F E A T U R E S

10 Business Growth through Best Practices

By embracing opportunities that go beyond the status quo, four companies highlighted in this issue are finding success while improving their own operations.

• Holder Construction: Tracking for Excellence

• Garbutt Construction: Maximizing Lean Principles

• Sheridan Construction: RISE Outreach Program

• Tebarco Mechanical: Benefits from BIM & 3-D Scanner

8 A Conversation with Governor Kemp

16 Changing the Career Conversation: A Spotlight

on Dawn Mann

In her role as Program Manager for Career Guidance and Counseling at the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), Dawn Mann and her team are partnering with AGC Georgia to launch Trade Talks and the Career Guidance and Counseling (CGC) Advisory Council.

Publisher: Heather Greyling

Editor: Rachael Ryals

Project Manager: Adam Lingenflter

Publication Director: Ryan Griffin

Advertising Sales: Bill Lovett, Stephanie Musial, Christian Naja, Marjorie Pedrick, Christine Ricci, Vicki Sherman, Raymond Strickland, Jason Zawada

Project Coordinator: Cindy Samons

Layout & Design: Mahender Veer

©2019 Naylor, LLC. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher.

PUBLISHED MARCH 2019/ GGC-B0119/8110

I’ve heard several past AGC Georgia presidents say there’s no way you can appreciate all the innerworkings that keep AGC Georgia moving forward until you see it from this lens. They were right!

We ended 2018 with many notable successes and our agenda remains as robust as ever leading up to our Annual Convention in Hilton Head Island, SC on June 6-9, 2019.

As I shared early in my term, I’m excited to help advance AGC Georgia’s longstanding position as a construction industry trailblazer for workforce development. There are so many rewarding career paths young people can take to build a career in our industry. I am enjoying my time serving as an ambassador and spreading this message.

Last September, during the AGC of America National Chapter Leadership Conference (NCLC) in Washington, DC, I had the pleasure of sharing AGC Georgia’s workforce development efforts with my fellow board presidents from over 60 other AGC chapters. I was also honored to accept a national workforce development award on behalf of all our chapter’s members.

In November, I visited each Skills Challenge geared toward high school construction students. What an impressive operation! These events were organized by forward-thinking contractors and hosted in Augusta, Gainesville, Griffin and Moultrie. Together, the events drew more than 600 student competitors and 1,000 student observers from 65 schools. It’s very promising to see hundreds of talented students competing in trades such as carpentry, electrical, masonry, plumbing and welding.

While our Skills Challenge work is unmatched among other AGC chapters, within our ranks we know there is a lot of work to be done. We need to bring this type of hands-on construction education to all students in our state. Over the next year, we look to take these four models and assemble planning committees in other regions so the Skills Challenge series reaches an overwhelming majority of the state’s 150+ construction programs. It’s also important to make sure we spend time teaching our

Kevin W. Kuntz President, Southeast Division McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. 2018-2019 President AGC Georgia

state’s elected and educational leaders the value of technical and career education. Those that attended this year’s Skills Challenges were blown away and energized to help us in our efforts. I hope you will join in as we move the discussion forward with local leaders and lend a hand to enhance construction education in all communities! It’s very rewarding work.

In early 2019, nearly 200 representatives from member firms joined me for my President’s Tour around the state. I enjoyed hosting open conversations in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah and Valdosta. It was very valuable to learn about the local markets and hear accounts of how members benefit from our services.

Leading an amazing group is easy work! I take great comfort in reporting to fellow members AGC Georgia isn’t “just” one of 88 AGC of America chapters, instead we are one of the leading chapters! Our staff regularly gets calls from sister chapters asking for advice on how to implement similar programs in their area.

As I finish my term, I’m proud to continue serving as an industry champion and welcome your input and suggestions on how to make AGC Georgia the absolute best it can be.