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Volume 14
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Number 2
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FEBRUARY 2017
FCS celebrates 70
The good fight
Paul Holden proudly stands next to a portrait of his father, Bill Holden, who helped make FCS a successful family business.
AEE’s Demetrus Harris receives boxing training from John Garcia, who is also his company employee.
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he United Tile Company may have been born in 1947, but it became a living, breathing thing when William “Bill” Holden came on board in 1953. Having returned from tours in World War II and the Korean War, Bill, a Southern Methodist University graduate with four years experience at Owens Corning Insulation, joined the company, ascending to president, board chairman and major shareholder in 1978. During those years, he helped establish the drywall and architectural woodworking divisions, oversaw the company’s name change to Facility Construction Services and two company relocations. He also made the business a family affair: Bill’s sons Paul, Neal and Tom be-
gan working for their father at a young age. Paul remembers he began working for FCS in the 9th grade, creating shop drawings, painting and hanging drywall, with one of his first jobs being the DFW Airport. “I enjoyed it and I thought about doing it as a career,” he says. “I studied and got my degree in architecture at the University of Texas at Austin, probably because I had the background in construction. I didn’t really think about it too much until I got out of school and then I decided I didn’t want to go straight out to work for my dad. I went to work for Beck for four years, then my dad offered me a job and I thought it sounded like a pretty continued on Page 18
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rowing up as one of seven kids in a tough Georgia neighborhood, Demetrus Harris thought his hair cutting skills might help him own a barbershop someday. But a 9th grade construction class changed his mind. “Then, in 10th grade, I wanted to try the electrical class,” he says. “I enjoyed the excitement of making something work and the excitement of electricity. In 11th grade, I knew I wanted to do electrical because it was a passion of mine. I’ll never forget wiring something up, plugging it in to test it and seeing that light shine. I worked in the summer in an apprenticeship program, and by the time I was a senior, I was teaching the class, going to competitions and
winning second in state. I said to myself that one of these days, I was going to have my own company.” By age 24, he was the youngest employee at an electrical company wiring major projects, but needed a raise to support his young family. When he didn’t earn a promotion even after earning his Masters license, and a job at another company didn’t work out, he knew he had to strike out on his own. “I had no job, a house and kids. I went from job site to job site just trying to find work,” Harris says. “Being broke doesn’t bother me though. I come from a tough neighborhood, so when times are continued on Page 18
A trend in LEED
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ore and more, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is inspiring contractors and building owners to plan, construct, maintain and operate buildings in an environmentally conscious way. To earn LEED certification, projects must earn points across multiple sustainability categories; based on the number of points earned, a project qualifies for a Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum rating. More than 58,000 commercial and institutional projects currently participate in LEED, comprising more than 10.7 billion sf of construction space throughout the U.S and in more than 140 countries. RDO Equipment Co. recently achieved LEED certification for its McKinney location – the first of the company’s 78-store dealer network to earn the designation. The store, however, was not originally intended to be built as
a LEED-approved facility; in order to secure the site on which to build, RDO Equipment Co. had to promise the city that the project would achieve LEED certification. RDO Equipment Co.’s architect and construction manager, Tim Curran, AIA LEED AP BD+C, and general contractor Satterfield & Pontikes both had experience with LEED projects. However, the team had to overcome challenges almost immediately. The city wanted to ensure that the property, which was considered a gateway into McKinney, was used in an aesthetically pleasing way. The zoning process took longer than anticipated. “The big challenge for us was that our typical design that we build across the U.S. is a pretty simple building type,” Curran explains. “It is efficient for our service shop space, and we typically RDO Equipment Co.’s McKinney location was not originally intended to become an example in LEED.
continued on Page 18