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Strengthening Careers and Communities: A Conversation with Todd Bryce

Todd Bryce joined Gray Construction in November of 2020 as a field engineer in Huntsville, Alabama. After nearly 15 years in construction, starting as a skilled laborer and working up to a superintendent role in hotel construction, Todd found himself at a crossroads when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted his career. A chance conversation with a family friend introduced him to Gray, opening the door to an exciting new career chapter.

 

Since joining Gray, Todd has grown from managing field operations to embracing an exciting role as an assistant project manager. Along the way, he has discovered how Gray’s supportive culture and abundant opportunities empower team members to shape their careers and make a meaningful impact both in the industry and the community. 

What led you to Gray? 

 

I’ve worked in construction for nearly 15 years. Starting in skilled labor, I worked my way up to superintendent in a hotel construction project. Like many of us, the pandemic impacted my project, causing a lot of uncertainty. After I was laid off, Scott McCormick, a long-time family friend, reached out to share more about Gray. It wasn’t long after that initial conversation that I was flying through my interviews and got hired at the end of 2020. 

 

How has Gray helped you build your career? 

 

I started working on a distribution project in Huntsville and then got promoted to assistant site manager on the next project, a distribution center in Longview, Texas. While working on that project, I realized I wanted to gain more experience on the financial and business development sides of projects. I wanted to transition my career out of the field and into the office. Luckily, I work at Gray, and we have a lot of opportunities to do that.  

 

I heard about the Dallas office opening and thought it would be a great opportunity. I talked through the idea with Scott, to get his advice. He agreed that I would be a great fit and helped me out with the challenge and connected me with Emily Mathis, who is now my manager. That was when I made the transition from ASM to assistant project manager (APM). Since then, I’ve helped finish the build-out of the Dallas office. I was kind of the customer representative for Gray and worked with the contractor and property management company to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible. It was great, because I got to use a lot of the previous experience I had from site management. Not to mention, I got plenty of help from my Operations team.  

 

What does a typical day look like for you as an Assistant Project Manager? 

 

I’m involved in almost every phase of the project. I work closely with our architects, structural, and mechanical engineers to get them where they need to be. I function as liaison with the customer to get feedback on all designs to ensure we’re providing the highest quality results for our customer.  

 

In the next phase, I work closely with our operations teams and hire subcontractors to conduct the work. Here in Dallas, we are working on establishing relationships with new subcontractors and customers. This has been an interesting challenge because our project is about 15 minutes north of a big superconductor, so finding subcontractors that are not currently working on that project has been tricky. Site, mechanical, and electrical contractors have been the hardest to source because of the amount of work that is out there for them. My team and I are working hard to build relationships with local contractors.  

 

Once we bring the subcontractors in, we integrate them with our folks. When that’s done, we can get into the meat of the construction project. From there, my team and I manage customer expectations with potential shutdowns, insurance, updates on construction activities and moving around an active facility.  

 

Another large portion of my job is to make sure our site teams have everything they need to get the job done. I help them work through any potential hurdles that may arise, such as finances, or scope gap. 

 

I also get to work very closely with the city on permitting and inspections, making sure they’re getting our plans reviewed in a timely manner, they have all the information they need, and payments are being processed. 

What do you think sets Gray apart from the other companies in our industry? 

 

The people. We’ve done a really great job of hiring genuine people who align with Gray’s values. We have a lot of subject matter experts when it comes to different scopes, and I think that’s what makes it for us to continue hiring people that are light on experience but have great values. Gray has a lot of opportunities to train those folks up. There are a lot of ways to build your career here, including the Emerging Leaders Group (ELG). I’m on the Steering Committee for that employee-driven cooperative, and I think that’s an easy way to show our newer or younger folks that there are opportunities for you to get involved in leadership.  

 

Another thing is our commitment to community outreach. Speaking from the perspective of the Dallas team, we’re all on the same page. We’re all excited about the jobs and the work that we’re going to get out here, but we’re equally excited about diving into community outreach as well!  

 

For example, we’re already digging in and building relationships with organizations like the local Children’s Advocacy Center here in Dallas, that’s a big one for us. We’re working with them to identify volunteer events and other ways we can make a positive impact in Texas; not just with the construction industry, but within the Community as well. Outside of the Children’s Advocacy Center, we’re looking into women’s shelters, other organizations, and schools that we can get involved with.  

 

Is there a project experience that significantly contributed to your professional growth? 

 

When I moved to Oregon for a data center project. I got up there and we were finishing 3 or 4 big items on that project. When I came in, I was given the reins on managing an important slow data cold storage facility. I was given the trust and responsibility to run that myself as an ASM, it was great because I had the team there, so I had people to bounce things off. I was also able to use other folks help and knowledge as well. Despite the issues we had on the project, the customer said it was the best run slow data cold storage facility to date, and we ended up winning Project of the Year from Gray for that size project. 

 

I was thrown into the deep end, but I had help from the team and they really pushed me to dig into the details. I learned all the ins and outs and what it took to really run a project. It was very stressful at times, but a great learning experience. I was a fully saturated sponge very early on and like I said, the team was great! 

 

What are some of the most memorable experiences you’ve had at Gray so far? 

 

The first ones that come to mind are little things. Like one time, we got a call from our concrete contractor in Texas, and they were all freaking out. No one could really understand what the problem was, so we went down there. I went to check it out and it turns out a snake that was maybe a foot and a half or two feet long had gotten in the job site and was in the isolation diamond. It was a little king snake, and it was just trying to get out of the site. King snakes are not venomous and usually docile, they eat crickets and other snakes, so I knew it wasn’t going to hurt anyone. I picked him up to remove him from the site and everyone scattered! 

 

Some of my favorite memories are the safety luncheons. Just being able to give out food and prizes to show our appreciation was awesome. It’s fun to get those guys pumped to be onsite and make them happy!  

 

Being part of these teams and getting to form some lifelong friendships has been awesome.  

"Being part of these teams and getting to form lifelong friendships has been awesome."
Todd Bryce, Assistant Project Manager

Gray

What’s the best advice you could give to someone starting their career at Gray? 

 

Here at Gray, it doesn’t matter what your title is, don’t be afraid to introduce yourself and talk to your teammates.  

 

Ask questions: I think that was one of the biggest things that helped me transition into the industrial world. When I got in, I had an awesome site manager on my first project, and I asked him a lot of questions. This goes back into our people. We have great executives and upper management teams. I have yet to run into someone that won’t take the time to sit down and go over something with me. They are more than happy to help you figure out where to go to find that information.  

 

What is a fun fact about yourself? 

 

I love being outdoors. I’ve probably hiked 120 miles last year and I’ve been able to travel a lot. I’ve spent time in Spain, Portugal, Africa, Italy, and Germany—some of the coolest places. I just like experiencing new cultures, eating different foods, and talking to different folks! 

 

This love for exploring new places mirrors my professional journey with Gray so far. I have had many opportunities to continue traveling and doing the things I love. I’ve lived in a lot of cool places while working on projects, but Dallas has been my favorite so far! 

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