Brandon YoungTeam Lead| VernCo RoofingMinnesota, United States
Hi Everyone!
Just joined and wanted to introduce myself to the community. I'm excited to connect with you all and learn as we're getting our Minnesota team rolling!
For those of you who have helped build / start a new area for a company, how have you found the right people to grow your team? Wearing the recruiting hat will be a good chunk of my role as we look to expand, so any tips / advice would be greatly appreciated!
Currently looking for Project Managers in the Rochester, MN and Twin Cities Metro Areas.
Welcome! Have you connected with PMI-MN? It looks like they've got a jobs section on their site and a newsletter. Their calendar is not full, but it looks like they have somewhat regular activities. This gives you a few different ways you can get the word out to chapter members and meet some of them. Saving Changes...
Program Manager| HARPER SRLSanto Domingo / Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
Welcome, Brandon, exciting phase to be in. A few things I’ve seen work well when building area:
Start with networks, local PMI chapters (PMI-MN is a great call), industry meetups, and referrals usually surface stronger candidates than cold applications.
Hire for mindset first, skills second. Especially early on, adaptability, ownership, and communication matter more than perfect resumes.
Leverage early hires as multipliers. Your first PMs should help attract the next ones through their own networks.
Be clear about growth and expectations. People joining a new area want to know what they’re building and where they can grow.
Stay visible locally. Events, site visits, and partnerships in Rochester and the Twin Cities help position your team as “real,” not remote.
Building from scratch takes time, but getting the first few hires right makes everything else easier. Good luck growing the MN team. Saving Changes...
Congrats on the new team! For building a PM team in MN, I focus on clarity in role expectations, leveraging local networks, and targeting candidates with proven project delivery experience. Using LinkedIn, local PM chapters, and employee referrals often brings high-quality candidates, and assessing cultural fit and adaptability early helps ensure long-term team success. Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Welcome to the community, and congratulations on the challenge. Building a team from the ground up is both rare and demanding.
In my experience, the critical question is not where to find people, but what kind of system you are building so the right people want to stay. Before recruiting, it helps to clarify three things.
First, what types of projects this team will actually be managing over the next 18 to 24 months, including complexity, stakeholder environment, and organizational context.
Second, which behaviors and capabilities are truly non-negotiable for success in that context, beyond certifications or years of experience.
Third, what leadership and decision-making model the team will experience day to day.
In practice, a mix of trusted local referrals and interviews grounded in real situations tends to work best. Focus on how candidates have handled ambiguity, conflict, and pressure, not only on tools and frameworks.
Finally, invest early in onboarding and cultural alignment. Strong project managers may join because of competence, but they stay because of clarity, trust, and autonomy. Teams designed this way reduce turnover, increase predictability, and make success repeatable rather than dependent on individual heroes.
Community Champion
