This year is special. In early March, we are celebrating 25 years of the Don Conaway Conference. In doing so, we’re honoring a man whose influence on Ohio’s highway construction industry continues to be felt every day – often in ways so embedded in how we do business that we hardly stop to notice them.
I had the honor of working with Don Conaway. He was not just a respected leader in the industry; he was a connector. He believed strongly that Ohio’s transportation system would only succeed if the people responsible for building it trusted one another, talked to one another and worked through problems together rather than across a table divided by contracts and claims.
Long before the word “partnering” became common language, Don was already practicing it.
He understood that disputes cost more than money; they cost time, morale and credibility. And he believed that most problems on a project could be avoided, or at least resolved, if the right people were talking early, openly and honestly. That belief helped shape the earliest partnering efforts between contractors and ODOT well before the conference carried his name.
Those early efforts weren’t always easy. Partnering required a cultural shift away from rigid silos and toward shared responsibility. It meant recognizing that while contracts define roles, people deliver projects. And it meant accepting that success isn’t measured by who “wins” an argument, but by whether the traveling public gets a safe, durable roadway delivered efficiently.
Fast-forward 25 years and progress is undeniable.
Today, partnering is not an experiment – it’s an expectation. We see it in formal partnering sessions at the start of major projects. We see it in issue-resolution ladders that encourage problems to be addressed at the earliest possible level before they escalate. We see it in the routine use of constructability reviews, early coordination meetings and risk-based conversations that focus on solutions rather than blame.
We see it when project teams – ODOT and contractor alike – pick up the phone instead of drafting a letter.
And perhaps most importantly, we see it in outcomes: fewer disputes; better schedules; improved safety performance; and projects that are delivered with a shared sense of pride rather than lingering frustration.
That progress did not happen by accident. It happened because people over decades chose collaboration over conflict. And it happened because Don Conaway helped set that tone long before it was standard practice. This conference was named in Don’s honor 25 years ago not simply to remember him, but to continue his work. Every agenda item, every discussion, every lesson shared here is part of that legacy.
As we celebrate this milestone, we should also recognize that partnering is not something we’ve “completed.” It’s something we renew on every project, with every new team, and with every new challenge – whether that challenge is funding uncertainty, workforce shortages, or the increasing complexity of our work.
Partnering is not limited to project-level exercises. An effort, dubbed the Estimating Peer Exchange, initiated by ODOT Deputy Director for the Division of Construction Management Josh Bowman, and a co-organizer of the Don Conaway Conference, provided interaction among ODOT’s estimators and five OCA members’ estimating teams. This led to some restructuring within Construction Management and brought ODOT’s estimators into the pre-bid question process. This effort has led to better understanding of the ways contractors go about pricing the larger projects and more effective and timely responses to pre-bid questions.
Another activity ODOT has implemented in combination with input from OCA is the creation of the Prompt Payment Critical Success Factor, which has made a noticeable difference in processing of estimates and change orders and improved cash flow for OCA members.
Recognition of the benefits of partnering has not diminished over time. This is demonstrated by this year having the highest number of partnering award submissions ever received – and each being high quality in what the teams were able to accomplish. It is noticeable that many districts have made Partnering a routine part of their project administration.
Don believed progress was possible if people stayed committed to the process and to each other. That belief is as relevant today as it was 25 years ago.
So, as we look to the Don Conaway Conference, let’s do so with appreciation – for the past; for the progress we’ve made; and for the relationships that make it possible. And let’s recommit ourselves to the spirit that brought us to this point in the first place: partnership, respect and a shared responsibility to serve the people of Ohio.
Thank you for carrying forward the legacy of Don Conaway.