FMI Built-in Podcast

Season 4: Ep. 5: Nate Koetje on the Field-First Operating Philosophy Behind Feyen Zylstra

In this episode of FMI's Built In Podcast, FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead sits down with Nate Koetje, CEO of Feyen Zylstra. Feyen Zylstra is a 600-person commercial and industrial electrical contractor headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with offices in Nashville, Charlotte, and Charleston. Since stepping into the COO role in 2008 and becoming CEO in 2013, Nate has led one of the more disciplined growth stories in the trades. But he pushes back hard on the idea that there was ever a master plan.

Scott and Nate get into the four phases every construction CEO lives through, why "the process is the goal" became Feyen Zylstra's operating philosophy, and what it actually takes to build a field-first culture at scale.

What we cover:

• The four phases: entrepreneurial grit, "culture is king," financial discipline, and process is the goal
• Why field-first is an operating constraint, not a slogan
• How to think about geographic expansion without ever making an acquisition
• The case for not having a growth strategy
• What to look for when selecting leaders who can handle adversity
• Nate's advice to his younger self: dream big, act small

Season 4: Ep. 4: Building an Ownership Culture: The Emery Sapp & Sons Growth Story

What does it take to grow a construction company from $27M to over $1.5 billion — without losing your culture along the way? In this episode, Scott Winstead sits down with Tim Paulson, Co-CEO of ESS Companies, to unpack the philosophy, decisions, and hard lessons behind one of the industry's most remarkable growth stories.

Tim shares how becoming an ESOP in 1999 unleashed an ownership mentality across the organization, his "3D diversification" framework for sustainable growth, and why ESS invests 70% of its marketing budget internally — on its own people. He also gets candid about the growing pains of tripling in size through three simultaneous acquisitions in 2019, and what he'd tell his 30-year-old self about staying through the hard seasons.

If you're thinking about culture at scale, leadership development, or what it really means to build a company where people have a genuine stake in the outcome, this conversation is for you.

Season 4: Ep. 3: Operationally Elite: What Separates the Best Contractors from the Rest

What separates elite contractors from the rest?

In this episode of Built-In, Scott Winstead sits down with FMI Partner Scott Kimpland to unpack the fundamentals behind operational excellence in construction. From disciplined project selection and bid-day cost accuracy to labor productivity tracking and process compliance, Scott shares practical insights drawn from decades advising top-performing firms.

They discuss why chasing revenue can backfire, how two bad projects can erase a year’s profit, and why labor—not overhead—is the number leaders must obsess over. If you want to protect margin, improve field performance and build a culture of continuous improvement, this episode is for you.

Season 4: Ep. 2: FMI’s 2026 Engineering and Construction Economic Overview with Jay Bowman

In this episode of FMI’s Built-In Podcast, host Scott Winstead welcomes back Jay Bowman, senior partner and head of FMI’s market research practice, for a grounded and strategic look at the U.S. construction market heading into 2026.

After several years of broad-based growth, Jay explains why the conversation is shifting from chasing volume to making smarter, more disciplined decisions in a market defined by concentration, constraint and structural uncertainty. Rather than offering predictions for their own sake, the discussion focuses on what the data is really signaling and why headline numbers alone are no longer enough to guide strategy.

Season 4: Ep. 1: 2026 M&A Outlook for the Built Environment

The FMI Built-In Podcast is back for season 4!

FMI Capital Advisors Managing Director Alex Miller joins FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead to talk about themes driving mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the engineering and construction market in 2026.

The conversation offers practical perspective for owners, boards and leadership teams evaluating how M&A fits into their broader growth and capital deployment strategies for 2026.