Practical observations on construction, workforce, and the built environment across Southern Colorado.
July 2026 • iiCON Construction
Built work, lasting purpose
Welcome back to the iiCON Newsletter.
This month, we’re looking at the ways construction creates value long after the first plan, pour, or punch list.
Inside this issue, Ryan McAllister shares what 20+ years in the industry have taught him about problem-solving, communication, technology, and leadership. We also look at how the Colorado Springs Airtanker Base is supporting aerial response efforts during the Aspen Acres Fire, a reminder that some parts of the built environment become most visible in moments of real need.
You’ll also find a quick note about Best in Business 2026 and, because we apparently keep making this commitment, one construction joke at the end.
No fluff. Just a few practical observations from the field.
Let’s get into it.
Ryan has always been drawn to the way things come together.
Construction was part of the backdrop early on. His uncle was an architect, his grandfather worked for Square D, and his great-grandfather led a large construction company in Iowa. As a kid, Ryan built cities out of Legos. In high school, that interest started to take shape through computer-aided drafting and a hands-on program where students built and sold a house each year to help fund the class.
“That got me into actually working with my hands,” Ryan said. “It really transitioned me into, I could do this full time for the rest of my life.”
More than 20 years later, that same interest is still there. For Ryan, the draw has never been only the finished building. It is the challenge of figuring out how all the pieces come together.
Every project brings its own site, team, schedule, budget, design intent, and set of unknowns. Even familiar project types come with new problems to solve. The work is never just about following drawings. It is about understanding the vision, coordinating the details, and helping the team keep moving when the path gets complicated.
Here are a few takeaways from Ryan’s perspective:
1. Technology helps teams see the work sooner.
One of the biggest changes Ryan has seen in construction is technology. Tools like virtual reality and coordination software now help teams walk through spaces, understand layouts, and make decisions before work starts in the field. For Ryan, the value is not the tool itself. It is the clarity it creates.
2. Communication is the real work behind the work.
Ryan describes the general contractor’s role as a kind of “Rosetta Stone.” Owners and architects bring the vision. Trade partners bring the expertise to build it. The contractor helps translate between the two so details, sequencing, and expectations are understood before they become problems.
That kind of communication is not just more meetings. It is asking the right questions and making sure everyone understands how their piece connects to the whole.
3. Strong teams know when to reset.
Construction moves quickly, and phones, texts, and iPads can make every issue feel immediate. But Ryan reminds his teams that sometimes the best thing you can do is step back for a moment. A short pause can help people return with a clearer view of what they are building and who they are building it for.
4. Leadership shifts from managing projects to supporting people.
Moving from Project Manager to Director of Operations changed how Ryan thinks about leadership.
“Projects don’t have emotions. People have emotions,” he said.
For Ryan, operations leadership is about helping project managers and field teams succeed. That means setting clear expectations, providing support, building trust, and helping people work through pressure without letting the pressure define the project.
His advice for the next generation is simple: do not view construction too narrowly. The industry touches design, technology, sustainability, infrastructure, schools, data centers, public work, and long-term facility planning.
“If you love construction, you can work for any company in the world,” Ryan said.
There is always something to solve, something to learn, and something worth building.
From the Field
When Infrastructure Meets the Moment
Some projects take on a different meaning when the community needs them most.
As wildfires continue to impact Southern Colorado, thousands of acres have burned, homes and businesses have been lost, and communities across the region are facing an uncertain road ahead. In moments like this, the focus belongs first on the people affected: residents waiting for answers, firefighters and pilots working long days, emergency managers coordinating resources, and communities beginning to understand what recovery may require.
One piece of infrastructure helping support that response is the Colorado Springs Airtanker Base at the Colorado Springs Airport. iiCON is proud to have partnered with the U.S. Forest Service and the City of Colorado Springs, along with many local trade partners and suppliers, to build a facility designed to support aerial wildfire response across the region. The base includes operations and retardant storage buildings, a containment slab, and reload capacity for large airtankers capable of serving 15 states within a 600-mile radius. Today, that capability is supporting wildfire response here in Southern Colorado, continuing the mission it was built to serve when the facility opened in 2022.
DC-10 airtanker supporting wildfire suppression efforts. Photo courtesy of the National Interagency Fire Center.
As the Aspen Acres Fire spread through Southern Colorado, several airtankers operating from Colorado Springs were dropping fire retardant in support of on-the-ground firefighting efforts.
No single facility stops a wildfire. It takes firefighters, pilots, emergency managers, public agencies, and countless others working together to protect communities. It also takes the architects, engineers, builders, trade partners, and suppliers who years earlier helped create the infrastructure those responders depend on. The Colorado Springs Airtanker Base is one part of that larger system, and we're grateful to have worked alongside so many local partners to help bring it to life.
On Our Radar
Best in Business 2026
This month, we are asking for a small favor.
iiCON Construction has been nominated for Best in Business 2026 in the Commercial General Contractor / Construction Company category through SoCo Digest.
We know awards are not the reason anyone does this work. The real measure is found in the projects, partnerships, problem-solving, and trust built over time. But recognition like this still means something because it comes from the community we are grateful to work in every day.
If you have worked with our team, partnered with us, followed along with our projects, or simply believe in the kind of construction community we are trying to help build, we would be grateful for your vote.
It only takes a minute, and every vote helps.
Vote here: BiB 2026
Thank you for being part of the relationships, conversations, and work that keep this industry moving forward
Closing Thought
Construction has a way of reminding us that every detail serves a purpose.
Some are easy to see: the walls, windows, finishes, and doors people use every day. Others remain in the background until the moment they are needed most.
That is true of projects, and it is true of people too. The strongest teams are usually built the same way as the strongest buildings: with parts you may not notice right away, but would absolutely miss if they were not there.
And because we promised an occasional construction joke:
Why did the construction worker bring a pencil to the jobsite?
Because he wanted to draw his own conclusions…
We’ll see ourselves out.
Until next month,
Uriah & Ben
Telling the Stories That Build Communities