• Mortenson Construction
    • Success story

Connecting frontline construction crews with instant access to company news and resources 

A leading construction firm uses Beekeeper’s Frontline Success Platform to connect frontline teams across job sites, streamline access to critical documents, and digitize frontline workflows — all in one easy-to-use app.

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Key results

Keeps frontline teams connected with real-time updates across multiple job sites

Gives workers instant access to pay stubs, benefits, and essential documents in one place

Cuts equipment inspection times by 50% with automated digital workflows

Highlights

Challenges

Solutions

Benefits

About Customer

Beekeeper has been a game-changer. We’ve been able to digitize many frontline workflows, including equipment inspections. It’s helped us cut tractor inspection times by 50%.”

Andy Larrañaga

Craft Communications Specialist, Mortenson Construction

Challenge

Mortenson Construction needed a way to keep frontline workers informed across job sites, but office-focused tools like emails and internal portals weren’t accessible in the field. Without a mobile-friendly solution, employees missed key updates and struggled to access important documents like pay stubs and inspection forms.

Solution

Beekeeper’s Frontline Success Platform gives frontline workers instant access to company updates, pay and benefits documents, and safety resources — all in one place. Oracle and ADP integrations ensure seamless onboarding and real-time data access, while an FAQ chatbot gives employees instant answers to common questions.

Results

With Beekeeper, frontline teams have a single hub for communication, documentation, and workflow automation. Equipment inspections take 50% less time, company news reaches employees instantly, and HR requests are streamlined. The platform has also strengthened company culture, improving engagement and morale across job sites.

Challenge

Making it easier for frontline workers to stay connected and access critical documents

Headquartered in Minnesota, Mortenson Construction operates across a vast geographic area, with employees spread across multiple offices and job sites throughout the U.S. and Canada.

While office-based employees stayed connected through emails, meetings, and internal portals, these tools weren’t easily accessible by the company’s frontline workers — known as Craft team members — who work in the field. As a result, many were left out of key company updates.

Without a dedicated frontline communication platform, department leaders had to rely on less reliable methods to reach workers. “It was a lot of top-down communication, home mailers, attempts via email, in-person conversations, and toolbox talks,” says Andy Larrañaga, Craft Communications Specialist at Mortenson. These methods were time-consuming and inconsistent, leaving many Craft team members without timely updates on company-wide news, safety protocols, and project developments.

Beyond communication challenges, frontline employees also struggled to access important documents such as pay stubs and equipment inspection forms. Information was scattered across multiple systems, forcing employees to ask managers for details or rely on paper forms that slowed down processes. “We wanted to implement paperless workflow, but we didn’t have a tool to make that happen,” says Larrañaga.

The lack of a centralized system also created inefficiencies for managers, who often fielded the same questions from multiple team members. “We wanted to make things easier for frontline workers, their supervisors, and the office teams that support them,” explains Larrañaga.

Mortenson knew it needed a solution that would help the company simplify frontline communication, provide easy access to essential documents, and enhance the employee experience. “We needed a way to keep all our team members connected while making it easier for them to access the resources they need,” adds Larrañaga.

While office staff had access to portals with company-wide news, groundbreakings, and project wins, this information wasn’t readily available to Craft team members.”

Andy Larrañaga

Craft Communications Specialist, Mortenson Construction

Solution

Providing a single point of access for 3,000 construction workers

To bridge the communication gap and streamline access to essential resources, Mortenson implemented Beekeeper’s Frontline Success Platform — a mobile-first communication tool designed for frontline workers.

During the rollout, Larrañaga led on-site roadshows to introduce employees to the platform and demonstrate its benefits. To drive ongoing engagement, Larrañga identified Beekeeper champions — frontline workers who actively promote the platform and help their teams integrate it into daily workflows. “These are employees working on project sites who advocate for Beekeeper because they believe in it and see its positive impact on the employee experience,” he explains. Today, more than 30 champions help drive adoption, share best practices, and keep teams engaged.

Seamless integration with Oracle and ADP ensures new hires are automatically added to Beekeeper, while employees who switch job sites retain access to the right groups and resources. “Each night, Beekeeper pulls team information from our Oracle cloud system,” says Larrañaga. ADP integration allows employees to quickly access pay stubs, direct deposit details, and benefits information — all from the same platform.

By digitizing key workflows, Mortenson has eliminated paper-based processes for tasks like PTO requests and equipment inspections, significantly reducing administrative time. 

The team is also expanding Beekeeper’s capabilities with an FAQ chatbot to provide instant answers to common HR and safety questions. “I’m really excited about the chatbot because it’s going to give us a lot more insight into what team members are enjoying and what they have questions on,” says Larrañaga. “We can use that information to improve their experience even more.”

With nearly 3,000 active users, Beekeeper has become the go-to platform for frontline workers, ensuring they have the same level of access and connectivity as their office-based colleagues.

Benefits

Empowering frontline teams with targeted communications and automated processes

Since launching Beekeeper, Mortenson has transformed how its frontline teams connect, communicate, and access critical information. “Our first campaign with Beekeeper had an open rate of 40%,” says Larrañaga. “That’s so much better than what we saw with email and other traditional methods.”

Products used

With Beekeeper, employees have a single, mobile-friendly hub for communication, news, and resources. “Beekeeper is a one-stop shop for everything our frontline crews need,” says Larrañaga. Now, employees can easily access important information while staying more connected and engaged. 

The platform has also strengthened company culture and morale by allowing employees to share updates and connect across job sites. “Giving team members the ability to post their experiences has elevated camaraderie and created a sense of community beyond specific teams or projects,” Larrañaga explains.

Craft team members now have access to company communications that were previously unavailable to them. “If there’s any update, we send it through Beekeeper. It helps all employees feel like they’re in the loop about what’s going on,” says Larrañaga.

One unexpected benefit of the Beekeeper platform has been how it connects frontline workers with senior leadership. “Our Chairman, David Mortensen, now actively posts on the platform,” says Larrañaga. “For many team members, it’s the first time they’ve been able to interact with him directly.”

Beyond communication, the frontline platform has transformed many operational processes. “Beekeeper has been a game-changer. We’ve been able to digitize many frontline workflows, including equipment inspections,” says Larrañaga. “It’s helped us cut tractor inspection times by 50%.”

While Larrañaga continues to explore new ways to engage employees through Beekeeper, the platform has already proven invaluable for transforming communication and streamlining documentation. 

“It’s pretty unique for a construction company to have an app like Beekeeper available for their team members,” says Larrañaga. “Every construction company should have something like this. We relied on emails, paper forms, and other workarounds for so long, but Beekeeper makes everything faster, easier, and more connected. We’re excited to see where it takes us.”

About Mortenson Construction

Founded in 1954, family-owned Mortenson Construction is one of the top 25 builders and developers in the U.S. Known for its expertise in sports stadiums and renewable energy infrastructure, the company is guided by the principle of Building for the Greater Good™ — a commitment to making a positive impact in the communities it serves.

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