Construction Business Academy

Performance

The Construction Business Academy (CBA; previously the Construction Executive Institute) is where construction leaders learn to run the business, not just the project. This immersive program gives current and future construction executives the financial acumen, strategic thinking, and decision-making skills they need to lead at the enterprise level with confidence.

At the heart of CBA is a live business simulation: participants form competing teams and run construction companies in a dynamic marketplace, making real decisions about bidding strategy, resource allocation, financial management, and risk. Facilitated strategy sessions and financial workshops run alongside the simulation, grounding the experience in construction industry scenarios. Through the simulation and peer discussions, you'll sharpen your ability to build business acumen, drive strategy, manage enterprise risk, think analytically, and make decisive calls under pressure.

FMI’s construction business training is built exclusively for the built environment. Every scenario, financial model, and peer conversation reflects the realities of leading a construction firm.

Who Should Attend the Construction Business Academy

CBA is designed for current and future construction executives who hold (or are preparing to take on) P&L responsibility, financial oversight, or enterprise-level strategic decision-making. Ideal candidates include:

  • Business unit managers
  • Current or future C-suite leaders
  • General superintendents or field supervisors
  • Senior or advanced project managers
  • Operations managers or operations officers
  • Construction managers and division managers

Benefits of the Construction Business Academy

For your organization

  • Develop the next generation of executives through practical, high-pressure simulation learning
  • Build a leadership team that can interpret financial performance and make confident strategic decisions
  • Reduce costly financial mistakes at the business unit or enterprise level
  • Improve bid strategy, resource allocation, and profitability across the business
  • Create a shared language of financial and strategic leadership across your senior team

For you personally

  • Build financial literacy to read, interpret, and act on financial statements with confidence
  • Develop strategic thinking skills to set direction, evaluate risk, and make decisive bets
  • Practice enterprise decision-making in a competitive, low-stakes simulation environment
  • Understand how pricing, overhead, bidding, and resource decisions affect business profitability
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Frequently Asked Questions About the Construction Business Academy

The Construction Business Academy is designed for current and future construction executives, as well as high-potential leaders preparing to take on P&L responsibility or business unit leadership. This includes business unit leaders, C-suite executives, senior operations leaders, division managers, and senior project leaders in construction and engineering firms.

The Construction Business Academy focuses on business acumen, financial decision-making, and enterprise strategy, while the Leadership Institute places greater emphasis on self-awareness and leadership effectiveness. The centerpiece of CBA is a competitive business simulation where participants make financial and strategic decisions in a dynamic market environment — a fundamentally different learning experience from LI.

Attendees leave with a significantly stronger command of construction business financials, including how to read financial statements, evaluate risk, price work profitably, and make strategic decisions with confidence. The program develops your ability to build business acumen, drive strategy, manage enterprise risk, think analytically, and make decisive calls in high-pressure environments.

Participants work in competing teams and run simulated construction companies over four days, making decisions about strategy, bidding, resource allocation, and financial management in a dynamic marketplace. Because you’re making real decisions under pressure, not just studying concepts or listening to lectures, the learning translates directly to how you think and act back at work.

The Construction Business Academy is the right fit if you currently hold — or are being developed for — P&L responsibility, financial oversight, or enterprise-level decision-making. If your decisions affect business unit performance, profitability, or strategic direction, you're ready. If you're primarily focused on running projects rather than the business, the Project Manager Academy is likely the better starting point.

The program fee includes all program materials, select meals, and a certificate of completion. Lodging is not included. Your welcome email will include the full meal schedule and information on how to book lodging.

Yes. FMI offers private, customized delivery of CBA for individual firms — a popular option for companies developing a cohort of future executives or succession candidates. In-house programs can be adapted to your firm’s financials, market position, and strategic priorities. Contact us to learn more.

Upcoming 2026 Sessions
Sept. 29-Oct. 2 Raleigh, NC
December 1-4 Denver, CO
Price: $7,800

Register for 2026

Upcoming 2027 Sessions
February 9-12 Tampa, FL
March 9-12 Raleigh, NC
May 4-7 Denver, CO
July 20-23 Tampa, FL
September 21-24 Raleigh, NC
October 12-15 Denver, CO
November 16-19 Raleigh, NC
Price: $8,300

Register for 2027

What Attendees Say

“This is a great course for high performing individuals who are looking to take that next step in a role of running a business unit and having to manage their own P&L. The simulation really makes you FEEL the stress of difficult business decisions, without the real-life consequences.”

— Jay Lazarus, Project Executive, Teichert Construction

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