The Builder Upper Show Ep. 2 feat. Tony Zignego from Zignego Company

In this episode, we sit down with Tony Zignego, the HR and Safety Director of the Zignego Company and the third-generation torchbearer of this family-owned business.

Hear firsthand about his journey in the industry, the evolution of Zignego as a family business, their tech-forward approach, and their commitment to fostering inclusivity within their workforce.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey there everyone. I'm Loupaerez,your host of the Builder Upper Show,
a podcast where we talk about everythingin construction and trades. Now let's get
into it. I would like towelcome our guest, Tony Zignago, HR
and Safety Director of the Zygnago Company. Tony, how are you doing today?

(00:22):
Doing great? How you doing low? Doing wonderful? Thank you?
It's Friday. Can't complain looking forwardto the weekend hanging out with the family.
Oh, same here, same here. So I appreciate you joining us.
I want to know everything about theZignago Company, so tell me,
tell me all about it. Sure, so we will be next season twenty
twenty four will be our seventieth inexistence. So it was started by my

(00:45):
grandpa Pete, his brother Vern.They then passed on to the second generation,
my father and a bunch of uncles, and then I am part of
the third generation of owners at Zignago'. So right now, now we're three
corporations. Zygnego Company, who Iworked for. We are the road building
side of things and the oldest ofthe three corps. And then we have

(01:07):
Zygnego Ready Mix, which was startedin nineteen eighty. It has six permanent
facilities in southeastern Wisconsin, and thenewest is XE Mix USA, which was
an existing company, but they doportable concrete, kind of a cross between
company and ready mix in the centralUnited States. So everywhere all the way
from the Canadian border down to theMexican border. Incredible, man, so

(01:30):
many years in generations going into thecompany. Maybe we can unpack that a
little bit. When did you getinto construction? So, I, you
know, besides visiting job sites andstuff when I was a kid with my
dad and grandpa, I worked onthe road crew in college, and then
after getting my master's in nine workstarted working a year round and became an

(01:53):
owner and project manager in twenty twelveand currently am a and safety director.
So you went down your own roadthen, no pun intended, of course,
on the road to work. I'msure that the job experience was absolutely
crucial to being in the position thatyou're in today. What do you love

(02:13):
about your career and maybe there's differenttimes that you loved different things, and
if you could touch maybe on acouple of what you loved in the past
and what you love today, thatwould be great to know. Sure,
So I think why a lot ofpeople get into construction is it's one of
the few industries where you can seehour by hour, day by day,

(02:34):
week by week. You can physicallysee what you're producing. If you're on
a road crew. We don't dobuildings, but we've had subcontractors or other
contractors work on our job sites thatare making, you know, producing buildings,
so you see the project. Andwhen I was on the road crew,
like as a labor for example,you would see a job, you'd
be there every day for two months. Then you might not see that job

(02:57):
for two three months, you know, until you get to the next phase
of construction. And when you wouldget back to the jobs that look completely
different and you know, traffics onthe other side, and that's you know,
you could take a deteriorating piece ofinfrastructure and turn it into something useful.
I think is what inspires so manypeople about Row construction. And I

(03:19):
think anybody who is you know,has family in Row construction. We all
subject our loved ones to stories ofyou know, you were a part of
this project or that project, orthis roadway or a park or whatever a
particular company does. And so mywife and children are long suffering hearing tails
of stuff, you know that thatwe've worked on. That's a gago has

(03:42):
worked on. So but but it'sit's it's cool. No, that's great,
that's great. How many kids doyou have? I have three,
so I have nine and seven andthen twins are seven. Oh wow,
you have twins too. That's great. So sharing the stories that dad,
dad did that road and dad workedthere, and I'm sure that those are
proud stories to share with them.Yes, So they get excited, and

(04:03):
you know, they don't understand theletting process, but they are. Often
if it's a bumpy road, theyalways say, well can you just rip
that up and make a concrete They'refully committed on the concrete thing. You
drive over a pothole and then thekids are like, come on, dad,
can you go fix that for usreal quick? Yeah? I love
that. Okay, So is thereanything that you wished you knew when you

(04:28):
started? I think, going back, you know, fifteen years or so,
I think my conception was you wouldbecome a subject matter expert, meaning
you would know all things about allprocesses, and that the process, the
physical process, was all encompassing.Because a lot of my uncles, you

(04:48):
know, were extremely knowledgeable. Theyhad grown up in the business, maybe
even more so than in my generation, and they had gone through the same
process of you know, working onthe road crew and then taking a number
of different positions as they moved intomanagement. So I think that stayed with

(05:08):
them. So they were extremely knowledgeablethe second generation. And I think the
subject matter, while important, itwasn't all It is not all encompassing.
You know, there's a lot ofother things. It's not just the technical
aspects you of of the road building. So we have as an ownership group,
we have some people that are inthe field more, some in the

(05:30):
office, some do a combination ofjobs therein. So yeah, so I'd
say that is kind of you know, if I knew back then what I
know now, I think just theperception that it was, you know,
you could learn and then kind ofmemorize it. But yeah, it's a
you know, as a constantly evolution, it's constantly evolving process, and you

(05:50):
know, you look to get bettereach day, each week, each year.
Absolutely, and the experience alone justit makes it that much easier over
time. Probably going back and whatyou were doing in the beginning, that's
definitely for sure. Do you guyshave a lot of employees that work for
you. Yeah, so most alot of our employees, even the many

(06:11):
you know, a lot of theZignago's, we have a lot of employees
that they are siblings. They areWe've had mother son, we've had husband,
wife, we've had and you know, various other family members. So
pretty much everybody knows each other.Maybe not necessarily by last name, but
everybody knows each other. We prideourselves on having a strong culture and basically

(06:38):
everybody has their niche at Zignago andyou know, works hard and hopefully makes
us a successful company. I lovethat it's so family oriented. Everybody knows
each other. What do you guysdo for fun as far as like for
your workers and everything like that.So we have the last couple of years
we've done some supervisor events. Solast year we did an event at Healthfare

(07:02):
Field right next to Amfamfield, youknow by the Brewers Stadium. Oh yeah,
we rented that out for a couplehours and we did a kickball game
and tailgate and whatnot. We've hadsome like thank you for Formulive Supervisors again,
we've had that event and then lookingahead to twenty twenty four, we

(07:23):
are looking to do some online spiritwar, some Zygnago dabs, so we'll be
giving everybody like a code, allemployees a code, and then they can
go on the website and get youknow, whatever type of Zygnago gear they
want. You know, some guysare very particular and you wouldn't think it
in a construction company, but someguys are very very particular and can be

(07:43):
fashionistas. They have to have theirhigh viz a certain way, or you
know, some guys love hats,some guys don't care about hats. So
we have wide range, you know, of interest. So we're gonna do
that for employees in twenty twenty four. Kind of going into our seventieth season,
you'd be surprised when they kick offthe work boots what kind of apparel
they want to put on? Then? Huh, you never know. No,

(08:07):
that's that's really good and it soundslike your your workers stay really happy.
It seems like you guys have agreat retention for your employee base,
which is awesome. So you guysare definitely doing something right over at Zignago.
I know that getting workers, especiallythe younger workers, is getting tougher
with each passing day, do youguys do anything you know unique or new

(08:31):
or how do you recruit new workersto come into construction. So the major
employees, probably about almost seventy fivepercent are employed ATAGO their employee referral,
So they're referred by a current NAGOemployee and I you know, whether they're
related or they know they knew themfrom a previous job, or they you

(08:54):
know, know them from their community. And so we have that, you
know, we've also had We've alsobrought in some some people from some of
our associations like ABC, American Buildersand Contractors of Wisconsin. We've done some
events. We had an open housethis January of twenty three with some community

(09:15):
organizations and ABC. So we've donea number of different things. Employee referrals
are by and far are most successful. And yeah, so that that is
the most reliable form of recruitment asfar as you know, retention, we
have a very low turnover rate fromyear to year. As far as compensation,

(09:37):
you know, where we pay aboutthe top in our industry. So
it's you know, we always tellnew employees it's tough work, but it's
hard work and tough and hard work, but you're you're paid extremely well.
And so once our employees, youknow, get to a certain proficiency level,
obviously, then we kind of lookto promote from within. And so
if somebody starts off as a laboror truck driver, you know, they

(10:00):
have a number of different paths,whether it be concrete finisher, have the
equipment operator foreman, so kind oflike the the ownership side of things,
non family members at Zignego have avariety of different paths based on where they
start. Most people start off startedoff as either a labor or a truck
driver. So it's hard work,but it's also like I said, you

(10:22):
know, we're at the top endof the pay scale in our industry and
yeah, and so we you know, we maintain high standards and uh and
we all we also pay well.So it's in general, it's a very
good situation, mutually beneficial setup hereATNEGO. So it sounds like you you
have programs built in to help broadenthe experience and help them move up.

(10:43):
Yeah, so for labors or truckdrivers, within the first three years,
I would say, if somebody isshowing promise, our foreman and supervisors will
identify that individual and they'll let myselfand the operation side know you know so
and so as some potential and aninterest in a particular trade, whether it
be operating or concrete finishing. Wethen talked to that individual and we talked

(11:09):
to them about becoming an apprentice atABC. And so our normal season is
roughly Easter Thanksgiving, so in thewintertime, just put together our schedule for
our apprentices with ABC. But typicallythey attend classes like two weeks in December,

(11:30):
break for Christmas in New Year,and then after New Year they have
two weeks of classroom in January,and then for the equipment operators they do
some hands on work late February andMarch. So it times out perfectly to
get some education, they get paidto go to school. For the operators

(11:50):
they get some hands on the finishersdo it at WCTC Walksha County Technical College.
Oh yeah, and we actually havetwo of our form and actually teaching
each of those class respective sections.So one of our foremen grading foreman helps
with the hands on portion for theequipment operators and are paving superintendent actually is

(12:13):
in charge of the classroom and thehands on finishing at ABC. So yeah,
it's and that's not just for ouremployees, that's for other other companies
you know are in attendance for thatfor that as well. That whole structure
kind of speaks to your business.If employees are referring people to bring in
to work for you, that meansthat they're really happy, right, that's

(12:37):
kind of like the overall consensus.You're not going to bring in a friend
if you know that it's a it'sa terrible place to work. So if
you're bringing somebody in, you knowthat it's a great place to work.
So that speaks a lot about whatyou're doing behind the scenes to keep all
your employees moving up in this world. So props to you guys for getting
that set up. That's great.Thank you. I was gonna say it's

(13:00):
a matter of pride. So alot of times if a new applicant comes
across the email we went to allelectronic during COVID the applications, so I'll
see that, you know, thefollowing morning, I'll get a phone I'll
get a text or a phone callfrom a current employee say, hey,
so and so applied. But Ionly kind of know them by association.
I don't really know them. Thatmuch, so I can't really vouch for

(13:22):
them, or they'll say, youknow, no, this person, you
know, we work side by side, and this person I want to And
the reason is in construction, youwant you know, if somebody is not
performing their job duties as optimally aspossible, that just makes everybody else work
that much harder. And crew moraleis a huge thing for us. Crew
morale can suffer, so people arevery particular about who they refer or don't

(13:46):
refer. So it's a matter ofpride, pride for them, and you
know, because it's their reputation.And we do have some employee referral reimbursements
for the current employees that prefer thenewer ones. But I'd say more than
anything, it's it's really it's apride thing. And they want to have
people that are hard working and andand dedicated, you know, working,

(14:09):
whether it's on their crew or anothercrew within the company. So they have
they have kind of like that teammentality. You can most like compare it
to sports. Right if if somebodyslacking or anything like that, I'm sure
your guys are up to par.You got the best of the best.
They they're on the a team they'regoing to get the job done. And
if anybody's kind of slow enough,I'm sure that they'll they'll bring them up

(14:31):
and make sure that they're getting thejob done. So I mean that speaks
to the workforce. I mean itsounds to me like you guys probably hire
some great people to work there,and it's i mean, your your business
success kind of also says it.All right, you guys are successful because
of the workforce that's making you successful. So that's definitely you're putting the right
people in the right place. Youprobably have a really good quarterback and a

(14:54):
and an O line pushing the wayso that you guys can score the wins
that you need to score. Sothat's so it's great exactly. And I
always say in on the management onthe management side, it's used as a
quarterback. You have to use youhave to sense the pocket around you.
You know when when to move,when to get rid of the ball.
But our field employees are our eyesand ears. They are the people out

(15:16):
there every single day on job sites, and they are they're the ones producing
the you know, physically doing thework. So no, we've been very
blessed over the years and and currentlywith the workforce that we have. Do
you guys use any technology within yourcompany. So what we do is we
say I started this. My unclestarted this, actually these newsletters, so

(15:41):
we started ten fifteen years ago.He did it maybe once every six weeks
on average. I do it fora number of years. I did about
once every two weeks. Now it'severy week. So it has a section
on safety, a section on anyopenings that we have, job openings,
and it also has you know,the crew, what's going on on the

(16:03):
job, so it has different projects. You know, it'll have information so
if we reach a certain milestone,you get to a certain phase or a
stage, and a job or oneproject our work has wrapped up on and
it's now you know, finish upwork for a subcontractor we let the employees
know because you know, in anygiven year, we might have anywhere from

(16:25):
a dozen to twenty different projects.So some employees might only see three or
four jobs. Some employees might seefifteen. It all depends which crew they're
on. But a lot, youknow, a lot of times if an
employee is on a particular job,they want to know, hey, what's
going on on this job, what'sgoing on in that job. So there's
a lot of that from our workforce, you know, because they care and

(16:48):
they want to know what's going onon different projects that they may or may
not have seen. So we liketo communicate that. And then as far
as technology, you know, alot of people have the perception that construction
is, you know, it's adirty, gritty type job, which is
often but technology is you know,in every part of it. So from

(17:11):
GPS, our heavy equipment side ofthings, GPS technology to our shop with
a lot of the computerization of ourequipment. Obviously here in the office,
project managers and the accounting side ofthings are you know, are constantly using
technology. All of our foremen haveeither laptops or iPads to record hours on

(17:36):
and so you know, we encouragethat and that is kind of their daily
log day in, day out athere at Zygnago as far as you know,
reporting quantities and whatnot. And yeah, so we're constantly using technology in
construction and you know, increasingly we'vetried to showcase that, you know,
when we do have job openings andwhatnot. Modernizing the way that you go

(18:00):
about using technology, it's definitely canhelp with project management, moving things forward.
Handling multiple jobs at once more thanthe usual. If you can't do
everything on paper and pen anymore,that's for sure. Even interact and I
like that you guys do the newsletter. It shows that you offer transparency on
what's going on within the company.You know, you guys are open.

(18:22):
That's awesome. So it's it's greatfor your workers to keep in the know.
And do you focus on inclusion withinthe workforce? Oh yeah, so
we're so. I've been part ofABC's Inclusion the task or Inclusion committee a
couple of years. We've had acouple of events out in this year was
out in Pewaukee. Actually the lasttwo years it's been out in Pewaukee,

(18:47):
so it hits kind of the Milwaukeemetro Milwaukee area. So no, So,
I mean that group meets monthly atleast monthly, and that's we've a
big push for that. And Signegoin this season became, you know,
actually a majority minority company. Sowe have a very diverse workforce in a

(19:08):
number of different areas and I knowwe're proud of that. And I think
again the strength or the reason thatworks the inclusion model works is because you
know, you keep it merit basedand you look for the best, you
recruit the best, you retain theirbest, and you know it's given back

(19:29):
to you by your employees. Iswhat we found. It's really important and
I think that a lot of companiescan if they focused on that as well,
the same way that you do,they would definitely see the fruits in
that labor. Where do people findZignago? So where do where do they
find you? Where do they wheredo you guys do business? I guess
what specific areas? Sure? Soyeah, so zig company. We are

(19:52):
the state of Wisconsin. We'll gowherever the work is in the state of
Wisconsin. Zignego readymis is centered aroundMetro mo so six locations kind of in
a triangle between Kenosha, Richfield andMadison east side of Madison and XE mix
is everywhere from you know, centralUnited States basically. But easiest thing to

(20:12):
find any one of the three corporationsjust go to zygnago dot com and there
is actually a box you can clickeach of the respective companies. For applicants,
you can go to www dot zignagodot com slash careers or there's employment
opportunities. Either one of them takesyou to the exact same location. It

(20:33):
will ask you a couple of promptsif you were an applicant, and it
will you know, basically verify yourapplying to the right company. So we
have some questions in that and thenyou can actually for zig company, you
can actually read about the different positionsthat we typically have, so truck driver,
mechanic, construction labor and so onand so forth, so you can
read a little a brief description aboutwhat the position entails. And like I

(20:57):
said, the prompts will take youremployment opportunities or careers either way. Takes
to the same spot and the applicationis hopefully pretty easy to complete, and
then I get an electronic copy assoon as it is submitted by the applicant.
I like that you you you sharedall the the HR side of things,
right. You want to you needto recruit bring them in. You

(21:18):
know zignago Pay's top pay sounds likethey have a lot of opportunities take advantage.
And I think my last question toyou would be for anybody new in
construction, owner or employee, doesn'tmatter, do you have any advice to
share with them with all your experience, any advice as they get started in

(21:38):
the construction industry. I think atthe end of the day, your integrity
and your reputation is what you have. So always be true to that,
you know, don't compromise that,do the right thing, follow the laws,
and you know, like I said, with our employees, it'll be
given back to you. And thenis what my late uncle, who was

(22:03):
the president, Peter I would alwayssay, So do the right thing,
don't compromise your integrity, and you'llhopefully be successful. But more importantly,
at the end of the day,you know, you live with you live
with yourself, and you hold yourselfaccountable. So that's kind of that's kind
of our guiding principle, you know, one of our guiding principles, and
hopefully, like you know that thatmakes us successful. But like I said,

(22:26):
at the end of the day,you know, being a being a
good person, being a good teamplayer, that's that's what you can control.
Those are good principles to have.And thank you for being a guest
on the show, and everyone pleaselike, subscribe, comment, and share
the Builder Upper Show with anyone inthe construction industry. We will see you
next time. Thank you.