View From the Top: An Interview with MBI Board Chair Brad Gudeman [podcast transcript]

John McMullen 

Hello and welcome to Inside Modular: The Podcast of Commercial Modular Construction, brought to you by the Modular Building Institute.

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John McMullen 

Welcome, everyone. My name is John McMullen and I'm the marketing director here at MBI. Today I'm talking with Brad Gudeman, Vice President at Maryland-based Modular Genius and chair of the Modular Building Institute's board of directors. We'll be talking about what it means to be a member of MBI, and we'll highlight the important initiatives that members--and the industry-at-large--can look forward to in the months ahead.

John McMullen 

Brad, welcome.

Brad Gudeman 

Hey, John, thanks for having me. Look forward to talking with you.

John McMullen 

Oh, it's my pleasure. I should tell you, you've been a bit of my white whale this year. I've I've been talking with Ed, your director of marketing, I think for six or seven months now about getting you on the show. So I really appreciate you being here.

Brad Gudeman 

Oh, absolutely. Glad to be here.

John McMullen 

So tell me about yourself, Brad. How did you start in the modular construction industry and what led to you becoming the chair of its trade association?

Brad Gudeman 

Good question. Well, I was given the opportunity to support sales and marketing for a large modular leasing company back in the mid 90s, then I transitioned into a new role establishing their storage container division in the mid-Atlantic US. I managed that fleet, as well as having a role in sales. I still remember to this day my crowning achievement was leasing 1000 units in a single year!

Brad Gudeman 

Transactional sales were fun, but I was more interested in the modular project business. I worked for a couple other modular companies prior to starting our business. Our business, Modular Genius, was founded 15 years ago with my two partners, Damon Pross and David Vanicky. Our mutual desire to stay involved in the industry was solidified by becoming an MBI member in 2006.

Brad Gudeman 

My involvement with MBI led me to being nominated as a trustee for the Modular Building Institute's Education Foundation in 2011. And I want to explain for the audience that's not aware: The Education Foundation is a nonprofit that works for colleges and universities providing scholarships and design competitions. We have had a successful partnership with the American Institute of Architects students. Ten years later, I still involve my time with the Foundation. My involvement with the Foundation was a contributing factor for my nomination as a board member of the Modular Building Institute. I joined the board of directors in 2014. And it's an honor to be part of leadership for members and the industry.

John McMullen  

Well, that's great. And thanks for bringing up the Education Foundation. I haven't talked about that much before. We haven't had any guests who spoke to that before. I remember last year some fantastic projects came through. So we should dive into that sometime soon. It's definitely worthy of an episode, I think.

John McMullen 

So you've had all this experience in modular construction and you've started Modular Genius. Tell me more about your role as board chair, though, what are your responsibilities now with MBI?

Brad Gudeman 

Yes, well, as MBI Board Chair, I'm actively involved in meetings throughout the year. As part of the executive committee, we report certain strategic initiatives back to the Board. As part of the nominations committee, we provide recommendations to the Board, which will be presented to MBI membership, once a year at World of Modular--at the business meeting. Throughout the year, I sit on several council and committee meetings and participate in quarterly board meetings. There might be a meeting or two, I'm forgetting. But it's a good bit of work staying engaged.

John McMullen 

And what can you tell me about the last five to 10 years? How has the modular industry itself grown?

Brad Gudeman 

Yes, MBI membership and interest has grown exponentially. You know, we have 20-plus countries around the world participating in innovation, design, and construction of some of the most eye-popping modular projects to date. I think whether you go back five or 10 years, I can say the bar keeps getting raised. The key is speed to occupancy, that that just keeps getting shorter with these projects. And then the designs, they keep getting more complex, and then the size of the buildings, they just keep getting larger.

John McMullen 

And what about MBI? How is MBI grown over that same time period?

Brad Gudeman 

Wow, yeah, it's grown big time. With the interest internationally, there's been quite a mix of projects entered in our annual World of Modular's Awards of Distinction. Attendance is more than doubled since my involvement in 2006. So that's, that is really awesome.

John McMullen 

So from your perspective--you're sitting sort of at the top of the hill, so to speak as board chair--what's MBI's role in the industry at the moment?

Brad Gudeman 

I hate to sound like a textbook, but for listeners who aren't familiar with the mission of the MBI, I'd like to read it.

John McMullen 

Sure.

Brad Gudeman 

As the voice of commercial modular construction, it's been MBI 's mission to expand the use of off site construction, through innovative construction practices, outreach, and education to the construction community and customers, and recognition of high quality modular designs and facilities. So, I mean, that's the mission. But MBI's role goes way past that. MBI wants to grow the market share in the construction industry, I mean, period. That's what we want to do. We have documented 5% growth over five years recently. And I know the momentum just keeps getting increased.

John McMullen 

So with with the growing momentum with the growing interest, we've talked about MBI's big event that you mentioned it a couple of minutes ago, World of modular. It's MBI's signature trade show. But I personally have only attended one; that was back in 2020. And of course, last year's was all digital, which was a great experience, but digital. What's your experience been like as a manufacturer, and as an MBI member in general?

Brad Gudeman 

This is my favorite time of the year with my work family. It's a time of the year when everyone is in the same place. We can have perpetual business meetings and laughs about life all at the same time. As a member, our company takes the opportunity to tighten up business relationships in person, or create new ones. It's a must. If you're a newbie, and you want to be there and are afraid that you're just going to be standing in the corner. That won't happen for long. It's very welcoming. It's very engaging environment. And if you're a digital attendee, get a nice, comfortable chair, kick back and be prepared for information overload, which is a good thing. There's so much covered. You will you want to go back and rewatch any recorded sessions again,

John McMullen 

I was wondering if, since you've been to several, far more than I have, if you could speak just for a second to what it's like to be there. We're going to be back in person. Next year, we'll be in San Antonio, at a beautiful resort. But I was wondering maybe specifically, if you could talk about the expo hall, or all the other little networking functions that take place over those four days. For someone who's never been, if you could just describe a little bit more what it's like to be in those rooms.

Brad Gudeman 

Sure. Well, let's talk about that expo hall. That is the room where you have access to manufacturers, suppliers, finance companies, just a huge network of companies that are there to show their wares. Talk about what they've done and what they can do for your businesses. And it's, it's just a great spot to have some good one on one for our business modular genius. It's a time of the year that we reflect on all of our accomplishments. And we select projects that we want to enter into To the awards of distinction, we look at the right photos, we do a technical write up. And we really get everybody involved in our business to give it our best in our entry. We've been fortunate over the years to be recognized by the judges, we value our awards. They sit on our lobby of our corporate office. And it lets us share with our visitors, our passion for modular construction, and most importantly, the recognition of MBI. For our hard work. Every everyone that is a member should enter as many projects as possible. I enjoy looking at the entries and get ideas from them. You know, there's only one way to further the industry and, and that is to share and build off of other people's experiences.

John McMullen 

I think AOD is probably one of my favorite parts of the year. I love seeing the projects come in, they've already started coming in, which is fun to see the the awards dinners, a lot of fun. I know, as you said, modular genius has received a lot of these awards over the years. So kudos to you guys. And so for non members, I think the big news for this year is that non-members actually can enter the Awards of Distinction, which we hope brings in a lot more entries and a few more eyeballs. Why should a company enter--you know, you've got these awards, as you say, as you come in the door, you see all the awards that Modular Genius has won--what's the value of entering for non-member?

Brad Gudeman 

You're going to have to hold on John, no problem, but he is somebody printing on our large format printer. I'm hiding hiding in the back, back room. And now this huge printer is going off.

John McMullen 

[Laughter] Not a problem.

Brad Gudeman 

My goodness...Wait, just hold on one sec.

John McMullen 

Okay.

Brad Gudeman 

All right. When I start that question over

John McMullen 

Sure. Let's see...what are the value of these awards? Why should a non member enter?

Brad Gudeman 

Well, MBI provides tools that you can apply to your operation strengthens your ties to your customers and the community is served through the different facets of MBI, such as government affairs, the industry recognition at the world of modular we just discussed, networking leads the advertising research, we have training and education, there is a directory access to everybody's contact information. And then there's the MBI publications that are the bi-monthly Modular Advantage magazine, and then the annual reports for permanent modular construction and relocatable buildings. So just a whole variety of things to support the business, the best way to get involved with the MBI. Just raise your hand if you have interest in getting involved, visit modular.org, and, and reach out to us. We'd be happy to plug you in to the right area of interest.

John McMullen 

What are your hopes for MBI over the next five to 10 years?

Brad Gudeman 

I hope MBI membership will double again and members exposed to the public becomes so mainstream that it will cause a significant shift in how we design and how we build our planet. I hope one day we can say modular is no longer the minority of construction projects, but rather the majority. And MBI members will continue to push the envelope of what can be constructed off-site, whether a project is looking for permanent modular construction or relocatable building. And MBI is the leading trade association. And I'm proud our company as a member.

John McMullen 

And so speaking of your company, I'll bring it back home for you: What does 2022 and even beyond look like for Modular Genius?

Brad Gudeman 

Well, when I brought up speed to occupancy earlier on, that is just making more opportunity for modular genius, especially in the education market, with relocatable buildings for just the population growth and speed to renovations with buildings. And then the permanent side there are needs by owners for buildings and they want to get in them fast. They've got money to spend, and we'll help them do that. So 2022 is shaping up really nicely. The pipeline is very healthy, and we're really blessed.

John McMullen 

Well, Brad, like I said at the top of the episode and we've been trying to get this scheduled for a long time, I really appreciate your time. I know you've been very busy, which is great. But I'm happy we finally got to chat and I hope we can do it again soon.

Brad Gudeman 

Yeah, thank you, John, and thank you for everything you do for the MBI in marketing. You do a great job.

John McMullen 

Oh, well, thank you. Thank you very much. And if I don't see you before, I will see you in April in San Antonio, at World of Modular.

Brad Gudeman  

Fantastic. Looking forward to it. Take it easy.

John McMullen 

My name is John McMullen. And this has been another episode of Inside Modular: The Podcast of Commercial Modular Construction. Until next time.