Kirk Samuelson, founder of BuilderFax, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss how his 45-year career in the construction industry led him to seek a solution to recruiting and developing a new generation of tradespeople using technology.
Samuelson’s career in the construction industry started at the bottom and ended as the leader of Kiewit’s tunneling, heavy civil, federal, nuclear businesses and corporate operations. Kiewit is one of the top Fortune 300 construction, engineering and mining contractors in North America. He discussed how the training he received from men and women in the trades helped him understand the needs of the workers, which became instrumental to his growth in the company. After retiring from Kiewit, Samuelson now serves on the Boards of Directors for four construction companies, as well as two aviation industry boards. One theme has continued during Samuelson’s meetings in retirement —there’s not enough skilled labor to put to work.
Samuelson explained how a skilled labor shortage led him to seek his own answer to the problem, even staking his own money to develop BuilderFax. BuilderFax is an app that enables men and women in the trades to take true ownership of their careers. The app serves as a home for a workers credentials, accomplishments, previous jobs and any other vital data about their work history. Samuelson described it as a “living resume” for construction workers, something that other resume and business sites like LinkedIn aren’t made for. As the next generation of labor grows, the more technologically inclined workers have come in with an expectation that technology will be a part of their daily job.
With BuilderFax, Samuelson is attempting to provide tech solutions for the new generation that will help them take ownership of their career and in turn continue to improve the construction industry. By giving the app to members of the trades for free, Samuelson is providing workers with the ability to keep all their data, securely, in one location. Users will be able to create a QR code to take with them on the jobsite, show the code during any safety inspections. This would help prevent any wasted time due to searching for credentials in their car or in their bag, and get them back to work quicker.
The app is currently under review by the Apple and Google Stores, and should be available around the beginning of August.
For more on BuilderFax, please listen to the show above.