Meet our Speakers

Kirsten Adams analyzes proposed legislation, lobbies in the Oregon Capitol, and represents AGC in rulemakings and other stakeholder meetings. She works on a variety of issues, with her main focus being workers’ compensation, employment law, public contracting, and diesel regulations.

Prior to AGC, Kirsten worked as a legislative assistant for Oregon Senator Richard Devlin. This followed her practice of family law in Salem after her graduation from Willamette University College of Law. She graduated from Whitman College with a Bachelor of Arts in Classics with a minor in politics.

Director and Counsel of Policy and Public Affairs, Oregon-Columbia Chapter of AGC

Michael Bottlang, Ph.D.

A native of Germany, Dr. Bottlang earned his PhD in Biomechanical Engineering at the University of Iowa. He has subsequently focused on improving the treatment of orthopedic trauma patients. His inventions for treating fractures of the pelvis and chest wall have changed the standard of care in over 40 countries. He has been funded by the US National Institute of Health for his groundbreaking research and innovative technology on helmet safety. At the Legacy Biomechanics Laboratory in Portland, Oregon, Bottlang has overseen the creation of the state-of-the-art Helmet Impact Testing (HIT) Laboratory. He has collaborated with Surgeon Steven Madey for the past 15 years to create WaveCel.

Founder & Director, Legacy Biomechanics Laboratory

Steve Malany

Meet the Speaker: Steve Malany

Steve Malany is the Chapter President of the Oregon-Columbia Chapter of AGC.

President, Oregon-Columbia Chapter of AGC

Todd Roberts

Meet the Speaker: Todd Roberts

Todd attended LSU and received his B.S. in Construction from Northeast Louisiana University in 1982. Todd is President of ERS, Inc., a heavy and civil construction company, based in Jackson, MS, that he founded in 1992. The company works nationwide on select type projects involving ecosystem construction and rehabilitation, erosion control, land reclamation, disaster clean-up, water control and infrastructure, all facets of the heavy/civil construction arena. ERS, Inc. performs work for drainage districts, levee boards, municipalities, conservation commissions, state governments and federal agencies that include the following: clearing and grubbing, earthwork, demolition, grading, riprap, concrete, flood control structures, levees, dams, road construction, water conveyance (open channel and pipe laying) and pile driving.

In 2009 ERS, Inc. was recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s “Small Business Contractor of the Year”.

ERS, Inc. is a member of the Mississippi Valley Chapter AGC where Todd is a board member and has served on numerous committees. He also served as President of MVAGC in 2007. Nationally, Todd served as National Chairman of the Natural Resources Conservation Service Committee of AGC from 2006-2016. He served as the Federal/Heavy Division Chairman in 2017 and is a Life Governor of AGC of America. Todd is also a member of the Consulting Constructors’ Council of America.

Todd is an instrument-rated private pilot, having logged nearly 2500 hours as pilot in command.

Todd has been married to Robyn of Baton Rouge, LA for 35 years and they have three children. Kris is 31 and works as an accountant for EY (formerly Ernst & Young) in Meridian, MS. Anna Rachel, 24, is a PICU nurse at UMC medical center in Jackson. Russell is 23, lives in Dallas and works as a financial analyst for a real estate advisory group. Todd and Robyn are members of First Presbyterian Church.

Vice President, AGC

Paul Rovianek

Paul Rovianek is a superintended with Andersen Construction.

Superintendent, Andersen Construction

Kerri Smith

Meet Speaker: Kerri Smith

Kerri Smith is the Vice President, Southeast Regional General Manager of Baker Concrete Construction, the nation’s largest commercial concrete construction contractor. She has oversight of six markets that stretch from Florida’s southern tip to northern Tennessee and leads more than 1,000 Baker co-workers in delivering high-quality work safer, faster, better, and smarter than any other concrete construction company.

Kerri joined Baker in 2004, not long after she graduated from Walsh University with a degree in biology. Competitive by nature, she learned at a young age that it takes grit, determination, and cooperation to get ahead. Those values have served her well as she strives to turn the unimaginable into something that’s possible for Baker clients and co-workers.

Under Kerri’s leadership, Baker’s Southeast Region has won numerous Excellence in Construction awards from multiple ABC chapters. She has completed the Stanford LEAD – Student of Mastery Leadership program and is certified as a LEED AP. Outside of her work at Baker, Kerri is a strong advocate for chromosome disorder research.

VP, Southeast Region General Manager, Baker Concrete

Jacob Suarez

Meet the Speaker: Jacob Suarez

Jacob Suarez is a social media content creator showcasing his work as a crime scene cleaner to over 8 million followers. Jacob, aka Biggie Clean, will speak to the issues at the core of building the next generation of workers in a way that only someone from that generation can do. He will share his insights on recruiting and retaining Generation Z and what motivates them through their lived experiences. Bonus- Jacob will share anecdotes from his time cleaning crime scenes and what drives him to keep doing this grizzly work.

Social Media Content Creator, @BiggieClean

Rachel Wilber

Rachel Wilber is currently a senior estimator for Walbridge with more than a decade of construction experience. Her construction experience and estimating expertise has supported constructing some of the largest manufacturing facilities across the U.S. including several Fortune 500 customers in the industrial, industrial process, and commercial market sectors. A graduate of Michigan State University’s Construction Management Program in May 2011, Rachel’s spent her career at Walbridge – starting in the company’s internship program.

Rachel has been active with the Associated General Contractors of Michigan and became involved with the national level of AGC in 2020 when she joined the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) Steering Committee. She is currently serving as the chair of the national CLC.

Chair, National CLC Steering Committee

Jordan Winspear

Jordan Winspear, president of Winspear construction, llc., has worked in the construction industry for over 20 years in almost every capacity, from carpenter by trade to a project manager. Before starting Winspear Construction with his wife, Kristin Winspear, he worked on large, heavy civil construction projects all over the western United States as a field engineer, project engineer, superintendent, and project manager with three of the largest construction firms in the U.S., along with a Women Owned 8(a) firm, which is where he gained the knowledge in federal contracting. Jordan worked as a tunneling engineer on three different light rail tunnel projects in Washington and California, where he credits most of his field knowledge, planning, and preparation skills.

Winspear construction has been in operation for 8 years as of august 2023, and with the help of the entire Winspear team have grown into a construction company with a solid reputation for finishing projects rain or shine. Winspear construction works for the veteran affairs, bureau of land management, united states coast guard, and several private clients in Boise, Idaho. The company self performs all the construction activities from demolition, excavation, site utilities, all concrete (structural and flat work), as well as anything else to fill in when running a project as a general contractor. Jordan believes in a strong safety culture and quality work, and if you can master those two aspects of construction, the production will follow, and the company will be successful. He stands by loyalty, honesty, and integrity. He believes in caring for his team more than himself, which has come through 3 years of extreme ownership and echelon fronts Leadership Development Alignment Program (LDAP) which has changed his view on leadership.

Family is the most important part of his life, along with the second family he continues to raise at Winspear construction.

Owner & president, Winspear Construction, LLC.

Aaron Witt

Aaron Witt is the self-proclaimed “Chief Dirt Nerd” of BuildWitt, a marketing, media, and software business dedicated to helping the Dirt World overcome its workforce challenge.

Initially beginning his career as a laborer in Arizona, he aimed to build a construction company. But after graduating from engineering school, his life changed when he started sharing stories about his brief time in the industry online.

Today, Aaron travels the country and globe to meet the people of the Dirt World and experience operations ranging from large mining to residential basements first-hand.

We’ve all heard about and experienced the labor shortage first-hand. Aaron Witt, the self-proclaimed Chief Dirt Nerd of BuildWitt, is on a mission to help.

He may only be in his 20s, but he’s spent the past five years exploring construction projects and mines worldwide to understand the issues we face first-hand.

Those who have followed his journey online have seen him grow BuildWitt from only a kid with a camera to a well-known brand providing media, marketing, and software for the industry.

Chief Dirt Nerd, BuildWitt