ABC’s Colorado State University Student Chapter Wins First Place in National Construction Management Competition

The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) National Construction Management Competition (CMC) took place on Monday, November 6th and Tuesday, November 7th during ABC Leadership Week in Orlando, Florida. ABC Rocky Mountain Chapter’s competition team, comprised of members of the ABC Student Chapter at Colorado State University (CSU), won first place overall in addition to placing in three of the four categories. They won third place in project management and first in both safety and quality control. This is the second year in a row that the team has won first place overall at the competition. The students competing on the team were Kyle Deuschle, Ty Eberhardt (Team Captain), Jack Jambor, Nicholas Raymond, and Darcy Wojciechowski. They were accompanied by their faculty advisor, Jon Elliott.
 
The ABC Student Chapter at CSU celebrated their 35th anniversary this year. For the competition, the team received initial plans on September 22nd, and they worked to put their bid together up until the competition in Orlando. They had to be prepared to adjust their work based on project changes given to them. On day one of the competition, all the teams were given a change order and had to update their project proposals. Based on those updates, the finalists were chosen. The second day the finalist teams presented their projects.
 
The competition provides students with a chance to showcase and test their knowledge of construction management outside of the classroom. A total of 20 teams from colleges and universities all over the country competed over the course of two days, getting judged based on their project management, safety, quality control, estimating and presentation skills.
 
 “For me and hopefully I can speak on behalf of my whole team, winning this competition was gratifying to see all of our handwork, dedication, and ability come to fruition. Due to the size and complexity of this project we really needed to come together as a team, help each other out, and it would have never of been possible without such a tight bond we have formed. Especially for those members that were returning after a victory last year it is almost surreal to be able to have Colorado State bring back another national championship back to back.”
-Nicholas Raymond, CSU Student
 
 “Our faculty advisor Jon Elliott and our industry rep Mike Menke help our team prepare by recommending CSU faculty and ABC companies/members to assist us on our project. They also continue to push us to raise the bar each and every day. Also, we just put in the time and effort needed to get a FIRST place win. All of us are full time students, yet we still but over 40 hours a week into this competition. We give up weekends, sleep, social events, etc. because all we can think about is school and this competition.”
-Kyle Deuschle, CSU Student
 
 “This competition has not only taught me the hard skills needed for construction managers (i.e. estimating, scheduling, project management, etc…), but mainly the soft skills (public speaking, leading a variety of different personalities, etc…) of construction. As this was my second CMC being the captain, I have learned an enormous amount about myself. Honestly, it is a little irritating how well this competition showcases individual strengths and weaknesses.”
-Ty Eberhardt, CSU Student, Team Captain