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CONSTRUCTION
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The Industry’s Newspaper San Marcos River
www.constructionnews.net
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(210) 308-5800
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Volume 15
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Number 11
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NOVEMBER 2016
On the top floor
Focus on Texas
Eric Adams, center, and his crew chiefs are pictured before heading out for a job.
Texas First Rentals celebrates its Texas heritage by ensuring its local customers are first priority.
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ric Adams is a third-generation flooring specialist. Both his father and grandfather are in the industry in Austin and Adams worked for his father until he opened his own company, Eric Adams Flooring, in 2012. Adams was born in Austin, but grew up in Bastrop. At the age of 18, he moved back to Austin and began working for his father. “My father and I are very much alike,” Adams says. “We have to be working all this time. I wanted my own business and he wasn’t going to retire anytime soon.” Doing about 15 percent commercial and 85 percent residential work, Adams says he loves what he does.
“I love doing this because every job is different and we can be creative,” he says. “Since we started doing commercial, we are doing more and more commercial.” His goals are to establish a great company, while keeping a low overhead and maintaining high quality. The company has worked on hospital and school projects, among others. Adams says customer service is a top priority. “I make myself available all the time,” he says. “Customers can deal with me directly. Their happiness is what keeps me going. My biggest satisfaction is when it turns out better than they expected.” continued on Page 17
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hen HOLT CAT opened its Texas First Rentals in San Marcos on May 15, that location joined 10 others in Texas that were launched to address the specific rental needs of Texas customers. “We named our stores Texas First Rentals because the ownership of this company has been in Texas since 1933,” says Don Myrick, general manager for the locations. “The company is born and bred in Texas – it’s a Texas business for Texas customers.” Joining the Holt family of businesses, which include HOLT CAT, HOLT Agribusiness and HOLT Crane and Equipment, Texas First Rentals is focused on answering a specific need in the
industry. “The focus of these stores is to take advantage of the trend in our industries leaning more towards rentals than sales,” Myrick says. Texas First Rentals supplies Cat equipment and generators, plus equipment from brands such as Genie, JLG, Sullair, Wacker, Laymoor, Vermeer and more. Types of equipment include dirt, aerial lifts, pumps, compressors, light towers, rock saws, generators and more, Myrick says. At the San Marcos store, there are currently 12 employees and Myrick says the HOLT way is to empower employees and managers to work with local continued on Page 17
First class glass
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ashion Glass & Mirror LLC is a large glass manufacturing company based out of DeSoto, TX. They operate a handful of manufacturing facilities across the state of Texas, including one in a leased space in New Braunfels, which was not meeting their needs in terms of convenient day-to-day operations. Looking to build a brand new facility, President and CEO Larry Jaynes turned to Lockhart, TX. and Countywide Builders to take full advantage of the new SH 130 highway providing direct access to the Austin-San Antonio Corridor. “The relationship between our company and Mr. Jaynes was unique,” says Jim Smith, owner of Countywide. “We were on a fast-track and we started the project on a handshake before we had a contract. It was an old-school deal.” Fashion Glass & Mirror’s new facility is a 30,000-sf building that includes a 2,400-sf showroom and office space, as
well as a large manufacturing and storage space and indoor, overnight parking for their delivery trucks. The project took six months and was finished in May 2015. The exterior is rockfaced block and the interior is sheetrock with polished concrete floors. Twentyfour foot Big Ass Fans keep the area cool. Winn Smith, Jim Smith’s son, was project manager on this project and Ron Metz was project superintendent. Architect was Steinbomer, Bramwell & Vrazel Architects (SBV), Austin. Engineer was Gallup Engineering, San Marcos. Jim Smith says Countywide and SBV have worked together on many projects and are currently on others. “They are excellent,” he says. “They are very responsive to our needs. Our relationship is very close.” SBV Architects says they worked closely with the client and Countywide to The 30,000-sf building stands out in its new location in Lockhart.
continued on Page 17