by Kristina McMillan is a co-founder of Crew Collaborative

CONEXPO-CON/AGG is full of breakthroughs, but one of them didn’t come from the show floor.

Crew Collaborative didn’t start as a nonprofit, a formal initiative, or a big idea scribbled on a whiteboard. It started as a conversation on Instagram. Construction professionals from all over the country, working in different roles and sectors, started talking honestly about the same thing. At a time when construction firms across the country continue to face persistent labor shortages and increased pressure to recruit, retain, and develop talent, the industry is realizing that equipment alone cannot solve its workforce challenge.

We love this industry. We love the machines, the scale, the problem-solving. But we also see the same issue playing out everywhere. The workforce pipeline is strained. Leadership development is inconsistent. And too often, the conversation ends right where the work should begin.

There was no master plan. Just a shared understanding.

CONEXPO-CON/AGG gave us the chance to take those conversations out of comment threads and into real life. People who had only interacted online finally met face to face. What stood out wasn’t job titles, company logos, or who had the biggest booth. It was intent. People across trades, generations, and backgrounds who wanted a better future for construction and were ready to do something about it.

That part mattered. Since 2020, Crew Collaborative has reached thousands of students nationwide through classroom-based conversations about careers in construction.

Over time, CONEXPO-CON/AGG has become the family reunion of industry friends we never knew we were missing. Every three years, the entire industry shows up at once. Owners, operators, manufacturers, students, educators, and leaders all in the same place. You come for the iron. You leave reminded that this industry runs on people.

That feeling shaped Crew.

From the beginning, Crew was built around action. Not panels for the sake of panels. Not talk without follow-through. Just people who care deeply about the future of construction and are willing to show up for it.

Since that first gathering in 2020, Crew Collaborative has grown into a national, action-driven community focused on workforce responsibility and leadership development. Through our Classroom Talks program, we have spoken with thousands of high school students across the country. These aren’t recruiting pitches or polished presentations. They’re real conversations about real careers, real pathways, and what construction actually looks like when you pull back the curtain.

We’ve also trained everyone from laborers to CEOs to show up in local schools, youth programs, and community spaces and build trust where they live and work. No outsourcing the problem. No waiting for someone else to solve it. Just people taking responsibility for the future of their own industry.

All of it traces back to CONEXPO-CON/AGG.

Innovation matters. Equipment matters. Technology matters. But none of it works without people who are supported, developed, and proud of the work they do. Machines don’t solve workforce challenges. People do. And people tend to do their best work when they feel connected to something bigger than themselves.

CONEXPO-CON/AGG continues to be a catalyst for that connection. Not just a place to showcase what’s new, but a place to remember who we are as an industry and where we’re headed. Workforce responsibility means taking ownership of how the industry shows up in schools, communities, and early career conversations, rather than waiting for outside programs or hoping someone else solves the problem.

Crew Collaborative exists because of that moment of alignment and the momentum that followed. We’re made up of people across construction who love what this industry builds and believe it can be even better.

If you want to experience that community in person, join Crew Collaborative at our CONEXPO-CON/AGG Pop-Up Happy Hour on Thursday, March 5, from 4–6 pm at CasBar in the Sahara. No agenda. No speeches. Just good people, real conversations, and the kind of connection that started all of this.

Some of the most important breakthroughs aren’t the ones on display. They’re the ones that bring people together and keep the industry moving forward.

For construction leaders, manufacturers, and educators alike, the opportunity is clear: show up locally, engage early, and treat workforce development as a shared, long-term responsibility.

Kristina McMillan is a co-founder of Crew Collaborative and works at Ironmark Building Company in Minneapolis. She brings nearly 20 years of experience across field operations, leadership development, and workforce engagement, with a focus on turning industry conversations into action.

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