Let's tee up together before the official event agenda begins. Or take a tour of some of our favorite brand partners within the metro and get to know them more personally.

Details to come!

*Note this is an optional pre-conference activity. If you bought a full-price ticket and would like to attend, please email [email protected].

We've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to connect with local builders in Minneapolis who are opening up their doors for our crew to have a first-hand look at a few of their in-progress or completed favorite projects that will be sure to educate and inspire you to become better.

Meet the Builders: TBD, currently locking in details. 

*Note this is an optional pre-conference activity. If you would like to attend, please email [email protected].

Join us for an evening of networking + kicking off the fifth Contractor Coalition Summit event.

Meet and greet to get to know one another, going over what the next few days will entail.

We'll be meeting to kick off the morning together fueling our body for a full day ahead. Please take this time to be intentional, network, meet other people in your industry, share your goals, inspire others, and be inspired. This industry is so massive that there is room for everyone at the table, and together we can achieve greatness. However, none of this can be done on an empty stomach - breakfast will be served. 

Construction is a complex business. By the end of this session, you will know how to price in your market, how to bill fees and pay your employees, how to job-cost and track payroll and know your costs. We will teach you the best method to immediately increase your profit and bottom line. It will help you understand how to bill for overhead, insurance, warranty, and incidentals. Pricing is a significant concern, especially with inflation and fluctuating price points during the pandemic. Understand how to protect yourself and your company moving forward.

We'll have snacks and drinks set up in the back of the meeting room for the duration of the meeting to keep you fueled, hydrated, and energized all day long. No need to bring a thing.

Contracts are an essential part of your business. We will teach you how to properly contract your clients and sub-contractors and protect yourself from potential litigation. In addition, we will spend time discussing escalation clauses. How do pay apps, pay cycles, and lien waivers play a role? What is a pre-construction lien? NDA’s and Photo approval when the project is complete—the pros at the Contractors Coalition Summit will share some of their experiences and show you their contracts used to get you from start to finish.

Any dietary restrictions - we got you. All food and drinks hosted throughout these four days.

Whether you are an experienced contractor, project manager, or a newbie, construction projects are never easy. Think of all the moving parts – employees, sub-contractors, equipment, materials, delays, and don't forget about expectations. But, if any project needs a well-thought-out execution plan and carefully mapped schedule, it's a construction project. No stone will be left unturned during this session. Learn how to involve your trade partner base to ensure success!

Scaling from Local to National: Insights from Influential Entrepreneurs

Panelists: Finalizing panelist details but will be entrepreneurs with national brand recognition.

Discussion Topics will include the initial challenges they faced when trying to scale their businesses beyond the local level. Exploring specific strategies and tactics panelists used to expand their businesses nationally. Discuss marketing, distribution, partnerships, and funding.

Building Brand Identity: How they built and maintained a strong brand identity during the scaling process. Customer Acquisition: Explore how they acquired and retained customers as they expanded their reach.

Within this discussion, we will also discuss the importance of market research and understanding consumer needs when expanding to new regions. Overcoming Setbacks by sharing stories of setbacks and failures and how they overcame them on the path to national success.

Scaling Culture: Discuss how they maintained their company culture as they grew, and how it influenced their brand's success. Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs: Panelists will offer their top pieces of advice for entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses nationally. And lastly - Future Trends: We will explore their insights into emerging trends in entrepreneurship and brand scaling.

Join us for dinner at a TBD location. 

By now, you've probably formed some friendships or working relationships. So let's build on that foundation, network, reflect on all the content, and learn other perspectives on strategies.

We'll be meeting to kick off the morning grabbing a bite together.

Have you ever noticed how some companies don't experience product delays? Have you asked yourself why? This is because they know how to nurture their relationships with vendors. They have been developing them for years, they have direct contacts, and that's why they receive excellent customer service.

It's vital to build strong relationships with vendors and treat them with utmost loyalty and respect. As a result, your strong collaboration will always create significant value and bring returning income sources for you.

This session will dig deep into various ways to use social content to drive traffic to your blog, website, online shop, and podcast to create and grow your revenue. Also, we will cover additional topics like search engine optimization (SEO), what it is, and how you can use it to grow your business and drive traffic from Google.

Lunch is SERVED!

Any dietary restrictions - we got you. All food and drinks hosted throughout these four days.

We live in a different world today than we have ever lived before. We are adapting, catching up, and managing client expectations daily. During this session, we'll teach you how to attract an ideal client, set up those appropriate client expectations from the start, establish proper regular communication, go over documentation to use, and more.

Being authentic and transparent about the process and realistic about pricing and timelines, defining goals, and inviting your client into decision-making process can be vital.

Learn to think like a customer!

This session is going to be jam-packed because there are so many different revenue streams available and all you have to do is leverage your current business. We are going to discuss ad revenue, affiliate links, vendor and brand partnership referral bonuses, online retail and brick & mortar shops, courses and workshops, social media coordinating and website SEO, and the list goes on and on.

Our industry is always in a state of change. Supply chain issues, labor challenges, interest rate hikes, evolving codes, increased client expectations, new materials, weather stresses, and the impact of physics…the only influence that doesn’t change. You are here because you are investing in your business. You need to be an expert or know experts in all these areas to run your business efficiently and profitably. Building homes is a tricky business.

Mark Laliberte will provide an overview of the challenges we will face if we don’t take the time to study and implement the details that will influence our homes longevity, satisfaction level, and risk. Each climate has various levels of complexity. Heat, cold, wind, rain, sun, humidity, and snow all influence the durability and success of the business.

1. What can we learn from the failures of the past? Do they have a story, or were they just a casualty of poor workmanship or craftsmanship?
2. Managing and understanding the Control Layers in our homes is necessary to meet the engineering challenge the above-mentioned conditions create.
3. How can we distinguish between product hype and product application, longevity, and installation? Do we experiment, verify with colleagues, or read articles? Research seems like our job.

Material Science:
*Materials science studies solid materials' properties and how a material's composition and structure determine those properties.

Are the products we buy tested and designed as a complete system? Have you considered compatibility issues, installer training for the application, exposure limits, and availability?

This session encourages you to ask questions, learn new methods and improve your homes.

About Mark:
Mark LaLiberte is the president of LaLiberte Consulting Inc. In 2010, he co-founded Construction Instruction, an industry-leading company focused on improving the construction industry. He has dedicated over 38 years to the building industry. Through his lectures, site assistance, Building Better Homes video series, and mobile App, he provides builders, architects, and manufacturers with an in-depth look at the current and future state of housing. His work has earned him a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA), where he co-developed the highly acclaimed Houses that Work lecture series. The HTW Series has been delivered over 20 years by the Ci team in 100’s of North American cities.

He was the 2013 Building Science co-chair for the Hanley Wood Vision 2020 project. He has provided technical assistance and a voluntary board position to the Cold Climate Housing Research Center in Fairbanks, Alaska, for over 22 years. Mark also helped develop the training curriculum for the 2012 Repair Corp Project for Habitat for Humanity, which assists in improving existing housing for our Veterans. He currently works with Rancho Cielo in Salinas, CA to help at-risk young men learn a trade or craft.

He works with various manufacturers to assist in developing products and services for the next phase of efficient homes. Mark is the co-creator of the Ci App and animation studio, which developed the number one mobile App in the construction industry and builds realistic state-of-the-art contextual animations on building science concepts and technical installation practices.

His passion for educating lies in knowing how vital the building industry is. Building healthy, safe, durable, and efficient homes affects the buyer, the builder, the economy, and the planet.

Expertise: Ci’s events are more than just presentations; they provide real solutions contractors can implement the day they meet our team. We present real-world applications gleaned from thousands of site visits from all over the world. Audiences can learn the best techniques for building better buildings through our hands-on, casual, yet informative discussions.

Mark also assists the Ci’s Team in providing the next level of training at Ci Live in Denver, CO. This facility incorporates classroom, mock-up walls, and lab experimentation over a two-day course to define best practices of entire building systems from framing to advanced HVAC. He currently consults with builders and Architects nationally to develop a structure around integrated communication, trade execution, and quality workmanship using animations, mock-ups, and site consulting. Mark lives in Cave Creek, AZ, where he completed his Net Zero home, recognized by Professional Builder and Iconic Life Magazine as demonstrating exemplary construction practices.

Join us at a TBD location for dinner. 

Breakfast will be served from 8:00 am - 9:00 am.

Then, we'll be wrapping up the conference with some 1:1 time with your event hosts for the week. Sit down and ask us questions that hadn't been covered in the content, specific issues you're going through with your company that you'd like advice on solving, or just to chat more about life with any of your event hosts.

We've loved hosting you at our fifth bi-annual Contractors Coalition Summit. We'll be coming to Boston this October 2024. Be on the lookout for details!