Micah Vance is a Senior Project Manager with 17 years’ experience helping plan healthcare projects from the early preconstruction stage to the final closeout. Here’s 8 questions to get to know more about him.
1. What’s your current day-to-day look like?
In my current role I handle project management/preconstruction duties at Children’s Hospital and preconstruction duties with the Alabama Healthcare group. My day-to-day workload varies. There are days that I sit behind a computer all day putting together billings/projections. There are other days that I’m closed off in my office with my head down reviewing drawings for a bid. Sometimes, I’m walking around Children’s Hospital with their staff trying to figure out how to price and build a project based on a concept or a napkin sketch. Each day is different and isn’t always predictable depending on the needs of the owner.
2. What’s the one lesson you’ve learned in this industry that’s stuck with you?
Have integrity! Make sure to be open and honest with trade partners, team members, clients, etc. You may spend your whole life doing things the right way and making a good name for yourself, but it only takes one incident that can damage how others view and trust you. Much of our business is built on trust and relationships. Having integrity is extremely important to me in everything I do.
3. What’s the last thing you did to serve a client better?
Our Children’s team strives to help our client avoid as many unforeseen issues as possible, especially when it leads to additional costs. Recently, we were in a bid situation where we realized there were concerns not shown on the drawings which could be priced as change orders at a later date. We let the client know about these items and advised that he carry a separate allowance for the issues because neither GC would cover it in the bid. The client really appreciated the notice and was able to set aside some money to help cover this once the project was awarded.
4. What’s your most memorable project?
My most memorable project was Mountain Lakes Medical Center in Clayton, GA. It was a tough project, but it provided me with a lot of lessons learned and scar tissue that I have been able to use going forward.
5. What’s the best part of your job?
The team and client I work with. Everyone on the Children’s team works well together and helps out where needed and our client is great to work for as well.
6. Why do you enjoy working in Healthcare construction?
Relationships. If you work at a healthcare facility for a number of years, it’s truly like you are an extension of their team. I look out for Children’s best interest as much as I do Hoar’s.
7. How did you get started in the industry?
I was in civil engineering at UAB and was looking for a coop position. At the time, most of Hoar’s co-ops came from Auburn University and they had never had a co-op from UAB. Mark Hendricks, the vice president of our Healthcare Division, was in charge of hiring coops at the time, so I called him numerous times to try to get an interview. My persistence paid off and the rest is history.
8. What’s your proudest accomplishment?
Having the opportunity to raise my three kids. This is still ongoing, but I get as much, if not more, enjoyment watching them succeed in all they do as I do when I accomplish something myself.
