Austin Construction News November 2018

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Prime mover

Beating the odds

Kevin Maxwell, owner of Prime Wall Systems.

Tommy Young (fourth from right), owner of Competition A/C & Heat, with his team.

evin Maxwell lost his job as the Austin manager for the largest stucco company in the nation when the economy went south in 2009. Undaunted, he started Prime Wall Systems three days later, and within one week had his first job lined up. “We were on our first job within seven days,” Maxwell said.

“I’ve had clients for almost 20 years,” he explained. Thus, work came Maxwell’s way. He also brought over several workers from the previous stucco company when he started his own firm.

Further, despite any fluctuation in construction, Maxwell says proudly of Prime Wall Systems, “We have doubled in size every year for over nine years in a row.”

At present, Prime Wall Systems has 162 folks in the field and 11 in the back of-

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www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 15 H Number 11 H NOVEMBER 2018

fice. This comes in handy when they get the contract to work on the largest student housing project in the country at Texas A & M. They provided over 230,000sf of black tile veneer. They also did the Aggies’ track and field and softball stadiums.

Having a staff this size means that Maxwell does it all in-house. “I do not use subcontractors,” he said. “These guys work for me full time.”

Maxwell is a 6th generation Texan, with a long construction pedigree. He himself started out as an electrician in 1996. His future father-in-law had a stucco business, which is how Maxwell got involved with this trade.

The majority of Maxwell’s work is in central Texas, but “We go wherever our continued on Page 16

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ommy Young’s journey to having his own HVAC company is full of ups and downs, twists and turns. But through it all, it’s been his unwavering commitment to serving his customer that has seen him through and brought him to where he is today.

Young’s company is Competition A/C & Heat. The Navy Gulf War veteran looks back on his story and declares, “It’s crazy what we’ve been through.”

Young was a diesel mechanic on a 1,200-ft Knox class frigate. He serviced all its equipment, including the generator that supplied power to the main engine.

After his hitch in the Navy, the Irving native worked as a diesel mechanic in the Dallas area, working on the DART buses and waste management trucks.

Young got into the AC business for the first time when he was hired by an apartment complex to honcho maintenance on its some-300 units.

It wasn’t until he moved to Longview, however, that Young really learned his craft. He was hired by an ex-Army man and studied under him. “That’s where I really excelled in air conditioning,” he said.

Young learned how to quickly troubleshoot a problem and get it fixed. “That sense of urgency and being on someone’s dime - I take that serious, every day,” Young said. One thing he doesn’t want is a reputation for being slow.

Those were the “ups” days. One of the “downs” days happened when Young overheated while working in a bank, runcontinued on Page 16

High profile renovation

abre Commercial was started in 2008 and founded on the principle that people matter. Homegrown in Austin, co-founders John Cyrier, Matt Lutz and Todd Reimers wanted to build a client-focused commercial construction company that honored and partnered with the best local industry talent. They set out to earn a reputation for quality work; safe and well run job sites and ethical business practices.

Specializing in corporate office, healthcare, higher education, and industrial in both interior and new construction, Sabre Construction was a natural fit for the high profile renovation and addition to create the Grace Grego Maxwell Mental Health Unit at DCMC. The project took 10 months to complete at an approximate cost of $6,000,000.

The project scope included the complete renovation of the third floor into a

rehabilitation gym and staff office area and the conversion of the second floor into a pediatric behavioral health unit. A 2,000sf ground-up annex was built off the existing hospital. It houses several offices, exam rooms and a separate entrance and new reception waiting area.

For the annex addition, Sabre reused stone from the existing structure and applied a new stucco veneer. Modifications were made to the Healing Garden to allow private access for their patient population. A number of parking spots near the front of the annex entrance were also incorporated to allow easy access to arriving patients.

Interior construction included steel framing and impact resistant sheetrock.

The exterior consisted of slab on grade steel structure with a masonry exterior.

Due to the nature of the space, the project was fully outfitted in specialized antiGrace Grego Maxwell Mental Health Unit at DCMC nurses’ station

continued on Page 16

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Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Combining colors

Made in Texas

Albert Lopez, owner of Owlz Painting

Knock Out crew in action

n 2010, Albert Lopez wanted to start his own painting company and he did.

One of his first orders of business was designing business post cards. “I made thousands of post cards and I sent them out all over.” But once sent out, they were all sent back to him.

The post office suggested to Albert and his wife, co-owner Lea Lopez that you have to use the process called “door to door.” When word of mouth got around about Owlz Painting, things were speeding up. Albert admits that the first couple of years were very hard. Then Lea told him to put it in God’s hands.

“Slowly I started getting one, two, three jobs and it started getting better,” said Albert.

Today Owlz Painting is a residential, commercial and small remodeling contractor in Bastrop, TX. Albert has established a professional working environment for his employees. They are also family oriented. He has five painters in his crew. Albert learned about the business at a young age. He was 19-years-old and starting out as a helper. “Before I knew it I

was the foreman and then I was offered the position as the superintendent for a major paint company. They taught me everything that had to do with the inside of the business,” said Albert.

While painting is the backbone of his business, Albert has added a new machine to his business, a commercial grinding machine for concrete. Starting in October, Albert will be doing the floors for the Texas Roadhouse located in Southpark Meadow in Austin.

The company name has a story of its own. Albert was born in San Antonio and raised in Goliad by his aunt and uncle. His aunt just happened to have a fetish for owls. “Any kind of owl you can think of like paintings, figurines, and even forks.

She had a passion for owls. When I would go see her I would see owls everywhere.

There had to have been more than a thousand owls in the house, and it was a small house,” shared Lea. Because Albert adored his aunt so much, he took her fetish and turned it into his company name.

Owlz Painting is a painting subcontractor in Bastrop. –lv

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t’s no secret that family owned businesses are recognized as important and dynamic participants in the economy. However, few of those businesses make it to the third generation. This is about a company that is a “Texas proud” third generation contractor.

Larry Ibarra, owner of Knockout Boys Concrete in Round Mountain, TX grew up in the concrete business. As a third generation concrete contractor, he remembers seeing his father and his grandfather doing concrete. “This is what I know and this is what I’ve been doing,” says Ibarra.

He is proud to say he is “Texas made,” having been born in Austin and raised in the central Texas hillcountry area.

Ibarra took over his father’s business in 2005. The company continues to service the central Texas areas (Johnson City, Marble Falls, Round Mountain, Spicewood, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Pflugerville) and Austin. Currently there are six full time employees.

The business is ALL concrete: driveways; foundations; sidewalks, concrete

repairs; concrete staining; retaining walls; patios, etc. Ibarra says his priority is customer service – quality work and fairness.

And there is no job they can’t handle – seven days a week. “When customers call to schedule service, they are guaranteed to reach a representative that is excited about helping turn their project idea into a finished product. Our work isn’t done until you are satisfied with the service you’ve received.

“Knockout Boys Concrete is competitive in price, but first in quality. We like to get our hands dirty!”

Outside of working, the “boys” get together at LBJ Lake, barbecuing, fishing and other getaway lake activities. Sometimes on large jobs, they team up with other concrete companies and all go to the lake.

Ibarra says, “We take pride in our work, that’s Texas proud. And we like what we do.”

Knockout Boys Concrete is an all service concrete contractor servicing the central Texas area. –rd

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

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20 years of safety

L-R: Jason Ferguson, Managing Partner, and his wife Dr. Jamiesue Ferguson.

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his year is the 20th anniversary of Koetter Fire Protection in Austin.

Jason Ferguson has been with this office since Day 1. He was asked to open this location by CEO Robert Rabroker, and now he’s the managing partner/ owner in Austin.

Koetter Fire Protection began in Dallas in 1961, and now has offices throughout Texas. Each location is independently owned and operated. Before Koetter, Ferguson was a master electrician, working for Motorola.

As Koetter celebrates this Austin milestone, Ferguson wants to highlight and showcase its education and training program. He also wants to create a culture where new employees want to make this their career. “It seems to be the norm today where people go from company to company,” he said. Ferguson is proud of the longevity of many of his employees who have been there more than 16 years.

The average time at Koettner is seven years.

During the 20 years in the fire protection and system business, Ferguson has seen plenty of advances and changes.

“Today, you can see systems on your cell phone,” he said, as opposed to only on connector-relay panels in a basement.

A huge change is in the fire suppression materials. Novec 1230 is replacing the standard halon fire extinguisher. Ferguson uses smoke machines and heat sources other than actual fire to test their products and train their employees. They will go outside for fire extinguisher training.

Fire protection is going green as well. “We’ve become more conscious of the environment, the ozone depletion issues with the halon product line, and gone into environmental conscious products,” that are safer for people.

Koetter specializes in the commercial/industrial market, to include hospitals and data centers. A very prominent customer of Koetter is none other than the State Capital and the governor’s mansion.

During the past 20 years, Ferguson has seen fire codes improve, as well as those responsible for system inspections doing a better job. “The industry has made leaps and bounds with the codes being written today,” he said. What used to have to happen in person can many times be done from a computer. In comparing America to other countries, where fire codes and/or enforcement can be shoddy at times, Ferguson said, “At least in America, we actually [will] learn a lesson and make changes,” in the event that a fire issue causes damage or loss of life.

For Ferguson, having state-of-theart fire protection systems is only part of the equation to running a business. “Customer service is key,” he said. “We always answer the phone.”

All the Koetter locations combined have around 250 employees. Even though Koetter has offices in Europe and Asia, Ferguson doesn’t emphasize massive expansion or growth for his Austin location. “Our path has always been steady, solid growth, a continuous build.”

With the commitment to education and training, Ferguson wants to have a company that would cause a new employee to want to make Koetter his/her career.

“You put good people, customer service and a good training format in place, and you can’t help but be successful,” he said.

It’s good to know those who are tasked with watching our backs are committed to doing so.

Koetter Fire Protection is in Austin and throughout Texas. –dsz

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Concrete realization

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Cory Hanneman, managing director of element7concrete

n a town of about 5,000 people, Managing Director Cory Hanneman and his team at element7concrete have built a multi-million dollar business in Granite Shoals, TX. They service a 50-mile radius, but that does not stop the company from working out of state. The company has done work all over the country.

“If it is a really special project we will go wherever, but we really try to dominate our local market,” said Hanneman.

There are 26 full time employees who bring passion for the work, as does Hanneman and including their general manager who has been with the team for a couple of years. Hanneman recognizes his general manager and says he is “amazing and definitely thinks the same way I do.”

Their vision for the future is to “scale more than to grow.” Right now they do jobs that have high attention to detail.

The company installs stained and polished concrete flooring and industrial coating on both residential and commercial properties. “I figured buildings need to have floors and the most efficient coolest way to make a floor is to make something out of what is there, so that is what made me want to be in this kind of business,” said Hanneman.

An upcoming project everyone is excited for is in San Saba, TX at Harry’s Boots.

Hanneman explained they have already done “a whole bunch of things around their store.” Right now they are looking at doing an outdoor living area where the venue will host events and live music. “We created a space out of a gravely nothing. It is really special because it is the backbone of the city and it is a venue where people are going to have great experiences,” added Hanneman. The project will have all stamped concrete.

The company portfolio includes: cool grey and brown floors, artwork + saw cut design, outdoor living, casting and terraz-

zo rustica. We asked Hanneman what were the interesting facts about the company and he explained that their current facility is made out of half a dozen shipping containers, “Our current facility and the facility that we intend on building all imaged the gospel by taking all recycled and reused material and polishing it off into something really amazing,” he said.

Hanneman likes to think that they are in an information business that happens to do concrete work. He shared that he has a full time trainer, who circulates across the teams to teach them artisans and other practices for their kind of work.

Hanneman went into business in 2006. In 2007, he helped start a counter top company as a separate business. In 2008, they rebranded as element7concrete. The name of the company originates from not buying or selling materials, “what we put into the concrete isn’t really a product,” hence the word element. “Seven is God’s number and element7, the way we think of it, is inspired work adding value to that concrete,” said Hanneman.

When Hanneman figured buildings needed to have floors he reinvented his self “12 years ago” and studied everything he could about the trade. All of that has paid off tremendously, inspiring Hanneman to do the high-end work they do. “Ultimately our vision is to have a whole lot of little stores just like the one that we have now. I foresee dozens of locations all doing between one and three million dollars a year in gross revenues,” he said.

The element7concrete team will not leave you without an answer. Their commitment to people and concrete has gotten them to where they are today.

Granite Shoals is home, but their heart is within their work.

element7concrete is a stained and polished concrete flooring and industrial coating contractor in Granite Shoals, TX. –lv

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Doucet & Associates Inc. team members pose for Construction News during a surprise visit.

L-R: Ed Prince, Keith Young, John Doucet, Joe Grasso, Meranda Perkins, Sayn Kyndu, Edgar Trete and Andy Dodson. Back Row: Ted McConaghy. -cmw

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Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Ted Breihan Owner Ted Breihan Electric Company San Marcos, TX

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ed Breihan has seen a lot in his 92 years, especially in the electrical industry. As a business owner of Ted Breihan Electric for the past 65 years, he is a treasure trove of stories about how the field has evolved and how he was a part of it all.

Share how you got your start in the electrical industry.

When I was in high school, I started out working for an electrician, Roy Builta, in Kerrville. I went into the Navy during World War II and when I got out, I went back to work for him. I learned the trade pretty much from him. We worked all over central Texas doing commercial stores, houses, and filling stations. I got a little bit of everything in the way of knowledge about the industry.

What path did your life take after you worked for Mr. Builta?

I got married to my wife Frances in 1951 and moved to San Marcos. I went to school at Texas State and decided I wanted to teach school but, as things progressed, I decided to make a little extra money working for electrician, Mr. McGhee at McGhee Electric in San Marcos. Houses were going pretty fast in the 1950s in San Marcos so I started wiring houses and then commercial buildings for him. He didn’t want to do the larger commercial work, but wanted to sell the actual appliances, so he sold them and I put them in.

How did you start your business?

Because Mr. McGhee didn’t want to take on the larger scale work, I just took that market over and started my own company, Ted Breihan Electric, in 1953. I graduated from Texas State at about the same time and there was quite a bit of work going on here in town. Nash Motor Company had a new building and I gave Mr. Nash a price for my electrical work and he accepted my bid. One thing after another followed that way.

I worked for different companies around the area like Cummings, the grain business that moved up here, bought

some land and put in a grain elevator and a cooking machine. It was one thing after another like that. Mr. Price, who bought the telephone company, converted it over to automatic dial telephones, which involved a whole lot of equipment in his new building. He was gracious enough to keep me on doing his electrical work for a good while, and I learned a great deal about automatic things from that. I also got into the electrical end of the freshwater/wastewater business, which we still do. It kept going into the different phases of electrical since then, and now we work all of the way from Highway 71, west of Austin down to New Braunfels How did you build the staff you have today?

I started out with just one helper and myself. I slowly employed people who were doing other things. I could see mechanical ability in their work and I would encourage them to be an electrician rather than what they were doing.

There were different ways of bumping into different people. One man was pumping gas at a filling station and was washing my trucks all weekend. When he said he wanted to do something else other than pump gas. I told him to go to work for me. I ran into another man in San Antonio who was building more control centers for the new computergenerated operations. He and I got together and I started using his equipment.

I now have several employees that are adept to the computerization and the automatic world of operation of things that we’re getting into.

We’ve been up at times 40-60 employees but we don’t want to do that anymore. We want to leave that size of staff to the larger companies.

What lessons have you learned?

I’ve lost a lot of money and I’ve made a lot of money! We got caught in some capriciousness that took place in the United States. Construction work and everything slid downhill, work stopped and people went broke. It’s been an upand down situation. You can’t go too fast; you’d better slow down and just take your time.

How do you keep going throughout the hard times?

It’s mostly the desire to do something different. That’s why the electrical business is so fascinating to me; almost every job is a little bit different. I like to do things that have a little variation to them and have the challenge. Thank goodness I have a lot of good friends who support this business.

I also subcontract different phases of the work to people who I know can do it.

We’ve done several larger commercial projects here in town, and if I can’t do it, I will find someone who can do it.

What do you enjoy about your work?

I enjoy watching things come to completion and the challenge to get started. I also enjoy the program of

Ted Breihan

whether it’s a school, commercial building, a water plant or whatever.

What is your current involvement in your company?

I own the company, but it’s a family affair. My oldest son Stacy is about to take it all over and he’s pretty much running it right now. I broke my right leg in February, so he has to take it over a little faster than he thought. Stacy’s wife Michele runs the office and handles the bookkeeping. I am involved in a bunch of utility work and am just about out of it now. I’m 92 and I want to slow it down!

How long has Stacy worked with you, and do you have other family members working with you in the business?

Stacy was just a kid in high school when he started working for me. He started out with me on jobs. My youngest son, Jaimy, was the same way. Jaimy led the projects like the baseball field for Texas State University; he was general superintendent and manager of that project and several office buildings on campus. Stacy was backing him up in the office to make sure everything went right and that Jaimy had the help he needed.

Jaimy was beginning to be a very good manager of business but he died in an automobile accident about four years ago.

I also have a daughter, Erin, who owns her own advertising business in town.

How do you spend your free time?

Most of my free time is spent with various organizations in town, especially the Methodist church. My mother died when I was a small boy so I grew up in the church and my brother Bob, who died last year, was a Methodist preacher.

Even though I’m a Republican by nature, I have some good friends who got involved in the LBJ Museum; I helped them get that museum building completed and in operation.

I served on my city council two different times and I’ve been involved in a lot of activities such as the Kiwanis Club for 50 years, which takes a lot of time. I’ve also belonged to the Independent Electrical Contractors Association for the past 27 years.

Your company celebrated 65 years in the industry this year. As you look back on your time in the industry and your success, what are your thoughts?

Being that I am 92 years old, I believe the biggest thing is the advancement in technology and the upheaval in social and political environments. Our company had one of the first car-mounted phones and look where we are today. I still believe that new sources in energy are about to see a final stage of development, so to see and witness these changes over the decades has been a blessing.

San Marcos was a small town when I first moved here, and having a successful business enabled me to be a part of its growth and development. I feel strongly that my faith and my company opened so many doors for me to make a difference, from my church to the university and all the projects that we have been a part of through San Marcos growing. It is a satisfying feeling I have that hopefully was a big part of the whole growth business-wise and social-wise.

In closing, if I may add the old cliché, “Behind every great man is a great woman,” Frances has been with me from the start and has been my support and strength through the good times and the bad times. Having Ted Breihan Electric enabled Frances to also be a huge part in the growth of San Marcos. Being able to raise our four children and have some of them be a part of the business is also a rare gift. We both feel very fortunate to have been a part of the growth of San Marcos.

Subcontractor Ted Briehan Electrical is located in San Marcos. –mjm

What a sight!

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Lynn Wilkerson

here is a great big passion for their company Great Big Signs Inc. Two partners Lynn Wilkerson and Mario Munoz established it in 1994. Great Big Signs actually is “not an average sign company,” but before that they were doing bill-

board paintings. “We use to paint all the billboards for McDonald’s. If you wanted a Big Mac painted you had to come to us because we were their approved vendor,” said Wilkerson. He also added, “That is where I met my wife; she was a media buyer.”

As the years progressed, things gradually changed and they came to “the ground of printers,” so they began a new service and started offering murals. “We discovered that paid better than the billboards did,” said Wilkerson. Today Wilkerson still does primarily all the designs.

Munoz is on the production side mainly doing fabrication and painting.

You see Wilkerson was an art major and went to work for a sign company, which is how is interest in signs sprung.

“Trying to work two jobs and going to college finally got to be a little bit much, so I wound up in the sign business in west Texas for years and years. I even went

through an apprenticeship program in Oklahoma city,” said Wilkerson.

After 24 years of running Great Big Signs, most of their work is out of the box and creative. They have remained located in Kyle and are also known for their work done out of state. A few projects in Texas are the interior and exterior of Kent Blacks restaurant in New Braunfels. Wilkerson designed everything down to their menu boards. They also did the watermelon for the Luling watermelon thump.

Then when it comes to out of state, they did about 32 to 34 Freebirds World Burritos in California in just one year.

Looking ahead Wilkerson and Munoz plan to keep doing what they are doing. “You can’t image how many people are out there looking for services like ours,” said Wilkerson.

Great Big Signs Inc. is a signs, mural and sculptures company in Kyle. –lv

Lynn Wilkerson hand painting at Black’s Barbecue

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Page 5

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT AND WHY? Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant (TexMex) in Pflugerville, mainly because they are very consistent and have great margaritas!

Wanda Kalinbach Koetter Fire Protection My favorite local restaurant is Hecho en Mexico. They have fantastic, authentic interior Mexican food and Mario makes a killer margarita! They have an extensive tequila selection, many labels that you won’t find anywhere else.

Jack Westbrook, Lawless Sales Group

I love Ramen Tatsuya. One reason, I love ramen, and two; it is the closest we have found to the amazing ramen restaurants we have in California and visiting Japan.

Monique Valdez Covert Auto Group, Bastrop My favorite restaurant in Austin is Enchiladas Y Mas. THE best cheese enchiladas in town. Queso and guacamole are awesome too. I wish they were closer so I could go more often!

Becky Shutack, Austin Sales, Inc. Olive Garden. I love their salads and breadsticks.

Nicole Kelm, Austin Sales, Inc. My favorite restaurant in Austin by far is Truluck’s. It’s just a real special place for my wife and me. We love seafood. Surf and turf and I’m happy.

Kevin Maxell, Prime Wall Systems I would have to say the Crazy Gal’s Café.

The owner is a lover of common sense and he realized that the waitresses he is going to hire in a tiny town are all going to be a little bit crazy and so he just goes with it. The food is fantastic.

Cory Hanneman, element7concrete

Garcia’s Mexican Food Restaurant at the old store in downtown San Marcos. I love to eat there. I don’t know who don’t. They got some killer food coming out of that thing.

Tommy Young, Competition A/C & Heat

Exotics, fried fish & auctions

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he Associated General Contractors (AGC) had a stellar turn out for their annual fish fry and fundraiser. Texas Disposal Systems once again hosted this annual event at their exotic game ranch in Buda, TX on Oct. 11. Over 600 members and their families took part in the bus tours to see the various exotic species of animals from around the world that Texas Disposal so proudly maintains. Guests could partake in live and silent auctions and enjoy fried fish with all the trimmings. –cmw

Mine would be Torchy’s because they came from a trailer and the fact that they were able to take a taco trailer and turn it into what they have now is just mind blowing to me. They have a great business plan and the rate that they’ve moved forward with it is exactly what I want to see with my company.

Jeremy Brackin, Texas Custom Concrete My favorite restaurant in the area would be Amaya’s Taco Village because they got great puffy tacos.

Frank Castillo, Safe Way Rental Equipment Company

Don Hewlett Chevrolet: Carter Hill, Rick Jehl, Jerred Nanney

My favorite restaurant is called Triple Eight [888 Pan Asian Restaurant] they offer Chinese cuisine. It is hard to find good Chinese food out here.

Monique Westley Smith, Commercial Flooring Facilitators, LLC I like the pie at Texas Pie Kitchen, but I like the barbecue at Blacks Barbecue.

Lynn Wilkerson, Great Big Signs Inc. I’m living out in Spicewood right now and my favorite restaurant out there is Angel’s Icehouse. I like that it has a real nice family atmosphere. They’ve got live music on Friday and Saturday nights. It’s a metal building with a bunch of roll up doors and the doors are usually always rolled up giving you a nice outdoor view.

William Bruecher, Bruecher Foundation Services Inc.

Big City Access: David Laureano (Rogers O’Brien Construction), Alex Aviles, Noel Rodriguez

Ben Garner with Equipment Depot is the auctioneer for the night.

Construction News ON LOCATION

Supplying smiles with paint

Koetter Fire Protection

L-R: Kate Trevino, Andrew Guerrero and PPG Paints Store Manager Hill Amezola take a moment to visit with Construction News and pose for a photo. -cmw

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The black CAT

L-R: Regional Sales Manager Jeff Surratt, Parts Manager Shantia Shaver and Service Manager Richard Lawlor with HOLT CAT show off the new black skid steer by Caterpillar. -cmw

Berg Electric: Jonathan Sharp, James Pace, Louis Wyler

One happy family enjoyed the festivities and loved seeing the animals.

RamTool representatives enjoy the events festivities.

Page 6

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Two decades strong

Rob and Karen Case at their 20th anniversary celebration at Middelton Brewery.

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wenty years ago, especially in California, the construction industry was starting to see a lot of decorative concrete. In 1998, Rob Case came under contract from California to work on some specialized concrete work his company was doing related to decorative concrete at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Falling in love with the Austin area, Case started Rock Solid USA in 1998.

“I was fortunate enough to come out and start working on the ABI Airport on some concrete work. I’m originally from California. I loved the area so much, about six months after we begun that project, I moved family here,” says Case.

“We started out very small. Through the relationships we developed from working the ABI project we were able to

grow. We started with three employees on a hotel project in downtown Austin and we are up to 40. Over the years we have built some great relationships with some really great contractors.”

Celebrating Rock Solid’s 20th year in business, Case hosted a five-course dinner for his employees and his valued clients at Middleton Brewery in San Marcos.

Each course was specially prepared by Chef John Sanderson and served with a beer hand picked by the Middleton brewers to compliment each course. The first course was Italian; the second, American; the third, Mexican; the fourth Japanese and the fifth, Greek.

“Austin is such a great place and we couldn’t be more fortunate,” adds Case.

Rock Solid USA is a specialty contractor in Austin. -cmw

Bricking with tradition

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Joe King, owner of Joe King Masonry

is father passed away when Joe King was just 15, but the way his dad approached masonry influences his own work today.

“My dad was very particular with his work,” King says. “He was a perfectionist, and that’s the way I like to do my work.

When people ask if I give a guarantee, I say I do because I like to stand behind my name.”

King, along with his brothers Billy Joe and Donald, represents the third generation in the family to pursue a masonry career.

“When I was probably 18 or 19, I decided this is what I wanted to get into, King says. “It’s like art to me. I worked for my dad when I was younger and then I worked for my uncles. My two brothers, Billy Joe King and Donald King, and I also worked together.”

The brothers eventually pursued different paths in masonry. When Billy Joe decided to concentrate on custom residential work, King established Joe King Masonry in 1985 and focused on commercial masonry to avoid com-

petition. Donald continued to work with both brothers, alternating between their two businesses as needed.

Joe King Masonry’s notable projects including large water treatment plants and the bridge in front of the university in San Marcos. King says the company’s success can be credited to his 10 employees, and the lessons he has learned after so many years in the business.

“It’s important to treat my guys fair and pay them well. I don’t try to take all of the money for myself. They’re the ones that do the work for me,” he says. “Some days we just hang out, but sometimes we go and do something fun together. They like to go gambling so sometimes we’ll go down to Louisiana.”

With their help, King hopes he can help more Texans with their masonry needs.

“My kids are in Pearland and that’s where I would like to get a location started, in Houston,” King says. “We go all over Texas and we’re still going to keep growing.”

Subcontractor Joe King Masonry is located in Bastrop. –mjm

Old school plumbing

Rock Solid employees celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary.

Construction News ON LOCATION

Smiles of sunshine

Betsy Burress with Sun Tile Corp. shows off her smile as bright as the company’s namesake. -cmw

★★★

★★★

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John Johnson, owner of Johnson Plumbing and Backflow Services

ohn Johnson freely admits where his strength lies and where it does not lie: “I can do plumbing all day long and enjoy it, but business scares me!”

Johnson runs Johnson Plumbing and Backflow Services. He has not only been plumbing for a long time, but one could say being a plumber was his destiny. “I was kind of born into plumbing,” he said. “My dad was a plumber. I learned everything through him. I tried to do different things, but I always came back to plumbing. That’s what I knew.”

Still, Johnson is always the student, especially given the ever-changing world of a trade like plumbing. “I’ve been plumbing 30-40 years [and] I still don’t know it all.”

Johnson used to work for his dad, then other plumbing outfits, but reached a point where he had to branch out on his own. He said he was “just not happy working for somebody else.” He still works independently, but hopes to hire in the near future.

One thing Johnson brings to the table, aside from actual plumbing skills, is old school values. “I like to tell my cus-

tomers what’s going on, how it works and give an honest price,” he said. “That’s my whole mentality.”

Part of this old school mentality is the skill it takes to be a good plumber.

“The art of plumbing is the main thing,” Johnson said. “There’s no art to it anymore.” He said that when it comes to any trade working on a customer’s property, “you want craftsmanship.”

When it comes to the backflow services, Johnson ensures that the backflow devices keep water from getting contaminated.

Johnson has a clear favorite when it comes to the variety of things he does: “Water heaters are my favorite. I love water heaters,” whether it’s repairing or replacing them.

Johnson says he’ll eventually become more tech and social media savvy one day. His wife and daughters help him with his paperwork. For now, Johnson brings old school art in the plumbing trade to his customers.

Johnson Plumbing and Backflow Services operates in the Austin area. -dsz

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Page 7

Litigious personal injury (PI) attorney-driven climate on commercial auto – Must address directly with your driver group

Part II: What are the accounting methods for long-term contracts?

Scott Allen, CPA, Tax Partner Cornwell Jackson Plano, TX

Wes Pitts, Sr. V.P. and Southwest Regional Construction Practice Leader for USI Southwest USI Southwest Austin, TX

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re you compliant? There are nuances to this area of the federal tax code. To prepare for the changes in 2018, each company should review accounting methods for long-term contracts with a CPA knowledgeable in this area of the federal tax code.

The following are the primary accounting methods for long-term contracts, explained briefly, for smaller and larger contractors.

Smaller Contractors - Ave. Gross Receipts < $10 million (or < $25 million starting in 2018) Completed Contract Method • No revenue is reported or costs deducted until the contract is complete: • Generally considered complete when 95% of expected costs have been incurred • Aggressive billing and collections do not impact income • Biggest tax deferral opportunity The disadvantages of this method occur when several contracts finish in the same year, causing a spike in income and a spike in the tax rate. Contractors also cannot deduct losses on a contract until the job is complete.

Note that home contracts are exempt from Section 460 and that the completed contract method is generally used by home builders.

Cash Method • Revenue reported when collected • Costs deducted when paid • Large deferral opportunities by managing billings and acceleration of payment of costs The disadvantages of the cash accounting method with long-term contracts is that contractors must spend cash to claim deductions and delay receipts to defer income, which is counter to smart business planning. Aggressive billing may result in acceleration of income. Also, a declining economy could mean large tax bills in down years due to the inevitable reversal of income deferrals.

Accrual Method • Revenue reported when billed • Costs deducted when incurred The disadvantages to the accrual accounting method are that aggressive billing generally results in acceleration of revenue, accrued losses on contracts are not deductible until the job is complete and tax planning techniques may be counter to business planning.

Percentage of Completion Method • Ongoing recognition of revenue and income, computed by the stage of project completion when compared to total costs to complete the project • Based on estimated future costs The disadvantages to the percentage of completion accounting method are that accrued losses on contracts are not deductible and income can be accelerated due to things like uninstalled materials charged to jobs, overbillings by subcontractors or underestimated total costs to complete a job. The accuracy of the meth-

od is dependent upon the accuracy of estimates. Inaccurate estimates could result in inaccurate reporting of tax.

A Note About Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) For C-corporations, AMT was repealed for 2018 forward. The 2018 tax law increased the AMT exemptions for individuals, however AMT continues to apply. Percentage of completion is required for AMT purposes. Thus the difference in income between percentage of completion and the income under the taxpayer’s method of accounting for long-term contracts is an adjustment for AMT purposes. If the contractor is organized as a partnership, Scorporation, or sole proprietorship, the owners should evaluate the effect of AMT when selecting their accounting method.

Home builders, as an exception, are permitted to use the completed contract method for AMT. Larger Contractors Ave. Gross Receipts > $10 million (or > $25 million starting in 2018). Larger contractors are required to use the Percentage of Completion method under Code Section 460.

To offset the potential for accelerated income, companies may elect a 10% method, which defers recognition of revenue or costs until a job is at least 10% complete.

This method is also allowable under AMT. It may be useful in instances when a contract commences toward the end of a tax year.

Larger companies are also required to use a look-back approach once a job is complete. Income in prior years is recalculated using actual costs, which may result in a change in gross profit for the prior year. Tax is recalculated and compared to tax actually paid for the year. Interest is calculated on the resulting over or under payment.

Code Section 460 also requires companies to allocate certain overhead costs to contracts. This may provide a deferral opportunity if the contractor is diligent in estimating overhead costs that may be allocated to the contract in future years.

For more information on Tax Law Changes and how they will affect your company, read December’s Accounting Column.

Scott Allen, CPA, joined Cornwell Jackson as a Tax Partner in 2016, bringing his expertise in the Construction and Oil and Gas industries and 25 years of experience in the accounting field. As the Partner in Charge of the Tax practice at Cornwell Jackson, Scott provides proactive tax planning and tax compliance to all Cornwell Jackson tax clients. Contact him at Scott.Allen@cornwelljackson.com or 972-202-8032

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ave you seen your Auto rates steadily increasing over the last several years?

You are not alone, it’s happening on all commercial insurance accounts across the board regardless of your own individual account’s auto experience – an 8% bump, 10% bump, even 15% or more are becoming more and more common!

Commercial Auto (the Business Auto Policy line) is at the top of all underwriter’s radar screens right now. Why? The Personal Injury attorneys are having a field day on Auto, and you can’t avoid seeing their advertising in just about every kind of media outlet today. Just think for a minute how often daily you hear or see, “Have you been hurt by a company truck, call us know, we can get you the money you deserve, we’re standing by, etc., etc.”

These attorneys have become experts at leveraging all aspects of how you the employer were negligent in the case of your driver’s accident on behalf of your company – how you hired the driver, how you vetted your driver (MVR program), experience and training, negligent entrustment, your written policies for safe driving including distracted driving acknowledged by all drivers, written documentation of maintenance of the vehicle, etc. (think of these as defenses). For all we know many of your employees may have the misconception that these PI firms are their friends and allies out there looking out for the employee’s best interests. In fact, these PI firms are costing employers millions of dollars in increased auto rates, which at the end of the day can and will affect employer’s bottom lines, and that could mean impacts to salaries, raises, bonuses, etc., and this is what the employees don’t realize. As an agent in this marketplace dealing with ever increasing auto rates daily and working diligently with underwriters trying to demonstrate the we have best-in-class insureds that are doing everything right, there’s a big picture strategy that we feel strikes into the heart of this problem better than anything else. We have to get out and talk directly to our insured’s drivers! Insureds today should expect their agent to be coming out and holding sessions with their driver groups to address and explain the big picture problem, key them in on why this is important to them, what is fueling the poor performing line (not only the PI’s, but also growth in fleet

size, higher vehicle values and repair costs, our ever-increasing traffic problem – all a perfect storm homed in on the Auto line! The session should address how underwriting has a keen eye on them as drivers, what is a loss ratio, how they/their employer are performing, what their frequency and trends are on Auto, what their goals should be, and what their costs are now and more importantly what their costs could be.

Goals should be set with the drivers and demonstrate to them what are considered the best, good to average, higher, and the highest auto rates on a typical light class service truck, and show them where they don’t want to be going on that spectrum. Then after they understand all that, is when we begin to go into safe and defensive driving strategies with the drivers, almost like a refresher course on basic concepts of safe and defensive driving. The session should be interactive and encourage participation and involvement from the driver group. The presentation should show statistics, and have imbedded videos that show accidents and the pains of losses that can occur because of their driving decisions. A lot of time should be spent on the fastest up and coming crash cause, distracted driving with the use of cell phones and similar devices. You take a look at your Auto line and you see the last 5 years’ experience shows three to five claims a year, but several have large reserves when your driver and investigation showed you the people were up and about just fine at the accident scene – this is the issue, a week later these people (claimants) hire the PI and now all of the sudden they have all kinds of problems and your carrier puts up a $25,000. reserve on the Auto BI-Liability. One light truck on average moderately generates about $1,500 a year in full coverage premium, you see the issue? Rates are moving up because of this, but getting out in front of the drivers and discussing this whole situation is an excellent big picture step, and we’re confident that getting their buy-in will make a significant difference for your company over the long haul with this issue.

Wes Pitts is a Sr. Vice President and Southwest Regional Construction Practice Leader for USI Southwest - Austin, TX. 512-651-4107, or Wesley.pitts@usi.com

Page 8

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Design defects threaten Texas contractors

Is 911 your confined space rescue plan?

Shelly Masters, Principal Cokinos | Young Austin, TX

Joann Natarajan Compliance Assistance Specialist OSHA Austin, TX

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any Texas contractors wrongly assume they have no responsibility for errors or omissions in plans and specifications. To the contrary, Texas courts have held contractors – not owners – bear the risk and liability of deficient plans when the contract is silent on the issue.

Unlike most states, Texas contractors remain largely unprotected for the errors and omissions of architects. Texas courts have refused to follow what is known nationwide as the “Spearin Doctrine” – a federal court ruling that an owner of a construction project has an implied duty to provide the contractor with accurate plans and specifications. If a contractor builds according to the owner’s plans and specifications, the contractor will not be responsible for the consequences of any defects in those documents. Thus, the contractor is relieved of liability to the owner if its work is defective due to following the design documents provided by the owner.

Instead, Texas follows the holding by the Texas Supreme Court in the Lonergan case wherein the court stated: There is no more reason why the [owner] should be held responsible for the alleged defects in the specifications that it did not discover for want of skill and knowledge of the business of an architect, than there is for holding [the contractor] to be bound by their acceptance of the defective plans which they understood as well as the [owner] did, and in all probability much better. The fact that [the contractor] contracted to construct the building according to the specifications furnished implied that they understood the plans. ... If there be any obligation resting upon the [owner], as guarantor of the sufficiency of the specifications, it must be found expressed in the language of the contract, or there must be found in that contract such language as would justify the court in concluding that the parties intended that the [owner] should guarantee the sufficiency of the specifications to [the contractor].

Because Texas law does not follow the Spearin doctrine, contractors must bear the risk of design deficiencies in the absence of contract provisions otherwise allocating this risk. Further, contractors have no direct claim for negligence against architects for damages incurred as a result of design errors or omissions.

As a result, a contractor’s primary tool for limiting risk and liability is by agreement. Contractors must carefully review and revise construction contract language to reduce or eliminate such risk. Texas courts have upheld such contract provisions.

Avoid entering into contracts with language meant to shift the risk of loss from design errors or omissions onto the contractor through the use of specific disclaimers making the contractor the guarantor of the adequacy of the plans and specifications. Limitations should also be placed on language requiring the contractor to thoroughly inspect the site and design documents and otherwise assume responsibility for any errors therein. Beware – the more specific and detailed the clause, the more likely it will be enforced.

Contractors should aggressively negotiate very specific provisions negating liability for design errors based on the scope of work of the project. For example, contractors have successfully shifted the risk back to the owner with contract language expressly stating that the contractor shall be entitled to rely on the accuracy of information furnished by the owner; the contractor shall not be liable to the owner or architect for damage resulting from errors or omissions in the contract documents; and, the contractor’s review of plans and specifications are made in the contractor’s capacity as a contractor and not as a licensed design professional.

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ermit-required confined spaces can present conditions that are immediately dangerous to workers’ lives or health if not properly identified, evaluated, test-

ed and controlled.

OSHA has developed a standard for Confined Spaces in Construction (29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA) for any space that meets all of the following criteria: • Is large enough for a worker to enter; • Has limited means of entry or exit; and • Is not designed for continuous occupancy.

One provision of the standard requires employers to develop and implement procedures for summoning rescue or emergency services in permit-required confined spaces. An employer who relies on local emergency services for assistance is required to meet the requirements of §1926.1211 — Rescue and emergency services.

OSHA recognizes that not all rescue services or emergency responders are trained and equipped to conduct confined space rescues. When employers identify an off-site rescue service, it is critical that the rescuers can protect their employees. The emergency services should be familiar with the exact site location, types of permit-required confined spaces and the necessary rescue equipment.

Calling emergency responders to provide rescue services can be a suitable way of providing for rescues in a permitrequired confined space. Preplanning will ensure that the emergency service is capable, available and prepared.

Prior to the start of the rescue work operation, employers must evaluate prospective emergency responders and select one that has adequate equipment for rescues, such as atmospheric moni-

tors, fall protection, extraction equipment, and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) for the particular permitrequired confined spaces.

The emergency responder must have the ability to respond and conduct a rescue in a timely manner based on the site conditions and is capable of conducting a rescue if faced with potential hazards specific to the space. Such hazards may include atmospheric hazards (e.g., flammable vapors, low oxygen), electrocution (e.g., unprotected, energized wires), flooding or engulfment potential, poor lighting, fall hazards and chemical hazards.

Agreed to notify the employer in the event that the rescue team becomes unavailable.

Employers must also inform the emergency responders of potential hazards when they are called to perform a rescue at the worksite; and provide emergency responders with access to all permit-required confined spaces. Emergency responders must be provided with information on access routes, gates or landmarks, a project site plan if necessary, and GPS coordinates if in a remote location. Employers should ensure that the most efficient means to contact emergency responders is available, any changes to the project site conditions are communicated to the rescue service, and emergency responders are willing to visit the site and conduct a joint training exercise with the employer. natarajan.joann@dol.gov 512-374-0271 x232

Changing worlds

Shelly Masters is a Principal in the Austin office of Cokinos | Young, a firm specializing in the representation of those in the construction industry for almost 30 years.

She represents clients in the areas of construction, labor and employment, commercial, and products liability law. Her firm also has offices in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. She can be reached by e-mail at smasters@cokinoslaw.com or by phone at (512) 615-1139.

Construction News ON LOCATION

Getting ready

Construction News caught up with Fixed Maintenance & Repair’s Renato Luna while picking up supplies. -cmw

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Jeff Fry

onstruction has put Jeff Fry on the map – literally. His previous work as a general contractor and construction manger has taken him places some only dream about visiting.

“When I went to Georgia, I took a position with a construction company and they are the ones who got me traveling. It just kind of built from there,” Fry explains. “I’ve worked in Mexico, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos. It was interesting, I have to say.”

In 2013, Fry and his wife decided to leave Atlanta to move back home to Texas. Fry got out of the general contracting business upon his return to the Lone Star State, but had no intention of staying idle. In 2015, he purchased Matchless Interior Painting, which has been in operation since 2006. Owning a painting business seems to be just as exciting as the travel used to be for Fry.

“I just love it,” Fry says. “I meet new people every day. I change jobs and loca-tions as needed and I really enjoy the different people, locations and work that we do.”

Fry inherited his love for the industry

from his grandfather, whom Fry describes as a jack-of-all-trades. The older man’s influence inspired Fry to study construction at East Texas State University (Now Texas A&M) and earn a Bachelor of Science. These days, he loves working with employees who help his company live up to both of its mottos: “We love to paint!” and “Let us change your world.”

“I see the transformation when we’ve finished, and it’s nice to work with people who also see that transformation.”

Three years into running his business, Fry hopes to transform it as well.

“I would like to see it double its revenue in the next five years,” he says. “I want to be in a position to sell it in the next five years and enjoy my later years.”

Will Fry’s later years include any more travel?

“I’ll be doing something,” he insists. “I won’t be sitting around twiddling my thumbs!”

Subcontractor Matchless Interior Painting is in Dripping Springs. ­–mjm

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Page 9

Preparing for winter fishing

by Capt. Steve Schultz Sponsored by: Waypoint Marine, Shoalwater Boats, Evinrude Outboards, Fishing Tackle Unlimited, E-Z Bel Construction, Costa Sunglasses, Diawa Reels, Simms Fishing, ForEverlast Fishing Products, Interstate Batteries, MirrOlure, JL Marines PowerPole, AFW and AFTCO Clothing

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very November, sportsman are faced with the decision on whether to go hunting or fishing on their days off from work. It’s really is a tough choice to make after cold fronts start arriving here along the coast, because you know there is an opportunity to see a big buck standing at your feeder and there’s also a chance to catch a giant gator trout on your next cast with your favorite corky lure. I can recall many days at the ranch when the weather turns out to be so perfect and I look at the guys and say, “We should be fishing!” Well, all I can say is either of the two is ok with me.

Fall/winter fishing has been getting so popular in the last several years because there is less pressure on the bay system. Anglers are able to get to their favorite fishing hole without worrying if someone will be there or if it’s already been fished out. This is the time of the

Mike Rodriguez of San Antonio wrestled this 32-inch redfish last month while on an outing with Steve Schultz Outdoors.

year where you take your time getting to the ramp, perhaps stopping for a taco and coffee before you hit the water. Plan your day on the water according to the major and minor feeding times to optimize your time on the water. Use the sun to your advantage, keeping in mind that shallow water warms up quicker than deeper water. Take advantage of the whole day by sticking it out when the bite is off. You have already invested the time and money to get on the water, so

This 27.5-inch, 7.3 lb. redfish was just heavy enough to land Robert Meyers a third place trophy in the San Antonio Pipeliners Tournament.

don’t blow the day off when you don’t catch them in the morning.

Winter fishing can be very rewarding if you are willing to be patient and put in the effort it takes to grind through the day with just a few bites. This type of fishing isn’t for everyone. Most seasoned anglers who have spent many hours on the water know what I’m talking about.

These trips are not for a newcomer that expects lots of action like we have during the summer. As you get older you understand what I’m talking about. Can’t tell you how many times a young boy, heck even my boys, have asked, “Why are we not catching any fish or seeing any bucks as we sit in a deer blind?” All of these questions are answered with time spent on the water and in the brush and make success very gratifying.

For the remainder of the season and the start of 2019, I will be concentrating my efforts wading for trophy trout in Baffin Bay and Port Mansfield. Wade fishing and throwing artificial lures will be the main techniques. I will also be spending lots of time in the South Texas brush searching for someone’s next trophy whitetail. If you are interested in pursuing either of these adventures, don’t hesitate in giving me a call.

My 2019 calendar is now open for bookings for the entire fishing season. To schedule your next bay fishing trip or hunting adventure give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716 or e-mail me at SteveSchultzOutdoors@gmail. com. Good Luck and Good Fishing.

Page 10

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Ken Milam’s Fishing Line Since 1981, Ken Milam has been guiding fishing trips for striped bass on Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country, You can hear Ken on the radio as follows: The Great Outdoors: 5-8 am Saturday on 1300, The Zone, Austin and The Great Outdoors: 5-7 am Saturday on 1200 WOAI San Antonio The Sunday Sportsman: 6-8 am Sunday on 1300, The Zone, Austin All on iHeart Radio

Patterns

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esterday it was 90 degrees with hellish humidity so bad you couldn’t go outside without sweat droplets chasing each other down your back. Today it is 40 degrees with a 25 mph wind driving heavy rain into you at a 45 degree angle. Welcome to Texas. A lot of us natives really don’t feel the need to travel and experience new things because if you just sit still all the weather will eventually come to you!

We are creatures of habit. It’s nice to just roll out of bed and dress like yesterday and go and do usual stuff without having to think about it. That doesn’t work with this climate! We go from having to try and stay cool to trying to get warm with not much just right in between. At least we can influence the environment that we inhabit to get comfortable. The wild things we share this world with are not as lucky.

If you hunt or fish and learn about the creatures you seek, you understand that they are largely influenced by things like temperature and daylight hours.

These are the cues that tell animals (and plants too) what they should be doing in their life cycle on a biological level. Everything revolves around spawning and rutting and creating the next generation and raising them to independence. It tells natural things when to seek shelter and wait and when to surge ahead to feed and succeed.

Is it any wonder that hunting and fishing are such a challenge? Yesterday was just another lazy summer day to be endured. Stripers have been in that end of summer shut down mode for weeks now. They don’t like the kind of temperatures our Texas waters get up to. The shorter days have cooled them a little and they have been trying to find enough cool water to spur them into action, but it

just hasn’t been enough to get them going and keep them at it. I bet they will get the message after this cold spell.

This is the weather they have been waiting for! Now they will get the clear message that it’s time to school up, chase shad and eat everything they can catch to they can be strong and healthy to spawn in the spring. Striper and Hybrid fishing is about to take off! It’s time to be thinking about booking those holiday fishing trips now!

If you hunt, you know how deer need to get some cold weather to spark them into their rutting season. That’s when hunting gets the best.

A good fisherman learns how to adapt his bait and presentation for each kind of day. A real hunter can feel the weather and know if the deer or birds will be moving and foraging for food or laying up waiting for better weather.

A lucky hunter or fisherman is one who gets a few days in a row that allow him to find and use a pattern of attack that has brought success before! The more time you spend outdoors, the more patterns you learn to respond to. The more you go, the more you know! And don’t forget to bring the kids because they need to learn too!

Half or Full Day Fishing Trips All Bait, Tackle & Equipment Furnished Your catch Filleted and Bagged for You Furnish your TPWD Fishing License & Refreshments, and WE DO THE REST!

Ken Milam Guide Service (325) 379-2051 www.striperfever.com

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

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Page 11

Cutting to the core

exas Curb Cut can trace its roots back to one lone, lousy concrete contractor in Phoenix.

Tim Anger was building a home in Phoenix. He hired a guy to cut the curbs on the driveways of his new homes. Said contractor was no good.

Then Anger bought his own curb-cutting equipment and did it himself. Anger then got into the concrete curb business full time, along with his wife Charlynn.

The Angers moved to San Antonio in 1997 when they heard things were hopping there. They then moved their main operations to Austin in 1991, in order to establish a presence there.

Currently, two-thirds of TCC is in Austin, while one-third is in San Antonio. The Anger’s son Dustin runs the San Antonio operations.

Matt Didier met up with Anger in 1997. Didier has been in the concrete business since 1999, having worked in it in Chicago and California. The two hit it off, and now Didier is co-owner of TCC.

Didier said that in ’97, TCC was just a “one-truck show.” But when he joined forces with Anger, that “helped shape this company to where it is today,” with over 140 employees.

Texas Curb Cut also has the Texas Cutting & Coring, Texas Concrete Sealing and Texas Concrete divisions.

“The curb business is a big part of our business,” Didier explained, “but the Texas Cutting & Coring is definitely the biggest part of who we are.”

When it comes to curb cutting, here’s how it works: When a new subdivision is being built, the roads and curbs are put in first. They don’t know where the houses will ultimately go. When it’s time to build the homes, the curb cutters will then go in and cut the curbs out.

Didier explained coring: “When it comes to core drilling, [the reason] could be a remodel project where they have to move the plumbing from floor to floor.”

TCC drill holes for the other contractors, like plumbing and electrical, so they will have the space they need to do their job.

“Also, sometimes it’s less expensive to hire us to core drill versus if they’re pouring floors, floor after floor,” Didier said.

When it comes to both cutting and coring, it can take anywhere from six months to two years to train a new worker. TCC does its own in-house training

Construction News ON LOCATION

Fire, safety and a smile

Matt Didier, co-owner of Texas Curb Cut.

with its six experienced superintendents.

TCC also has three full-time safety specialists who have the ability to shut down any job should a safety issues arise.

TCC also utilizes ground-penetrating radar (GPR). All the technicians who do this attend a weeklong school in New Hampshire in order to be certified on GPR. The two main reasons for using GPR are to find post-tension cables and conduit. It also looks out for rebar and voids in the concrete.

TCC has done work in states other than Texas, such as California, Florida, Kansas and Minnesota. It recently opened up an office in College Station as well. Didier said that Aggie-land and the Waco area are booming, in addition to the downtown Austin area. He said, “it’s a very competitive market, but it’s a very good market.”

“We have great relationships with our customers,” Didier explained. “The concrete contractors we work for are the best of the best. With the boom that is going on in Texas, everyone demands the best, which is rightfully so.”

When it comes to technology, “The equipment we’re using right now versus the equipment that we used when I first was getting into this is a night and day difference.” Even with newer, whiz-bang technology, however, Didier said, “It’s our people that makes this company. We’re very fortunate with the people working for us.”

They know how to cut to the core and get ‘er done.

Texas Curb Cut and Texas Cutting & Coring is a concrete service in Austin, Round Rock, San Antonio and College Station. -dsz

Thursday, November 22

Gabriela Vazquez with Longhorn Fire & Safety is all smiles when Construction News pops in for a visit. -cmw

Page 12

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Country living partnership

Work this way

28 years of doing the right thing. Thomas Martin says, “Hard work, works.”

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Castillo Drywall LLC owner, Fidel Castillo and co-owner Claudia Castillo

ou can agree that Fidel Castillo and Claudia Castillo are a great example of a power couple in the construction industry. Today, they are proud owners of Castillo Drywall LLC, a family owned company.

The windy city of Chicago blew the Castillo family over to central Texas in 2013, when struggles of a financial crisis had hit. “Texas welcomed us very well and we can now enjoy the beautiful country living and take advantage of all the activities our kids can do outdoors,” said Claudia.

The Castillo’s have been in the construction industry for over 15 years. Before establishing their company, they were working with different companies that led them to learn the skills to establish their own business. “In 2013, we started working with a couple of companies in Texas as a subcontractor in drywall.

This year we took the next step to register our business as Castillo Drywall LLC,” said Claudia.

The company offers drywall installation, taping and texture to residential, commercial, custom and remodeling clients. They also offer free estimates and a back up warranty of up to 12 months. The rapid growth of Austin and surrounding areas has helped the Castillo’s expand.

Right now they service the central Texas area.

The team that forms the company is a crew of 20 employees, including Fidel as owner and Claudia as co-owner. “Our older kids love to get involved on the weekends,” she said. The company focuses on high expectations for their clients, giving excellent customer service and

Correction October Issue, Page 17 B.C. Fence LLC Dusty Brents name in the article “Custom Work” was misspelled. We are sorry for the error. –lv

creating and innovating with custom designs. “Recently our crew was remodeling Performance Collision Auto Repair in Lockhart, TX,” said Claudia.

What the Castillo’s have accomplished today is more than a drywall company given they had to adapt to the Texas market. In 1995, Claudia’s father owned a masonry company in Detroit.

During her childhood she learned and saw the industry first hand. Fidel’s background also gave him a taste of the industry at a young age. He started working as a drywall installer back in the ‘90s in Atlanta. With both of their experienced backgrounds in the near future they would like to “hire and train five more employees that will form a new crew to expand south.”

The Castillo’s like to instill their culture within the company. Part of their culture is to celebrate and be thankful for the blessings received throughout the year. “We do a yearly potluck and include raffle prizes for our employees,” added Claudia. The company also supports a church named Altar Service Ministry.

They also perform volunteer work and sponsor the San Marcos Area Youth Soccer Organization. The Castillos believe “it is important to develop healthy minds by being involved in positive activities.”

What they enjoy most about working in the construction industry is the opportunities given to help families have what they need to spend time together.

“From a cozy time near the fireplace or a big spaced dining area for reunions,” shared Claudia.

Castillo Drywall LLC is a drywall contractor in San Marcos, TX. –lv

ince his children were young, Thomas Martin has told them, “Hard work works. You can go a long way if you put the work in.”

Putting in the work is exactly what Martin has been doing since he came on board as IPT-Supply’s general manager last year. He has more than doubled the staff to 25 employees and hired up to 40 sub crews. He has also expanded the company’s scope from commercial and multi-family work to include semicustom, custom and tract homes.

The quick growth is not surprising; Martin charges into every endeavor expecting results. He started in the industry 29 years ago when he opened Martin Construction, a small interior trim work company. He sold that company to Builders First Source 23 years later, served as president of Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes, and then was recruited to come to IPT. Now, he’s applying his experience to help door, moulding, millwork, hardware and bath supplier IPT-Supply succeed in its next phase.

“I believe we’re going to double in

size,” Martin says. “We’re looking to build a facility on a bigger piece of property we bought in Buda that can handle the load of what we’re trying to do.”

Martin doesn’t plan to overshoot the company’s goal, however.

“We’re not trying to be huge and have 700 facilities,” he says. “We want to stay “mom and pop” but we would like to have one location and still compete without having to follow the stringent rules [competitors with multiple locations do].”

Regardless of the IPT-Supply’s growth, Martin strives to connect with employees and customers the way a smaller business would. He shakes employees’ hands every morning and barbecues for them often. He also visits job sites to personally check on clients.

“I like to be hands-on,” he says. ”You’re not going to see a general manager manage properties and projects and get as involved as I do. Customers get a personal touch with me.”

IPT-Supply is a multi-segment focused supplier in Kyle. –mjm

A growing family

L-R: Raba-Kistner Vice President & COO Tom Burr and Timber Creek Environmental Charles “Dude” Hall make the acquisition of TCE official.

A

t the beginning of October, the Raba-Kistner Inc. (RK) family grew with the acquisition of Timber Creek Environmental (TCE). Based in Conroe and with additional offices in San Antonio and Dallas, TCE will become part of the RK environmental division.

Charles “Dude” Hall established Timber Creek with the core competencies of Environmental Compliance, Geosciences and Natural Resource Management in 2013.

“TCE is well respected in the environmental field due to their experienced, committed staff, strong client relationships, and innovative project solutions that they have provided to their clients.

Their growth in five years is nothing short of phenomenal,” said Tom Burr, Senior Vice President and COO of Raba Kistner’s environmental division. “They are a great cultural fit for Raba Kistner, as a result, and will support multiple components of Raba Kistner’s strategic growth plan.”

Raba-Kistner wanted more ways to help their clients and provide solutions for their clients and Timber Creek pro-

vides a good range of services, particularly in the area of environmental compliance that will compliment the services already provided by the RK. “TCE’s background with the manufacturing/industrial sector and with major national clients strengthens our position in this sector,” said Joe Irizarry, CMO and Senior Vice President of Raba Kistner, Inc. “We have served industrial clients for almost 50 years. TCE expands our range of environmental services and gives us even more ways to provide solutions for our clients.”

Over the next 90 days TCE will be transitioning their name into Raba-Kistner. “We are excited because we can help their clients in more ways with other services that we do, but we can extend the unique things Timber Creek brings to our clients to all the markets we serve. I think it is going to be very complimentary to all involved and especially to our clients,” adds Irizarry.

Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Raba Kistner Inc. is a full-service engineering firm. -cmw

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Page 13

THIS TH MON Jan: Construction Forecast Mar: Construction Education May: Concrete Industry July: Electrical Industry Feb: Construction Safety Apr: Women in Construction Jun: HVAC & Plumbing Aug: Service Providers

Bringing the public into spaces Antonio Giovanni Naylor, President Reliance Architecture Austin, TX

A

ntonio Naylor is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Environmental Design and owns Reliance Architecture with a partner.

How would you describe the state of the construction industry in general terms?

For people looking to build, there has been an increase in costs. Contractors have seen a recent rise in material costs, while labor costs have increased over the past six years. The number of new projects has remained steady, until this past summer. This summer showed an uptick in the construction industry with more projects kicking off design towards the end of the year. I would say we have been bullish since 2012.

How has sustainability affected your industry?

Education of the public has initiated clients to request buildings that are more

energy efficient, have less water consumption and provide more comfort for the occupants inside. Sustainability urges us to construct a better habitat. Architects have championed most of the sustainability practices for decades. We educate ourselves on the advancement in technology and how we can further reduce the carbon footprint. Sustainable buildings increase costs, but the value to the client and to the environment is worth it.

What are the new trends in architecture/engineering?

There’s an emergence of green building products at lower price points closer to standard products. The research and technology have improved building

Embracing staffing & technology challenges Patrick Kunz, President Halff Associates Inc. Richardson, TX

I

t’s a good time to be in construction and engineering/ architectural design in Texas.

The state’s population growth continues to soar, and the private and public sectors are building the infrastructure necessary to support that growth—everything from office buildings and retail to commercial spaces, industrial developments and public infrastructure.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Dallas/Fort Worth gained 146,000 new residents in 2017. Meanwhile, six of the top 10 fastest-growing counties in the United States reside in Texas.

Despite a healthy business increase in recent years, there are a few challenges we, at Halff Associates, wrestle with today: staffing and quickly changing technology.

Many Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) are now at retirement

age, and the smaller Generation X population (1965–1980) can’t fill that void completely. The real key is getting Millennials (1981–1996)—which the U.S. Census Bureau predicts will outnumber Baby Boomers in 2019 with more than 73 million people—the necessary experience to succeed.

What it really means is we need the people on the fringe or the upper end of the Millennial generation to get experience fast because there are a lot of opportunities for them to fill positions. Specifically, it’s difficult to find quality midlevel managers—people with 10 to 15 years of experience or maybe even up to 20 years.

Much has been made about Millennial thinking in society and the work-

ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING Sept: Green Building Nov: Architecture & Engineering Oct: Specialty Contractors Dec: Construction Equipment

performance, contributed to less consumption of water and electricity and decreased carbon footprint.

Architecture has better tools to immerse not only the client but also the contractor and others into visualizing the project. We can construct our designs in a 3D model. We can use the Building Information Model (BIM) to show how the environment will look, present options AND step through detailed information.

This gives architects the ability to virtually build designs before construction begins. We have more in-depth conversations with our clients and contractors to proactively work through issues early.

Bringing the public into spaces we design has been a focus. We have done more outreach to incorporate functions and expectations of communities more.

We design spaces that are inclusive of their communities, provide amenities and services to enrich the community.

We have seen more partnering that encompasses large groups with diverse interests. It is rewarding as we see the buyin take place by all parties.

What are the rewards of architecture/ engineering?

Delivering on a challenge for our clients is extremely rewarding. Collaborat-

ing so that clients can realize their dream and vision within their budget is great. It may seem at times we are under appreciated, but I would challenge my peers to revisit a finished building a year later. Go back, stand around and observe the occupants use the spaces. Very rewarding.

To do this job well, to be an outstanding architect, we must love people, have a passion for problem solving and be astute listeners. Those are key ingredients to what we chose to do and what we love to do.

place, but Halff plans to embrace it.

You hear things such as they don’t want to work and don’t have a work ethic. I don’t buy that at all. They want to do meaningful work. They want to know that somebody appreciates the work they are doing, and the market is such that they can demand that.

I don’t believe that this younger generation is much different than my generation was. The only difference is today, companies are embracing that and giving this generation attention. They are helping them understand how doing even a small task fits into the bigger picture and why that is meaningful work—and how that is going to help them in their career growth. The firms that are doing that and showing a genuine interest in people moving up in their careers are the ones that are going to be successful.

Halff is conducting more development training courses to help young professionals grow as quickly as possible and remain engaged in their work. We are also focused on improved communications, so employees know what is happening and what career opportunities exist.

Technology is another hurdle in the sense that it has a significant impact to the firm’s overall cost to operate.

As software improves, you’ve got to

hold on to the legacy software. Those IT costs are continuing to grow as technology progresses. We do embrace it, and we’re bringing it into our designs. On one hand, it’s helping our designs, processes and implementation be more efficient and effective. But on the flip side, there is a significant cost associated with continuous investment in future and new technology.

Digital delivery of plans and specs— moving away from hardcopy plans in the field—is another change that has occurred within construction administration and management.

Digital technology will only continue to grow. 3D design is here in architecture; MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) engineering; structural—as well as starting to come into civil. The larger building construction contractors are walking around with an iPad and have a 3D model of the building to see where there are conflicts during the construction process. That’s real.

Keeping up with those day-to-day challenges and solving our clients’ problems is our ultimate reward.

Everything we do touches and affects people’s lives.

www.constructionnews.net

publishing the industry’s news

What is the most significant challenge your industry is facing?

Managing expectations of all parties involved--the pieces and parts involved from conception of a design to implementation have grown. This makes the management of projects more complicated and requires everyone involved to slow down so as not to rush towards mistakes. The huge challenge is to carry over some wisdom from the past. Even with our more advanced tools, we must practice the art of measuring twice and cutting once.

Reliance Architecture is a full-service architecture and planning firm, focused on educational and public architecture. -cmw

Halff Associates Inc. is a full-service professional firm in Richardson, TX. -cmw

Texas Style

★ ★ ★ ★

San Antonio Austin Dallas/Fort Worth Houston

Page 14

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

THIS TH MON

ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING

To represent your company in an upcoming FOCUS, contact AustinEditor@ConstructionNews.net (210) 308-5800

NEXT MONTH (DECEMBER) CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

Growing with growth Jason E. Puchot, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, LEED AP Principal & AIA San Antonio 2018 Chapter President RVK Architects San Antonio

J

ason Puchot holds a degree in Evidence Based Design from Texas A&M University. He is a Board Certified Healthcare Architect and has specialized in healthcare design since 2002.

How would you describe the state of the construction industry in general terms?

The growth in our region has transferred to our design and construction industry keeping us all continually busy.

Have you experienced an increase in business? Slowdown?

There has been increase in business with the influx of new residents moving into the area from all over the country.

Along with that, come new business opportunities for designing new projects in wide range of areas.

What factors are driving this increase/ slowdown?

As mentioned in the previous question, city growth is the driving force behind this increase.

How has this increase/slowdown affected your company and how you conduct business?

Business remains strong and between servicing new clients as well as existing clients means a bigger focus on balancing project schedules.

What are the major changes in the in-

dustry in recent years relating to the type of work you do?

Continual changes to codes in relation to energy conservation are the major changes we have experienced.

What is the most significant challenge your industry faces? Labor shortages?

Cost increases? Other?

The biggest challenge is balancing a continual increase in expectations from our owners while staying competitive with professional service fees.

How are you dealing with these challenges?

We try to work with contractors early to help secure material pricing.

What are the cost increases relating to your industry?

Staying in tune to rising costs of materials due to tariffs in order to maintain the owner’s budgets during the design phase.

What is on the horizon for your industry? Changes in technology, codes, or-

dinances, laws, other?

Codes and ordinances are always on the horizon and technology continues to be a focus. From 3D modeling of our designs to Virtual Reality, design firms continue to look for other ways of communicating their design to their clients.

What are keys to being successful in your industry?

Communication clearly is the biggest key to success and at the core for designers as service providers to its clients.

Clear communication with consultants, vendors, general contractors and our owners will always serve as a focus for continual success.

RVK is a commercial architecture, interior design and landscape architecture firm.

They have celebrated 47 years of service in San Antonio. Specializing in 12 different commercial market sectors, RVK continues their brand through quality design as well as taking care of its employees recently celebrating seven years in a row as an Express News awarded Best Place to Work. -cmw

Phoenix rising

T

L-R: Cory Mancuso and Cullen Mancuso

win brothers Cory Mancuso and Cullen Mancuso are the third generation in a family dedicated to equipping Texas. Their grandfather founded U-Rent-Em in the 1970s, which was purchased by RSC. Their dad Vincent Mancuso worked there before establishing 2-C Equipment (the two C’s a tribute to his sons) in Jarrell in 1998.

“The company used to focus solely on purchasing and selling equipment, but it turned into a small rental business,” Cory, the operations manager, says. “We added a mechanic and another sales guy and slowly grew the company. In the early 2000’s, we noticed the potential of rental customers and their repeat business and continued to grow to meet the demand. The Jarrell location primarily focuses on the general construction market. When things got busy in the Eagle Ford Shale, we opened a holding yard in Dilley, TX. This year we are opening a facility in Odessa to help meet the demand in West Texas.”

As the company grows, Cory and inventory/sales manager Cullen treat the company’s 25 employees like family by

hosting ranch weekends, holiday parties and barbecues. Never was the family bond stronger than when the Jarrell location burned down in a May 19 fire.

“Everyone stepped up,” Cory says.

“The shop guys worked in the summer heat with no air conditioning and one shared set of tools. Our office staff recreated the company’s information and documents. Watching everybody come together was really a special thing to be a part of. I was proud of how everybody handled it.”

The Mancusos are equally proud to soon open 2-C Equipment’s new office space and shop. The new facility is a twostory 9,000sf building that features a stone accent wall with their custom logo, and a glass wall conference room which showcases the beautiful views east of town.”

“The future is bright,” Cory says. “We are continually learning from our challenges, and eager to expand to new locations. We’re excited for the opportunity to come.”

2-C Equipment rents and sells construction equipment through its Jarrell, Odessa and Dilley locations. –mjm

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Page 15

Equipping the field

Made from Hatch

1/4

T

Jack Westbrook, account manager for the Lawless Sales Group.

he Lawless Group isn’t a megawarehouse like, say, Amazon, which sells anything and everything. Instead, Lawless represents specific manufacturers and sells those items to those who need them.

For instance, if you need a generator, Lawless sells and distributes Generac generators. If you need storage equipment, it carries the Knaack line. If you want patching material, Lawless represents Perma-Patch.

Jack Westbrook is based in Austin (Lawless’ headquarters is in Dallas). He’s been with Lawless for over 20 years now and considers it to be “the premier rep agency in the United States.”

Westbrook started out in the industrial supply business in 1990, spending six years doing that before coming over to Lawless. He works directly for the manufacturers of the products that Lawless carries, with a focus on the industrial, commercial and safety markets.

“We maintain warehouses and distribution facilities for the manufacturers we represent,” he said. Westbrook covers

central and west Texas, with about a 5050 split between the oil/gas industry and commercial construction.

With multiple locations in the Gulf States, Lawless stands ready in case the weather turns nasty. “We bring generators in by the truck load when a hurricane comes through,” Westbrook said. “We have distributors who buy them by the truck load.”

Westbrook says that Lawless’ line up of companies and products is very robust, and is very cautious about representing new companies. But with an ever-changing and dynamic world, Lawless keeps an eye open for new and emerging products. Lawless attends many trade shows to see what’s not only out there, but that which may be coming up. Who knows? Somewhere, out there, someone is inventing a new type of wrench or ladder. When that item is built and fills a need, people out in the field will need it. Maybe the Lawless Sales Group will carry it.

Lawless Sales Group is headquartered in Dallas, with a sales rep in Austin . -dsz

L-R: Andrew Danziger (founder and general manager); Alex Neiheisel (shop manager); Sky Lutz-Carillo (designer and project manager) of Hatch Workshop.

W

hen Andrew Danziger was naming his design studio and fabrication shop, he knew he wanted something as unique as his business.

“’Hatch’ is kind of what it’s all about for us,” he says. “People reach out to us because they have a crazy idea that they’re trying to execute and they don’t know where to begin. We help them summarize and understand their vision and realize their project. People come with an idea, it goes through our workshop and hatches into something.”

With a friend, Danziger started Hatch Workshop as a University of Texas grad in 2010. The duo created high-end custom residential projects before being lured by the straightforwardness of commercial work. They offered millwork soon after and now focus on custom commercial and institutional projects.

Danziger says every project Hatch Workshop undertakes is “dramatically different.’ For example, his team is currently building an interactive wall for UT’s School of Architecture as well as hike-and-bike trail benches made with wood salvaged fallen trees in the Austin

area. Community-minded projects especially hold a strong pull.

“We’re fortunate in that many of our projects aren’t too far from charitable work,” he says. “We’ve done quite a few projects for Foundation Communities, an affordable housing provider in Austin.

We’ve built playgrounds and outdoor classrooms on their properties and it’s a fun way for us to use our skills.”

Danziger says that because all of its business is direct to consumer – his team buys the raw materials and designs, fabricates and installs the goods in-house – his six-person staff competes easily with larger wholesalers.

“The great thing is that, as awesome as it is to attract all of these businesses like tech companies or restaurants that want to open up businesses in Austin, we were really well-positioned at that point to take on these types of projects. It’s going well and it’s nice that as businesses grow they become long term clients for us.”

Subcontractor Hatch Workshop is a design studio and fabrication shop in Austin.

–mjm

Page 16

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

JOB SIGHTS

Rodolfo Jimenez, Longoria Masonry LLC takes a moment from cutting masonry blocks at the New Onion Creek Fire/EMS Station in Manachaca, TX. -cmw

continued from Page 1 — Prime Wall Systems clients need us to go.” Prime Wall Systems is currently working on the fourstory Arrive Hotel in downtown Austin.

This is not to mention a 35-story building as well. They also did the home of the Director of Homeland Security.

Maxwell cites his great relationships with the various general contractors he’s known throughout the years as a big reason for having such success. “Every job is rewarded because they know we’re going to do a great job,” he said.

Maxwell is clear when it comes to the foundation of his company. “Our only philosophy is: Number one: integrity in how I run my business, how I run my life.

Number two: quality and 100 percent customer satisfaction. That’s all we have to offer. We’re going to do exactly what we say we’re going to do.”

At any given time, Prime Wall Systems has approximately 120 jobs going on. That could be residential, retail, educational, religious, governmental, condos and military.

But even though Maxwell runs a large company, doing big projects, he is clear that “We are very humble. We will do any job within reason that’s related to stucco.”

Maxwell also has another company

called Prime Wall Systems Home and Commercial Services. This division does a lot of repair work, like when a realtor calls them to fix up a damaged home in time to be shown. “There is no job too big or too small,” Maxwell said. “We do it all.”

Some jobs are very unique, like the University of Texas, Austin, student housing building that came Maxwell’s way with just a three-day notice. The original stucco contractor had to be let go due to poor performance.

As of now, Maxwell has plenty of signed contracts for 2019. He would like to open branches in south and east Texas in addition to the Austin location.

“I never wanted to be the biggest,” he said. “I just want to be the best.” This means not growing so large that the company becomes unmanageable or quality is sacrificed.

“I’m an extremely involved owner,” Maxwell said. He gets around to as many projects as is feasible, but trusts his capable supervisors to be his boots-onground. “I’ve got an amazing team that works for me,” he said. “We get along very well.”

Prime Wall Systems is a stucco contractor in the greater Austin area. -dsz

continued from Page 1 — Competition A/C & Heat

L-R: Logan Holmes and Dave Pinkstaff with Tru-Form Metal Services begin marking for setting chill water pipes at the South By Southwest Center in downtown Austin.

Harvey-Cleary Builders is the general contractor. cmw

ning copper lines. He had suffered a heat stroke. After a time of recovery, but still not at 100 percent, Young was laid off from his job because his building was sold. It was a case of last-in, first-out.

But Young had a neighbor who owns American Air Heating and Air Conditioning in Martindale. Since Young didn’t have his master’s license at that time, which kept him from running his own business, Darren Duggins allowed him to operate under his license until he finished his apprenticeship. Young paid Duggins 15 percent of his earnings during this time.

“I can’t even thank him enough,” Young said. “It changed my whole life.”

Another “down” moment came when Young hit a deer while riding his motorcycle, causing severe head and facial injuries and affecting his short-term memory. But the “up” side happened when an ex-Navy friend of his came down from Pennsylvania and helped Young study for his master’s license.

Competition A/C was ready to start. Only thing was: he didn’t have a name for it yet.

What started out as a “down” moment turned into the “up” one. A customer had called a bunch of HVAC guys to her house, giving the job to the first one who arrived. Young was one of them but

wasn’t selected. He was beat out for the job. When he told this story to his family, Young’s teen-aged son gave him not only the name of his company but the motto: “Competition A/C: We beat the heat!”

Thus was born Young’s company.

Then, Young met up with an artist in Dallas who designed the racing logo with the crossed, checkered flags.

Even when Young lost all his trucks in the Blanco River flood, he had another “up” moment when John Woodard, owner of T.E.A.M. Solutions Controls, sold him five vans for only $2,000 apiece.

Running on all cylinders now, Competition A/C & Heat has 15 people in the field and four in the back office. Young does roughly 60 percent commercial and 40 percent residential clients now. He sells and services all makes and models of equipment, using all his mechanical skills to assess what the customer needs. He doesn’t sell maintenance contracts and “I try to stay out of restaurants,” he laughs.

Not only did Young see combat in the Gulf, it seems like he’s had one struggle after another as a civilian. Fortunately, he not only beats the heat but the odds.

Competition A/C & Heat is an HVAC contractor in San Marcos. -dsz

continued from Page 1 — Sabre Commercial

L-R: Rafael Martinez and Gregorio Guerrero with Pavecon take a moment from measuring and laying rebar at the Goodwill Parking Lot at Hwy. 290 & SH71. -cmw

L-R: JRS Electrical LLC’s Angel Hernandez and Alberto Osorio work on the exterior electrical box at the new Columbia Coffee project in Austin. -cwm

ligature hardware, furniture, and equipment to ensure for the safety off all occupants as well as the installation of impact resistant sheetrock to allow for the longevity of use.

With all work being completed in an active hospital, extreme care and attention was paid to allow for the continuous operation without disturbing hospital staff and patients. As with all healthcare projects, infection control was held to an extremely high standard. Negative air pressure was maintained to isolate the construction site from the functioning hospital. Cleanliness was of upmost importance.

Seeking a LEED Gold certification, Sabre Commercial worked hand-in-hand with the hospital to ensure all of the proper documentation was maintained.

All waste and recycled content was meticulously tracked. The Sabre team participated in a meticulous submittal process to ensure all items were installed exactly as specified to maintain status.

Because of Sabre’s longstanding relationship with the owner and architect, having completed many projects with the same team, it allowed for a cohesive and productive project from the start. Sabre Commercial Project Manager Matt

New cafeteria

Sitterle and Superintendent Michael Salmeron oversaw the project designed

by Polkinghorn Group Architects. Open lines of communications were maintained throughout allowing Sabre to work through problems efficiently as they arose.

Sabre Commercial is a full-service general contractor in Austin, TX. -cmw

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Page 17

Association Calendar

Content submitted by Associations to Construction News ABC

Associated Builders & Contractors

Nov. 1: OSHA Safety Rodeo, VFW Post 8787, 500 VFW Rd. For more info, call Amy Grace Torres at 512-719-5263 or email amy@abccentraltexas.org ACEA

Greater Austin Contractors & Engineers Assn.

Nov. 8: ACEA Membership Luncheon, Dave & Buster’s, 9333 Research Blvd., 11:30am-1pm. For more info, go to www. aceatx.com or call 512-893-7067.

AGC

Associated General Contractors

Nov. 8: CLC Leadership Forum. For more info, contact Toni Osberry at 512-4427887 AGC- TBB

Associated General Contractors Texas Building Branch

Nov. 15: Michael J. Chatron Retirement Party, Sheraton Hotel in Georgetown, 5-7:30pm. For more info, call 512-4785629 NARI

National Assn. of the Remodeling Industry

Nov. 9: Let’s Roll – Bowling Tournament, Dart Bowl, 5700 Grover Ave., 5-8pm. For

more info, call Kayvon Leath at 512-9976270 or email kayvon@austinnari.org NAWIC

National Assn. of Women in Construction

Nov. 9-10: Annual Fall Conference, Little Rock, AR. For more info, contact Taryn Ritchie at 512-658-6573 or email taryn. ritchie@ryancompanies.com SEAot

Structural Engineers Assn. of Texas

Nov. 1-2: Structural Engineers Association of Texas Conference, Hilton Dallas/ Rockwall Lakefront, 2055 Summer Lee Dr., Rockwall, TX. For more info, call 512301-2744 TSA

Texas Society of Architects

Nov. 8-9: 2018 Design Expo, Fort Worth Convention Center. For more info, email Jennifer Hicks at Jennifer@texasarchitects.org TXFPA

Texas Fire Protection Assn.

Nov. 14: November TFPA Meeting & Lunch Program, San Marcos Activity Center, 501 E. Hopkins, San Marcos, 10:30am2:30pm. Registration Deadline Nov. 9. For more info, call 512-699-6500

Going up

Industry FOLKS Monique Westley Smith Account Manager Commercial Flooring Facilitators, LLC Austin, TX

S

he was born and raised in Kenner, LA, a city right outside of New Orleans.

Her childhood was amazing with her two older siblings. Monique’s parents are both full time pastors, but they always made time for their kids. Monique was very active growing up. She was a cheerleader, gymnast, dancer and ran track.

Her fondest memories with her siblings and parents were the car ride vacations they took. “We took summer vacations every summer. One of my favorite places to go was Canada to visit the Niagara Falls.”

Faith is a huge part of her life. In fact, her true love story started at church. Her husband, Craig Smith, came to their church one Sunday with his cousin. “He saw me,” she said. “He kept coming to church every Sunday after that just to see me. Then when I was 13 he told my dad I am going to marry her.” Smith says her husband is her best friend.

Still living in Louisiana, Monique was attending her third semester at the University of New Orleans. She recalls hurricanes coming through when growing up in that area, but had never seen anything as devastating as Hurricane Katrina. “My dad knew someone who was getting involved with the disaster recovery cleanup.” So, they got to work. “The devastation that swept the city was unlike anything I’d ever seen.” Monique worked from the beginning of the cleanup to the end of restoration. She was working for a bank right before Katrina. It was after the unfortunate events of Katrina and her time with the disaster res

covery cleanup crew that she realized she wanted to become more involved in the construction industry. “Having the opportunity to be front and center from the cleanup to restoration was one of the greatest privileges of my life. It introduced me to a love and passion I did not know existed.”

Then her husband was offered a job that he couldn’t pass up and that is the reason they moved to Austin. Monique and her husband have been happily married for six years and have three beautiful boys – Ian-16, Colin-5 and Drew-3. “We needed change. Moving to Texas was the best thing that could have happened to our eldest son and to our family as a whole. He is the happiest he has ever been and more focused than I have ever seen him.”

Monique is currently the account manager at Commercial Flooring Facilitators in Austin. She has the privilege of working and learning from owner/operator Denise Mellow. “I look forward to the many years and all of the projects we will complete together.”

Today Monique is a mirror image of how supportive her parents were to her and her siblings. She spends most of her free time with her three children. You can catch her in the stands at her eldest son’s football games and track meets. She also enjoys going to the movies with her husband. However, Louisiana will always be home and she gets back to NOLA as often as she can. –lv

Submitted to Construction News

Round-Up

Left: Vice President Larry Evans – Back L-R: Project Managers Rodrigo Alvez and Roy Pompa, Director of Operations Frank Boyer, Regional Manager Jim Hudson, Modernization Supervisor Aaron Boyer, Safety Director Ramiro Silva – Front L-R: Modernization Supervisor Chris Pearce, Supervisor Joel Phipps, Training Director Charles Herrera, Regional Manager Jason Besaw and Supervisor Fred Martin

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riends since childhood, Larry Evans and Frank Boyer have always wanted to be in business together.

“We got into the elevator trade in 1979 since we both were familiar with the industry and thought we could do this,” Boyer says. “We knew it was a very good, lucrative business.”

While Boyer went to work for a large elevator company, Evans went on to establish EMR Elevator Inc. in Arlington.

Initially a service and repair company, EMR expanded its service range to include modernizations. After Evans signed his first state contract, he knew Boyer would serve as the perfect director of operations for his Austin office.

“I came on at EMR in May of 1997 and we started building the Austin office,” Boyer remembers. “The first year, we had four people in Austin and now we have 35 guys here. While the corporate office handles the contracts and billing, the manpower in the Austin office is out in the field. Most of us are hands-on, working with customers, doing whatever needs to be done.”

Today, EMR Elevator boasts 135 employees in nine Texas locations. In the past eight years, the company has taken on large construction projects, including the University of Texas at Galveston hospital and the University of Texas at Austin.

“We’re still considered a small company in the elevator industry when you compare us with the big guys,” Boyer says. “However, we’re the largest inde-pendent elevator company in the state of Texas, and we’re probably one of the top six in the entire country as far as independents go.”

Boyer says the industry is often surprised and impressed that the modestly-sized EMR bids and completes such large projects,

and it has started to take notice. As a SBE HUB company, EMR recently received an award through Hensley Phelps for project completion. In September, EMR also was voted “#1 Best Woman-Owned Business in the World” through Elevator World Magazine.

Boyer says that much of the company’s success can be traced to leadership’s dedication to their employees.

“We invest a lot of money into training our employees,” Boyer says. “We are approved to teach the four-year certified elevator technician (CET) apprenticeship training program through the National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC).

We are recognized by the Department of Labor of Texas as a training facility. It’s a big deal because the elevator industry is constantly evolving so our technicians get the opportunity to continue their education throughout their career.

“This is an exciting year for us because this November is National Apprentice Month,” Boyer adds. “And, we are honored to have had two graduating AET (Associate Elevator Technician) classes since we opened our school. We are so proud of our apprentice and look forward to seeing many more elevator technicians in our future.

Austin is our first graduating AET class and our class has doubled since last year.”

With a strong company history, dedicated staff and notable projects to EMR’s credit, Boyer sees a bright future ahead for the company.

“We have some really talented people, so I really see great things happening and I see nothing but growth for the future.”

Subcontractor EMR Elevator Inc. offers elevator service, repair and supply parts through its Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Galveston, Houston and San Antonio and Waco offices. –mjm

O’Connell Robertson is pleased to announce the promotion of the following: Jayna Duke has been promoted to Senior Associate. Duke has been part of the O’Connell Robertson family for 10 years and serves as the firm’s interiors practice leader.

She is a registered interior designer and LEED Accredited Professional. Duke holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in interior design. –cmw

Becky Winovitch has been promoted to Senior Associate. She is a registered architect with 21 years experience in planning and designs for many of the firm’s projects.

Winovitch has been instrumental in the firm’s additions, renovations, new buildings and interior finishout project. Winovitch holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree. –cmw

Misela VanDeWalle, a registered architect, has been promoted to Associate.

VanDeWalle holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a Master of Architecture. She brings nearly 10 years experience in planning, design and production of various projects.

She shapes flexible learning environments that embrace diverse learning styles and promote innovation. –cmw

Kyle Fisher, a registered engineer with over 10 years experience in the HVAC industry as a DDC Controls and mechanical contractor project manager, has been promoted to Associate. Fisher holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree and oversees the commissioning process in addition to designing steam, water and air HVAC installations. -cmw

Jeremy Zorn has been promoted to Associate and is a registered engineer with 15 plus years experience as an electrical engineer. He has significant expertise in specification writing and product selection of power distributions, lighting systems, fire detection, alarm, emergency power and grounding. Zorn holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree. -cmw

Douglas Rothermel, SE, PE has joined the JQ Engineering family as an Associate and Team Leader for the firm’s Austin office. Rothermel previously worked for JQ as an associate and project manager in the firm’s Dallas and Fort Worth offices. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. -cmw

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Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

Excellence in construction & safety

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he Austin construction industry came out, dressed in their best attire, to see who would be taking home the coveted eagle award at the Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) 2018 Excellence in Construction and Safety Awards Banquet on Oct. 10. The event was held at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel in downtown Austin. “We’ve received more entries this year than ever before. Our industry is booming and I’m honored to be a part of it,” ABC President, Tracey Littlefield. -cmw

Excellence in Construction Merit Award winners: Commercial $10-$25 Million: HarveyCleary Builders, 801 Barton Springs Healthcare Less Than $10 Million: Flynn Construction, Deepwood Medical Plaza Institutional $5-$10 Million: Joeris General Contractors Ltd., Austin Achieve Primary School Institutional $10-$25 Million: Joeris General Contractors Ltd., Manor New Tech Middle School

Institutional $25-$100 Million Eagle Award: American Constructors Inc. – Austin Community College San Gabriel Campus

Residential Multi-Family and Condominiums Up To $100 Million Eagle Award: Hoar Construction – The Ascent at Victory Park

Exteriors – All Other Exterior Finishes, All Contract Amounts Eagle Award: Baker Triangle – Aloft + Element Austin Downtown Hotels

Renovation $4-$10 Million Eagle Award: Harvey-Cleary Builders – 5202 Ben White (Spansion Repositioning)

Commercial Less Than $5 Million Eagle Award: DPR Construction – BOX | 600 Congress Office Expansion & Renovation

Institutional $25-$100 Million: Flintco LLC, The University of Texas at Austin Speedway Mall Institutional $25-$100 Million: American Constructors Inc., Weiss High School Electrical Commercial Less Than $2 Million: Facility Solutions Group (FSG), YETI Headquarters Electrical Commercial $2-$10 Million: Facility Solutions Group (FSG), Skyloft Apartments

Exteriors – All Other Exterior Finishes, All Contract Amounts: Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing, Querencia Balcony Repairs Interiors – Acoustics, Drywall, Millwork or Plaster: Heartland Acoustics & Interiors, Waterfront Office Building Interiors – Acoustics, Drywall, Millwork or Plaster: MAREK Brothers Systems, Flex Renovation and Addition Mechanical Commercial Less Than $2 Million: Airco Mechanical Ltd., Living Spaces – Central Texas Distribution Center

Mega-Projects More Than $100 Million Eagle Award: Ryan Companies – The Waterfront – Oracle Campus

Commercial $10-$25 Eagle Award: White Construction Company – MoPac Centre

Other Specialty Construction Commercial Less Than $10 Million Eagle Award: Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing Methodist TNI Parking Garage Repairs

Industrial Less Than $5 Million Eagle Award: DPR Construction – ICU Medical | AHU Replacement Project

Mechanical Commercial $2-$10 Million Eagle Award: Airco Mechanical Ltd. – HPI Domain Tower

Mechanical Commercial Less Than $2 Million Eagle Award: TDIndustries Inc. – WeWork Barton Springs

continued on Page 19

Austin Construction News • NOV 2018

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continued from Page 18 — Excellence in construction & safety Mechanical Commercial $2-$10 Million: TDIndustries Inc., Baylor Scott & White Clinic – Pflugerville Central Safety Award of Excellence winners: Airco Mechanical Ltd. American Constructors Inc. EBCO General Contractor Ltd. F.L. Crane & Sons Inc. Intertech Flooring Lee Lewis Construction MAREK Seretta Construction Texas LLC TDIndustries Inc.

2018 National S.T.E.P. Silver Award winners: Airco Mechanical Ltd.

Biggs Plumbing Co. Inc. McKinney Drilling 2018 National S.T.E.P. Gold Award winners: Beckett Electrical Services LLC BETCO Scaffolds Big D Metalworks F.L. Crane & Sons Inc. MAREK Tradesmen International 2018 National S.T.E.P. Platinum Award winners: Austin Commercial LP Baker Triangle Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing

Institutional $5-$10 Million Eagle Award: Rogers-O’Brien Construction Company – Magnolia Montessori For All

Other Construction $2-$100 Million Eagle Award: Turner Construction Company – The Alamodome Renovations

2018 National S.T.E.P. Diamond Award winners: American Constructors Inc. Cadence McShane Construction Co. LLC Harvey-Cleary Builders Slater Painting Company Inc. White Construction Company

Best of the Best Subcontractor Safety Award winners: Baker Triangle Beckett Electrical Services LLC LASCO Acoustics & Drywall Slater Painting Company Inc. Best of the Best General Contractor Safety Award winners: DPR Construction Flintco LLC Harvey-Cleary Builders White Construction CompanyCentral Library

Commercial $10-$25 Eagle Award: American Constructors Inc. – Pedernales Electric Cooperative Northwest Operations

Residential Single-Family Projects Up To $100 Million Eagle Award: American Constructors Inc. – John and Sue McCoy House

Sitework/Landscape/Hardscape Eagle Award: Choate USA – Life Austin Chapel

Residential Multi-Family and Condominiums Up To $100 Million Eagle Award: White Construction Company – The Delaney at Lake Waco

EBCO General Contractor Ltd. Flintco LLC Joeris General Contractors Ltd. Kitchell Contractors Inc. LASCO Acoustics & Drywall Rogers-O’Brien Construction Company Seretta Construction Texas LLC TDIndustries Inc.

Interiors – Acoustics, Drywall, Millwork or Plaster Eagle Award: Greater Metroplex Interiors – Aspen West Campus

Electrical All Projects Over $10 Million Eagle Award: Bergelectric Corp. – Austin

Institutional $10-$25 Million Eagle Award: American Constructors Inc. – Del Valle ISD Athletics Facility

2018 Bob & Peggy Duda Chairman’s Award: Rita Conner - 360 Electrical

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Austin Construction News â&#x20AC;¢ NOV 2018