Winter/Spring 2019

There’s nothing sleepy about the K-series Smar tGrade dozers – they’re known around the globe as superior grading machines Unlike others that use a common mainframe for all models, Deere’s purposebuilt design optimizes blade ratio and center of gravity for optimum balance. State-of-the-ar t electronic controls put an operator in command of an arsenal of production-boosting hydrostatic advantages, including power tur ns, counter-rotating tracks, power management, and

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It all comes down to making a really tough job easier and more profitable John Deere equipment will stand beside you all day, ever y day, from star t to finish. You’ve got what it takes, and Flint Construction & Forestr y does whatever it takes to keep you moving more dir t, more reliably on less fuel

Think Flint First.

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

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©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

AGC Georgia sits down with Governor Brian Kemp to discuss workforce development, infrastructure funding, regulatory reform and economic development.

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.

A CONVERSATION WITH GOVERNOR KEMP

Focus on workforce development, infrastructure funding, regulatory reform and economic development

AGC Georgia: Our association believes good workforce development is good economic development. We worked in concert with Governor Deal’s team and other construction industry stakeholders to obtain the High Demand Career Initiative (HDCI) designation for the construction industry. What additional efforts do you believe can bring more attention to skilled trade education and growing this career path?

Governor Kemp: In today’s economy, there are more jobs than there are people to fill them – and it is often difficult to find trained labor to meet the needs of the workforce. Governor Deal did a tremendous job in identifying strategic industries for rapid training and deployment – through the High Demand Career Initiative, and construction was able to benefit greatly from it. I know firsthand what it’s like to not be able to find qualified labor on a site and know the delays

and costs that it causes the industry. I am committed to continuing the High Demand Career Initiative – and through our Putting Georgians First Commission, we are going to work with small businesses, our education community, and trade associations like AGC Georgia to ensure workforce needs are prioritized for industries that need assistance.

AGC Georgia: We’ve made great strides in deepening our port and working on HOV and toll lanes for

the future. What non-transportation infrastructure investment do you believe is needed for Georgia?

Governor Kemp: I believe the next investment we need to make in Georgia’s infrastructure needs to be in rural Georgia. Metro-Atlanta and other major metro-regions across the state have benefitted tremendously from investments in transit funding, harbor deepening, and road and bridge repair – and it’s time to continue strategic investments like these in rural parts of our state. The most needed infrastructure issue that rural Georgia faces is access to High Speed Internet – and as Governor, I have committed to ensuring that there is a private sector solution. Without connectivity, companies either choose not to relocate, start or invest in rural Georgia – and many are often leaving as a result of the lack of access. High Speed Internet will help rural Georgia connect with hospital systems and healthcare through telemedicine, career education through online learning, and greater economic opportunities through e-commerce and other platforms.

AGC Georgia: During your campaign, one of your key issues was regulatory reform. As you know, from your time working in the construction industry and as Secretary of State, construction is one of the most regulated industries. What proposals do you hope to place before the General Assembly to help the business community?

Governor Kemp: By streamlining government and cutting burdensome red tape, we can work to ensure that Georgia becomes the number one state for small business. Throughout the campaign, we ran on a platform of putting Georgians first, and part of the four-point plan that carried us throughout was “taking a chainsaw to Government Regulations.” During my service as Secretary of State, I was able to see first-hand the burdensome regulations that countless

industries face because of antiquated state code – and I am committed to working with the General Assembly, Secretary Raffensberger and stakeholders like AGC Georgia to ensure that our rules and regulations on the book are fair, serve a purpose, and protect the safety of all Georgians –while not hindering growth or creating new burdens for those involved.

AGC Georgia: Georgia has been recognized as one of the best places to do business for a number of consecutive years. What do you believe are essential elements needed to maintain this prestigious designation?

Governor Kemp: We are blessed that Georgia has been named the number one state in which to do business for six years in a row. I credit that to the hard work of former Governors Sonny Perdue and Nathan Deal in adopting commonsense approaches to economic development, fiscal policy and state legislation that spurred tremendous job growth over the last 16 years. We

must continue these efforts – and prioritize adopting approaches to economic development that will make Georgia not only the number one state in which to do business, but the number one state for small business as well. I know first-hand that small businesses are the backbone of any economy. I started my first business right out of college at the University of Georgia with a pickup truck and a few tools in my toolbox, and since that day, Marty and I have been blessed to be owners of many small businesses, employ hundreds of hardworking Georgians, and play a small part in growing our state’s economy. That’s why on my first day in office, I signed an Executive Order creating the Georgians First Commission. This experienced group of private-sector leaders will work around the clock to cut government red tape, streamline regulations, and make it easier for entrepreneurs to hire, invest, and expand their operations. ■

THROUGH BEST PRACTICES BUSINESS GROWTH

Every construction company strives to manage projects faster, smarter and more efficiently. In this issue of Georgia Construction Today, we’re spotlighting member firms Garbutt Construction Company,

Holder Construction Company, Sheridan Construction and Tebarco Mechanical Corporation. By embracing opportunities that go beyond the status quo, they are finding success while improving their own operations.

Do you have a story you’re willing to share that can help the entire construction industry grow? If so, please connect with Alyson Abercrombie at abercrombie@agcga.org.

Holder Construction: Tracking for Excellence

Holder Construction’s tagline and motto is to ‘…lead with integrity, seek excellence, and care more.’ A great example of their commitment to ‘practice what they preach’ is the work underway by Holder Construction’s innovation team, led by Danny Owens. Owens and his team are developing a technology solution focused on:

• Better communication with clients about time and budget management

• Improved productivity at the worksite

• Improved safety precautions for the entire team, including contractors They are working on a proprietary project management solution that leverages a variety of technologies and new processes. One of the programs they are testing is based on issuing badges that are worn on the vests or hard hats for every person on-site. The embedded beacons provide automatic workforce tracking. The value gained from this data ranges from employee tracking issues in an emergency situation to reevaluating the best routing for access to a facility.

“When materials are blocking an entrance and workers are wasting time routing in and out of another entrance, this impacts hours of productivity,” said Owens. “With this

data, we can quickly discover that a simple move of the building materials could address the problem. We owe it to our teams to provide the most productive work environment possible and we owe it to our clients to make necessary changes in real-time for the best result and budget decisions.”

The same on-site data gathered from the beacons, combined with internal budget evaluation tools, are helping Holder Construction review overall labor investments and productivity rates in aggregate.

The goal of this program is not to invade individual workers’ privacy, but rather to ensure Holder is getting the best result from each of its team members and to make changes when and where necessary.

“One place where the individual’s data is needed, is when we are tracking team members during an evacuation,” explained Owens. “For example, rather than knowing we have 500 workers on-site and counting afterward that 498 have shown, it is much

safer to see each team member headed to the safety zone in real-time.”

Overall, Holder Construction is making significant investments in their high tech, proprietary solution. But Owens explained there are lots of companies and tools available at a range of price points for these types of solutions, using many kinds of technology such as Bluetooth, LoRa, RFID and more.

As technology continues to play a significant role in construction, and the innovation in those technologies will benefit Holder Construction’s clients and its teams, Owens intends to stay on the cutting edge and seek excellence in all that they do.

Mr. Danny Owens Innovations Manager Holder Construction Company, Atlanta (770) 988-3000 dowens@holder.com

Garbutt Construction: Maximizing Lean Principles

The word “lean” in the construction industry does not refer to the leaning Tower of Pisa, rather, it’s the elimination of waste in the building process. This allows worksites to always remains productive – meaning no workers are waiting on work and no work is of need of workers. Lean also enhances collaboration by pulling the work from the bottom up instead of the top down.

Large construction firms were early adopters of the Lean initiative; however, it’s smaller companies such as Garbutt Construction Company from Dublin, Ga., that are now making the program work for them.

Charlie Garbutt, CEO of Garbutt Construction Company, first learned about the Lean program through AGC. He decided to enroll in AGC Georgia’s seven-unit Lean course and became a certified teacher upon passing the certification exam.

“I am grateful AGC introduced me to the Lean program, as it has taken our construction company to even greater heights,” said Garbutt. “Lean does not replace the construction schedule we submit to our clients. Rather, that schedule is the macro way of looking at the construction site, while the Lean pull plan is the micro point of view.”

The Lean process includes a “pull board” which is a grid on a white board. Dates are written across the top and the key players such as specialty contractors are listed down the side. The pull board contains information about what is happening daily at the building site. The “pull plan” is a six-week look ahead on what is happening on the board.

Each week, daily tasks are noted on the pull board with the use of individual sticky notes, which provide information about the task, number

of days to complete the task from start to finish, and expectation of when the handoff will take place.

For example, if electrical work at a building site is going to take six days to complete then there are six sticky notes on the board – one for each day of work. During weekly meetings the project superintendent reviews the board and based on the task updates from the different specialty contractors removes or adds sticky notes.

If the electrical work was completed in six days, then those notes are removed; however, if the electrical work was not finished then they remain on the board until the task is complete. There are critical tasks on every building site; if these items are not done then the project will be delayed. These tasks are identified with a red dot on the sticky note.

By using this program, construction companies – regardless of size – are able to quickly and easily track tasks. It’s estimated that if a building site averages 80% of

the tasks having been completed on time, then that site is working efficiently. However, a typical building site only averages 54% tasks being completed on time. With the pull board, companies can see the problem areas easily.

Garbutt Construction believes in the Lean initiative so much that they now utilize it for all of their construction projects. Garbutt offered, “Improving productivity is critical. I highly encourage firms of all sizes implement Lean principles.”

Mr. Charles E. Garbutt, LEE AP, AIC Chief Executive Officer Garbutt Construction Company, Dublin (478) 272-4410 charlie@garbuttconstruction.com

Sheridan Construction: RISE Outreach Program

The past few years have proven that workforce development is one of the construction industry’s greatest concerns. Sheridan Construction, a general contractor, decided to do something about it in their hometown of Macon.

An employee-owned firm, they constantly seek input from team members to better the company. Two Sheridan executives, Ronny Williams and Christy Kovac, created a development initiative for small and emerging specialty contractors in the area.

“Sheridan Construction wanted to create a program to help grow the specialty contractor market with skilled artisans who were ready to grow their business to the next level,” said Ronny Williams.

Established in 2017, the RISE program – Readiness Initiative through Sheridan Education – offers a series

of educational sessions that occur once a month over a six-month period. As part of the process, the firm reached out to artisans, service providers, specialty contractors and suppliers.

The training classes include extensive interactive learning opportunities designed to help specialty contractors successfully bid for local work.

“We do not charge the participating businesses to join; however, they must commit to attending the two-hour class on a monthly basis,” said Williams. “Sheridan Construction is pleased to underwrite the cost of the entire program as it truly benefits the company and our community.”

For those participating companies that send a representative to at least five of the six sessions, they become one of Sheridan’s preferred specialty contractors.

The firm has partnered with the Macon-Middle Georgia Black Pages, a minority business listing site, among others, to extend the program’s reach.

Alex Habersham, Publisher of the Macon-Middle Georgia Black Pages, stated, “The RISE Program is a measurable example of how companies and corporations can significantly impact the community through a win-win atmosphere that also serves as a catalyst for general economic growth.”

Due to the success of the program, Sheridan Construction is introducing a 2.0 class in 2019 to those companies that have already participated in the initial classes.

Mr. Ronnie Williams Chief Executive Officer Sheridan Construction, Macon (478) 743-1578 ronny.williams@chrisrsheridan.com

Tebarco Mechanical: Benefits from BIM & 3-D Scanner

Tebarco Mechanical, a full-service mechanical contractor and engineering firm, is always exploring ways to create less down time for clients during construction projects, while improving the delivered product. This led to the firm investing in a 3-D Laser Scanner to complement their existing Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology.

This innovative technology increases the efficiency of construction projects ranging from renovations to new builds. Tebarco understood that by helping clients accurately assess facilities and reduce down-time, this could directly impact a client’s revenue.

For an existing facility, the first part of the process is to use the scanner, which provides exact data about the size of room, length of pipe, number of turns and fittings, etc. This is especially useful when there is no existing rendering of an older location. This 3-D point cloud provides complete accuracy of a space for Tebarco to perform their work within.

The next process is to take the scan and integrate it with BIM functionality. BIM allows the general and all specialty contactors to virtually design the structure in 3-D space prior to building it in real life. In the past, building plans were created in 2-D in hopes that everything would fit. BIM builds plans in 3-D on the computer, which can also be viewed in 3-D via a tablet. Contactors can now prevent potential problems during the onsite building process avoiding costly changes and delays in the schedule.

The scanner and BIM technology combination allows general and specialty contractors to fabricate more extensively. For example, after Tebarco has virtually designed the whole plumbing infrastructure for a bathroom, the firm can prefabricate in-house followed by installation completely and quickly in a matter of hours compared to several days. Additionally, a general contractor

can condense their schedule because the process reduces on-site installation from days to mere hours.

For facilities such as manufacturing plants, having Tebarco fabricate the work offsite keeps the facility up and running. However, it also improves quality control, as everything is handled in a more controlled environment and is easier to test.

“To our knowledge, Tebarco is one of the few construction companies in Georgia utilizing all this technology,” said Jonathan Barden, Vice President at Tebarco Mechanical Corporation. “While the investment to purchase the equipment and tools as well as to provide the time to train the staff

was significant, we believe it has been worth it, for both Tebarco and our customers.” ■

Mr. Jonathan Barden Vice President Tebarco Mechanical Corporation, Alpharetta (770) 475-5552 jbarden@tebarco.com

CHANGING THE CAREER CONVERSATION:

A SPOTLIGHT ON DAWN MANN

relevant career information, to support school counselors when working with students, and to provide guidance as we work to prepare students for all post-high school opportunities,” said Mann.

advocating and engaging in public relations for the school counseling program, and advocating for funding and resources.

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and AGC

Georgia partnered on two successful initiatives in 2018. Under the leadership of Dawn Mann, Program Manager for Career Guidance and Counseling at the DOE, the two organizations helped launch Trade Talks and the Career Guidance and Counseling (CGC) Advisory Council.

Mann is responsible for developing and implementing a statewide comprehensive K-12 school counselor program to maximize the school counselor’s ability to impact student growth in the areas of learning, living, and working.

“AGC Georgia is an instrumental

Trade Talks provides a face-to-face platform for industry experts to provide relevant career information to school counselors. The inaugural workshop was held this past October and featured numerous careers in the construction industry.

Traditionally, career-focused professional opportunities for school counselors were limited. The team at the GaDOE wanted to change the career conversation so that counselors could help students understand the job opportunities available to them immediately upon graduation.

The Career Guidance and Counseling (CGC) Advisory Council consists of a diverse group of stakeholders selected to advise the CGC team on the state level school-counseling program. The advisory council assists the team at GaDOE by providing input on program goals, reviewing program results, making recommendations about the school counseling program,

The organization is striving to make a bigger impact in 2019. In fact, one of the major initiatives for GaDOE this year is to establish a strong working relationship with newly inaugurated Governor Brian Kemp.

“I look forward to working with Governor Kemp as he helps us prepare all our students for successful futures,” said Mann. “Based on his own experience as a business leader, I am certain he understands the importance of a skilled workforce.”

The Department of Education CTAE Department’s goals for the year include improving its perception; providing quality career counseling and career development for students in grades K-12; increasing teacher and counseling recruitment, retention, and professional development; and developing employable skills for students in grades K-12.

Mann has worked at the Department of Education since January 2018 and has had numerous rewarding experiences while in this role.

“ In my current role, one of my most rewarding encounters occurred with a school counselor,” said Mann. “After the October Trade Talks event, a middle school counselor walked up to me and said, ‘This (event) is going to change the way I counsel students.’ It meant the world to me that our event generated such a powerful impact on her and, hopefully, many others as well.”

Mann believes in the power of positivity and has been known to be caught dancing in the kitchen with her two daughters. ■

Counselors from schools across Georgia attend the construction expo hosted by CEFGA and SkillsUSA to learn about industry career paths.

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E-mail: mail@yatesins.com

AGENTS

Danny Yates

Alan Yates

Jeff Blanton

Mike Angel

Barry Dawson

David Rawson

Mike Brickner

Brian Hughes

Clay Davies

Jeff Innis

Bob Reynolds

Alston Yates

Brooks Fischer

Michael Dawson

Bill Woolfolk

Carter Woolfolk

Robert Woolfolk

Bill Turner

Duvall Brumby

Scott Angel

Mike Ivkovich