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Commercial Drywall, Inc.

Commercial Craftsman

Volume I, No. 6

April 1980

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Despite matioini^s economic woes

OOD future continues bright

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While the nation is apparently in the midst of an economic slowdown, Houston’s economy appears to be “holding its own" thus far. Despite the economic woes of the country, the construction industry in Houston seems to be affected less than would be expected. While Houston is escaping the brunt of this downturn, certain effects of the gloomy money situation have settled here as they have elsewhere in the nation. ^^Interest rates, especially the prime ®^rate, have skyrocketed in the big money centers of New York and Chicago. Consequently, the price of money in Houston has reached new levels, while at the same time, inflation is rising at an incredible 18 percent annual rate so far this year. What does all of this mean, especially to those of us whose jobs, as well as our livelihood, are so directly affected by the price and availability of money for new construction? First, the residential market has been the worst hit in the construction industry. New housing starts are off 50 percent in the city, a dramatic drop. However, Commercial Drywall with its impetus in the commercial market receives only the ripple effects of the housing downturn. The cause for such a slowdown in the residential market stems primarily from the same source that could affect the commercial end of .the industry as well. Tight money or ^«xpensive money is the felon. Developers in Houston are paying top dollars for the money used to finance new projects. The risk is that should the money situation continue to worsen, investors and developers

Despite a downturn in the economy as a whole, the commercial construction market has remained fairly strong in Houston. The downtown skyline changes rather quickly with the addition of several new high-rise office buildings, the vast majority of which are CDI projects.

city. It merely indicates that CDI, barring any unforeseen or dramatic dip in the Houston economy, should remain in a very favorable position in Where do we as Commercial the market. Drywall employees fit in this mixedTo CDI employees, it means that up, but obviously not-so-bright job stability, always in the minds of picture? CDI, thanks to its aggressive those in the construction industry, posture and farsighted management, especially during bad times, is has contract commitments that carry basically provided. But, it also means us into 1982. That means that should that to maintain a backlog that commercial construction bottom out enables us to function in a changing in the year ahead, CDI with its business environment, we must all present backlog of business, could work to see that we are contributing conceivably ride the crest of such a our fair share toward the success of downturn. the Company. These contributions in production and ideas have placed That does not mean to say that CDI in its present enviable position Commercial is in a position not to and will be what is necessary to worry, because obviously we cannot keep us number one regardless of sit unaffected by any severe economic trouble in the nation or the the economic situation. may hold off until the financial situation eases, bringing developers’ interest rates down.

From the top

Letters to Larry

CD0 atead ©If diywall ‘game’

Dear Larry:

by Dick Phillips

All of us in Austin and San Antonio are continuing to enjoy the Craftsman. The enlightening news information has done much to enhance company loyalty, unity, and pride. I would like to call your attention to our new secretary in the San Antonio office. She is Sandy Krzywosinski and, if possible, I would like to see her name in the new employee section. I am not familiar with the procedure in which you select the monthly “Key Person”; however, I would like to suggest one very exceptional employee. Over the last few years, Ms. Libby Ciancia has been a constant and almost invaluable aid to the branch offices. I am afraid many of her assets to the Company might be overlooked by the home office due to the fact that some of her time is spent in areas directly related to branch procedures. Libby has been a key figure in the success of our operations in Austin and San Antonio; therefore, I feel she is most deserving of special recognition. Sincerely, Mark Lehman Commercial-Austin Mark, I am glad to learn our fellow CDI employees in Austin and San Antonio are enjoying and benefiting from the Craftsman. Any way that I can further serve your needs there, just let me know. Your compliments of Libby and her work are very valuable, because often it is easy to overlook the fine efforts of some of our people because we have so many good ones. Rest assured that Libby’s efforts will not go unrecognized for long, and I’ll certainly add Sandy’s name to our growing list of CDI people who we are all proud of. —Larry Williams, Editor

I have just been exposed to what our industry looks like on a national basis at the Association of Walls and Ceiling Industries (AWCI) annual convention in Phoenix. Let me share a few of the things that I observed at the convention. NATIONAL MOOD—it’s gloomy. The market is down even in some of the areas around the country that are known for their excellerated building programs such as Los Angeles, Denver, and southern Florida. There was no real optimism for their drywall business much beyond this year. It seems that the unbelieveably high inflation rate and the 19 percent prime interest expense are starting to affect commercial construction in that investors and institutions are simply “shelving” their expansion or new construction plans. Although Houston is certainly not immune to these same problems, at this point we have heard very little about a slowdown. I personally left the convention feeling twice blessed. Once, for being associated with a strong agressive company and, secondly, for that company operating in a strong aggressive market. NEW PRODUCTS—are everywhere. I have attended a number of these conventions, but I have never been so impressed with the kinds of new ideas to help us do our job faster and easier. New things that range from exterior insulation schemes all the way to automatic screw guns. I came home with information on many of these innovations that I thought would be of interest to our people with the responsibility for keeping up with all the latest equipment. Much to my delight, I discovered that we are way ahead of everyone in testing and using new equipment. The high point of the whole convention for me was an afternoon discussion group on productivity which included approximately 60 contractors from all over the country It became obvious to me within the first 20 minutes that we were lightyears ahead of the typical contractor in our activities in this crucial area. 2

% The leader of the discussion was a very talented individual from the Fails .Institute, a management consultant firm specializing in the construction industry. He did a good job in laying out the basics and principles of improved productivity. However, he did not say anything we weren’t' already doing or had plans to do. It truly made me feel great that through the efforts of every man and woman in our company, we were already accomplishing many of the things that the speaker was encouraging us to do. From the comments of other contractors during and after the session, I found that the vast majority of them haven’t lifted the first finger yet to be innovative in trying new things both with employees and tools and equipment to reduce cost and therefore selling price. It was obvious that when in fact Houston suffers a slowdown in building activity, CDI will be the best equipped interior contracting firm and will be able to continue to get more than our share of the work.

The national mood may be on the gloomy side, but the Houston mood and the mood of CDI should be bright, aggressive, and optimistic.

Commercial Craftsman Editor: Larry Williams

The Commercial 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.O. Box 10686, Houston, Texas 77018.

t! hree AiDsm, earpsntsr toam fi®ad bydget beaters Commercial Drywall’s last four Budget Beater contests have seen some big winners emerge with Three Allen Center and two jobs led by carpenter foreman Randy Morgan taking every contest. Those involving Group One jobs were captured in the first bi-weekly period by Texas Tool, a Hines Industrial lease in southwest Houston and was followed by the Atascocita Elementary School. Both jobs were under the supervision of Randy Morgan.

Group Two lunches for the remaining two contests were won by Three Allen Center, giving that project four consecutive wins since the first of the year. The two wins earned members of that crew theater tickets for their third win and an evening banquet for the fourth time. The evening banquet featured a steak dinner Thursday, March 20, at the Texas Tumbleweed. Some 96 14-ounce steaks were served up to members of the Three Allen Crew and their wives and dates. In

attendance were several CDI field superintendents and office personnel, as well as special guests Buddy Miner and Melvin Hopper from Miner-Dederick, the general contractor for the project. Theater tickets, meanwhile, were handed out to Randy Morgan and Mark McKinney, the carpenter team who led three jobs to Budget Beat wins this year. The latest win was for column work being done on the Atascocita School, a project for Baxter Construction near Lake Houston. Randy and Mark, who have worked together for nearly two years now, are illustrative of how a “team concept” pays off. “I don’t think we work much harder than anyone else. It’s just that working together has allowed us to systemize our work,” says Randy. According to Randy, the key to staying below budget is to plan ahead and work consistently toward your goals Randy has been with Commercial for the past three years. He is married, and he and his wife, Helen, have a son who is 5. Mark and his wife, Lea, live near Splendora and have a son who is nearly 2. Mark has been with CDI for approximately two and one-half years. Randy and Mark deserve special congratulations for their fine efforts as they prove that individuals working together do make a difference in CDI's job performance. Also, every member of the Three Allen Center job has earned the respect of CDI with their continued dedication in doing the best job they can. Their accomplishments as “Budget Beaters” are unequaled.

Mew faees

The Texas Tumbleweed served up some good-sized steaks to the budget beating Three Allen crew, their wives, and dates. And, as evidenced by the bottom photo, everyone made short work of the delicious meal, which marked the project's fourth consecutive win this year.

James D. Jernigan . . . William G. Lockmiller. . . Jack A. Pifer, Sr. . . . William BeSaw . . . John Callaghan .. . Magin T. Deleon ... Lance Clark . . . Randall Hubbard . . . John Pena . . . David McKenzie . . . Michael L. Rider. . . Casey B. Huff. . . Donald Barrett... Mariano Sarmientos .. . Chris Kempenski. . . Nick Eularte . . . Larry James Hawkins ... Thomas L. Dwyer. . . David Cribbs . . . Daryl Cochrell . . . Michael L. Gensamer . . . Sandy Krzywosinski

EMPLOYEE NEWS

CD!—Sami Aotoi® has new manager Commercial Drywall in San Antonio has a new manager in Dave Demel, who previously was an estimator before replacing Jerry Bonds who recently resigned. Dave joined CDI only last July, but has several years of valuable experience in the construction industry, spending some four years with a major drywall firm in Houston. Another new addition to the San Antonio office is Sandy Krzywosinski, who handles the entire office/clerical responsibilities. In work activities, CDI-San Antonio has started the nine-story San Antonio Savings Association building and is approximately 10 percent into the eleven-story Holiday Inn North under the supervision of foreman Grady Atnip. Elsewhere, the Incarnate Word College job is substantially complete with Billy Buck heading up the work following Grady’s departure from there to the Holiday Inn. Additionally, CDI has recently completed the drywall portion of the Lytle State Bank, a project under the direction of Delton Sturgis. The installation of acoustical ceilings will wind up the activity there. Another key individual in the San Antonio office deserving recognition is Richard Lopez, who has been providing CDI with excellent work for more than a year now. Richard serves as the labor foreman for all of San Antonio. He does an outstanding job guiding the warehouse operations and getting materials to the jobs when and where they’re needed. Thanks, Richard, for your dedication and hard work!

Never, never grow so large that you lose personal concern for each and every patron . . . and never so large that you lose your own personal involvement with your products and with the quality for which you have striven.—Ward D. McArthur, 1930

CDI assistant controller Bill Schwegmann checks job cost figures for accuracy. Bill is an integral part of CDI's accounting department where he performs a variety of functions in “keeping the books.

Bill Schwegmann chosen ‘key person’ In a company the size of Commercial Drywall, it takes a lot of effort just keeping up with the paper work. One of the talented and hard working persons responsible for keeping track of “the books" is Bill Schwegmann, CDI’s assistant controller. Bill gets the tedious task of keeping up with the many checks that are written by CDI, as well as all costs we incur. His job is to see that these are attributed to the correct job or account number. And, these numbers tell us how much money we are spending on a certain job or in a certain area such as administration or public relations.

Bill’s normal work day is consumed in front of the adding machine which is evidenced by the tape wound around the desk by the end of the day. But accounting and numbers are what he enjoys. In fact, Bill is currently working on his CPA accreditation. While he has not set a definite timetable to achieve it, he just says, “I’ll get there someday.’’ Bill has been married for eight years, and he and his wife, Kathy, have a 14-month old son, Allan. He has been with CDI for the past two and one-half years, all of which have been spent in the accounting department.

Bill works under Barry Barnard, our controller, and among many duties helps prepare monthly financial statements, general ledgers, year-end work papers, financial statements, and closes out job numbers. After job numbers are closed, he looks for those that show unusual profits or losses and determines why this has happened. Sometimes all costs have not been put against the right job number and sometimes they get more than their share. One of Bill s tasks is to track down checks which do not have sufficient information to put them with the proper job number. He must then find out why a check was written or where it went in order to charge it to the right job or account number. 4

NGP boss, Roger Warman, center, goes over prints Kerssens looks on. Roger’s ability to solve problemi: factor in the success of the 20-story project in sout

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Supervisor of the month

Roger Warman earns March award “The crew that works together, succeeds together,” so believes Natural Gas Pipeline supervisor, Roger Warman. Roger’s crew is winding down work on the 20-story building by Harvey Construction, and it can be classified no less than a tremendous success. And this success has earned Roger CDI’s honor as March’s outstanding supervisor.

Roger, a youngster at 30, joined Commercial two years ago and prior to NGP ran work at the 3D International building where he completed the core and began lease work before coming to NGP. Some of those who excelled at NGP were carpenter foreman Aden Clarke, who did the layout and framing on much of the building. Also, R. C. Warman and Bill King handled the always rough stairways which, after completion, passed the city’s strict pressure tests on the first try, an unusual feat. a Assisting Roger on the core work ® was Roger Browning, while labor foreman Robert Overton did an outstanding job keeping work areas stocked with necessary materials. Heading the finishing operations at NGP was none other than Hilton Krenek, alias “Dr. Float.”

a #i m 'i a i

/ A Special attention to quality has helped to establish a smooth work flow at NGP and has been provided by a team effort from all of the CDI craftsmen on the job.

However, not all of the credit can go to the crew contends Aden Clarke. “We couldn’t have done the job we did without Roger,” he claims. “He was always in control, even when we ran into problems. He saved us from a lot of wasted time by being knowledgeable enough to make immediate decisions in situations where a lot of people would have had to consult with someone else to solve the problem.” And Roger’s support from his men doesn’t end there. Contends Billy King, “I wouldn't want to work for anyone else. He’s the best job supervisor I’ve been around.” This positive attitude has helped NGP win three budget beater awards

in the eight months of activity there. And, on the occasions when they didn’t win, they were always high in the rankings. Roger and his wife, Katy, have two children—Crystal, who will soon turn 9, and P. R., a son who’s now 7. The Warmans have one primary interest and that is horses. Living near Humble allows them to enjoy riding and working with the animals. Their devotion to this pastime is evident in the number of show trophies possessed by each of the children. Crystal, who has been showing horses since age 3, has some 150. Meanwhile, younger P. R. already has 80 trophies in his collection.

CDI—Austin gets IBM contract

ly King while Fred

So‘sbem‘m

CDI-Austin has announced another major contract involving the IBM complex where presently two buildings are under construction by CDI. Larry Hanvey, Austin vice president and general manager, said that the recently awarded contract calls for CDI activity in three large manufacturing buildings under the general contracting of KrausAnderson Construction Company. Presently at IBM, work is rapidly nearing completion with approximately 70 percent of the engineering building completed, while .... smaller manufacturing building the has been finished. 5

In other Austin happenings, the E. 0. Thompson building has passed the halfway mark and is expected to be completed in July. According to Larry, the Austin construction market is holding up well, and being only slightly affected by the economic downtown experienced elsewhere in the country. Larry believes that Austin’s growth in the months ahead will provide plenty of activity for his office. In fact, various projects still in their preliminary stages are being looked at by the CDI-Austin office.

Employ®® spotlight COMPANY NEWS

CDI softball teams The 55-story First International downtown is currently one in dty league aeffen Building of CDI's largest projects. With the

Commercial Drywall has organized two softball teams to participate in the City’s slow-pitch league this spring. Forty-three players signed up for the two teams—one a south team, the other covering the north part of Houston. The teams began league competition on April 6 and will play every Sunday afternoon for 10 weeks to complete the schedule. In addition, various tournaments are open to their participation during and after the season. Serving as coaches for the north team are Allan Field and Gregory Jecker, both carpenters in the Allen Center complex, and Jesse Copeland, a carpenter at First International Plaza. Heading up the south team are Jim Sonnier and Greg Jens, carpenters at Three Allen Center. Each CDI team has been placed in a league with five other teams. Teams placing first and second at the conclusion of the regular season in June will advance to the city playoffs. Anyone interested in attending any of the games can contact Larry Williams at 681-9287 for schedule information. Your support will be appreciated by all the members of the team.

CDI painter and south team third baseman. Don Harrison, shows how it's all done at a recent practice.

recent completion of the bank lobby and a host of leases, the finishing end of the job comes to play a greater role. And, one of those responsible for this segment is finishing foreman Ron Love. Ron works under Mike Hannah, who supervises the entire finishing there. And, according to Mike, Ron has done an outstanding job in keeping the operations going despite the magnitude of the project and the diffusion of work over several areas and floors. In his fourth year with CDI, Ron is a hand finisher and has worked on various CDI projects including One Houston Center and the Galleria II. His last six months, though, have been spent at FIB. One of Ron's toughest assignments there has been the bank lobby ceiling which required him and his men to tape, float, and run corner beads from their hands and knees. The eight-story, stairstepped ceiling was completely done from scaffolding where they often crawled around doing the work. But despite these conditions, the bank lobby ceiling came out extremely well, thanks to Ron's fine efforts as well as the excellent framing and hanging by Bobby Cocran. Right now, much of the finishing centers around completion of lease areas on several floors. As foreman, Ron’s primary responsibility is to line his men out so work is done in proper sequence and as efficiently as possible. He also follows behind to assure a complete and quality job by his men. This part, however, says Mike, is usually pretty easy because the quality produced by the finishers at FIB has always been well above standards. Approximately 22 finishers make up the FIB crew, both Ames tool men and hand tapers. Around 30 of the floors have been completed, 6

Ron Love is an important part of the finishing operations at First International Bank. In addition to lining out his men and checking work, he joins in on the action himself.

with work being done concurrently on several more. Some of those responsible for the excellent finishing jots on the bank lobby ceiling as well as the leases are Ponciano Villarreal, Oscar Garcia, Julian Coronado, Roland Dube and Larry Brown. Still others, too numerous to mention, contribute to the overall success of Ron's efforts. In contrast to the hectic pace of working on several floors of the large building, Ron’s home life is a little more quiet. His wife, Deborah, attends college studying for a teacher’s degree in special education and math. They have three children—Pam, 8, Tammy, 9, and Ronald, 14. The Craftsman wishes to extend its thanks to Ron for the super job he does for CDI. His efforts, as well as those with whom he works, contribute to CDI’s overall success.

Project of the month

Greenway Plaza seen© ©f continuing activity The three latest projects to go up in the Greenway Plaza development _the West Tower and Condominiums I and II—have been selected as March’s "project of the month." Greenway Plaza, the 127-acre mixed-use development in southwest Houston, has been the center of substantial CDI activity for the last several years. Its developer, Century Development Corporation, and CDI have enjoyed a successful relationship spanning approximately a dozen separate projects within the complex and in the Allen Center downtown. West Tower is a 31-story office building begun by CDI early last year. Current work involves the completion of leases on various floors as tenants continue to take occupancy. The West Tower matches line for line the already completed Coastal Tower located nearby. It stands 412 feet high and is a curtainwall of silver ^reflective and energy efficient glass ®and was constructed at an estimated Wcost of $50 million. The building has approximately 736,000 square feet of rentable space and is connected to a fourlevel, 2,420 space parking garage. West Tower, designed by the architectural firm of Lloyd, Jones, Brewer and Associates, has 15 high speed passenger elevators and has covered connections to all Greenway Plaza amenities.

Carpenter Freddy Back checks to ensure a level wall in the Greenway Condominium I

a The three buildings making up March's project of the month are shown above. In the background is The Greenway Condominium I on the left. Condo II in the center, and the mirroring West Tower on the right.

For CDI, work involves approximately 18 carpenters, finishers, and laborers. Heading up the lease work is carpenter foreman Bill Patrick. Noteworthy also was the outstanding job done on radius walls on the 17th floor by Bobby Burgess. All of the activity, although new leases, is under the direction of Greenway remodeling supervisor Luis Soliz. Meanwhile, work continues heavy on the Greenway Condominium I, a 30-story residential condominium tower which began last June for CDI. The building consists of 208 condominium units ranging from one, two, and three bedrooms to penthouse suites. The Condo I is under the supervision of Jay Richards who has been at the Greenway Plaza for nearly eight years on various projects. However, Jay is due to see a change in scenery this month as he moves downtown to the 75-story Texas Commerce Tower. Some 40 carpenters are being used on the Condo I with some of the work consisting of punch-out on the project which demands extreme exactness and high standards of quality. Because of the residential by nature of the project, special care CDI people must ensure that walls are plumb to a fraction of an inch 7

and all minor flaws typical of drywall construction are avoided. Carpenter foremen Glen Brabham and Abel Nunez direct the capenters’ efforts with the assistance of walking foreman Paul Herring. The finishing is headed up by Ken O’Brien, while labor operations are handled by Kenneth Williams. Condo I’s twin is currently under construction with CDI workers already doing layout and putting up top track. The Greenway Condominium II, as it is known, will be the supervision of Glen Brabham. Glen will inherit many of the CDI workers from Condo I which should bring a valuable experience to the second project. The Greenway condominiums are landmark projects for CDI, and Century and Bland development corporations, co-developers of the two buildings. The high rise structures stand at 300 feet and are the tallest residential buildings in the Southwest. They are being constructed at an estimated cost of $63 million. The twin condo towers, like West Tower, were designed by Lloyd, Jones, Brewer and Associates, and are under the general constructing of Miner-Dederick Construction Company.

Apiroi borthdays

The budget beating team of Randy Morgan, left, and Mark McKinney receiving commendation from CDI director of construction. Bruce Marek. Randy and Mark have played a major rote in three budget beater wins this year.

Aweodnoig cuts on the Job Cuts rank third on the list of the most frequent accidents experienced by CDI personnel. Fortunately, most cuts are usually less severe in nature than other mishaps. But with our increased use of power tools and machinery in our work, the potential severity of these types of accidents has increased dramatically. As in most cases, the best way to avoid a cut or puncture wound is to apply common sense to the job. The conditions that frequently surround cuts are using a tool improperly, using a tool that is damaged or defective, or using one for a purpose other than for which it was designed.

Commercial Craftsman Commercial Drywall, Inc. 3705 Piney Woods P.O. Box 10686 Houston, Texas 77018

The rules for preventing cuts and punctures include checking tools to see that they are in proper working condition before using them. If one isn’t, don’t use it. Secondly, always get the right tool for the job; don’t try to get by with what you have handy if it’s not what you need to do the job. In working with power tools, always keep hands and fingers as far from the moving parts as practical. Additionally, never operate a tool with a missing protective guard. And never remove or “rig” one to prevent the guard from doing its job.

% Dennis Alford . . . William Armstrong .. . James R. Barnes . . . G. Benjamin . . . Cecil Bevill. . . Anthony Brooks . . . George Bujan . . . Pedro Cerda . . . Wilson Chambers . . . Julian Coronado . . . Jesse Craddock . . . Nancy Craig . . . Gerald Crawford . . . Robert Farley . . . Garry Farmer. . . Guadalupe Flores . .. Eugene Foster. . . Carl Fowler. . . Daniel Fraleigh . . . James B. Frierson . . . J. D. Gibbins . . . Robert Gibson . . . Armando Gonzales . . . David L. Harris . . . Daryl Flammons . . . Larry Flanvey . . . Larry Fiodges . . . Steve Hollamon . . . Victor Inge . . . Edward V. Jefferson . . . Robert M. Keffeler. . . Michael Kundt. . . Chester Locks . . . Dale Longer. . . Julius Luckett. . . Bruce Marek . . . Steve Mayo . . . Ernest Miller. . . Steve W. Moore . . . Paul J. Moreno . . . Woodrow McDonald . . . David McKenzie . . . Jim McLemore . . . Albino Nunez . .. William Peters . . . Scott Ray . . . Linda Richter. .. Calvin Rideau . . . Paul Rose . . . # William C. Ross . . . Freddie Sam . . . John Samuels . . . Randy Sanchez . . . James L. Sonnier, Jr. . . . Richard St. Lawrence . . . Michael R. Thomas ... Terry Traylor... Donald Tullos . . . Larry Vance . . . Ftumberto Vargas ... Gerald Webb . . . Bobby Weisinger. . . Bobby West. . . Roger White . . . Tracy White . .. Doreen Wieder. . . Richard Wilson .. .

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PAID HOUSTON, TEXAS PERMIT NO. 2840