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www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 16 H Number 5 H MAY 2018
Shamrocks to bluebonnets
Wiring Texas
Alan O’Neil, founder and CEO of Abacus Plumbing, in front of one of his “You can count on us” trucks.
Chris Dailey, founder and president of Dailey Electric, Inc.
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he story of Alan O’Neil, founder of Abacus Plumbing and CEO of the Wrench Group, is the quintessential American success story. The story begins in O’Neil’s native home of Dublin, Ireland, where no one he knew went to college and everyone he knew had a trade. O’Neil’s father was a laborer for the same company for 49 years, and told his son that as long as you have a trade, “you’ll never be idle.” Upon graduating from high school at 16 (the standard age in Ireland), O’Neil interviewed to be a plumber and got the job, as it was the “first opportunity that came up.” While working for Ireland’s national airlines, Aer Lingus, O’Neil saw an ad for
the American immigration lottery. If one’s name was selected, one got a green card to come to America and work. O’Neil put in his and his wife’s names. Both names were chosen a year later. O’Neil didn’t see a future at Aer Lingus, and while the “idea of immigrating always appealed to me and my wife,” they looked at but rejected Australia, as it was too far away. O’Neil’s wife had an uncle who lived in Houston. “My impression of Texas was cowboys and tumbleweeds,” he jokes. But the uncle said to come over and just see it. The O’Neil’s came over in May 1996 to glorious sunshine (as opposed to the constant rain of Ireland) and nice temperatures. continued on Page 14
E
ven though Dailey Electric has its corporate office in College Station, it has a good chunk of people in its Houston location, and is also branching out to Lockhart and Austin. And it even got its start, in a sense, in Wichita Falls. This is where Chris Dailey is from. The company’s founder and owner got his feet wet in the electrical trade working for his father during summers in high school, many times at Shepherd Air Force Base. Ironically, dad tried to steer son from making construction his livelihood. But after three years as a geology major at Texas A & M, Dailey decided
that construction really was his interest, so he switched majors to industrial distribution. He got the opportunity to work for a large electrical contractor in College Station, but after that company was bought out by another, he decided to venture out on his own, giving birth to Dailey Electric in 2003. The Houston branch was formed in 2010 when Dailey acquired Berger Electric. Running the Houston office is Michael Prince, who was the third hire Dailey ever made when he formed his business. continued on Page 14
Additional floors complete
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exas-based, technology-driven building construction firm, Linbeck Group LLC, was chosen for the interior finish-out of MD Anderson’s Alkek inpatient floors 20 through 22 for their reputation of offering construction management at-risk, design-build, and integrated project delivery services. Using a suite of commercial and proprietary digital technologies and their unique Lean Operating System, Linbeck helps institutional and select clients mitigate risk and minimize waste to achieve optimal outcomes for their organizations. Finish-out of the Alkek inpatient floors 20 thru 22 at MD Anderson Cancer Center was a design-build CMAR delivery project, which required great communication between Linbeck and the design team. As a result, Linbeck worked very closely with the architect, PhiloWilke Partnership, to meet and exceed MD Anderson’s expectations at all levels.
Interior finish-out of the top three floors of the Alkek Tower took 35 months to complete at a cost of $34,724,000. Linbeck began the task of finishing out the 147,000sf shell space, which included 144 patient rooms and areas of support space in January 2015 and turned the completed project over to MD Anderson on Dec. 17, 2017. Primarily, the finish-out resulted in the construction of interior walls constructed of sheetrock walls, metal stud framing, lay-in acoustical ceilings, sheet vinyl and carpet flooring. No external work was performed. Because the construction was performed in the interior and on the top three floors of the building, it had its share of challenges. The construction crew had access to one elevator throughout the duration of the project and Linbeck could only move manpower during MD Anderson 22nd floor family waiting room
continued on Page 14