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CONSTRUCTION
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Volume 13
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Number 8
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AUGUST 2016
Built-in resolve
A fantastic plan
Pamela Bickle’s resolve has helped her establish companies and take control of her health.
Fantastic Systems Inc.’s Darrell Dixon
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henever life handed Pamela Bickle lemons, she just set up her lemonade stand and went right to work. After her divorce 20 years ago, she wasted no time in moving her family to Arlington and establishing Inca-Sol Environmental Inc. in October 1995. Within one month, she landed a major federal contract and, with her team of 10 employees, completed asbestos and lead abatement, soil and water remediation and demolition projects for the Fort Worth Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base. By the 10-year mark, her company had nearly 80 employees and she had branched out into janitorial services as well. But it wasn’t enough for her to just
grow her own companies. “My passion for federal contracting as federal program manager helped me to help others,“ she says. “Construction is a cut-throat business and we have to be prepared to get into the competition with bigger fish in the environmental and construction services. “My passion is opening job opportunities for other businesses,” she continues. “I like to team up the project with small business owners and help them become successful on federal contracting government contracts. Small businesses need federal agencies for the growth; we often flounder through the red tape. One misstep can result in hefty fines, cancelled contracts, even jail time. I want to continued on Page 20
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ne never knows about best-laid, five-year plans. Back when Darrell and Christina Dixon worked for another fire alarm contractor, they had planned to open a similar business of their own in five years. But they got a surprise – two-and- a-half years early. “They sold their business,” Darrell says. “It was a time where we either had to do something or we had to continue to work for somebody else.” Fortunately, the couple had planned the work and worked the plan efficiently to that point. “We’d always been really frugal with our money and stockpiled cash whenever we could,” he explains. “Any bonuses that I had ever been given weren’t spent, they were just tucked away because we
knew this was going to happen to us someday, we just didn’t know when. We knew that we were going to have to go several months without a paycheck. We lived on a budget and stuck to it. Thank goodness we did because it came sooner than we thought it was going to.” They crossed their fingers and established Fantastic Systems Inc., a fire alarm, security and low voltage specialty contracting company, in 2010. Still, with two kids to support, it was daunting to be the first in either of their families to start a business and go without trusted advice or regular pay. With president Christina’s level head and thriftiness and vice president Darrell’s experience managing people continued on Page 20
New beginnings
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olunteering and building community-minded projects is an important part of The Linbeck Group’s culture. That’s why building the new Presbyterian Night Shelter’s Morris Foundation Women & Children’s Center in Fort Worth was in perfect alignment with the general contracting company’s values. “One of the great things about working for Linbeck is that we work for clients that do a greater good,” project manager Lizandro “Chando” Paiz explains. “The clients’ missions are very different but they all have the same underlying goal, which is helping humanity.” Paiz, superintendent Albert Suarez, estimator/project engineer Sherri Rankin, architect Bennett Benner Partners and shelter CEO Toby Owen collaborated to create a warm and welcoming residence for homeless women and children. The new two-story, 30,000-sf build-
The new Presbyterian Night Shelter’s Morris Foundation Women & Children’s Center was a special project for The Linbeck Group.
ing replaces the former residence building, which had lacked privacy and was showing years of wear. The new building provides private rooms and semi-private bathrooms for up to 40 families, with a large study/recreation space and offices dedicated to partner agencies. Linbeck began in April 2015 to construct the new $8.4 million shelter at 2320 Poplar St., which involved selective demolition and asbestos abatement to prepare the site. During this process, the Linbeck team took great care to protect and coexist with a homeless population living nearby. With the area secure and ready for the foundation concrete pour, rain poured instead. The on-site rain gauge recorded 14 inches in May, costing the team 15 days on their critical path and delaying foundation activities until June. Fortunately, careful planning and the use continued on Page 20