PALISADEStrategy Group Contact us

Infrastructure Strategy & Operations

Clarity for complex infrastructure decisions.

Palisade Strategy Group provides senior construction, operational, and commercial guidance to contractors, network owners, and investors building underground and fiber infrastructure — from market entry and mobilization through recovery and closeout.

ClarityExecutionAdvantage

Why Palisade

Infrastructure projects rarely fail for lack of effort. They fail for lack of clarity, discipline, and accountability.

We work with organizations in telecommunications, fiber deployment, horizontal directional drilling, and underground utility construction — at the moments that decide outcomes: growth, market entry, mobilization, restructuring, and recovery.

Our approach pairs executive oversight with practical field experience, so the commercial and the operational side of a project get addressed by the same person.

Services

Strategic counsel. Operational advantage.

Strategy

Market entry, growth structure, and operating systems built to scale profitably.

Operations

Production, project controls, and field leadership that hold up under schedule pressure.

Commercial

Contracts, unit pricing, change orders, and risk allocation reviewed before they cost you.

Recovery

Rapid assessment and a corrective plan for projects that have gotten away from you.

Engagements

Support across the full construction lifecycle.

Sized to the problem — a single project, an operating region, or an entire portfolio. Stationing below follows the lifecycle, not a menu.

0+00

Before the award

Preconstruction & constructability

Design and route review, utility-conflict and HDD risk evaluation, equipment selection, crew modeling, production assumptions, schedule feasibility, and margin review — problems identified before they reach the field.

Contract & commercial strategy

Scope analysis, prime and subcontract structure, unit-price and rate review, risk allocation, damage-liability provisions, payment and retainage terms, and negotiation support.

Infrastructure due diligence

Construction-focused evaluation for investors, lenders, and acquirers: capabilities, management depth, backlog quality, customer concentration, subcontractor dependency, commercial exposure, and scalability.

12+50

Standing it up

Project mobilization

Turning a signed contract into an executable operation: construction strategy, resource and equipment planning, budget and production targets, management structure, schedule, documentation standards, and a billing and closeout plan set on day one.

Florida market entry & expansion

For contractors establishing or growing Florida operations — entry strategy, staffing and operating structure, subcontractor sourcing and qualification, local methodology and permitting realities, production-rate analysis, and executive oversight through launch.

Subcontractor strategy & management

Identification, capability assessment, commercial negotiation, scope development, onboarding, production and documentation expectations, scorecards, corrective action, and resource replacement.

48+00

Running the work

Fractional construction executive

Director- or VP-level leadership without permanent headcount: portfolio performance review, management of project managers and field leadership, production forecasting, cost and margin oversight, customer escalation, and executive reporting.

Project controls & performance management

Production dashboards, daily and weekly reporting, quantity reconciliation, installed-versus-billable analysis, cost-to-complete forecasting, change-order and restoration tracking, and billing readiness.

Owner's representation

Independent oversight between ownership and the contractor: performance review, quantity validation, invoice and change-order review, schedule oversight, field-quality monitoring, and closeout verification.

HDD & underground construction advisory

Technical and operational guidance on directional drilling, conduit placement, utility conflicts, excavation, restoration, and methodology selection.

99+00

When it goes sideways

Project recovery & turnaround

Rapid assessment of underperforming work followed by a corrective operating plan: installed versus approved quantities, production and schedule recovery, field leadership, subcontractor accountability, cost exposure, change-order recovery, documentation gaps, billing backlog, and customer expectations.

Quality, documentation & closeout

Practical QA/QC systems covering field documentation, bore logs, redlines, as-built records, restoration, punch-list management, billing readiness, and final acceptance.

Sector expertise

Deep experience. Critical sectors.

Fiber & broadband FTTH, middle-mile, backbone, metro, and wireless support
Directional drilling Local distribution through large-scale network deployment
Underground utilities Telecom, electrical conduit, water, sewer, and stormwater
Investment & development Owners, developers, and operating companies needing independent expertise

The record

Built, not theorized.

12Years in underground and fiber construction, from technician upward
500+Route miles of fiber built across Hartford and Orlando
$100MLargest program managed — a Verizon 5G deployment in Hartford
50% → 0Schedule deficit closed on a distressed build, returned to budget

Our approach

Advice has value only when it produces results.

Independent

Objective advice aimed at your operational and commercial interests — no product to sell you, no crew to keep busy.

Experienced

Recommendations grounded in construction and management experience rather than theory.

Disciplined

Clear accountability, measurable performance standards, and operating systems that repeat.

Commercial

Contract requirements, project economics, documentation, billing, risk, and closeout treated as one system — not production alone.

Discreet

Sensitive assignments handled quietly. What we learn inside your business stays inside it.

Who we work with

  • Infrastructure contractors
  • Fiber and broadband contractors
  • Underground utility contractors
  • Network owners and operators
  • Developers
  • Engineering and EPC organizations
  • Private investors
  • Private-equity-backed operating companies
  • Contractors entering or expanding in Florida
Joseph McKiernan, Managing Partner of Palisade Strategy Group

Leadership

Joseph McKiernan

Joe has spent twelve years in underground utilities and fiber construction, starting as a technician and working through every level of the business. He has held construction manager, engineering manager, and project manager roles for national contractors and national service providers — which means he has seen the same projects from the design desk, the field, and the P&L.

He has built more than 500 miles of fiber across Hartford and Orlando, including a $100M Verizon 5G program in Hartford. On a large fiber deployment for a national infrastructure firm, he took over as project manager with the work running roughly 50% behind schedule and 20% over budget, and brought it back to on schedule and on budget. He holds a Florida Underground Utility and Excavation Contractor license and OSHA 30.

He founded Palisade because good companies stall for reasons that are fixable — pricing that never had margin in it, subcontractors running unmanaged, documentation that can't support a billing. His work is helping operators grow and hit what they set out to hit, whether that means satisfying a board or building the company they imagined when they started.

Joseph McKiernanManaging Partner

Contact

Let's build what's next.

Most engagements start with a short conversation about the project, the schedule, and what's actually going wrong. No cost, no obligation.

Email info@palisadestrategygroup.com
Phone (407) 871-6301
Orlando, Florida  ·  Statewide and nationwide engagements

We reply within one business day.