Leadership

Brian Maki, CEO & Chairman of the Board

As CEO of Lakehead Constructors, Brian is our visionary leader in setting long-term strategy and overseeing the departments responsible for delivering our services. Brian first started working at Lakehead Constructors in 1991 in the marketing department and quickly progressed to Vice President of Business Development responsible for all of sales and marketing. In 2003, Brian purchased the company with two other long-time Lakehead employees as partners in 2003 and took over role as President and then assumed additional role as CEO in 2007. In 2015, he took over sole ownership of the company, Brian has represented and lobbied for our region in a number of capacities from being the Chairman of the Board of the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota to board leadership on organizations such as Iron Mining Association and APEX economic development.

Brian Hubbard, President

As President, Brian is responsible for fully executing the strategic visions of the company for our sustained and continuous growth, as well as focusing on the execution and management of all construction personnel and projects. Responsible to owners to ensure Lakehead’s project teams are meeting the expectations of scope, schedule and budget, as well as upholding our guiding principles of ZERO Injury and ISO-9001. Prior to Brian’s current role as President, he was EVP of Construction from 2019-2023 and was a Project Manager at Lakehead Constructors from 2007-2018. As a Project Manager, Brian led many of Lakehead’s major capital projects managing multi-million dollar plant expansions, maintenance accounts, major outages and commercial projects.

Kirk Ilenda, Vice President of Business Development

With 30 years of extensive experience in the construction industry, Kirk is our lead on business development strategy and work acquisition efforts using his understanding of the marketplace and vast knowledge of the commercial, education, healthcare and industrial markets in Minnesota and Wisconsin. As a long-time construction professional, he has been a part of some of our area’s major new construction projects, industrial/manufacturing plant modernizations and expansions. His primary role is to oversee company-wide efforts for sales, marketing and client relationships. As one of Lakehead Constructors’ core executive level leaders, also supports strategic planning, employee mentoring and company culture.

Currently he serves on area workforce development committees, industry advocacy groups and regional economic development.

Cory Schmidt, Vice President of Resources

With over 20 years of experience in the construction industry, Cory has played a key role in the growth of Lakehead Constructors in supporting our day-to-day operations, master service agreement clients and capital projects. In 2007 he joined Lakehead Constructors and immediately began supporting our purchasing needs and with experience, continued to assume additional roles and responsibilities core to our daily operations. In addition to overseeing Lakehead’s procurement functions, Cory also manages the Equipment and Shop Department and Field Resources team. Further, with his construction and project background, Cory often supports our Special Project and Preconstruction efforts working closely with owner’s and the design team to program projects, create preliminary budgets, secure permits and local grants, procure long-lead time items and transition project at time of construction to field group.

Ryan McCausland, CFO

Ryan has spent the past 20 years in the financial reporting area. He started off preparing financial statement audits, reviews and comps for the construction and retail industry and continued through the years with an emphasis in construction industry financial reporting and is now the CFO at Lakehead Constructors. Since 2017 in his role as CFO, he has oversight of Payroll, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, IT Department, Company Health Plan and Pension Plan. Ryan has earned a CCIFP (Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional) certificate.

Nancy Erkkila, Human Resources

With a passion for company culture and our fellow employees, Nancy oversees all aspects of our human resources and leans on her many experiences from working at Lakehead Constructors to managing small businesses.

At Lakehead Constructors, Nancy leads our company efforts in recruiting and talent acquisition, new employee onboarding and orientation, employee retention, training, performance evaluation, EEOC compliance, FMLA, health and welfare.

Member of National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).

Nick Renollet, Safety Director

Leading our company’s Zero Injury safety program, Nick has over 20 years of construction knowledge, including field experience as a carpenter, supervision and project safety management experience in highway heavy, large industrial and commercial construction, mining, utility maintenance, shutdown/turnaround and repair projects. Nick has extensive knowledge and experience with OSHA/MSHA regulatory requirements and application, development and implementation of safety training programs and substance abuse testing. As Safety Director, Nick is responsible for auditing implementation and performance Lakehead Constructors’ Safety Program and to promote a safe and healthy work environment for all employees. Our Safety Program uses Zero Injury philosophies, processes and fundamental concepts of compliance with regulatory requirements on multiple capital projects and maintenance projects with up to 300 multi-trade personnel.

Charlie Cleaver, Corporate Quality Manager

With over ten plus years of ISO 9001 compliancy experience relevant to both manufacturing and construction industries, Charlie leads Lakehead’s Quality Department. As manager and acting Management Representative of the ISO 9001 Quality Management System that the company utilizes, he ensures that numerous quality procedures, work instructions, and continual improvement practices are implemented and followed as they are intended. Other company responsibilities include oversight of Document Control / Project Coordinator and Pressure Equipment Quality Control personnel. Charlie is also on various advisory boards that serve technical training/education institutions and local trade union apprenticeships.