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Southeastern Construction Owners & Associates Roundtable

Winter Meeting 2023

Speakers

Keynote Presenters

Rob Jones

leadership instructor | Echelon front

Rob Jones is a retired US Marine, combat leader, and now a leadership instructor and speaker with Echelon Front. He spent five years in the Marine Corps, with deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

As a Combat Engineer, Rob specialized in finding hidden Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), the enemy’s most deadly weapons. On a mission in July of 2010, while executing an IED sweep, Rob stepped on an IED, which resulted in double above knee amputations of his legs. He spent the next year and a half in physical therapy before retiring from the Marine Corps in 2011.

Upon his retirement, Rob was forced to adapt to a new way of being a leader. To do this, he turned to the world of sports. In 2012, he competed in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, England, bringing home a bronze medal in rowing. In 2013, he became the first double above knee amputee to ride a bicycle across the United States, riding 5,181 miles from Bar Harbor, Maine to Camp Pendleton, California. In 2017, he ran 31 marathons in 31 consecutive days in 31 different cities.

Throughout this journey, Rob has relied upon the principles taught at Echelon Front to turn the darkest moment of his life into a life of impact—more meaningful than he ever could have expected. Rob now brings his experience to Echelon Front to help teams of people take Extreme Ownership and overcome the challenges they face in business and in life.

Jake Mazulewicz

Director, JMA Human Reliability Strategies

One day, an electrical engineer walked into a substation, flipped the wrong switch, and accidentally shut down a power plant. Because of that error, his company wound up paying about $1,000,000 per day until it was fixed.

I help leaders like you prevent errors like that.

Many people think of errors as defects. They try to eliminate all errors with detailed procedures, strict compliance, and zero tolerance. 

Over many years, I saw how this mechanistic approach creates fear, rewards silence, and punishes innovative experts and truth-tellers. So, I collected the most effective strategies and skills from:

  • My service as a firefighter, an EMT, and a military paratrooper

  • My Ph.D. research, and 20 years of experience teaching adults

  • Hundreds of stories of technical experts working in high-hazard industries like yours

Speakers

Jack Blundell

TECHNICAL SALES MANAGER | ROCKWOOL TECHNICAL INSULATION

Jack Blundell is the Technical Sales Manager for ROCKWOOL Technical Insulation. He is based in Houston, TX and has more than 13 years of experience in the insulation industry, providing solutions to facilities such as refineries, petrochemical, and power plants. His various roles have included responsibilities over business development, engineering support, product management, and specifications.

David Emeigh

CSP, Regional Safey manager | BRANDSAFWAY SOLUTIONS

David Emeigh has over 25 years of experience in the Environmental, Health & Safety Field. His background includes work in the building and heavy highway construction, which includes domestic and international projects. He joined Safway in 2014 and has worked mainly in their Southeast Region as an Area Safety Manager now with BrandSafway (Scaffold, Insulation, Coatings) Contractor, he is the Regional Safety Manager. He is an authorized OSHA Outreach Trainer in the 10-hour and 30-hour courses for Construction and a Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) Instructor.  He is a member of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP).  

 

David holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Safety Sciences from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Jim Kelleher

Vice President, North American manufacturing | Mitsubishi Power

Jim Kelleher has been working for Mitsubishi Power for 12 years but has been involved in the power industry for over 30.

Jim’s leadership style and power equipment repair knowledge made him the perfect choice to lead the turbine and generator repair department upon its formation, and he has most recently been promoted to the VP of North American Manufacturing.

Some other positions held of note include: President of IFPTE Local 147, President of General Electric Affiliates and Locals Council, President of IFPTE Northeast Council, GM Mitsubishi Power Orlando Service Center.

Jim and his wife, Ann, have been married for 30 years and have 2 children. His daughter is attending her second year of law school at Duke University and his son is a junior at Florida Southern College majoring in Bio-Chem.

In his free time, Jim enjoys time with family, golfing, and traveling.