McKinstry’s Clint Reid on Driving Electrical Innovation

For Clint Reid, successful projects are built long before construction begins. As a Senior Electrical Estimator and Preconstruction Manager at McKinstry, Clint helps shape complex electrical projects early, bringing clarity, collaboration and cost certainty to teams and clients across healthcare, higher education, campus infrastructure and industrial facilities.

Clint was drawn to the electrical trade early on, inspired by watching his stepfather progress from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) into executive leadership roles within the industry. His career in electrical began in high school and formally took shape in 2007 when he joined the IBEW Inside Wireman apprenticeship. After completing the program, he became a journeyman wireman and was promoted to foreman in 2013, gaining years of hands-on field experience leading crews and executing complex electrical work. As he advanced in his career, Clint found himself increasingly drawn to the bigger picture, noting, “I was especially drawn to the process of watching projects come together from the ground up.” That interest eventually led him into assistant superintendent and project management roles, bridging field execution with planning and leadership.

That field-driven background continues to inform Clint’s approach to preconstruction today. Over the past 12 years, he has focused on electrical estimating and project management, applying real-world experience to cost modeling, risk assessment and constructability. He joined McKinstry about a year ago, bringing nearly two decades of experience into his current role.

McKinstry stood out to Clint for its scale, capabilities and long-term mindset. Compared to smaller contractors, the company’s willingness to invest in people, technology and innovation aligned with his passion for growth and continuous improvement. As Clint puts it, “There’s strong growth potential, real investment in people and technology and a genuine commitment to work-life balance.”

In his role, Clint leads electrical estimating and preconstruction for design-build and progressive design-build projects. He develops estimates from early concepts through GMP, supports constructability reviews and helps teams identify and mitigate risk early in the process. Using advanced estimating tools and model-based takeoffs, Clint maintains living estimates that evolve alongside the design, enabling informed decision-making and smoother transitions into construction. He says, “success in my role means consistently setting projects up for successful execution before construction ever begins.”

Clint is also passionate about what sets McKinstry’s Electrical team apart. He highlights the team’s deep technical expertise across medium-voltage infrastructure, industrial power systems, automation and controls and low-voltage systems. Through early engagement, target value design, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and prefabrication, McKinstry reduces risk, improves constructability and delivers cost transparency throughout the life of a project. As Clint explains, “We deliver complex electrical solutions with a client-focused, life-of-the-building mindset.”

What Clint finds most rewarding is supporting the people behind the work. Strong preconstruction planning, he notes, leads to safer jobsites, clearer expectations and reduced stress for field crews. Through collaboration, mentorship and a field-driven perspective, Clint continues to help strengthen McKinstry’s reputation as a trusted design-build partner by setting teams up for success before construction ever begins.