Andrew Fineran, Project Manager/Central Florida Operations, DPR Construction

April 2026 — In an interview with Invest:, Andrew Fineran, operations leader for DPR Construction’s Central Florida business unit, discussed how the firm is responding to a more complex construction environment through technology, workforce investment, and earlier collaboration across the project lifecycle. “XX,” Fineran said.

What have been some of DPR Construction’s major milestones and achievements in Central Florida over the past year?

Specific to Orlando, one of the first things I would emphasize is the strength of our Special Services Group (SSG). One way we define SSG as projects where we’re working in someone else’s space (i.e. occupied facilities), and our SSG group in Orlando and Central Florida is one of, if not the strongest in the company. We are very proud of the fact that, as a multibillion-dollar company, we can still roll our sleeves up, compete on smaller projects, and execute at a high level.

That continues to show up year over year, and last year was our strongest year yet in that market. For us, that says a lot about our positioning in Central Florida and our ability to stay flexible. We can pursue large, complex work, but we can also deliver on smaller projects with the same level of quality and commitment. That versatility has been a major differentiator for us.

How have you seen the construction industry shifting in Central Florida, and how is DPR responding?

One of the biggest changes has been the growing influence of technology on our business. That shows up both in the clientele we serve and in the way we work internally. Advanced technology is one of our core markets, so we are seeing it on the front end in the types of projects clients want us to build. Technology is reshaping how we communicate, track issues, educate our people, and manage projects every day.

It is also changing the kind of talent we recruit. Historically, construction hiring focused heavily on candidates with engineering or construction management degrees. Now the range is much broader because construction is not just bricks and mortar anymore. There are many more components that contribute to a successful business and a successful project. That means we need to look beyond traditional talent pools and bring in people with different skill sets who can support everything that goes into the finished product, not just the part the owner or the public sees on site.

How are you preparing new talent for a more technology-driven construction industry?

One of the things we rolled out this year is what we call our Builder Development Program. It is an 18-month program for new college graduates, and it reflects the idea that there is much more to construction than people may traditionally think. We want to be builders at our core, so we spend a lot of time asking what we need to do to educate and prepare new hires to be effective.

That means preparing them to perform well in their chosen area of expertise, but it also means giving them a common language and shared foundation from the beginning. We want people to be able to communicate and operate at a high level right away. The program is really about building that base and recognizing that construction today requires a much broader set of capabilities than it did in the past.

How has demand shifted across healthcare, commercial, higher education, and advanced technology projects?

It continues to be about balance. We have five core markets: advanced technology, healthcare, higher education, life sciences, and commercial. In Orlando specifically, our strongest sectors historically have been healthcare, commercial, and higher education.

Those three markets remain very strong – whether it’s the continued growth of the free-standing ED in healthcare, new and existing commercial office space for organizations continuing to emphasize less remote work, or the evolution of research and teaching spaces with our higher ed partners.  The opportunity for advanced technology to become a bigger part of this market is also very real, and we believe we are well-positioned to embrace that because of the experience we have across the region and the broader organization. The key for us is making sure we do not pursue that at the expense of our existing clients and partnerships. We are very aware that we need to balance those opportunities carefully.

Strategically, that means looking at the technologies, processes, and methods we have used on larger advanced technology projects and asking how we can scale those for other clients. In some cases, a client may not see the value at first if it comes with a higher price tag, but once we gain efficiencies and work through the process, we can often bring that value to other sectors as well. That can take the form of prefabrication, design-to-build coordination, or stronger early collaboration with partners across the project lifecycle.

How are clients in Central Florida approaching sustainability, energy efficiency, and long-term performance?

There has always been, especially among larger developers, an effort to balance capital costs and operating costs on a project. The challenge is that there is a learning curve in truly evaluating all of those numbers and understanding the long-term impact. Whether it is a mechanical system, the building envelope, or another component, it creates an opportunity for us to partner with the design team and subject matter experts to do a full life cycle evaluation.

The most important first step is figuring out what matters to the owner. There is never going to be a one-size-fits-all answer. Once we understand their priorities, we can focus our conversations and recommendations around that. For one client, that may mean solar panels or covered parking solutions. For another, it may come down to building management system controls and how occupied and unoccupied spaces are managed over time. The real value comes from understanding the client’s ownership perspective and helping them make informed decisions that align with their goals.

How is the industry adapting to Central Florida’s environmental realities, including heat and hurricane risk?

That conversation tends to come up even more often than sustainability. It is hot in Florida, so that is always a limiting factor, and hurricane season is very real and unavoidable. On the construction side, one of the most important things we do is understand the risks associated with storm season and try, when we can, to schedule certain higher-risk activities earlier or later to avoid those periods.

Of course, we do not get to dictate project start and end dates entirely on our own, so a lot of it comes down to having thoughtful conversations about safety and risk. From the owner’s perspective, building codes are already structured in a way that provides strong protection. Orlando is in a somewhat unique position because it does not have the same requirements as coastal markets like Miami-Dade County, but we do have clients who want to understand those standards, compare options, and evaluate whether additional measures make sense for their projects.

That is usually driven by the design team, but we want to be a partner throughout that process by helping with cost modeling, procurement considerations, and risk evaluation so owners can make informed decisions.

How have material costs, supply chain pressures, and labor shortages affected operations?

I would love to say things are getting cheaper, but that is not the case. On the materials side, we saw a period of rapid escalation and volatility in the first few years of this decade. That has not exactly plateaued, but it has tapered off and become more predictable, which is good news.

Our approach is to be transparent with partners. If there is uncertainty around pricing, we want to quantify that early, build allowances where necessary, and, ideally, release procurement packages as early as possible so we are not leaving the door open to future escalation. When escalation is outside your control, it becomes a real problem. The earlier we can lock in equipment or materials, the more risk we remove from the process.

That might mean using early release packages with trade partners or directly purchasing equipment and materials ourselves when it makes sense. We have done that with electrical equipment through a family of companies, and that kind of early action can remove a significant roadblock before contract documents are even fully complete.

On the labor side, volatility continues to be another challenge, which is why workforce development is such an important investment for us. We talked about the builder development program for salaried staff, and for craft professionals we have an apprenticeship program that is active nationally and performing well in the Southeast. In Central Florida, we rolled that program out three years ago and already have 17 graduates, with 10 more expected in the second quarter of this year.

While we have a responsibility to contribute to building a more skilled workforce, we also put an emphasis on showing people that we value them enough to invest time and money in their development. We take a lot of pride in having strong retention because people see that value and choose to build a career with DPR. As a self-performing general contractor, we also take pride in the fact that we do not distinguish culturally between salaried staff and hourly craft workers. They are all co-workers, and that mindset matters.

How are you using technology to improve collaboration, predictability, and risk management?

We challenge ourselves constantly, and one of our strategic areas of focus is virtual design and construction. Historically, that may have meant model-based coordination or simple clash detection, but it has evolved far beyond that. Today, it is much more about evaluating the entire project lifecycle and identifying where technology can add value much earlier in the process.

For example, in a commercial tenant improvement project where the owner may not have existing as-builts, we can scan the space before it is vacated, capture accurate field conditions, and provide that information to the design team. That can happen before we even have a contract for construction. In a more traditional process, we would not be brought in until months later. That ability to add value earlier — what we call left of the line — is a major focus for us.

Technology also plays a huge role at the back end of construction. Historically, closeout might mean handing over dozens of binders that would sit in a closet and never be used. Now, through digital platforms and web-based applications, owners can access as-builts, operations and maintenance manuals, and other project records during construction and long after closeout. Even the most basic workflows have improved. Record keeping, requests for information, submittals, and communication with the design team have all become more synchronized and efficient. It may sound obvious, but that shift has fundamentally changed how we work, how we collaborate, and how we help clients manage projects with greater confidence.