Mike Marks
Artificial Intelligence in the Building Materials and Flooring Industries
How can AI reduce costs and increase revenue for a distributor serving the construction industry? Much of the impact is about reducing friction in the contractors buying journey.
Familiarity with ChatGPT or other language model of their choice is preferred for optimal learning in this session. Please send AI-specific questions to Mike directly at mmarks@ircg.com. This will be used this input to tailor the content. Electronic copies of all materials, including links for further investigation, will be provided to every participant.
Meet Mike Marks
Mike Marks was an original investor in Floor & Décor Outlets of America, served as an outside director for Morgan Products, is still serving as a research fellow with the NAW Institute, and he is the Founding Partner of Indian River Consulting Group. He is currently supporting a very large distributor doing a major AI orchestration project in 2025.
Mike has taught the Artificial Intelligence Course at UID for several years. The content changes rapidly due to innovations in the field. The course attendance is usually maxed out and this session will be updated to reflect what has happened for distributors since March of 2025 when UID was conducted. Mike is also going to focus the content on content specifically applicable to our members in the building trades.
Kevin Heyne
The Multiethnic Advantage: Leading Inclusive Change in Distribution
Leaders in the building materials and floor coverings distribution industry are uniquely positioned to shape the future of their organizations. Yet many companies miss out on the full potential of racial and ethnic diversity—either due to uncertainty, fear of backlash, or reliance on divisive models.
In this session, Dr. Kevin Heyne, author of The Multiethnic Advantage, offers a clear, actionable blueprint for leaders ready to move beyond good intentions and toward lasting change. Grounded in a holistic, process-oriented approach, this session will equip participants with the tools to foster harmony, build resilient teams, and elevate organizational health through inclusive leadership.
Whether you're managing a warehouse team, leading a sales region, or preparing for executive roles, you'll learn how to embrace diversity as a strategic advantage—without compromising unity or values.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Understand the leadership imperative behind multiethnic transformation and its relevance to the distribution industry.
- Recognize how racial and ethnic diversity contributes to a resilient, high-performing workplace culture.
- Identify common barriers to inclusive change and how to overcome them with practical, non-divisive strategies.
- Apply a step-by-step framework for initiating and sustaining diversity efforts across operational and leadership teams.
Meet Kevin Heyne
Kevin Heyne grew up in a variety of diverse settings on the East Coast (Philadelphia, Washington DC, and New York City metropolitan areas), where he attended highly multiethnic schools and eventually settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Over the last thirty years, Kevin has held a variety of leadership and executive positions in the corporate and non-profit sectors. Most recently, he held a high-level leadership role for a Fortune 1000 global company and was part of a global leadership team.
Currently, Kevin serves as an executive for a highly successful Midwest manufacturer and distributor of Building Materials products, where he’s implementing the ideas in this book.
Kevin recently earned a Doctorate of Transformational Leadership (DTL) with an emphasis on Entrepreneurial Organizational Transformation. Kevin is also an ordained associate teaching pastor of a local multiethnic church and co-founder of Transformational Executive Coaching (TEC). TEC is a consulting-training organization that brings people together from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds with the intent of developing better executives and transformational leaders who impact their organizations and communities for the common good.