Krissy Corrigan: Bringing Design-Build Leadership to Growing Markets

Krissy Corrigan’s career at McKinstry has spanned design, project management, sales, strategic account leadership and large mechanical construction, giving her a broad view of how complex design-build work comes together. Today, as business development director for Prime MEP, McKinstry’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing design-build services, she applies that experience to helping teams get organized, align around decisions and connect the pieces across disciplines, project phases and markets.

“Everyone on a project has a ‘why’ behind their role,” Krissy said. “Keeping that in mind helps create a better experience for the whole team, especially in a fast-moving market and on large-scale projects.”

Finding Her Path at McKinstry

Krissy has been with McKinstry for 12 years, joining the company first as an intern. She started in McKinstry’s Madison, Wisconsin, office on the energy services team while majoring in civil engineering, with a minor in sustainable and renewable energy systems. After graduating, she moved to Seattle and joined the Special Projects Group as a design engineer, where she designed and managed mechanical projects across the Pacific Northwest. A few years ago, Krissy and her family moved back to the Midwest, where she now lives outside Chicago with her husband and three children.

Over the years, Krissy has built her career across engineering, project management, strategic account leadership, sales and large mechanical construction, gaining a broad understanding of how teams and projects are assembled and delivered. That experience helps her see projects from multiple perspectives and understand what different stakeholders need to be successful.

Supporting Growth in New Markets

Today, her work focuses on national growth for McKinstry’s Prime MEP services, from shaping go-to-market strategies to building relationships with clients and industry partners. In Illinois, she works alongside McKinstry’s local team to strengthen regional capabilities. In Texas, she is helping support growth in the higher education and data center markets by bringing together expertise from across McKinstry’s integrated services teams.

Her current work in Texas builds on what first drew Krissy to engineering and construction: the opportunity to solve problems with a team, think differently about sustainability and bring structure to large-scale projects.

“I’ve always been drawn to the built environment,” Krissy said. “I was interested in figuring out how to create more efficient buildings and think differently about sustainability. You get to solve problems as a team, be creative and bring structure to challenging work.”

A Culture That Keeps Her Here

That mix of creativity, process and collaboration is part of what has kept Krissy at McKinstry. She first connected with the company through a college career fair and quickly found a place where the people, culture and work aligned with what she wanted from her career.

“McKinstry was the first company I worked for where I felt like they valued me as much as I valued them,” Krissy said. “I liked the work, I connected with the people and it felt like a natural fit, which continues to this day.”

Today, Krissy is focused on building relationships with clients and project teams while helping work move from planning into construction. She has always been client-focused, and she values the chance to get to know the people involved, understand what each team needs and help bring the pieces together. Seeing a project move from planning into construction and watching all those massive pieces come together, she said, is “one of the coolest parts of working in this industry.”

Life Beyond Work

Outside of work, Krissy stays connected to the dance community. She has danced her whole life, helped start a dance company in Seattle and now takes classes in Chicago. “Dance is my outlet,” Krissy said. “It keeps me grounded and reminds me that there’s more to life than work.”