Unique conversations
Gayl Turk is Director of Business Development at Blaze Contracting.
The "Equity in Energy" event adopted its keynote address' title "Beyond Ordinary" as its theme. A panel discussion among four diverse subcontractor leaders was inspiring as well. The CEO of Trice Construction, the Presidents of APC Construction and EVS, and the Business Development Director of Blaze Contracting all brought unique perspectives on how they and similar companies nationwide can take on increasing roles in the energy transformation.
PUF's Steve Mitnick: Talk about the origin of Blaze Contracting.
Gayl Turk: That's the owner's name, spelled Blaise. Kerlin Blaise went to college at the University of Miami. He played with a championship team there.
He played for the NFL. He was a walk-on for the Detroit Lions. He won a starting position in year one. He was an offensive lineman.
During that period, every year something had to be fixed on his body. Mostly his knees. He had five operations in five years.
He started thinking about, "The NFL means not for long for me." That's the way he tells the story. He started his business while he was playing, during his off season.
His financial analyst set up a meet-and-greet at Comerica Park with different investors to help him with what he wanted to do after football. He happened to meet a gentleman from another major construction company. They were about the same age, hit it off, and became close.