Cooper Conference: Discovering Key Learnings and Delivering for our Customers

Our team recently gathered at Geodis Park for our first Cooper Conference — a day dedicated to sharing lessons learned, highlighting internal resources, and gaining insights from industry leaders.

The conference opened with words from Cooper Steel’s Cory Cooper, followed by a keynote presentation from Jason Cummins, Managing Partner of Horizon Performance, who spoke about professionalism and team unity in the workplace.

Next, Cooper Steel’s Chad Johnson opened up our best practices session, where team members John Davis, Makaleb Thompson, Sean Hagen, and Jake Orin each led discussions centered on lessons and takeaways from recent projects and experiences.

The day concluded with two panel discussions. The first focused on structural design and engineering and featured insights from industry partners Nick Deblasis, PE, SE, Principal at KPFF Consulting Engineers; Alex Jackson, PMP, Project Executive at Gresham Smith; Colby Lawrence, Project Manager at Nucor-Vulcraft; and Carlo Lini, Senior Director of Engineering and Research at AISC.

The second panel focused on structural erection and included Carl Hultman, Chicago Operations Director at Danny’s Construction; Ben Norwood, VP of Construction at GS Steel; and Steve Burkholder, President and Owner at S&R Enterprises.

We appreciate everyone who took the time to join us, engage in impactful discussions, and invest in the growth of our people. Those shared experiences and continued learnings help us deliver the highest level of service to our customers.