Video Transcript – ASC success profiles – Logan Lankford

[Music]

[The construction industry in the US hires more than 4.500 people every year, who are specifically educated in Construction Management. This is the story of one of those Construction Management graduates, Logan Lankford, who is well on his way to a successful and rewarding career in the construction industry.]

[Logan Langford]
My name is Logan Langford, 24 years old, and then I live in Spokane Valley Washington. I grew up in a town of about 15,000 people. I started working out on a farm when I was 11 years old moving irrigation pipe, operating heavy equipment, going out in the field. In high school I was taking an advanced woods class and so I decided to pursue log furniture and I built beds, coat racks, miscellaneous log furniture. I get to cut down trees, screw everything together, present the product at the end the day. And having that sense of accomplishment is really where I started to get into construction. I graduated from high school in Oregon, decided to stay in Oregon for college, and then when I was 21 I decided to transfer to Boise State for construction management.

The first semester that I started at Boise State it was a little intimidating. It was uncomfortable for me because all these people that went there either had a dad or an uncle or a grandpa or somebody that taught them about construction growing up. You know a couple weeks in I was like wow what am i doing? I don’t know if this is right for me. The professor came up to me and he was talking to me and he’s like “you know you have a lot of potential”. He goes, “I sense that you don’t have a construction background.” But he goes, “you’re willing to learn and you’re eager to learn” and I was like okay I really need to, you know, dive in deep and sink my feet in deeper. You know each class got a little easier, a little easier and the next thing you know I’m actually talking the lingo of construction and I remember at that point I knew that that was my path and I knew that construction was my future.

So my second semester, my freshman year at Boise State is when I first started my internship process. Not only getting an education from Boise State but the internship itself both had big influences on my knowledge and construction.

I am a huge part of the coordination that happens day to day basis. Essentially I am the face that works with the owner. I’m the face that works with the architect, the engineer, the guys in the field. A big part of my job is to be the middleman between the subcontractor and the design team to make sure that what they’re sending in or what they’re doing in the field is the correct information.

Technology is huge in this industry. Nowadays we have a couple of tablets out on site and all the drawings are electronic. So we try not to print off physical copies. I have my monitor set up and I have a TV on the wall that I get to show BIM. So a big part of my responsibility on-site is flying through the building, going to a certain pipe going to a certain room, and showing the guys in the field what the BIM model looks like. We’re able to do that and it helps the guys in the field dramatically because they are able to visualize the room 3D. You know I’m familiar with these types of things I know how to run an iPad I know how to do things like construction software whereas the superintendents, they may not know. I feel like I’m actually contributing to their knowledge even you know being older than I am. They’ll always be a need for the newer generation and the most adaptive generation to enter the construction field. In order to get that knowledge in that environment we really have to include the newer generation as well as the established generation and come together to how we’re going to build this project and what is the owner want.

[Jeff Steward, Senior Superintendent, Lydia Construction]
Logan is a gem. He makes very smart decisions. He’s a great problem solver. I’ve worked with him through a few problems and he follows up so he never drops the ball until these are solved. I think Logan could be a senior level officer and make decisions regarding the company at a high level.

[Logan Langford]
Construction is a team-building activity you don’t have team players you’re not going to have a successful job. Team players are huge to success. It’s the sense of accomplishment and the sense of being successful in life.