projects work – and why this year’s gathering was overdue.
It started with a simple question: how do you make design-build succeed? For Chad Wiegmann and Craig Ross of Wiegmann Associates, it comes down to what you show the client. Their kickoff session “looked straight into their customer presentation playbook,” setting the tone for speakers willing to share trade secrets, not just best practices.
Then it was the practitioners’ turn. Chris Neffendorf of General Sheet Metal, Mark Montgomery from frēijē Engineered Solutions, and Justin Gray with Mechanical Service and Systems each pulled the curtain back on projects that “showcased innovation and real-world results.” Neffendorf said the group’s openness was “incredible,” citing an “energy around helping one another achieve success.”
Panels got real about the numbers, too. Members weren’t shy about laying out the financial side of design-build versus traditional specs. “I really like the passion and innovative ideas around delivering value in the design environment,” said Pansy Romo of Intech Mechanical, who noted that even in formal presentations, breakout sessions and late-night panels, “value” was more than a buzzword – it was an expectation.
Day two, the crowd rolled up their sleeves: in a hands-on RFP workshop, each company drafted proposals for a hypothetical project and then opened them up for critique. This, several attendees agreed, was where the forum “sets itself apart”– the sort of candid, face-to-face feedback the industry often lacks.
Budgeting and change orders made for hot topics. Jeff Beekman of Legacy Mechanical joined Wiegmann and Ross to walk through “tracking scope creep and securing fair compensation.” The biggest takeaway for many? Everyone faces similar hurdles, regardless of company size or region.
As Michael Blanchard of Battaglia Industries put it: “If I hadn’t attended this meeting, I would have missed understanding different ways companies handle HVAC – sometimes completely different from what I see every day.”
The forum’s close? A bocce ball competition, trading blueprints for banter. “The only discernable competition all session,” one attendee joked.
Curious about joining? The Unified Group is already planning Service Management, Annual, and Owner’s forums, plus events for sales specialists. For details, contact Janet Kelleher at KelleherJ@TheUnifiedGroup.com.
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