Subject Matter Expert Construction
Gary James’ journey in the construction industry is nothing short of legendary. As a seasoned operator with 25 years of experience in heavy equipment and training, he was first a skeptical CM Labs client and is now a passionate evangelist and staff member.
"I've seen the magic. You can bypass two decades of challenges I faced and master our product in just a month."
There are a lot of ups and downs throughout my story. I basically started in high school, initially holding a journeyman electrical card and working after school. Then one day on the job, I got introduced to my first mini excavator and knew that was what I wanted to do.
My parents helped me land a new job, and after stepping up during an emergency, I got my chance. I offered up my own pay to the crew to stick around after hours and train me on the excavator. And, it worked. That’s when my career took off and I began working on heavy equipment. My boss, Robert, taught me everything I know and never left my side.
Over the years, I advanced to managing multiple crews as a foreman, and then eventually founding and running my own company.
Another pivotal moment came with a move to Colorado, where I encountered my first simulator–a CM Labs three-screen Advantage. The Instructor Station and Drone View absolutely blew my mind. For me, it was an epiphany moment that changed my approach to training. It allowed me to teach things that we just couldn’t do in the field. I went on social media and became an advocate of simulation.
My passion for simulation grew, and I knew I needed to join CM Labs. I reached out to them, and now three and a half years later, here we are.
My title is Subject Matter Expert and I am responsible for client demos, shows, and training clients after purchase.
I manage everything outside of cranes and ports. So I oversee forestry, the utility market, and all of the construction market as far as building, testing, developing, demoing, and showing customers what the technology can do.
Having a life in the industry that we simulate, my real-world experience helps bring the simulators closer to the field and helps our clients reach the maximum benefit of the training tools we build. I understand our clients’ struggles. I went through everything that they are going through. I have run my own construction company and worked as a trainer in educational organizations.
I am just so strongly an advocate for simulation training. I’m using all of the negatives that I had to go through to try to turn them into positives and an easier route for our customers.
There are two things. SimGuide is my biggest accomplishment, I believe.
And then another huge accomplishment was helping with the development of our digger derrick. I’m very proud of the digger derrick [that we designed in partnership] with Altec. The final product is absolute perfection.
Clients who follow SimGuide have 100% better learning outcomes.
I say this everywhere I go and to every person that I talk to: we not only make the best product, but we also provide the best client service.
The feel [of the equipment] is like no other. I’ve made videos on my social media blindfolded loading the trucks. I’m not a nerd but I am very, very in tune with hydraulics. I know when a simulation has been designed to vibrate for unknown reasons, like if I hit the pedal and it just vibrates. For the competitors’ products in our market, I found all the fake triggers and turn-on and turn-off points. With CM Labs, I wasn’t able to find those, because there are none. We’re not faking anything.
In this industry, you hear about everything. If you’ve been around long enough and have the right contacts, you’re in the loop. Honestly, a lot of what we learn comes from sharing the tough stuff—accidents and close calls. It’s not great news, but it helps us learn and improve safety. I also visit other job sites often, grabbing videos and photos to see what’s new. I’m always on a site weekly, keeping in touch with what’s happening on the ground. I just want to keep a non-stop connection to the field and with the operators. That’s where I get all my info.
It’s just good old people, you know. Everybody’s on the same page. Everybody has a direction. The word conflict in our company isn’t really conflict. It’s different life experiences thinking about the same thing to figure things out. So it’s a very good melting pot. I’m from the field, this guy’s from tech, with all of us meeting in the middle. That’s where I think the magic is: everybody brings a different view to the same project.
If you want to put it in quotes, ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet.’ I think that CM Labs is holding the key to the future of simulation and I don’t think we have scratched the surface, and I mean that wholeheartedly. It’s endless.