Dave Drinkward ’01, CEO of Hoffman Construction Company, was among the keynote speakers Oct. 16 as the Linfield University School of Business held its second annual YET… Symposium in downtown Portland.
The half-day event drew a capacity crowd of 200 students and business professionals, and featured a lineup focused on workplace relationships from a variety of perspectives: the personal (“me”); the collective (“we”); and what work and teams will look like in the future.
Drinkward told the audience about Hoffman Construction’s Get Us There Safe program. By focusing on employee mental health, the program aims to reduce the number of suicides in the construction industry.
If you don’t take care of yourself first, Drinkward said, then you won’t be able to take care of your colleagues at work or your friends and family members at home. He encouraged symposium attendees to build good mental-health practices into their lives.
Other speakers included Linfield Athletic Director Scott Brosius ’01, futurist Steve Brown and executives from Slalom Consulting. Students came from the McMinnville campus and had an opportunity to network with business professionals over breakfast and again during breaks throughout the morning.
