Cody Towles

Joined as Director of Project Management for the East Coast and was promoted to Senior Director 15 months later. What was about 15 people is now a defined organization of 24 W2 employees spanning engineering, drafting, estimating, project management and field supervision, with 14 hired since arriving. Leadership runs through four direct reports carrying teams of 10, 6 and 1, across continental time zones.

The operating layer came with it. Every active project sits on Procore as the system of record for RFIs, submittals and change orders, and an ASC 606 revenue recognition model is being brought live. Two new programs were launched: the Skid Program, a modular product line, and the Entitlements Program covering warranty and post installation service, mandatory on every sale and carrying higher margin than install work.

Self perform electrical was built from nothing to 5 superintendents and 4 to 5 foremen working in six states against licensure in about 19, which takes stacked subcontractor margin out of bid pricing. The engineering team stayed intact for three years apart from one reduction, and one leader was moved from manager to director.

An assessment on taking over the portfolio put retail construction at about $400 per square foot. Sequencing design first with staged cost estimates, leveling bids against those estimates and tightening contract management during execution brought it to about $210 across 70+ stores in four states.

Schedule moved with it. Retail design and construction compressed from 12 months to 8 or 9, putting new locations into revenue a full quarter earlier. About $120M of a $200M capital program was completed across cultivation, laboratory, packaging and retail before an outside investment shortfall stopped the balance.

Underneath sat the machinery: a capital project management office and its financial controls, built while leading ten in house professionals through a corporate financial restructuring, plus the companywide annual facility capital and operating budget process, facilities maintenance and all leases across 75+ locations.

Joined in 2008 as a Program Officer and was promoted four times across thirteen years, reaching Director of Infrastructure in 2017. The seat owned an investment portfolio of roads, ports, bridges and irrigation from business case through board approval, organization buildout and delivery.

Value engineering applied after award cut road construction costs by 25 percent on average against awarded contract value. Average project rates of return doubled during design and construction, measured before and after by an independent set of economists.

Program lead on five flagship programs ranging from $55M to $325M across Senegal, Tunisia, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Nepal. In country engineering and construction teams were recruited, trained and run in French, the working language throughout, with quality assurance procedures modelled to ISO 9001.