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Vol.
Craftsman
No. fi
April 1982
Top managers promoted
COD names n<&m president, ©jtGw ©fftifeeirs CDI has named Stan Marek its new president. The announcement was made recently along with several other promotions of key management people. In addition to Stan’s new position, Bruce Marek was named executive vice president, Barry Barnard was made vice president of finance, Michael Grogan was named president of CDI Systems in Dallas, and Larry Hanvey was made president of the company’s western division in Austin and San Antonio. «
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As president, Stan brings more than 13 years of interior construction experience to the position, in his most recent capacity, Stan headed the company's marketing department. Stan will lead CDI’s management team which includes various department heads. Throughout the years, CDI has emerged as a company strong in the team philosophy in which all major decisions are made by this management group. According to Stan, this team concept will prevail even more in the coming years. "We have always regarded it as the best method to solve problems and make decisions. With such a talented group composing our management team, I feel that we will utilize this approach even more. I have great faith and confidence in all of our top people,” says Stan. Meanwhile, Bruce Marek will serve CDI as its executive vice president. Bruce will retain his duties which primarily involve the control of the production department, a responsibility he held as its director of operations. As the head of production, Bruce will represent the field operations as a key member of the management team.
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Recent management moves include (clockwise) Stan Marek, president; Bruce Marek, executive vice president; and Barry Barnard, vice president of finance.
The other promotion involving CDIHouston has Barry Barnard assuming the title of vice president of finance. Barry, who heads the company’s accounting department has been its former controller and is responsible over a rapidly growing accounting group. Michael Grogan was named president of CDI Systems, our Northern division operations which includes Dallas and Fort Worth metroplex activities. Mike has acted as vice president and general manager for the past four years and has guided CDI Systems to a highly successful two years of operation. CDI Systems’ emergence as a strong entity in the Metroplex market and its early successes have more than earned the distinction for Mike.
In our western division, Larry Hanvey assumed the title of president, having served as vice president and general manager for the past five years. Larry's new role, too, reflects his success in making CDI in Austin and San Antonio two dynamic companies. (Editor's note: CDI's department heads Bobby Spencer, Alan Jezek, Robin Cravey, Bob Mueller and Hoagy Cannon will be featured in the next issue of the CDI Craftsman.)
From the top
Change—an opportunity It© gjr©w By Stan Marek
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“The only thing certain in life is change.’’ I don’t remember who first said those words, but it makes more sense every day. A lot of us at CDI have seen a great deal of change in the past several years. We have grown from a small drywall contractor six or seven years ago to the finest interior contractor in the country today. This growth and success is the result of our ability to change, our strength and versatility to adapt to changing market demands, changing economic conditions, a changing work force and changing relationships, both personal and business. With Dick’s departure, we begin a new era at CDI, one that can
hopefully carry out the many fine ideals and traditions he helped to initiate. In the past, CDI has always been able to view change as an opportunity to blend new concepts with the knowledge and experience gained before. We certainly have a lot of experience to draw upon and look to a bright future with many opportunities. Management at CDI has always utilized the team concept. We plan, manage, discuss and make decisions as a team. This approach pulls together the best minds, allows free discussion and results in a group decision. I feel very strongly that this approach has helped us to become what we are today. And, it is a tradition that we will certainly
carry on. Dick used to always say, “It’s a shame I never had a chance to go to Presidents’ school.” I’m beginning to see what he meant. But, one thing that has become more obvious to me in the past few weeks is that we have assembled the finest group of people in the entire construction industry. From management and office personnel to the pre-apprentice and everyone in between, no one can do it as good as CDI. Because of your fine talents and skills, I’m going to rely more and more on each of you. You are the greatest asset we have as a company, and I look forward to working with each and everyone of you for many years to come.
The big news for CDI in San Antonio, besides a new baby boy for manager Roy Van Cleave, is the development of the company’s paint group. According to Roy, the office has added a paint estimator, Harry Goodale, and a superintendent, Tom Scott. These two individuals will be responsible for getting CDI - San Antonio into the paint market. Already, they are teaming on Cline’s Landing, the twin six-story
condominium in Port Aransas where CDI has the drywall and paint contract. In addition, several other jobs are expected to come aboard in the coming weeks. “We’re really excited about getting into the paint end of the business," says Roy. “We have a good group of individuals who can get us off on the right foot. Both Harry and Tom come to CDI with a successful paint background." Meanwhile, the company is anticipating the start-up of a major project in June, the Forum office building. The Forum is a f6-story structure for Lyda, Inc., and is a development of Great America Corporation. The building will include drywall and acoustical ceilings for CDI and is located in Northwest San Antonio. Project manager, Dave Demel says that the Forum is part of a one million square foot development which will include office and hotel facilities. The first phase, of which the 16-story building is a part of, is scheduled for a spring 1983 completion. In other activity, CDI has begun a Vaughan Wall job in the Pan Am Building while Donald Buck is in the midst of tenant finish in a shopping center in New Braunfels.
Wayne Schultze is heading two jobs—A 12,000 foot lease at Digital Controls and another at One Riverwalk. Remodel work has also started on the Rand Building, an eight-story project for Spaw Glass. The job is being headed by foreman Mike Tinjero. In other news, Roy is the proud father of third son, Daniel Gray, who was born May 10. Both Daniel and mother Janet are doing fine. Congratulations Roy!
The Forum, a 16-story office building, was recently added to the backlog of work of CDI-San Antonio CDI is doing the drywall and ceilings.
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CDI Craftsman Editor: Larry Williams The CDI Craftsman is published monthly by Commercial Drywall. Inc. for its employees and their families. Employees should send their news contributions to Larry Williams, Commercial Drywall, Inc., P. 0. Box 10686, Houston, Texas 77018.
Fish in’ Foofe earn their name
Raim5 ©©Sd fail to stop 001 anglers
Most people probably can't readily recall what the weather was like on Saturday, April 24. But there are at least 110 people who won’t forget any time soon. Because that day was supposed to be bright, warm and sunny-a nice spring day for fishing. In fact, a perfect day for a bass tournament. But something went wrong. Maybe CDI anglers hadn't been living right or Larry Williams’ crystal ball had clouded up much like the weather did that day. Because the only thing that interrupted the steady rain that fell were the downpours that came just when the sky threatened to lighten up a little. And, the mercury in the thermometer had a light day never having to climb much over 60°. Despite these minor flaws in the weather, the Third Annual Fishin’ Fools Bass Tournament was the best yet. Of the 59 boats that entered the event, 55 showed up and fished. Four-Leaf carpenters Steve and Howard Boren walked away with first place honors. Their 17 lbs. 3 oz. stringer brought them each a trophy and $300 in cash. Not far behind was Allen Center carpenter Wiley Pierce and brother Gary, whose 16 lbs. 10 oz. netted them second place, a trophy and $250 cash. Third place honors went to Post Oak Central III foreman, Alan Jones and partner Ray Shaw.
Winners in CDI’s recent Fishin' Fools Bass Tournament include (l-r) Wiley Pierce, Howard Boren, Steve Boren, Dusty Lobb and Alan Jones.
The big bass trophy and the prize of $125 went to Four Oaks foreman Dusty Lobb, who weighed in a 5 lb. 12 oz. lunker. A total of 20 places were paid cash prizes in addition to a big bass “side bet" of $335, won by Transco carpenter Charles Wakefield. Fourth and fifth place, the two remaining big money spots, went to Ken Hyatt and Leo Ryza ($150 each) and Billy Patrick and Lee Alexander ($100 each). Sixth through tenth place earned $50 for each participant while 11th through 20th spots were paid $25 each. In all,
some $4,200 was spent on trophies, prize money and the fish fry. Special thanks for helping put together the fish fry in which approximately a hundred people were fed goes to ex-Long John Silver and now Greenway administrator Charlie Boyd. Charlie, along with Patsy Whitehead, did a fantastic job cooking up fifty pounds of catfish fillets. Also lending a much needed hand were Daryl and Ralph Hammonds who fried fifty pounds of fries and twenty pounds of hush puppies for the participants.
Although construction remains slow in Austin, CDI has commenced work on two new projects there. The first is the Lockheed Building F, a 100,000 square foot facility for Trammel Crow. The office/manufacturing building includes the contract for drywall, acoustical ceilings and paint and is being headed by CDI foreman Johnny Kovar. The other project is the five-story La Costa building under the direction of Jerry Wilhelm. Jerry and his crew will handle the drywall and acoustical ceilings on the core portion of the job. - 3 -
Meanwhile, CDI-Austin’s paint group continues to do well with two substantial jobs underway-the Prucare Facility and a building at Bergstrom A.F.B. Both are under the supervision of paint superintendent Cecil Freeman.
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president of^CDI in Austin and San Antonio.
While these jobs account for much of CDI’s present activity, future projects still loom big. Already under contract is a drywall, acoustical ceiling and paint job on the Sweco project to start in August. In the office, Claudia Whitehead has joined the company as secretary/receptionist.
Robert Orman EMPLOYEE NEWS
Robert Orman, supervisor of the month for February, is hard at work overseeing the painting at the Amoco Building.
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Tern©©® paint boss named supervisor ©f
CDI’s supervisor of the month award for February was presented to Robert Orman. At the time he received the award, Robert was supervising the painting at the Tenneco Employment Center. The Tenneco Center was one of the most challenging projects CDI has tackled-especially for Robert and his crew. The unusual design of the center, built on the top two floors of Tenneco’s 1010 Garage, made for an almost total lack of sequence. “There were no schedules to follow. It was, ‘Do it and well talk about it later’ most of the time,” explains Robert. “As soon as a wall would go up, they’d want it painted.” The most difficult portion of the paint work for Robert and crew were the skylights. Plywood was placed
atop tall scaffolding, and then the * crew painted the skylights lying on their backs, using automobile creepers to move around on. And, to top it off, this work was done last August. “It was like an oven in there,’’ says Robert. The Tenneco paint crew was also assigned the task of waterblasting and then painting the exterior of the 1010 Garage. Robert credits the hard work of Marvin Rickard and Charles Burgess, with completion of the exterior work. The largest number of painters Robert had on the job at one time was 24. Towards the end of the project, the painters worked a double shift. “Normal” work weeks as completion approached meant 12 hour days, including Saturdays. One Sunday, CDI workers put in 24 hours.
work at TCT and with core work at Allied will help him understand the particular needs of the jobsite supervisor when placing field personnel. The most challenging aspect of his new job, Ron says, will be to develop and initiate a
comprehensive safety program, and then see that it is carried out. “There’s no book to tell you how to make a man wear a safety belt when he is working in an elevator shaft,” explains Ron, “That's why this safety program will take so much work from everyone. There’s
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a prospect
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Ron McKinley has been named CDI’s new personnel manager. His responsibilities include interviewing and hiring field employees and coordinating their transfer between jobs. He is also in charge of the safety program and all workers’ compensation claims. In his role as personnel manager, Ron works closely with CDI supervisors in meeting their personnel needs. He then reviews his file of applications and a list he keeps updated to find the person ’best suited for the job. He then calls the supervisor back to let him know who has bfeen placed. Ron, who assumed his new duties April 12, says his first priority is to learn the placement aspect of his job thoroughly. Ron has been with CDI since January having served as a project administrator at two jobsites, first at Texas Commerce Tower under supervisor Jay Richards, then at Allied Bank Plaza under Daryl Hammons. “I ' was lucky to be trained by two very good supervisors,” says Ron. He feels his experience with lease
compensation and safety programs PerSOnne dutles■ Ron oversees the workers’
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But, despite all the problems and the crazy sequence, says Robert' “The job turned out real pretty. ’ Everyone was happy with it" Robert has been with CDI three years. Prior to going to work for the company, he did some , , . contracting for a couple of years, but, he savs “That got pretty hectic."
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“I wasn’t going to be a painter but things just turned out that way,” says Robert. The thing Robert likes best about working for CDI is the attitude of the supervisors “They seem like they care a lot about you,” he explains. Robert and his wife, Hilda, have two daughters, Melissa, 5, and Michelle, 3. He enjoys working in his garden at home and fishing in his time away from work.
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Reynaldo, Ponce, CDI office courier, is on his way to an important delivery. Renalydos job takes him to all parts of the city almost every day.
Employ®® Spotlight
Office courisf always ©mi the g© «•
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no cut and dried answer.” One aspect of the job as safety program coordinator is conducting periodic jobsite safety checks. “There is a negative and a positive approach to safety,” says Ron. “The negative approach is citations, threats and termination. But, we have to have it and it has to be a strong one.” However, he explains, he intends to work towards a strong positive approach, also. This would include the possibility of safety awards and recognitions that would encourage craftsmen to be safe before the accident or the violation. Ron is a native Houstonian who graduated from Sam Houston High School. He holds a B.B.A. from Sam Houston State University, and presently spends a lot of his time away from work as youth director at Little York Baptist Church. He also enjoys playing chess, fishing and hunting. Tw° 0 Ron’s brothers, Bruce Jr. and David McKinley, are also CDI employees.
When CDI office personnel need to get something somewhere fast, they depend on Reynaldo Ponce, the office courier. One of Reynaldo's major responsibilities as courier is the delivery of invoices to CDI customers. If the invoices are not delivered by the billing date, they remain open for another 30 days. Consequently, it is extremely critical that Reynaldo get these bills to their proper destination on time. With today’s high interest rates, another 30 days before payment means a lot of extra expense. Reynaldo’s everyday responsibilities include mail pick up, bank deposits and general pick ups and deliveries. Sometimes, he will get an urgent call from the office, requiring him to drop whatever he is doing and complete the task, which could mean a trip back to the office, then out again to the other side of
anytime and he will. A lot of couriers won’t go out after 3:30 to 4:00 in the afternoon because the traffic is so bad, but Reynaldo will. If you ask him to go out at 5 p.m. he does it. He always puts his job first.” Reynaldo says he enjoys working for CDI because of the friendly atmosphere. “I really like the people I work with,” he says. Reynaldo grew up in Eagle Pass, and moved to Houston about two years ago. He says one of the reasons the Houston traffic doesn’t really bother him that much is because he gets to see a lot of things in Houston that he never saw in a small city like Eagle Pass. Before joining CDI 10 months ago, Reynaldo worked as a foreman for a tree company. He enjoys running, swimming, recreational sports and listening to music.
th Reynaldo describes himself as “not really the office type.” He enjoys his job as courier because it gives him a chance to meet people and visit other offices and businesses. According to Administrative Manager, Larry Williams, You can ask him to do almost anything
People may fall many times, but they become failures only when they begin to blame someone else. You can tell when you're on the right track-it's usually uphill.
Project highlight COMPANY NEWS
The recently completed 30-story Four Seasons Hotel, part of the fast-growing Houston Center development downtown, proved to be an unusual challenge to CDI Craftsmen.
Words of wisdom . . . One way to get high blood pressure is to go mountain climbing over molehills. — Earl Wilson I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed. -Booker T. Washington Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today, because if you enjoy it today, you can do it again tomorrow. James A. Michener A man always has two reasons for doing anything-a good reason and the real reason. -J. Pierpont Morgan The reason it is so difficult to make ends meet is because someone is always moving the ends.
F@yr Seas®os Drywall work in a hotel always means higher standards and lots of specifications, but the recently completed Four Seasons Hotel in downtown, with its tight schedules and luxury interiors, was a special challenge to every CDI craftsman who worked on it. During its construction, some 1500 changes were made to the already intricate blueprints. This meant extra work for every phase of the drywall work. “There were lots of times when tempers reached the breaking point,” says Bob Cocran, general foreman on the project. “But, most of them just grinned and beared it and kept right on going.” Despite all the last-minute changes, tricky details and communication problems between the crafts and the general contractor, the Four Seasons management was able to greet the first guests on the scheduled date. “Getting it done on the time schedule we had was really outstanding,” says Bob. “Everyone who worked on that hotel has something to be proud of. I am real happy to have been a part of it.” The Four Seasons occupies a full city block in the Houston Center development. The tower, where all the rooms and apartments are located, rises from the center of a four story block square base. A grand staircase three stories high rises from the center of the base to tie together all the common areas of the hotel. The staircase is located in the atrium area and is highlighted by fountains, skylights and lots of plants. The first four floors called for so much work that separate foremen were assigned to the first four floors and to floors 5-30. The work on the first four floors was done under the direction of George Speaker. John Ingram handled it from the fifth floor up. Fred Lay, supervisor of the ErSct’sums il UP simply by sayinq lobbvVv 6 m°St impressive hotel lobby Ive ever seen in my life” caLTln?6 h0tel’s feature's that ingenuity of CDIPa ience anc* craftsmen included - 6 -
special challenge
The plush interior of the Four Seasons Hotel exemplifies the high quality and intricate work demanded from the CDI craftsmen who worked on the new luxury hotel.
the light coves in the rooms and double layer sheetrock of all walls. Especially challenging was the fact that each ceiling on the first four floors called for a six inch radius. “You can’t hardly make a six inch radius with sheetrock,” commented Bob. However, craftsman Randy Osborn came up with the idea to use PVC pipe to make the radius. Finishing foreman Joe Robbins and his crew then formed the radius from sheetrock mud. “They did a job that was just out of sight,” says Bob, finding himself totally unable to visualize the final product until the ceiling was actually hung. “That’s how confusing those prints could be,” he says. Well over a hundred craftsmen manned the job at its peak, and the number of those who gave the extra effort needed to finish with a high quality product are too numerous to name. The carpenters under Fred and Bob, the finishers under Joe Robbins and the labor crew headed by Gene Hurd feel especially Pr0LJ of what they were able to produce under some really tough conditions.
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paint foreman honored
Tony Cuellar r@<£®BW@s supervisor award
Paint supervisor Tony Cuellar, ■0 supervisor of the month for March, is the kind of person every superintendent would like to have on every job. Jerry Featherston, paint superintendent, has nothing but praise for Tony, who has been with CDI for five years. “When I have a job that is going to require a lot of top-notch, high quality work, I usually reserve it for him,” explains Jerry. Tony says he likes doing the high quality jobs. He sees everyone as a challenge. “They really keep you on your toes,” he says. Tony and his crew are completing the Foley’s store at Highway 6 and Westheimer, which called for 58 different colors of paint and 42 different wall coverings. Working with Tony on the Foley’s job are Don Harrison, who did virtually all the wall coverings single-handed, Fred Cuellar, Tim Cruse, and Roberto Galvan. Tony started with CDI when the paint group consisted of only about four or five painters. “Now, they’re one of the biggest, and will get bigger,” he says. “The superintendents and the owners treat me fairly. They are good people to work for.”
Paint supervisor Tony Cuellar (right) was named supervisor of the month for March. He is shown here, along with crew member Don Harrison, at the Foley’s store at Highway 6 and Westheimer.
Tony participated in the CDI inhouse supervisors training program, and says he feels the program helped him a lot, especially in the areas of employee relations and communication. “People know what is expected of them on Tony’s job, but he is not
High Bevel conference CDrs MW* an 1*. ** .
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harsh about it. They know what they have to do when they go on his job. And, if they don’t do it, they’re gone,” says Jerry. Jerry also applauds Tony’s ability to handle problems. "When I put on a job, I don’t have to worry about it,” he says. “I wish I had 20 of him — then I could just come in on Fridays and pick up my paycheck.” Tony's next job will be the painting at the Warwick Towers condominium project. Jerry says he feels Tony will do a good job there because of his ability to handle the high quality jobs and his previous experience in homes. “Tony has a special way of working with the general contractors, too. The never forget him and always like to see him return and do another job for them,” says Jerry. Some of the jobs that Tony has been involved with that he sees as most challenging have included the McClendon Engineering, Coca Cola, and Pollution Control buildings, a Sears store and the Richmond Towers. Tony and his wife of 16 years, Nelda, have two sons, Danny, 14, and Junior, 9. In his spare time, Tony enjoys playing golf and tennis and generally “getting away from it all.”
CD! Systems expands onto computer flooring CDI Systems in Dallas is opening a new territory with its recent emergence into the computer flooring business. This, along with its other activities including fireproofing, is giving the Dallas office virtually total interior construction capabilities. To carry out the computer flooring, CDI has added John Sinayi to its sales and estimating staff. John is a native of the Dallas area and has an extensive background in the field. Already, the company has landed work on two floors of the IBM Building at Las Colinas, as well as a substantial job at North Texas State University in Denton. Recently
completed was a job for Texas Instruments while several jobs are being bid for the near future. While the computer flooring is getting its start, other drywall activity in Dallas and Fort Worth remain heavy. The 50-story Arco Building, for one, has about a dozen craftsmen on its core. Work there presently involves standing coreboard on the center shafts and fireproofing the structure. Jerry Baccus is serving as CDI’s supervisor with David Sparacino handling foreman responsibilities. Elsewhere, the 25-story Galleria Tower is gearing up with stocking for
tenant and acoustical materials. The job is under the supervision of Michael Grecco. Upcoming work for CDI Systems includes the Two Lincoln Centre, a 19-story tenant job to start in early June for Lincoln Properties. Several new faces can be found around the office. Retha Brown has come aboard as receptionist, while Beth Chory is handling the drafting detail for computer flooring and training in the budgeting department. Also new is Gary Stewart who is working in expediting with Roger Smith. Gary replaces Marty Yearout who recently resigned.
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Craftsmen honored at breakfast
Michael Grogan was named president of CDI Systems in Dallas.
CDI Systems held its second supervisors’ breakfast recently. The meeting brought together approximately 50 office and supervisor personnel to discuss company business and present awards. Highlighting the program was the presentation of two supervisor awards and five belt buckles for outstanding achievement. David Thom who heads the 40-story City Centre II, was recognized for his efforts as one of the company’s leading supervisors. David has been with CDI for over a year and has done a tremendous job. The other supervisor award went to Richard Schrieber. Richard
handles CDI’s ceiling operations and is presently directing that phase of work at the 50-story Placid/Elm building. According to superintendent Chuck Grogan, Richard has done a great job since he joined the company last year. Meanwhile, belt buckles went to five deserving craftsmen including Ramon Esquivel, who works at Continental Plaza; David Sparacino, now at the Arco Building; Donald Frank on the Continental National Bank Lease; Julian Braddock and Randy Grayford. Incidentally, Randy heads CDI’s softball team which is presently in first place in Dallas league competition.
CDI Craftsman Commercial Drywall. Inc 3539 Oak Forest Drive PO. Box 10686 Houston, Texas 77018
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