STO Building Group’s Super Con showed what happens when supers come together with a shared purpose and a common platform.
In March, STO Building Group came together in Dallas, TX, for Super Con. This is something we had never heard of before in our industry: a superintendent convention bringing together field leaders from across an entire organization.
Themed “The Power of the Platform,” Super Con connected supers with vendors and industry experts for two days of presentations, workshops, panels, and candid discussions. Throughout the event, we openly addressed challenges and shared ideas for how to strengthen our industry.
When we first envisioned Super Con, our idea wasn’t just to put on an event; it was to create a space built by superintendents, for superintendents. We wanted to gather people in one place to confront the realities of the modern super and work together to make change.
Construction Manager
Abbott Construction
Senior Project Manager
LF Driscoll
Super Con is the most recent idea to come from our Superintendent Roundtable (SRT). The SRT was formed after STOBG realized superintendents had a powerful voice that was waiting to be amplified. The SRT was tasked to come up with big ideas about how to improve conditions, share best practices, and solve operational challenges.
Our first big initiative was the Superintendent Academy, an education program based on how supers learn best: from each other. As co-chairs of the SRT, we were blown away by the success of the Academy, and we became eager to share the message with even more people. That’s what led us to Super Con.
Our convention confirmed what we’ve felt for a long time: our people are hungry for change and willing to put in the work to get it. We know that no single person can solve the biggest challenges facing supers today, like growing technical complexity, staffing pressures, difficult schedules, and retirements.
Change requires connection. It requires trust. And it requires a platform that allows people to work toward meaningful solutions.
That’s what Super Con represents for us. It’s about knowing that when you hit a wall on a jobsite, there’s someone who will pick up the phone. Since the event, we’ve been carrying forward one of Super Con’s key insights: as supers, we are part of something bigger, and we are powerful.
This message was woven through presentations by our people, who underscored the expertise we have available across our organization. Stephen Neeson, senior vice president of technical operations and an executive sponsor of the SRT, and MC Contreras, director of technology deployment, spoke about our Tech Ops program and how they partner with supers to explore and implement new technology.
Michael Walsh, vice president of Elevator Construction Consultants, also offered to be a resource for supers as they navigate costs, inspections, and other elevator challenges.
Similarly, Chuck DePue, quality manager for Abbott, and Alec Burks, project manager for Abbott, spoke about how they’ve helped STOBG teams with building envelope challenges, earning themselves the nickname “Leak Geeks.”
Additionally, Greg Dunkle, chief operating officer of STOBG and an executive sponsor of the SRT, and James Donaghy, executive chairman of STOBG, spoke about how our leadership is taking seriously the challenges our supers face and elevating their ideas to the highest level.
Their words still resonate with us now that the event has ended. We’re doing our best to carry the message forward. Our group has built an unshakable bond, and we want to see that every STOBG superintendent feels the same sense of camaraderie as we do.
For us, the power of the platform isn’t just a saying. It’s personal. It’s the confidence that comes from belonging to a family of builders who have each other’s backs and the trust that grows when people come together with a shared purpose.
That’s something worth building—together.