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CONSTRUCTION
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The Industry’s Newspaper Page 15
www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 18 H Number 2 H FEBRUARY 2018
Don’t eat that
Team spirit
NovaTuff Coatings vice president Mike Wilson and president Sue Wilson.
K&J Woodworks owner, Brett Burich (left) alongside Hays community members.
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er slogan is, “If you can cook, you can chem.” President of NovaTuff Coatings, Sue Wilson is great in the kitchen and turned that into being great at formulations. You can’t stop her from going into the chemistry lab at five in the morning. Sue began to dabble with manufacturing her own materials in the late ‘90s. She started out with agricultural products. Her previous life was spent as a missionary in South Africa, which got her interested in agricultural products. Vice president of NovaTuff Coatings, Mike Wilson (Sue’s son) went to work in South Africa for a couple of years during that period. It was a contact from South Africa that got in touch with them and they
started developing chemical binder for agricultural seed. Sue and Mike sold the previous business in 2006. Before calling Austin home, they called Houston home. At that time back in the kitchen, everything was covered in coating. Mike remembers having to go out to eat constantly. “We grew this from initial formulations in the kitchen to manufacturing small batches in the garage, to leasing, to manufacturing with a paint company in Houston,” says Mike. After leasing space from the company and manufacturing their own materials, they moved to another building in Houston. Turns out they needed more space and Sue needed a secure space, especially continued on Page 14
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he team members and owners of K&J Woodworks keep their hands busy with outside activities and serving the community of Uhland. The team members want to give back to the community and did when they partnered last year with HEB. Leslie Burich, owner says they joined the project called “Operation Finally Home,” which involved assisting a veteran and his home. “We did all the cabinetry work that was in his home. It was a wonderful activity that we all got behind.” K&J Woodworks is a custom millwork company and the team members used their skills after hurricane Harvey’s devastation. The Austin Disaster Relief Network approached K&J and they built
bunk beds for the First Methodist Church volunteers, who were at the time sleeping on the floors. “They knocked out 45 bunk beds and delivered them,” Burich adds. She expresses her gratitude having several team members that are true craftsman. Burich recalls seeing her team members spend time on creating works of art, whether it be with wood, metal or projects on an old home. They’ve even made her jewelry pieces that she wears. Mrs. Burich and her husband Brett Burich, also owner says their team members are dedicated, talented, and hard working. Last year the company celebrated 30 years in business. Mr. and Mrs. Burich give back to their team members in many continued on Page 14
Welcome to the neighborhood
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Of course, with any project come challenges. The challenge faced was accessibility and logistics. “The only access we had was in the setback off Burnet Road. The rest of footprint was pushed out all the way to the lot lines. We had to come up with a creative way for construction accessibility and logistics,” says Price. Their creativity was a success and access was granted. Burnet Road has a high volume of commuters due to the Allandale commercial areas. Taking a look from bottom to top you’ll notice the four-story building with wood framed structure with metal panels. Then the brick and stucco as exterior skin. Price told Construction News, “This was our first wood framed multifamily project for our company.” It’s gratifying when a general contractor fulfills a project by successfully performing an action. The interior materials used were luxury
he Allandale neighborhood welcomes Burnet 64 condominiums. This project is a residential multifamily done by Bartlett Cocke General Contractors. With all of Austin’s growth and appreciation for art, the Burnet 64 condos are essential. The owner of the 64 Burnet condos is LD&C. The new construction of a 40-unit condominium and parking garage was supervised by project manager Chris Lewis, superintendent John Dombrowski and Levy Architects. The relationship between each company comes from sharing a construction background. Jason Price, senior project manager, mentions, “It helps when your client comes from a construction background, we were able to brainstorm together to resolve complicated issues in a timely and cost effective matter.” The project was completed in 12 months. Outside view of the Burnet 64 Condos.
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