In 1990 an insurance company client approached me and said, “If you want to start your own software development company, we’ll come with you.” I didn’t see that one coming, but of course, I said, ‘Yes!”. Little did I know at Quest Technology Group’s 1991 launch where it would lead.

💡 One of my favorite sayings is, “We like technology, but we love business even more.” Here’s why.
Technology is a tool that serves business, not the other way around. 

We’ve seen -- time after time -- IT providers leading with technology. 

• There is little or no conversation with company leaders about their goals. 
• Where are they now? 
• Where do they want and need to go? 
•  How can they get there given the time, resources, and a ton of other factors that impact them every day?

There’s a better way to put the right technology to work to support thriving companies.

Our experience has proven that strategy supported by the right technology tools, flexible foundations, and curious, committed people builds long-term success.

* The Process is Simple *

🍏 Every company is unique. It’s not a one-size-fits-all tech stack that every company adopts.

🍏 We start by learning about your company’s business objectives. Technology isn’t part of the conversation.

🍏 Together we uncover the gaps and the opportunities. It’s amazing how companies realize unexpected results with the tools, technologies, data, and people they already have.

🍏 We plan. We don't rush out and buy the latest shiny tech thing because someone said you should.

🍏 Together we plan, execute, discover, learn, and keep doing it


* Working Together is Essential *

🍏 We believe in long-term partnerships. Our clients aren’t ATMs. They’re valued business relationship where creating something meaningful for their employees, leaders, clients, customers, and partners matters.

🍏 And our first startup client who asked that one simple question? They were our client for 22 years until they were acquired by a larger, national insurance company. 

For all of us, the relationship meant transformative technology changes. It also meant human connections. We built relationships with their clients. We attended funerals. We celebrated anniversaries and birthdays. 

We were there together because we love business more than technology.

Linda Rolf (Fractional CIO)

"Connor has endless energy and drive to grow this company and the companies he works with. He never says no to any goal/challenge. I’m pretty sure he can do anything he puts his mind to."

I'm Connor DeLaney, and from our first conversation, my goal is to ask the questions that make you uncomfortable but push you to make the best decisions for your people and your business. Consider me that friend who you come to when you're not sure where to go next (or need a knock on the head every once in a while). 

My work at BuildWitt is focused on challenging the norm of how civil construction companies run their training and development strategy. I run our East Coast territory, helping teams from Maine down to South Carolina build training programs that their team will actually use. 

How do we do that? By taking a micro-learning approach that helps teams get better every day, rather than cramming it all in over the course of a day. 

I also help lead the internal training for our team of 10 sales professionals, all to empower them to be better at helping our clients succeed. 

Before that, I worked at IMPACT from 2019-2025, and my journey was anything but linear, starting in content training, jumping into event management and strategy, then building a membership community platform from the ground up, to leading and growing the sales team, and speaking all over the United States. Throughout that journey, I helped businesses all over the world own their sales and marketing in-house and never have to depend on an outsourced marketing agency ever again

Businesses I've worked with have redefined their industry by creating educational content, websites, and sales experiences unlike any of their competitors, building more trust and crushing their revenue goals. 

"But Connor, who are you outside of work?"

I'm a sports nut. I played baseball for 16 years, volleyball for another 5, and now am a competitive runner in Southeastern CT. Anything from a 5k to a Marathon, you'll see me running!

I'm a dog dad of Maple, my Australian Cattle Dog-Australian Shephard mix. She's a rascal and she's a delight, all in one.

I'm the oldest of three brothers and my family is at the core of who I am and strive to be every day. 

Want to get to know each other? Let's make it happen!

Connor DeLaney

I remember being in the same seat as these students not so long ago. 
I attended and hosted as many of these panels as I could while at CCSU.
These were the panels that truly helped shape my career trajectory.

Getting to be on the other side as part of a panel to share marketing insights, short-form video tactics, and the strategies I'm seeing work for companies was a blast. Not often I take the time to think about that.

Sharing the stage with Dustin Schultz and Caitlyn Grad reminded me how awesome the work we all do is. They're both experts doing this every day for brands big and small.

Now it's on the students. Leverage those relationships and work to build up the opportunities that we shared over the 90-minutes or so together. Let's do it!

Thanks CCSU School of Business for hosting, and to Jason Snyder for pulling it all together. Excited to do it again soon!

BuildWitt | Training for Heavy Civil Construction Companies

I had a hard conversation with myself over the weekend. This past week didn't go the way I wanted, and it had to do with me and how I showed up. Bad headspace and self-talk. Time to reset that.

I wrote this note yesterday and stuck it to my laptop:

👊🏼 Be Direct
🤝🏼 Be Helpful
🤘🏼 Be Persistent

What do they mean?
👊🏼 Challenge ideas and get straight to the root of the issue.
🤝🏼 Show up with the intent to help first and foremost.
🤘🏼 Don't let people off the hook.


Game on.

Last week, we launched a HUGE upgrade to the BuildWitt website.

I pulled a few snapshots of the new experience, including:
- Clearer messaging across the homepage (and full website) about what we do, who we help, and how.
- A full course catalog and sample showcase of our content library (2,000+ videos)
- An interactive demo experience for the platform without needing to talk to sales, including Mobile and Desktop views.
- A pricing calculator so you know exactly what to expect for buying BuildWitt Improve.
- Case study storytelling of companies using our platform.

We're still refining the experience and tightening up some pieces, but I'm so excited about what this'll help our team do, both for customers looking to understand more and in sales. This was a long time coming!

Shoutout to Brandon Scott and the whole team for getting this up and running. Excited to share it with the world!

Crazy opportunity for the right social media strategy mind. Millions of followers across multiple platforms in an industry that's pretty jaw-dropping to see in action.

If you're curious, feel free to message me, it's worth seeing what Aaron Witt and the team are working towards here.

This is a SICK role for the right person!! We're about to send it!! Nashville HIGHLY preferred, as our entire team is local. It allows us to jam faster. And jam fast is what we do.

Apply at BuildWitt.com/careers

An owner who's been in the heavy civil industry for over 20 years had never seen behind the curtain of what asphalt production looks like.
Until he took this course in BuildWitt Improve.

There were plenty of stories the team had shared with him since getting on the platform, but he wanted to call out one he had himself.

He went from one video to watching the full course in a sitting. Then he researched more and more of it. 

"I was like a kid in a candy shop. This stuff was unbelievable! Now I fully get the process start to finish. Hoping to take a tour of a nearby plant soon."

The leader of the organization. The guy who grew up in the industry with his son on the same path. He was learning and nerding out about Asphalt Production.

That's the power training can have. And that's what a leader who is committed to helping his people grow sounds like.

He loves what he does, loves the industry, and wants to make it better.

Learning is contagious, and he's setting the example.

It all starts with moments like these.

I've never spoken to a construction leader who doesn't care about their people. But there are levels to how that care comes to life.

Level 1: Acknowledge
Level 2: Invest
Level 3: Empower

Level 1: Acknowledge
These leaders acknowledge the work their people do. They know the long hours and the mental and physical toll of the work. 

They have been in their workers' shoes, done their time, and want to help their people succeed through working. 

Level 2: Invest
These leaders invest time, money, and energy into their people through training and learning opportunities. 

They understand there is a lot more to learn than just what they can offer, so they create ways for their team to learn outside of their knowledge. 

Level 3: Empower
These leaders empower their team to create opportunities and learn from each other, not just through what leadership delivers.

They focus on building a culture of learning and development, and allow their team to find what will be most beneficial, trusting them to do what's best for the organization through their training means.

When I see these levels come to life at an organization, they have to build on each other. Acknowledgement will lead to Investing and will lead again to Empowering your team.

It's hard to do, and there is focus and intentionality required to do it right.

Take an honest moment to reflect... Which level are you at today?

Even more important... What needs to change and what needs to stay the same to get you where you want to be?

Full-day training shutdowns. 4-hour safety standards. Quarterly refreshers.
That approach to training isn't working, and here's why.
➡️ Train to standard, not to time. 

Spending more time training doesn't lead to better training results. Honestly, it leads to poor retention of information and restless, grumpy employees. 

Time doesn't equal quality of training. When we train for a certain amount of time, we're fulfilling a requirement, not setting a standard.

Instead, we need training to setting the standard and reinforcing the standard. 

Standards are built on daily expectations, responsibilities, and accountability. 

It's how you show up and carry yourself every day. 

Safety is the easy example with standards. Safety is expected every day; that's how we make sure everyone gets the work done the right way and goes home too. If you have a safety standard, it doesn't take hours to remind people of it. They know the standard that is set, and hold themselves to it. 

Training to time is checking the box.
Training to a standard is empowering your people.

That's the difference.

What is the biggest challenge in selling to the construction industry?
Unpredictable schedules.
Four examples from this week:

1. Safety Manager had two workplace incidents occur on different job sites the morning of our meeting. 
2. General Superintendent had the warm temperatures and snow melting cause water to run through one of their jobsites.
3. President got pulled into an emergency planning meeting for equipment needs on a large upcoming job.
4. Head of Operations had to delay a key phase of a project due to the weather, and ended up needing to be out on the jobsite. 

Yes, it's frustrating. Of course I want to feel like the top priority. 

Reality is, I'm not always going to be for these teams. So we have to shrug our shoulders, be helpful, and keep the train moving.

This Friday got a whole lot quieter today. Looks like I'll get to work on some other pieces to close out the week!

taplio

The Battle

Linda Rolf (Fractional CIO)

Connor DeLaney

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The Battle

Linda Rolf (Fractional CIO)

Connor DeLaney

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Connor DeLaney's LinkedIn Performance

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