Wow— Five seasons of "Build Me Up"! Thank you to all the guests who participated in Season 5, as well as to our listeners. We’re grateful to have a platform where stories that build up the community can be shared. See you in the New Year!

This week, Abbie Lown from Girl Scouts of River Valley, Barb Pecks from the Carpenters Union, and Laurie Trousil, Kraus-Anderson’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion, join Build Me Up. The group talks about the Girl Scouts' Power Girls program which focuses on exposing middle school and high school girls to the trades and the impact it’s having on not only the girls but their families as well. We also discuss the current state of women in the trades and what keeps some women from looking at trade work as a viable career. Kraus-Anderson recently sponsored an event at the Carpenters Union with the Girl Scouts, so we recap the day's activities and discuss the possibility of future events.

In this episode, Lisa and Laurisa chat with the awesome folks from the HealthPartners Clinical Simulation Program. The group dives into the different procedures they practice, as well as discusses the lab's interesting features. Learn how the team uses this tool to boost the skills, both hard and soft, of the healthcare workers to make the patient experience even better. Discover the importance of simulation technology and the big difference it's making in healthcare.

Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of New Brighton Jennifer Fink, Parks Superintendent for the City of Eagan Chris Fleck, and Eric Quam, a project manager in Kraus-Anderson’s Government sector join this week's episode of "Build Me Up." We chat about the impact parks have in our lives (especially post-COVID), the many “hats” Jennifer and Chris wear in their jobs, how fulfilling a career in Parks + Rec can be, and more! "What I hear when I'm being yelled at is people caring really loudly..." -Leslie Knope

In this episode, we’ll discuss all things artificial intelligence (AI) with Justin Grammens – a local educator and AI expert. With much discussion surrounding ChatGPT, Bard, and other AI-related tools, we’re diving in to find out what its impacts are and will be on our lives – both at home and at work. What is it? Where does it get its information? How reliable is it, and how is it being used? Join us as we take a look into the future with this local expert. More about Justin Grammens and his work below: Bio: Justin Grammens is a lifelong learner, passionate about Software Development and Artificial Intelligence, and enjoys giving back to the community through non-profit organizations and teaching. He is the Founder and CEO of Recursive Awesome, a management consulting firm helping executives leverage Artificial Intelligence to bring efficiency and automation to their business. He is the Founder and CEO of Lab651, where his team helps companies quickly and efficiently build their custom software applications by guiding them with a proven process and talent to a successful release. He is the owner of IoT Weekly News, a co-founder of AppliedAI and Captovation, the host of the Conversations on AppliedAI Podcast, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saint Thomas in their Graduate Programs in Software. A proven leader and builder of technology, Justin speaks regularly at meetups, conferences, and on the Lab651 and AppliedAI YouTube channels. Grammens was named one of the (Real) Power 50 by Minnesota Business Magazine and launched the first-ever Artificial Intelligence conference in Minnesota. He is a mentor to students of all ages through CoderDojo Twin Cities and Macalester College's MacStartups program. Most importantly, he is blessed to have a loving wife and two amazing boys who are the light of his life. - Myself https://justingrammens.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingrammens https://twitter.com/justingrammens My Business on Artificial Intelligence Consulting https://recursiveawesome.com My business on Software Development https://lab651.com My Business Using AI Speech Coach https://captovation.ai Applied AI & Emerging Technologies North Conference - https://appliedaiconf.com Monthly Meetup - https://appliedai.mn Podcast - https://podcast.appliedai.mn YouTube Channel - https://video.appliedai.mn Weekly Curated News - https://appliedaiweekly.com Monthly Newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/appliedai/signup LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/appliedai-mn Emerging Technologies North - https://www.emtechnorth.org/   University of Saint Thomashttps://software.stthomas.edu/about/faculty-staff/biography/justin-grammens/   Resources: Gartner Hype Cycle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner_hype_cycle Ideaflow - https://www.ideaflow.design/

In this episode, we’ll discuss the 2019 White Bear Lake referendum experience with Kraus-Anderson's retired director of K-12 project planning and development, Tony Sjolander, and Tim Wald from the White Bear Lake School District. While work is in full swing and the new high school is being built, we wanted to hear from Tony and Tim as they reflect on the referendum experience. We discussed the process and details of what went into passing the referendum, the challenges they faced in communicating the District’s needs to the community, and the planning it took to pass the (now second) largest referendum in Minnesota's history.

In this episode, we’re joined by Northfield Hospital + Clinics' Director of Facilities, Scott Norman, Kraus-Anderson’s Director of Facilities Assessment, Tim Kittila, and Kraus-Anderson’s Director of Project Planning and Development (Healthcare Group), Mike Stark. The group chats about Scott’s experience with KA’s facility assessment team— how it’s impacted the hospital and assisted with long-term planning.

In this episode, Modist Brewing’s Daniel Wellendorf and Perkins&Will’s Jennifer Christiaansen join us at the brewery in Minneapolis’ North Loop to discuss Modist’s new event space opening in September! We talk about what went into the design of the space, differentiating Modist from other breweries in the area, how they name their beers, and more!

We're back from break!! In this episode, Sherman Associates’ Director of Commercial Operations Ben Kepple joins us to talk about the development and reimagining of downtown Minneapolis, why Minneapolis is worth investing in, trends in commercial real estate, and what a developer looks for in a tenant. We also discuss our favorite Skyway lunch go-tos, what it’s like to live and work in downtown, and more.

In this episode, we’re joined by On Site Companies’ CEO Molly Leonard and Director of Sales and Marketing Mike Kinney. Beginning as a sanitation and portable restroom rental company, Molly and Mike discuss the company's growth and how they've expanded to offer services and solutions to make your experiences at parks, concerts, and on construction job sites more clean and comfortable. We also chat about the history of the generational business, the most unique place they’ve seen an On Site rental, and more. PROGRAMMING NOTE: This is the last episode before "Build Me Up" takes a summer break. The regularly scheduled podcast will return on August 1st. Take this opportunity to catch up on past episodes and enjoy the summer sunshine!