Shawn Mills didn’t begin his career in a boardroom.
He started in the field, working in scaffolding and learning firsthand what it takes to safely and successfully execute industrial projects. More than 25 years later, that hands-on experience continues to shape his leadership style as president of Brock Services – Southeast, ScaffSource & Asset Management for The Brock Group. He remains committed to the philosophy that has guided his career from the beginning: understand the work, support your people and always put the customer first.
Shawn Mills: Leading Brock Group up
Shawn Mills President, Brock Services – Southeast, Scaffsource & Asset Management, Brock Group
What challenges have you faced as an executive?
Throughout my career, I’ve worked in both family-owned businesses and multi-billion-dollar global organizations. One constant across every environment is the healthy tension between operations, administration and sales. Successfully managing that tension, while keeping teams aligned, collaborative and customer focused is one of the most important responsibilities of leadership.
I believe strong organizations are built when every department understands the common goal: delivering differentiated customer support. When that alignment exists, teams solve problems faster, communicate better and stay focused on outcomes instead of silos.
What is the biggest development in your business right now?
One of the biggest developments in our business is the continued expansion of our Southeast platform. Over the past year, we’ve grown to six operating facilities across Florida through a combination of organic growth, greenfield investment and acquisition, while also preparing to expand into the Cincinnati area to better serve the broader Ohio River Valley market.
Our Lakeland facility is now eight months into operation, and we’re roughly four months into integrating an acquisition that added more than 130 employees and nearly $70 million in assets. With the footprint, assets and people now in place, the focus is increasingly on execution — integrating our capabilities, expanding customer relationships and capturing growth across Florida, the Southeast and the Ohio River Valley.
How are you preparing for workforce and economic changes?
Our focus is on improving efficiency, logistics, responsiveness and technology integration across the business. Strategically expanding our physical footprint — particularly through facilities like Atlanta and Lakeland — allows us to better support customers, reduce freight challenges, shorten response times and improve jobsite productivity throughout the Southeast.
At the same time, we are investing heavily in technology. Tools such as 3D modeling improve planning, visualization and project execution for customers. We are also developing AI-enabled operational platforms that can be deployed modularly throughout the organization to improve decision-making, streamline workflows and create scalable competitive advantages across the Brock family of companies.
These investments position us to continue growing regardless of broader economic conditions.
What do you see as the future of the industry?
I believe the industry is moving toward more integrated service models, faster and more intelligent supply chains and simplified customer experiences where providers can deliver multiple solutions through a single trusted partner.
AI and machine learning will play a major role in that transformation — not only in driving operational efficiency, but also in helping customers validate that projects are being executed more safely, efficiently and cost-effectively.
Organizations that successfully combine operational expertise with advanced technology will define the next generation of industrial services. Brock is committed to leading that evolution.
For more information, visit brockgroup.com.
