Construction Today Volume 19, Issue 3 & 4

VOLUME 19, ISSUE 3/4

construction-today.com

Breaking the glass ceiling

When a glazing project includes extreme engineering challenges, clients know they can rely on the skills and experience of Giroux Glass to deliver an outstanding final result

Materials Why a strong Plan B needs to be in place if you are to deal with sourcing challenges pg.4

Trends What is in store for the US construction sector as it responds to postpandemic conditions pg.8

Editor’s Letter Chairman Andrew Schofield Managing Director Joe Woolsgrove Editor - Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.com lhammond@finelight-media.com Assistant Editor - Will Daynes

ON THE COVER Staff Writers - Daniel Baksi, Danielle Champ, Jessica Olley XX.\ XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX Managing Art Editor - Fleur Daniels Xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Art Editor - David Howard xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx Art Editor - Paul Gillings Sales Director COLUMNS AND CONTRIBUTIONS Alasdair Gamble FROM OUR EDITORS AND WRITERS Business Development Director XX.\ XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX Philip Monument Xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Research Managers xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Michelle Fontaine, Natalie Griffiths, Jo-Ann Jeffery, Ben Richell, Basil Sharpe

XX.\ XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX Editorial Researchers Adam Xxxxxx Blanch, xxxx Victoria Burke, xxxx xxxx Mark xxxxxCowles, xxxx xxxx xxxx Jeff Goldenberg, Dan Harrison, Melanie Joyce, xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx James Page, Wendy Russell, Richard Saunders, Kieran Shukri XX.\ XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX

Advertising Sales Xxxxxx xxxx xxxxJessica xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Johanna Bailey,xxxx Mike Berger, Eglington, James xxxxx Fuller,xxxx Alex xxxx Hartley, Lingle, xxxxReid xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Sam Surrell, Gregory Waller FloridaXX.\ General Manager XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX Ryan Finn Xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Bostonxxxxx General Manager xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Joy Francesconi

Hello and welcome to the April issue of Construction Today.

We manage to cover a variety of topics for you this month – from natural hazards to modular construction and still we barely scratch the surface of the what is on the agenda in boardrooms today. Brad Barth predicts some trends for the year on page 8 (see if you agree with what he forecasts!) and Will Daynes interviews Rob Haddock of S-5! to find out why everyone needs a Plan B. Take a look on page 4.

Our cover story this month shines the spotlight on

Custom Media Sales XX.\ XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX Dan Bess Xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Digitalxxxxx Sales xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Mike Psimis

an extensive history and a portfolio of extraordinary,

Subscriptions i.kidd@schofieldpublishing.com

She credits her team of staff as a feature that sets the

Administration Rory Gallacher, Ibby Mundhir

VOLUME 19, ISSUE 3/4

the capabilities of Giroux Glass – a glazing company with construction-today.com

Breaking the glass ceiling

award-winning projects. In our feature on page 54, Nataline Lomedico, the company’s Chief Executive Officer and President, shares some of the secrets of Giroux’s success. business apart: “We believe our employees are not only important, we do our best to learn how they need to be

When a glazing project includes extreme engineering challenges, clients know they can rely on the skills and experience of Giroux Glass to deliver an outstanding final result

taught in order to grow and thrive. By prioritizing our people, we create success. The faith we put into our crew leads to

Materials Why a strong Plan B needs to be in place if you are to deal with sourcing challenges pg.4

them taking the utmost pride and precision in all they do,

Trends What is in store for the US construction sector as it responds to postpandemic conditions pg.8

whether that’s through double checking their work, or even © 2022 Schofield Publishing Ltd Schofield Publishing Ltd - Corporate Head Office Cringleford Business Centre, 10 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, U.K.

T: (312) 854-0123 T: +44 (0)1603 274130

XX

soliciting feedback from our clients for example. By wanting our employees to succeed, they in turn ensure that our clients succeed as well.”

Giroux has worked on some of the US’ most interesting and challenging projects – it is well worth giving it a read and seeing for yourself.

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T: (561) 778-2396

Please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every

Libbie Hammond EDITOR

libbie@schofieldpublishing.com

reasonable effort is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, and correct at time of writing, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the property of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Features 4

MATERIALS

In a market facing challenges including materials shortages, it’s never been more important to have

30

36

contingency plans in place

6

LABOR

The role of construction HR is changing - it is critical to establish a value proposition for potential hires and become a magnet for top talent

8

TRENDS

What is in store for the construction sector in 2022?

Digital transformation and the uptake of sophisticated technology is on the agenda

12

QUALITY

While many in the construction market are looking to

Bryan Construction

Russell

make economies, quality has to remain paramount – to achieve this requires smart thinking

14

NEWS

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The latest news and announcements from the world of North American construction – contracts, projects, products and more!

16

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The sector is talking about going digital and one advanced technology that is being touted as the future is Artificial Intelligence

18

MODULAR CONSTRUCTION

As modular methods continue to grow in importance in the construction sector, one area where their benefits shine is disaster relief

18

Bove Industries, Inc

Coastal Construction

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70

OC Construction Management

US Framing

22 CASE STUDY How one company has seen multiple benefits from a new software implementation designed to manage its fleet of construction vehicles

24 NATURAL HAZARDS The onus is on organizations to determine their natural hazard risk management strategy and the time to act is now

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Profiles

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40

Russell

uction

Quasius

54

Giroux Glass

60

COVER STORY

74

Willis Smith Construction

Kowalski Construction, Inc

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Action Gypsum 3 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

© Texoma Drone Solutions, LLC

The Power of Plan B

In a rapidly changing world, it has arguably never been more important for businesses to have a credible Plan B in place should the unexpected occur, reports Will Daynes

W

ith close to 50 years

include higher raw materials and goods

spent our time and resources developing

of industry experience

prices, supply chain backlogs, increased

our digital marketing means – by introducing

under his belt, it is

lead times, shipping delays and labor

a more user-friendly website with revamped

true to say that Rob

shortages. Meanwhile, with lockdowns and

content, an online resource and training

Haddock has witnessed his fair share of

other restrictions forcing many companies

center, and a host of other web-based tools

events in his time. A metal roof consultant,

to suspend or shut down production for

– which proved to be incredibly beneficial.”

author, speaker, inventor and the founder

various lengths of time, the result has

of Colorado Springs-based business S-5!,

been an increase in demand meeting with a

costs, Rob and his company have responded

Rob has experienced first-hand the not-

decrease in supply.

to these challenges in several ways, not

uncommon regional ebbs and flows that

Despite all of the above, however, Rob’s

In terms of raw material sourcing and

least of all by maintaining the long-lasting

the construction industry in the United

(now global) business – like a number of

relationships it enjoys with its key suppliers.

States periodically goes through, as well

others – actually found itself growing

“In my experience, it all begins with

as some of the more significant events of

throughout the last two years, and as he

transparency and being able to have good

modern times, such as the housing crash of

goes on to note, this was a result of being

honest conversations,” Rob states. “We have

2008/2009. What has come since, however,

mentally resourceful, willing to innovate,

been very candid all along with our existing

in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic has

and always having a ‘Plan B’. “When the

vendors about the need to seek alternative

been of a scale that the likes of even Rob

pandemic first hit and all travel came to

sources during these difficult times, and

had never seen before.

a halt, that had an immediate impact on

to their credit, we have found many who

us, as ours is a company that thrives on

are more than happy to aid us in finding,

of the more traumatic things that I have

moving around both domestically and

qualifying and onboarding additional raw

seen, as it impacted the whole country and

internationally, meeting customers and

materials suppliers.

was so inclusive. But the pandemic and

channel partners, attending trade shows

“A further important step that we

the global magnitude of it has initiated

and so on. Almost immediately, we shifted

have taken is to invest in ways of doing

a shaking and created challenges that

the way we went-to-market. We turned

things more expediently and more

we – as an industry – have never seen the

to video conferences and educational

efficiently, delivering cost savings for

equivalent of,” Rob explains. Said challenges

webinars to engage our customers. We

not only ourselves but our customers as

“The housing crash was, at the time, one

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Materials

well. During the last year or so, we have endured raw material cost increases of around 30 percent, yet I am pleased to say that by offsetting increased costs with more efficient processes, on average we have only found ourselves passing along a six percent increase on our goods to our customers.”

What all the above actions point to is the sheer importance of having a Plan B in place and executing it swiftly. “I personally cannot speak highly enough of that,” Rob affirms.

“We have all heard of the term Murphy’s Law, which states that ‘if anything can go wrong, it will.’ Well, the way I see it is, having a Plan B allows you to cheat Murphy out of his due!

Even when things are going smoothly with one’s Plan A, there will always be twists and turns in the road, and all manner of external forces that can impact your business. What a well-thought-out Plan B allows you to do is pivot your activities and operations in rapid fashion, meaning whatever life throws at you, you don’t lose the momentum you had going for you.”

While the worst years of the pandemic are, hopefully, now behind us, the world still faces a fluid and rapidly changing future, and one that is certain to be filled with the unexpected. “A few months ago, listening to the experts and our peers within the construction industry, the predictions were to see moderate growth year-overyear both across the United States and globally in coming months,” Rob notes. “This was to pick up as more restrictions ease, manufacturing facilities ramp up production, and supply begins to catch up with demand.

The result later this year would be an easing in raw materials prices, perhaps in Q3 or Q4 2022. Then, (case in point) the crisis in Ukraine happened!

“Whatever wildcards may be dealt, my philosophy will remain the same. Having a strong Plan B in place, is a huge stress-

Interviewee – Rob Haddock, Director of Metal Roof Advisory Group, CEO/Founder of S-5! www.s-5.com

saver and puts us all in a better place to handle anything that comes our way with a level head!”

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Providing the edge How construction businesses are beating the labor shortage and attracting a new generation of workers. By Jenn Said

W

ith several factors

construction businesses as they struggle to

contributing to a

compete with more tech-forward industries in

Touting technology to attract techsavvy candidates

widespread construction

attracting young professionals. Simply offering

The construction industry hasn’t recovered

labor shortage, attracting

bonuses and higher pay alone won’t do the

from its loss of talented workers during the

and retaining skilled workers is more complex

trick. Construction businesses must rethink

recession of the mid-2000s, as many moved

than it’s ever been.

operations with the mindset and needs of

on to other industries and construction’s

younger, more tech-savvy, career-driven

appeal among younger workers waned.

During the pandemic 2.5 million people retired from the U.S. workforce, many

workers in mind.

Younger, tech-savvy professionals want

earlier than planned, leaving a gaping hole

assurance that they will have access to

in professional labor pools. At the same

emerging technologies while advancing

time, Americans who lost their jobs early

their careers, leading some contractors to

in the pandemic turned to unemployment

entice candidates by touting their use of

benefits to stay afloat. As these benefits were

drones, wearables, artificial intelligence,

extended and bolstered, many workers found

data analytics, BIM and other technologies.

returning to work in a pandemic environment

Once they have a candidate’s attention,

to be too risky or challenging, especially in light

construction businesses are finding that

of remote learning for school-aged children.

automated hiring and onboarding workflows

As they now return to the workforce, many

are the first opportunity to showcase their use

Americans are demanding greater flexibility,

of modern technology.

better benefits and more opportunities for

Very few people want to fill out stacks of

advancement. Some experts have suggested

Above: In 2018, ASRC Builders and Builders Choice

paper when applying for a job or completing

that we’re not experiencing a worker shortage,

Modular constructed a 320-bed housing, dining

onboarding for a new position. Requiring

but instead, a renaissance. And with so many jobs to fill, winning over skilled workers has become highly competitive.

The pressure is especially felt by

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and recreation facility to accommodate teams from many companies working on construction projects in support of the Missile Defense Agency’s long-

candidates to complete lengthy applications or manually fill out onboarding paperwork

range discrimination radar, targeted for completion

increases the likelihood that they will abandon

in 2023

the opportunity in search of something

Labor

easier and better. Even more, today’s

variety of HR-related tasks. This is particularly

paper and lost forms has been huge and made

younger professionals are more attuned to

true of younger workers who expect access

a positive impact on everyone.”

mobile technologies, meaning that they do

to information when they need it. With the

everything - from buying groceries to yes,

right HR management solution, construction

HR teams are freed up to focus on other

applying for jobs - via their smartphones or

businesses can empower employees

important aspects of the job. “The time

other mobile devices.

to manage time off requests, benefits

savings has allowed our HR assistant to shift

enrollment, documentation.

At Miller Insulation, a North Dakota-based

our HR director the bandwidth to focus on big picture initiatives like training, boosting

documents for everything from onboarding

morale, benefit plan analysis and recruiting,”

to requesting PTO and accessing paystubs.

said Hager. “She’s also been able to get out to

The company had moved other areas of the

our branch offices more often to work directly

company’s operations to Trimble Viewpoint’s

with employees.”

“Before moving to Viewpoint HR

Scot Strickland, MIS manager at ASRC

departments within the company and given

employees were required to fill out paper

to HR.

ASRC Construction

duties and provide more assistance to other

commercial and residential contractor,

Vista ERP solution but hadn’t yet rolled it out

Above: Scot Strickland, MIS manager at

With employees able to self-serve,

Automating HR management reduced ASRC Construction’s number of full-time HR staff by two full-time employees. “Our HR teams

Management, our employees would fill out

are no longer shuffling paperwork and re-

paper forms and send them to corporate

keying data so they have time to interact with

for staff to input into Viewpoint Vista,” said

employees and focus on other aspects of their

Corey Hager, CFO. “Now, employees can

jobs that they couldn’t always get to before,”

manage, upload and access their information

said Strickland.

from mobile devices and tablets. Eliminating

Construction shares how migrating from paper

The bottom line

to automated HR processes with Viewpoint

The role of construction human resources

HR Management reduced candidate attrition.

is changing. HR is no longer considered a

“Today, our new employees follow a digital

department that fills out paperwork and I-9

onboarding workflow that gets them on the

forms. Instead, it needs to be considered a

jobsite faster,” he said. “Before we automated

talent development department, helping

onboarding, it wasn’t unheard of for HR

organizations recruit and retain good workers.

to send a candidate a new employee PDF

It’s critical to establish a value proposition

package and never hear back. This happens far

for potential hires and become a magnet for

less now that we’ve made the process digital.”

top talent. In the search to attract and retain

By digitizing document management,

employees, particularly young workers,

human resources teams can choose which

bringing automation to HR is providing the

documents are dispersed to which employees,

edge that many construction businesses need.

easily manage tasks and checklists, collect electronic signatures and require employees

For a list of sources used in this article, please

to acknowledge documentation or specific

contact the editor.

requests. This minimizes the amount of time employees would spend sorting through paper forms and documents, and the amount of time HR departments spend inputting new hire information into their back-office systems.

Empowering employees with self-service Research reveals that 73 percent of fulltime U.S. workers expect their employer to provide a high-level of employee self-service, allowing them to independently complete a

Jenn Said is a freelance who covers the construction industry.

Trimble is an industrial technology company transforming the way the world works by delivering solutions that enable its customers to thrive. Core technologies in positioning, modeling, connectivity and data analytics connect the digital and physical worlds to improve productivity, quality, safety, transparency and sustainability. From purpose-built products to enterprise lifecycle solutions, Trimble is transforming industries such as agriculture, construction, geospatial and transportation. www.trimble.com

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US 2022 Construction Trends Brad Barth looks at what is in store for the US construction sector in 2022, and how key functions like risk assessment, labor management and procurement will respond to the post-pandemic world, when the pressure is on to deliver an increasing number of capital projects

C

onstruction is reliably cyclical.

services regularly exceeds the capacity

pressure in the US to deliver a significantly

Demand ramps up, ramps down

for the industry to deliver, which has built

heightened slate of industrial, energy and

and then goes back up again

up pressure in a number of key – albeit

wider infrastructure projects.

broadly in sync with wider

predictable – areas.

starts are one of the key indicators of

a situation where they are scrambling just

Risk management will get evermore democratic

economic direction.

to get companies to do the work – especially

The spotlight remains on project controls

economic cycles. Indeed, new construction

In many ways that is still true. We are

Capital project owners find themselves in

in the US. The focus is therefore very much

tools that help both owners and contractors

currently more than a decade into one of

on scheduling, productivity and timely

produce more realistic schedules and budgets

the longest upswings that anybody in the

delivery – with budget protection a secondary

to achieve more predictability in capital

industry can remember, one which started in

consideration. Though the question of

project delivery. We expect that focus to

the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008.

‘Are we spending money in the right way?’

continue, regardless of macro-economics.

And though construction professionals in

continues to be front of mind, ‘Can we deliver

However, this mindset now extends to

The Americas are largely optimistic about

on time?’ is increasingly becoming a far more

almost all areas of the business. One of the

their future, demand for construction

common consideration in light of increasing

most striking is the way that planners are

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Trends

build and alternative delivery contract

grapples with an affordability problem. As we

models is also shining the risk spotlight

saw in the recession in 2008-2009, there will

on designers and engineers, who are also

be increased scrutiny over which projects to

feeling the pressures of outsized demand.

fund, what scope they must contain to justify

Understanding the risk associated with the

a return on investment, and what risks there

completion schedule for design deliverables,

are in overshooting the budget.

along with the ever-present risk of quantity

However, there are some unique counter-

growth as the designs evolve, is fundamental

cyclical forces within this construction cycle,

to creating realistic construction schedules

such as massive government spending

and budgets.

plans designed to drive job growth. The

The democratization of risk assessment

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in

is enabling smaller firms to efficiently tackle

the U.S. is a perfect example, with US roads,

risk without the staff and specialized experts

bridges, rail, airports, ports, waterways,

in place at larger firms. In other words, what

power, and IT infrastructure set to benefit

used to be the domain of the most mature

from $550 billion of federal investments over

and sophisticated organizations is now

five years. Such publicly-funded programs

moving to the mainstream. As an effective,

will continue to drive construction demand

technology-enabled alternative to the static

independent of the economic factors at play

risk assessment workshops of the past, we

in the private sector. The result may well be a

can realistically expect it to become one of

delicate balancing act that serves to prolong

the more noticeable trends of 2022.

the current growth cycle of the construction industry, with an appropriately balanced view

Counter-cyclical forces

of both schedules and costs.

using cloud-based solutions to collaborate

The question that is front of mind at the

Another potential counter-cyclical force,

with subject matter experts to identify cost

moment, is to what extent the return of

depending on its direction is the pandemic,

and schedule risks. In a rapidly changing

inflation will affect the construction cycle,

which has so far exacerbated the industry’s

economic environment, the ability to

especially in the US where inflation hit a

long-term labor shortage issues, and added

continuously assess risk has become

40-year high in January. Inflationary pressure

to the difficulties of getting the right people,

increasingly important.

almost always stems from high demand

equipment, and materials to the right job

outpacing supply, but in this construction

sites at the right time. Only time will tell if

traditional means of conducting isolated,

cycle there are other forces at work. If the

those stresses on productivity get better or

point-in-time risk assessments. In its place

current retreat of the pandemic holds, some

worse.

is a more democratized approach where

of the current ‘artificial’ drivers of inflation

experienced experts regularly provide their

will likely ease. That could help to contain

insights as inputs into collaborative risk

inflation without the monetary policy

New ways of working will remain embedded

models that planners can use to quantify cost

interventions that generally quell demand.

Public health concerns forced construction

and schedule risk on an ongoing basis.

Regardless, the spotlight on project cost is

firms to leverage technology in order to

almost certain to get brighter as the industry

re-think hiring processes, to find new and

That means moving away from the

What’s more, the trend toward design-

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appropriate ways to on-board people, and

to continue to deliver efficiencies that

with near zero expectation of anything close

to add new layers of compliance processes at

will alleviate some of the imbalances

to historical prices.

job sites.

between demand and supply, and enable

We’re seeing that pan out in procurement

companies on the supply side of that

departments and contracting discussions

technologies and automated systems

equation to deliver predictable results when

across the country. Where once construction

that have helped strapped workforces

it comes to capital projects.

firms had a Plan A, and maybe a notion of

It also increased the use of cloud-based

a Plan B, now there is a whole alphabet of

operate more efficiently. These kinds of

scenarios and what-ifs to piece together to

together – especially when collaborating on a

Procurement will move away from just-in-time

remote basis.

Of course, labor shortages have been

cost-benefit analysis calls for implementing

matched by procurement issues and

both Plan A and Plan B simultaneously to

here. Construction is no stranger to worker

logistical challenges within the supply

cover all bases. This is particularly notable in

shortages, and tight profit margins in the

chain. The current period is one of the most

low-cost, but high-risk scenarios.

industry have long pushed construction

unpredictable and uncertain that most

organizations to look for ways to create

industry veterans have seen in their 30 year

eliminating waste and ensuring more

operational efficiencies while controlling

plus careers.

efficiency in the use of limited resources.

tools help people to work more effectively

There are long-term benefits to be had

costs and man-hours. Covid-19 served

Whether it’s goods from the local

keep projects on track. In some cases, the

Here too the emphasis has to be on

But we also predict a more thoughtful

to accelerate these initiatives, and after

supply store, specialized materials,

and future-oriented approach within

two years of pandemic experience, these

engineered equipment, or bulk-bought

procurement. Long-term habits are hard to

systems, processes and behaviors are

commodities, everyone is in a scramble to

break, but we’re already seeing a move away

now embedded. We fully expect these tools

get the necessary resources to site on time –

from the just-in-time model, which was great

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Trends

for reducing storage costs but not great for

technology that will help construction

continue as project owners and construction

avoiding surprises during periods of

stakeholders more capably control the scope,

firms of all sizes seek to deliver more

supply interruptions.

costs and schedules of large capital projects.

streamlined, more efficient and more cost-

With the need to take a longer-term

InEight’s Global Capital Projects Outlook

effective projects.

horizon for procurement, firms are planning

revealed that digital transformation is

purchases across multiple projects at a time,

considered the biggest short-term source of

and further into the future, driving demand

opportunity for construction professionals

For a list of sources used in this article, please

for technology that offers the necessary

in The Americas, and we expect this trend to

contact the editor.

visibility and planning capability to support more predictable outcomes.

The wider-lens view of construction is that of an industry in flux. The consistently upward-moving cycle we’re currently experiencing may continue undaunted, shaking off a few hits from the pandemic and becoming even stronger because of it.

Or it may ultimately be disrupted by runaway inflation and other world events that could negatively impact construction demand.

Regardless of how it plays out, we will likely see greater adoption of sophisticated

Brad Barth is Chief Product Officer at InEight. InEight provides field-tested project management software for the owners, contractors, engineers and architects who are building the world around us. Over 300,000 users and more than 750 customers worldwide rely on InEight for real-time insights that help manage risk and keep projects on schedule and under budget across the entire life cycle. From pre-planning to design, from estimating to scheduling, and from field execution to turnover, InEight has powered more than $400 billion in projects globally across infrastructure, public sector, energy and power, oil, gas and chemical, mining, and commercial. https://ineight.com/

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Enhancing the journey How the digitization of construction projects can increase profitability. By Ibrahim Imam

T

he global construction industry

particularly evolving practices to adapt to this

where these can be significantly reduced.

is facing one of its most

tough situation.

One of these is lowering the incidence of

challenging periods to date. It’s a testing time for builders and

It’s encouraging the worldwide construction sector to think smart, and has

error to reduce the amount of rework required post-construction.

contractors, who are having to navigate a

seen many businesses embrace greater

minefield of supply chain and labor issues.

digital adoption to tackle building product,

have shown the estimated cost of

They’re disruptions which have hampered

skills and energy shortages head on, taking

avoidable error across the global construction

construction output throughout the second

advantage of the latest hardware and

industry is roughly $177 billion a year. Not

half of 2021, and are set to linger well into

software to maintain and grow their margin.

only is this costing companies millions

2022, resulting in soaring costs for both contractor and asset owner.

With such a difficult landscape to

Importantly, digital technology is helping

Putting this in a wider context, studies

each year to rectify mistakes, it also raises

to identify incremental gains which can

questions around effectiveness of on-site

be made throughout the project journey.

quality control.

traverse, it’s no surprise many in the

These platforms and devices are now leading

industry are looking to make economies

contractors to appraise every phase of a

stepping up to address this longstanding

where possible, mitigating any unnecessary

project, reviewing material consumption,

human factor challenge. Now, cutting-

expenditure. Yet there are some silver linings,

man hours spent and energy expended and

edge app-supported construction quality

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This is where digital construction is

Quality

work and that water-tight, tamper-free

losses as much as clawing back man hours

digital audit trails are readily available. With

through more efficient working practices.

greater oversight, project owners have a more

Once again, technology comes to the

accurate view of what is actually happening

rescue. For instance, visualization tools can

on-site, and where efficiencies in resourcing

help keep waste to minimum by identifying

can be found. And with fewer mistakes,

potential incidences within the construction

there’s less need for costly re-work.

phase, opposed to post-build. This means

Fundamentally, time spent on the logistics

they can be immediately addressed,

associated with project management is

preventing time-consuming and expensive

dramatically reduced, maximizng efficiency

scan and rework.

and productivity. For example, one of

Adding even more value to the project,

the biggest barriers when it comes to

these innovative tools are also boosting build

communication, is corresponding with

quality. The less mistakes made, the better

companies and individuals outside an

the finished product will be. For contractors,

organization, especially during the planning

developers and the client this can result

and design process. Now, app-supported

in long term advantages when it comes to

software that enables instant messaging

reputation management.

between teams can speed up work rates and

Ultimately, it’s a win-win situation across

the latest connectivity solutions allows for

the board, making the case for digital uptake

data to be shared between on and offsite

even stronger, and more compelling.

teams over great distances.

The good news is adoption of these tools

Further, greater interoperability between

and systems is gathering momentum. Many

platforms also means that plans, designs and

contractors, encouraged by their clients, are

updates can now be easily shared remotely

now using digital technology to help them to

with those who might not have software

build more accurately, reducing the number

licensing rights, streamlining communication,

of errors made during construction and,

increasing visibility for all in involved and

consequently, the amount of rework needed,

potentially saving hours in calls and emails

significantly cutting down on material waste.

each week.

This is helping them to react to market crises

Returning to the thorny issue of global material prices, geopolitical issues mean that

with agility.

Achieving less disruption within the project

the cost of building products will inevitably

journey means assets are delivered right, first

increase, so keeping waste to a minimum will

time, on time. By enhancing the construction

management software, collating and

be crucial. Late last year, a report published

journey through digital technology they

administrating accurate and complete data

by the Associated General Contractors of

are maintaining profitability in this difficult

to deliver quality assurance, a full audit trail

America indicated an eye-watering 20 percent

landscape whilst ensuring the highest quality

of activity and documenting compliance.

rise in material costs, likely to carry through

outcome.

Crucially, these platforms are delivering man

into 20221. With ongoing geopolitical issues

hour savings with an effective, automated

also affecting the market, future price hikes

1 https://www.supplychaindive.com/

solution to traditional, manual data capture

are more than likely, squeezing profits even

news/construction-materials-prices-

methods, which often result in human error

further. In such a scenario, reducing material

soared-2021/617219/

when transcribing hand written notes.

waste can also help prevent potential profit

Fast becoming central to the successfully delivering of project targets, the powerful data gathering functions of these tools are enabling important information to be entered quickly, with greater accuracy on-site, including: digital replicas of worksheets and key documents such as site diaries or health &

Ibrahim Imam is Co-Founder & Co-CEO of PlanRadar, an award-winning construction management SaaS platform for quality assurance and document control. At its heart, it’s a single platform for smarter information processes that can enhance the safety, efficiency and on-going maintenance of building projects.

safety audits.

Time-efficient, it also means reports can be

https://www.planradar.com/

easily generated online, without duplicating

13 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

News In Brief Road to success

Handling the loads Yanmar Compact

PIARC (the World Road Association) has

Equipment offers a line

asked HDMGlobal to continue technical

of reliable compact

support, training and sales for the

wheel loaders built for

Highways Design and Maintenance

maximum efficiency

(HDM) software, which is used to

and ease of operation.

appraise investment in road networks

The machines

across the world. The extension is

include comfort

within the framework of the current

features across

concession from PIARC and precedes a

the line, including

major upgrade which will be led by the

a comfortable, spacious cab and dual doors for easy entry from each side. Their

World Bank Group. The upgrade will come

combination of power, comfort and compactness make them ideal for applications

at a time when countries are considering

that require fast travel speeds, high lift capacity and a small turning radius. The lineup

the necessity of transport networks that

includes the V4-7, V8, V10 and V12. All four models come with Yanmar’s signature

will improve resilience, enable economic

reliability standards and a three-year/3,000-hour warranty.

recovery, and support the switch to low-

“Our loaders fill a critical niche for landscaping, ag, construction, snow removal and

carbon transport.

rock quarries,” said Jeff Pate, director of sales for Yanmar Compact Equipment North

The HDM software was initially

America. “For contractors, having reliable, high-performing machines in this size class

developed at the University of

is a crucial component to being successful.”

Birmingham as part of the International

Some of the standout features of the range include intuitive controls and features

Study of Highway Development and

that allow for easy operation, such as fixed travel speed mode, fully automatic

Management, which was supported

accelerator mode and auxiliary hydraulics with proportional control.

by UKAid. Now on its fourth iteration (HDM-4), it delivers powerful analysis of the lifetime costs and benefits of road construction and maintenance.

Lifting up The Elevator and

Connected homes technology Johnson Controls showcased a complete range of smart home security, controls and HVAC products at the 2022 National Association of Home Builders International Builders’ Show® in February. The Johnson Controls exhibit focused on the connected home, providing home builders a comprehensive offering designed to give occupants greater control, comfort and peace of mind.

“The connected home is no longer a luxury - it has become standard,” said Casey Yates, vice president of sales and marketing, Ducted Systems, Johnson Controls.

“Occupants expect easy-to-control, smart solutions that reduce energy use, improve comfort and provide peace of mind. Johnson Controls has an expansive portfolio of premium technologies that come together in one complete home system, resulting in living spaces that are smarter, healthier and more sustainable.”

14 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Escalator Division of Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc., headquartered in Cypress, California, has expanded its footprint in Florida by opening a new branch in Miami. A vertical transportation supplier with a proven track record in the multifamily, retail, hospitality and commercial sectors, Mitsubishi Electric US is a natural fit for Miami, a city with the third tallest skyline in the United States.

“The decision to expand our presence into Miami is a logical step in our business growth strategy,” explains Mike Eden, director, eastern region, Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. Elevator and Escalator Division. “With over 300 high-rises, Miami is an ideal location for Mitsubishi Electric US. Our elevators, escalators, modernization, and maintenance service offerings are an excellent match for this expanding metropolis.”

Mitsubishi Electric boasts a global reputation as the Quality Leader in vertical transportation, providing smooth, quiet and safe transport with unmatched durability and reliability due to sophisticated engineering, carefully selected quality materials and strict quality control measures. Customers in Miami, and across the United States, can expect knowledgeable technicians, a focus on preventative maintenance, minimum downtime for repairs and minimum call backs from the company’s service division.

News Master Builder Award

Office expansion

Dewitt Tilton

Empire State Realty Trust,

Group, a leading

Inc. has announced that

regional commercial

Signature Bank, a New

construction firm in

York-based full-service

Georgia and the South

commercial bank, has

Carolina Lowcountry,

expanded its footprint at

has won a prestigious

1400 Broadway for the

Best of District Award

third time. Signature has

from Star Building

taken another full, 32,927

Systems for The Shops

square feet for a total of

at Lakeside Village on Pooler Parkway near the I-16 intersection. Founded

313,109 square feet.

in 1927, Star has partnerships with local builders nationwide, providing

Located along the

metal building systems and products, estimating software, cutting-edge

Broadway Pedestrian

design tools and extensive training.

Plaza, 1400 Broadway

“This was a challenging project and the two tenant upfits were unique

provides convenient

in their designs and components. To be recognized for an outstanding job

access to nearby

speaks volumes about our people, our partners, and our commitment to

transportation, dining,

quality and service,” said co-founder and president Chris Tilton.

lodging, and entertainment. “ESRT continues to benefit from the

The Shops at Lakeside Village is a 17,000-sq.-ft., 12-bay retail center

market flight to quality,” said Thomas P. Durels, executive vice

anchored by an AT&T retail outlet and a next-generation Dunkin’

president, real estate at Empire State Realty Trust. “Signature, a

restaurant. The developer, Stature Investments, wanted the ability to

top financial institution, understands ESRT is an industry leader

have varying bay sizes for the rest of the potential tenants. The result

in energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and healthy

was four PEMB clear span sections, combined together in an ‘L’ shape

buildings and has taken advantage of our value proposition at

with two single sloped roofs in two directions.

1400 Broadway.”

Exciting project for San Francisco SHVO, the luxury real estate development and investment firm, has announced a $250 million renovation of the iconic Transamerica Pyramid Center in San Francisco by world renowned architects Foster + Partners.

Located in one of the world’s premier gateway cities, and a symbol of San Francisco’s ambition, the Transamerica Pyramid Center encompasses an entire city block in the Financial District. The Transamerica Pyramid, designed by celebrated futurist architect William Pereira and completed in 1972, is emblematic of the skyline. The broader site consists of two additional buildings – Two Transamerica (505 Sansome Street) and Three Transamerica (545 Sansome Street), and the famed central Redwood Park.

The new Foster + Partners design seeks to revitalize and restore the historic Redwood Park, while tying all three buildings together through a series of strategic interventions at ground level, creating a vibrant new destination in the heart of San Francisco while respecting and celebrating the unique heritage of the site.

The biggest renovation in its 50 year history, this redevelopment is the largest investment in downtown San Francisco since the pandemic to one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, the second tallest building in the city. An additional $150 million will be allocated to expanding and upgrading the adjacent Three Transamerica (545 Sansome) to a contemporary high-design office building.

“Norman Foster is renowned for his brilliant treatment of historic buildings and I am thrilled to partner with his team on the important task of redeveloping this extraordinary city block and reinforcing the Transamerica Pyramid as one of the greatest buildings in the world,” said Michael Shvo, Chairman & CEO. “We have worked closely with the Foster team to respect the Center’s existing history and complement that with contemporary interventions that will only strengthen this magnificent building that stands as a beacon on this city’s skyline.”

15 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Catalyst for change

AI is leading the construction industry through digital transformation.

By Sonali Singh and Geeta Pherwani

U

ntil recently, the construction

Technology as an enabler

layout, and materials of construction

industry had been slow to

AI is enabling the process of digitalization.

define how much the plant will cost, how

digitalize. Lack of repeatability

The C-suite is prioritising AI to reduce setup

much energy it will require to operate and

and standardization across

and programming overhead that is typically

how it will successfully meet the owner’s

projects made it difficult to embrace

required for individual jobs. Unlike before,

objectives for the next 30-50 years.

digital transformation. The pandemic and

AI is allowing the construction industry to

the growing need to find digital ways of

apply data from previous projects or other

is utilized to rapidly develop 3D plant layout

communicating in order to bring together

standards to set up technology quickly and

options in which construction packages

dispersed project teams and enable them to

efficiently across each project.

are defined to study optimal construction

collaborate seamlessly and efficiently has

We are already seeing a growing number

We are seeing capital projects, where AI

sequences and schedules. A Path of

changed all that - and kick-started a process

of examples of AI-driven digitalization

Construction is forming as an early-stage

of change.

bringing benefits to the construction

deliverable to drive optimal construction

industry. Here, we look at some areas

plans. A global chemical owner operator has

Where are you on your digitalization journey?

where the latest advanced technology

standardized construction work package

is having the most significant impact for

definition and nomenclature to utilize on

In the NBS’ Digital Construction Report

industrial plants.

all future CAPEX projects. By leveraging

2021 the majority of built environment

these standards, they can generate Path

Streamlining the design and planning phase

of Construction plans earlier in the project

on a digital transformation journey for some time, with 17 percent well on the way to

AI will support early investments in fully

this updated work process optimizes the

completion. Two percent even believe they

fleshing out the engineering approach to a

construction plan, accelerates time to

have reached their destination.

project, the constructability of a design, and

market, and can reduce delays at the site.

professionals surveyed said they have been

Covid-19 has however clearly hastened

lifecycle. This customer has validated that

the planning of how materials, labor and

this process. Sixty-nine percent of survey

equipment are organized at the worksite.

respondents said the coronavirus pandemic

Early planning such as this has proven to

Assessment of risk and best-case scenarios

had accelerated their adoption of digital

reduce construction costs and accelerate

Use of first-principle models for defining

technologies and ways of working,

schedules.

and predicting performance and outcomes is

creating a need for solutions that enable digitalization.

16 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Major decisions about the engineering approach, equipment selection, plant

standard in the process industries. However, there are some processes that are more

Artificial intelligence difficult to predict. Today, these processes are often managed through less-precise techniques such as operator experience or rules of thumb, resulting in suboptimal performance.

0AI, however, can simulate thousands of design options to quickly narrow down the options that not only best meet the owner requirements, but are the safest, most environmentally friendly, and cost effective. A new capability, known as multi-case analysis, offers engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies an opportunity to transform the way these early decisions are made.

Previously, engineers would define these critical parameters using limited data from just a handful of potential operating cases

it captures real-time data from the asset

of 200,000 BPD by identifying and

and conditions. Imagine designing an iPhone

once it’s in operation. Digital twins paired

implementing operational improvement

with such a limited set of data, never mind a

with hybrid models is a crucial step in

opportunities using hybrid models.

complex, bespoke, $5 billion process plant.

understanding and predicting how specific

And yet that’s been standard practice in

processes will behave with respect to safety

Future thinking

the past.

and efficiency.

As we look positively ahead to the

Multi-case helps to optimize these early

Hybrid models are a powerful paradigm

future of construction, the onward march

design decisions based on consideration of

that combine the best of AI with domain

to digitalization looks set to continue

hundreds or even thousands of operating

expertise, providing broad access to more

apace across the sector. Deep-rooted

conditions and cases. Leveraging AI and

comprehensive and accurate models, and

change was already well under way long

high-performance computing (in the cloud

setting the guardrails for safe operations,

before Covid but the pandemic has acted

or on the desktop), designers can now rely

across all the phases of the asset lifecycle.

as a further catalyst. In this new

on a significantly broader set of data to

As assets and their systems have increased

environment, the construction firms that

fine-tune their designs.

in complexity, higher predictivity of AI driven

will succeed will be those that embrace

models paired with real time data have

advanced technology and the latest AI

to the many different grades of crude oil,

become essential to design, operation

tools in particular, to drive operational

this improvement in understanding how a

and maintenance. Technip Energies

efficiencies across the end-to-end value

potential design would perform in real-

uncovered gains of over $100M/yr for

chain, make themselves into leaders not

world conditions can result in across-the-

a European refinery with a capacity

laggards and stay ahead of the pack.

From varying ambient weather conditions

board improvements: from materials of construction and equipment sizing to the

For the sources used in this article, please contact the editor.

type of utilities and even the location of the plant. These decisions often significantly impact the plant’s capital and operating costs, risk analysis as well as the overall fit for its intended purpose.

Digital twin technology for ongoing asset management The benefits of advanced technology in this sector don’t stop with the construction process itself but can be extended on into the subsequent operations and ongoing maintenance phases of the asset lifecycle.

The use of digital twin technology, in particular, can bring high value to clients as

Sonali Singh (top right) is VP, Product Management and Geeta Pherwani is Senior Manager at AspenTech, a global leader in asset optimization software. Its solutions address complex, industrial environments where it is critical to optimize the asset design, operation and maintenance lifecycle. AspenTech uniquely combines decades of process modelling expertise with artificial intelligence. Its purposebuilt software platform automates knowledge work and builds sustainable competitive advantage by delivering high returns over the entire asset lifecycle. As a result, companies in capital-intensive industries can maximize uptime and push the limits of performance, running their assets safer, greener, longer and faster. www.aspentech.com

17 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Rapid

results

How modular construction companies large and small provide the key to effective disaster relief. By John McMullen

T

Black Diamond: disaster relief across the Continent

there, and then we moved into the US in

industry plays a vital role following natural disasters,

Black Diamond Group was founded in 2003

and started operations there in 2013.”

assisting with both short term

in Alberta, Canada. Initially, the company

he modular construction

2009. We acquired a business in Australia The disaster relief reach of the

disaster relief and longer term rebuilding

focused on leasing and selling space for

company is extensive. “Black Diamond

efforts. And as it has following hurricanes,

remote workforce accommodation in the

has the capacity to respond to

tornadoes, and earthquakes, the industry

oil and gas sector in that province, and the

emergencies anywhere in Canada and

responded quickly during the ongoing

company grew rapidly. Trevor Haynes is

Australia, and in the lower 48 states of

Covid-19 outbreak. There is simply no

Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive

the US,” Haynes says.

better or faster means of providing shelter,

Officer. He says: “In 2005, we made

schools, and medical facilities in times of

acquisitions in Eastern Canada to build

recovery projects the company were

great need.

up our non- accommodation related fleet

involved in were “a bit ad hoc” but

18 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Haynes says that the first disaster

Modular construction Main image left: This modular camp was built by Black Diamond Group to house California wildfire responders Below: R.I. Group’s mobile hospitals are used throughout Europe to respond to a variety of needs

more proactive about responding to

R.I. Group

invitations to tender from agencies that

RI Group (www.rigroup.it) is a large Italian

are tasked with managing emergency

modular company, with factories and

relief, especially in the US. “We bid and

offices around the world, ‘from Kosovo

secure those contracts. Then, if something

to Lebanon, Djibouti to the UAE’ as their

happens in a particular area where we’ve

website puts it. In 2019, the company

been pre-selected, we can know in advance

responded to an international tender from

which agency will be engaged and that

NATO, for the supply of field hospitals. RI

we’ll be responding there.”

Group won the contract and developed a

By closely monitoring supply and demand

now, having been involved in disaster

modular field hospital that consists of both

of their products in the markets they serve,

soft, interconnected tent modules and

the company has a better understanding

rigid modules constructed from ISO 20

in advance of what might be needed if

shipping containers. Delivery to NATO

and when a disaster strikes in one of

had been planned for early 2021, but when

those areas. “We also organize in advance

the pandemic hit Europe in the spring of

the partners we need to engage with in

2020, manufacturing the field hospitals

order to provide the full scope of those

was expedited.

contracts,” Haynes says. “Ten years ago,

Since the summer of 2020, RI Group

when a disaster occurred, we might have

has delivered four fully-equipped mobile

scrambled to provide the necessary service.

hospitals, mostly for NATO. The hospitals

But these days, we’re much more organized

can be customized to include various

ahead of time.”

specialized spaces - including triage,

recovery for over a decade, their process

surgery, pharmacy, diagnostics, x-ray and

knowledge base within our team for

Looking back at two modular companies’ Covid response

how to respond to disasters. We’ve also

Modular construction attracted

developed a network of connections - with

mainstream media attention during the

RI Group delivered other mobile medical

companies that provide food or janitorial

pandemic - especially the modular hospital

facilities in Italy and elsewhere in Europe

services; those that deal with construction,

assembled in Wuhan, China in a matter

during the pandemic. “We still get daily

transportation, power, and waste; with

of days. But it wasn’t just in China that

requests for mobile medical facilities from

suppliers; and with government agencies

modular companies were stepping up

both civilian and military organizations,”

that manage emergency services.”

and responding to the urgent need for

says Emanuele Tafuro, RI Group’s Head

additional hospital space.

of Marketing.

has evolved. “We’ve built up an internal

Furthermore, Black Diamond is now

ultrasound laboratories, hospitalization wards, recovery rooms, and so on.

In addition to the field hospitals,

19 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Below: One of two mobile hospitals created from BMarko Structure’s ‘Liberty Boxes’ in 2020

“Such buildings can be produced and stored in large quantities; and some, like the hospitals that were created in the immediate wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, are custom-built in exceptionally short time frames. Because of this, the modular construction industry perhaps more so than any other industry - is wellpositioned to help rebuild after disasters”

BMarko Structures BMarko Structures (https://bmarko

A new approach to emergency (and transitional) housing

structures.com ) is a modular company based

St. John’s Village is a transitional housing

in Dacula, Georgia and Greenville, South

community that opened in early 2021 in

Carolina. In April 2020, for two hospitals,

Portland, Oregon. It consists of 19 individual

the small business built 48 patient rooms

sleeping pods in the style of tiny homes,

from 42 shipping containers in under four

each with a twin bed, electric heating and

weeks, beginning to end. “The units were in

lighting, storage space, and its own locking

production for 2.8 weeks, and then it took

front door. On the same site, there are also

about a week to erect them and finish off the

communal buildings that include showers,

onsite work,” says Antony Kountouris, Chief

laundry facilities, a kitchen, a dining room,

Executive Officer.

and offices for support staff.

Kountouris maintains that modular

“It’s not cost-effective to build individual

enough. In conventional construction, site

pods,” says Nathan Young, CEO and Principal

preparation would have had to be completed

Builder at MODS, the company that behind

before construction of the new hospital

St. John’s Village. “These ones ended up

space could have begun. But by using

in the range of $30,000 each, which is

modular construction, onsite and offsite

generally not affordable for non-profits and

work happened at the same time. “We

municipalities who want to build this kind of

could do the foundation work, let the

housing.”

concrete cure, lay the drains, and do all the

20 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

The only problem was efficiency.

construction was the only way to build fast

So Young teamed up with design partner,

other site work while we were building

Kegan Flanderka, Principal at Base Design +

the hospital rooms in the factory. Having

Architecture, to brainstorm what worked well

these processes overlap was necessary to

and what could be improved upon for future

accomplish the speed.”

emergency and transitional housing projects.

Modular construction Top left: Prototype emergency housing unit from MODS Center left: A prototype emergency kitchen unit from MODS Bottom left: This prototype modular bathroom unit works seamlessly with other emergency units from MODS

modules can range in length from 24 feet to 48 feet.

“So, the same basic module can contain sleeping pods, or bathrooms, or we can take out the walls and turn it into a communal kitchen or a community room. Or we can leave in the walls and make offices,” says Flanderka.

“By combining different configurations of the modules, you essentially get that same village idea.”

The Emergency Housing modules have been designed so they don’t require highly skilled labor to build them - which opens up employment opportunities for the future residents of the buildings.

The future of disaster relief is modular Natural disasters can come when least expected and often leave an unprecedented need for a wide variety of rapidly deployable buildings, including everything from housing to banks to communication infrastructure.

Such buildings can be produced and stored in large quantities; and some, like the hospitals that were created in the immediate wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, are custom-built in exceptionally short time frames. Because of this, the modular construction industry - perhaps more so than any other industry - is well-positioned to help rebuild after disasters. Due to the accelerated, factorycontrolled modular construction process, there is simply no better means of providing fast, transitional shelter, schools, and medical facilities in times of crisis.

Based on the experience with St. John’s Village and the information they subsequently gathered, Flanderka and Young developed their Emergency Housing concept, which has a variety of different modules that can be built on the same platform. So a single module can consist of three, four, five, or six sleeping pods. Office, bathroom, and kitchen modules all match the same platform. The

John McMullen is Marketing Director of the Modular Building Institute. Material for this piece has been collected from several articles originally written exclusively for the Modular Building Institute by Zena Ryder (https://zenafreelancewriter.com) and used with permission.

Founded in 1983, the Modular Building Institute (MBI) is the international non-profit trade association serving modular construction.

To learn more about the disaster relief capabilities of the modular construction industry, visit the Modular Building Institute at modular.org.

21 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Thinking

ahead

How J. Pettiecord is propelling its construction fleet into the future with the help of fleet software. By Peyton Panik

I

f you asked the average person which

their fleet data in a single system, and

handing in paper inspections and other

industries they would associate with

streamline the entire maintenance operation

manual reporting, a lot of managers’ time

tech prowess, it’s not likely they would

for the fleet.

was spent hunting down information and

immediately offer up construction.

Bliss broke down the five biggest benefits

But the truth is that the construction

of switching to a more advanced fleet

industry has the capacity to lead the way in

management software:

repeating data entry processes that took too long to complete in the first place.

Bliss knew the organization needed an overhaul of its current systems so that

technological advancement as companies find new ways to prioritize productivity,

1. Staying ahead of the curve

employees could focus more on their job

efficiency and safety.

In order to pull ahead of its competition,

roles, and that freeing them up of some

J. Pettiecord, Inc. needed a software solution

time-consuming manual tasks would allow

learned firsthand. As one of the Midwest’s

that would enable it to work faster and

them to use the skills they were hired for

top contractors in a competitive market, the

better in order to secure more jobs than its

more effectively. That’s why Bliss chose

organization has grown at a fast clip since

competitors. But with over 65 employees

to onboard Fleetio, a fleet management

This is something J. Pettiecord, Inc. has

its founding in 1981, starting with a single truck and backhoe. Now, over 40 years later, J. Pettiecord found itself losing momentum to speed bumps in its management processes as it scaled, especially when it came to its fleet of more than 260 assets.

Adam Bliss, the IT and safety manager for J. Pettiecord, Inc, saw an opportunity to employ better technology to solve some of the issues the company was facing, from costly breakdowns and maintenance delays to decentralized data and technology gaps among the staff. By making the switch to a more advanced fleet management software, Bliss and J. Pettiecord were able to automate manual data entry processes, centralize

22 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Case study

platform that had the capacity to automate and digitize more fleet processes than their older, outdated software could handle.

“Shop managers can focus on their job, which is managing the shop - not entering paperwork or chasing down the guys when they wrote something that we can’t read,” Bliss said.

2. Avoiding costly breakdowns As a prominent construction company in the Des Moines area, J. Pettiecord, Inc. has worked on many projects that create a positive impact in their community, with a heavy focus on environmental and public infrastructure. But being a part of a community means being prepared when

easily see service updates, manage payment

5. Centralizing fleet data with

pressing emergencies come along, whether

and billing processes and even compare

automation

it’s clearing debris from storm damage or

discounts from different shops.

As fleets try to become more tech-forward,

disposing of contaminated soils.

“We need to be able to respond quickly

“Having a fleet solution that lets us

it can quickly become difficult to balance

identify problems quickly, getting that

all the different tech solutions that are

to emergency incidents,” Bliss said. “If we

information to our mechanics and our shop

intended to make life easier. In order to

have equipment down, we can’t service

manager is absolutely essential,” Bliss said.

avoid getting lost in a jumble of data

those customers.”

and dashboards, Bliss made sure to look 4. Getting everyone on one platform

for a fleet management solution that

work comes along, J. Pettiecord, Inc. uses

As an IT manager, Bliss understands the

could easily integrate with other platforms

fleet management software to keep a

importance of choosing the right technology

to unite fleet data in a single location, as

well-maintained fleet with automated

solutions to fit an organization and everyone

well as offer a level of customization to

preventive maintenance schedules to

in it. He worked diligently to find a software

ensure the right information was available

prevent any potential breakdowns. And when

that had a user-friendly mobile platform that

in their platform.

breakdowns do occur, it uses digitized work

would be accessible to everyone that would

orders and communication systems.

need to use it, regardless of their experience

Fleetio’s open API; from an IT perspective,

In-house technicians can manage their day

or comfort level with technology.

an open API gives him more flexibility

In order to stay ready for whatever

with set PM schedules and notifications,

“Some are better with technology than

Bliss especially takes advantage of

to instantly import the data that’s most

while also being able to quickly respond in-

others,” Bliss said. “When you have guys

significant to his fleet. This allows him

app to any issues reported by operators.

used to doing things for a long time, you

to make sure that their Fleetio dashboard

have to teach them a little bit how to use

always reflects what they need now,

3. Managing third-party vendors

these new tools. Fortunately for us, Fleetio

rather than being stuck with an outdated

While J. Pettiecord, Inc. does have its own

makes it pretty obvious what they need

software that can’t scale with the

team of technicians, its workload can

to do.”

organization.

often outweigh its staffing. Having reliable

Fleetio allows drivers and technicians at

“It’s nice when [software] have their own

partnerships with outsourced maintenance

J. Pettiecord, Inc. to access and complete

integrations, but the advantage of an open

shops and being able to communicate with

inspections, work orders and other

API is that I can build my own as necessary,”

them without any games of phone tag is

important fleet information from their

Bliss said. “That’s what can end up saving us

vital to ensuring its external maintenance

phones or tablets, ensuring ease of use and

a lot of time – the ability to automate lots

efforts run just as smoothly as its in-house

consistent adoption.

of things.”

operation.

Because J. Pettiecord, Inc. uses Fleetio for its fleet management, the company is able to utilize maintenance shop integrations

Peyton Panik is a content marketing specialist for Fleetio, a fleet management software company that helps organizations track, analyze and improve their fleet operations. For more info, visit www.fleetio.com.

to connect with a partner of its choice and

23 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Building

resilience: Why now is the time to invest in natural hazard risk management

With extreme weather events growing in frequency around the world, there are many ways that organizations can do more to protect their assets and mitigate some of the risks posed by natural hazards. By Chris LeBoeuf and Steven Fitzgibbon

F

rom raging wildfires in Australia at the start of 2020 to the

terms of economic cost increasing over time.

The Asia Pacific region tells a similar

devastating flash flooding across

story. Here, average annual disaster event-

much of Europe in July 2021,

induced economic losses between 2000

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, 2021.)

Such has been the impact of growing and

recent years have been scattered with

and 2009 stood at $56.7 billion – and for

more severe weather events, the magnitude

natural hazard events that have destroyed

2010-2019, that figure more than doubled

of the 100-year and 500-year flood has

property and infrastructure, devastated

to $117.9 billion. The Tohoku Earthquake

undergone revision in Houston, a significant

businesses and taken lives.

which struck Japan in 2011 is largely

development that experts are keeping a

responsible for this, but even when removing

close eye on.

In the US, Hurricane Ida brought back painful memories to the people of New

2011 from the period, the nine remaining

Orleans, a city which is still rebuilding after

years average out at $89.1 billion in annual

Counting the cost

Hurricane Katrina caused 1800 deaths and

natural disaster damage.

These concerning figures translate into

$125 billion of damage back in 2005.

Unfortunately, natural disaster events

In the US, meanwhile, the ten-year

a multitude of damages encountered

average annual cost of natural disaster

by organizations that operate in the

such as hurricanes, cyclones, storms, floods

events exceeding $1 billion increased more

construction industry and across a variety

and wildfires are occurring more often and

than fourfold between the 1980’s ($18.4

of sectors such as petrochemicals, energy,

with greater severity. This can be viewed in

billion) and the 2010’s ($84.5 billion) (Source:

transport, technology and industrial

24 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Natural hazards

to hurricane and flood risks. In the US, many

the natural hazard in question. Concerns

plants and industrial sites are located near

here can center around storing materials

the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast and Mississippi

and disruption to feedstock supply,

River. Earthquakes are another risk factor,

transportation availability and access, and

primarily in the western states and other

cost and availability of energy.

regions near fault lines. Key risk areas in

To help quantify some of these risks,

Europe include sites along rivers and coasts,

organizations should consider a range

including those in regions which are at or

of factors.

only slightly above sea level.

What amount of revenue will be lost

Following the declaration of ‘Code Red’

if I have to shut down my facility for an

for humanity by the UN Intergovernmental

extended period of time? Can additional

Panel on Climate Change, there is a greater

understanding of the risks help my

sense of urgency among key political

company to manage our operations? Will

decision-makers, enterprises and wider

improvements to preparedness and response

society. Hosted in Glasgow, UK, the COP26

reduce direct damage and limit revenue loss

summit represented a defining moment.

following an extreme weather event?

But enterprises should not wait for more

Getting to grips with these questions

comprehensive legislation and regulation to

is a good place to start, the answers to

prompt them into action.

which may prompt a series of potential

In many regions around the world, there are little or no regulatory drivers aimed

mitigation measures.

Facility hardening, enhanced preparedness

at industrial facilities that require them

and response planning, and organizational

to withstand extreme weather events.

measures to limit the impact of any single

The onus currently is on organizations

extreme event are among the risk mitigating

to determine any natural hazard risk

steps companies can take, along with

management strategy, and given the

acquiring insurance policies.

growing frequency of these incidents, the time to act is now.

Another option is to leverage the engineering and risk management expertise of third parties.

How to approach natural hazard risk management

can serve as vital tools in quantifying actual

Independent risk assessments and audits

The extent and nature of such action

risks, with engineering-based studies

sectors with large and highly valuable

is largely dependent on each individual

revolved around rigorous site-specific

infrastructure bases.

business’ appetite for risk – in other words,

technical assessments enabling facilities

the extent to which your business is

to measure their exposure to numerous

from production downtime are major

prepared to deal with disruptions caused

natural hazards. This can carry advantages

consequences of the disruption caused by

by storms, hurricanes, wildfires, floods and

over advice and subsequent cover offered

extreme weather events. Beyond this, there

other extreme events.

by insurance firms, which may not offer this

Unplanned outages and economic losses

are many secondary and tertiary social and

Direct concerns may include the reliability

environmental impacts that stem from the

and resilience of your organization’s

primary damage done to these businesses.

equipment, facilities to provide worker safety

But why are companies prone to natural disaster events?

Geography plays a critical role here. For

and reduced unplanned outages.

companies must build risk into their cost of business and plan for a certain degree of extreme weather disruption every year.

located close to coastal and inland

of financial loss.

This makes them especially susceptible

Regardless of what approach is taken,

mind that physical damage to buildings and equipment represents only the initial source

goods in and out of their sites.

understanding.

However, it is also important to bear in

instance, many facilities are strategically waterways to enable easy transportation of

level of rigorous evaluation and technical

Resulting business disruption and

Don’t let inertia cost you your reputation

market displacement can also hit revenue

While damage from natural hazard events

figures hard, depending on the severity of

is increasing year-on-year and there are

25 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

environments will change with climate change. l

Infrastructure, transport, systems and property need to be designed with a ‘horizon view’ and the likelihood of events happening not just for tomorrow, but to 2030 and beyond.

l

Roof and below grade drainage systems may be acceptable for the ‘here and now’ rainfall patterns but will its design cope with mass water flows to reduce flooding risks?

l

Temperature changes can mean that in hotter climates AC systems are unable to work effectively, and critical products can then spoil.

A step-by-step approach Risk reduction programs support and guide how to manage natural hazard risks. As the illustration shows, the approach begins with a review of hazard exposures that drive risk reduction programs from critical vulnerability identification and assessment, to targeted risk treatment strategies – all devised to enhance operational resilience.

Step 1: Hazard exposure clear trends in the loss data to support

- Not focusing on the projections of

this, organizations that do not adapt to

climate change (e.g. UKCP18 projections)

better manage their exposure and risks

l

Choosing to ignore changes in

to these extreme environments, will

returning weather patterns will

experience greater levels of damage that will

become more costly over time as

impact their supply chain. An organization’s

extreme weather cycles begin to

assets such as its people, systems and

shorten. What was a 100-year event

its market reputation, will be significantly

yesterday, becomes say a 50-year

impacted whilst dealing with the aftermath

event today, and so on.

of an event.

l

Insurance alone is not the answer as this

-

exposed to Natural Hazards?

-

Do you know the financial exposure of your portfolio?

Step 2: Facility vulnerability -

Do you know the critical vulnerabilities at your high-risk operations and locations?

-

Do you know how to address the identified critical vulnerabilities?

Delaying decisions today for tomorrow’s board room agenda.

Do you know if your facilities are

Step 3: Risk mitigation -

From detailed engineering design

only covers the physical loss. There is the

Delaying action to protect your

insurance claim itself which will increase

business increases the risks to

through to independent reviews

the knock-on effect of increased premiums

you, your business, its people and

of third-party designs, the training of

and also additional criteria for being deemed

your community in which you operate

personnel, emergency response

to be ‘insurable’. Experience proves time

– particularly as the effects of climate

planning and business continuity

and time again that to remain insurable

change kick-in.

plans, there are various approaches to

companies must demonstrate that they are

- Designing facilities and their systems

pro-actively addressing their exposures.

for today’s weather and environment

treat, tolerate and transfer risk.

-

Terminating and removing the risk

Designing for ‘today’ may suffice for

needs hazard mapping and CAPEX

business by avoiding some of these common

near-term weather patterns, but the

reviews for facility relocations for

mistakes:

levels and severity of extreme

example.

But there are opportunities to protect your

26 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

l

Natural hazards

systems to data protection); flood and storm surge risk analyses; reviews of emergency response plans; and much more – such as a Natural Hazard Risk Management Toolkits which offer insights and resources to assist industrial facilities in reducing their exposure to natural and man-made hazards.

Knowledge sharing is crucial if organizations with assets prone to natural hazard risk are to futureproof themselves effectively.

With more industrial businesses around the world being impacted from natural hazards there is a clear message; risk from natural hazards is growing. As climate change continues to produce extreme weather events which may become more frequent and severe, the time to act is now.

Best practice for managing the risks of potential natural catastrophes is linked directly to your strategy. Here are the four golden rules: 1.Perform regular risk audits

Future proofing through knowledge sharing

engineering is critical for companies to

2. Examine new build projects

get the support from the cradle-to-

at CAPEX stage for exposure to

The recent COP26 conference in Glasgow,

grave process.

environmental elements

UK, had four priority goals; these were the

Specific services, such as risk

securing of net-zero by 2050, to keep 1.5°C

assessments and independent audits;

within reach, adapt and protect communities

equipment elevation audits (flood risk);

and natural habitats, and mobilize finance

natural hazard audits (from backup power

3. Develop design guides and mitigation processes to manage risk 4. Perform due-diligence reviews

and work together to deliver.

The need to accept that the climate has and will continue to change due to our

For a list of the sources used in this article, please contact the editor.

global inertia means we have to now deal with the effects, as lowering emissions alone will not solve the challenges. Never has such a challenge been so prevalent for organizations and governments to collectively work together to address and meet these challenges.

Some organizations and authorities may lack the in-house technical and engineering expertise to properly plan and execute an entire natural hazard risk management strategy.

Expertise in the field of process safety (including accidental hazards such as fires, explosions and toxic spillages) and structural

Chris LeBoeuf (top right), is Senior Director of Engineering, and Steven Fitzgibbon is Manager of Natural Hazards Risk Services at ABS Group. ABS Group of Companies, Inc. through its operating subsidiaries, provides data-driven risk and reliability solutions and technical services that help clients confirm the safety, integrity, quality and environmental efficiency of critical assets and operations. Headquartered in Spring, Texas, ABS Group operates with more than 1000 professionals in over 20 countries serving the marine and offshore, oil, gas and chemical, government and industrial sectors. ABS Group is a subsidiary of ABS (www.eagle.org), one of the world’s leading marine and offshore classification societies. www.abs-group.com

27 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Bryan Construction

Construction Construc across the world

A few months into what’s set to be a record year, Bryan Construction discusses its work in burgeoning sectors across Colorado, and gives us the story behind its office in Istanbul

Bryan Construction www.bryanconstruction.com Services: Government, commercial and multi-family construction

30 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

W

hen Scott Bryan founded Bryan Construction in the early 1990s after acquiring Federal Contracting, he immediately set to work to build a premier construction company. From its base in Colorado Springs, Scott began undertaking primarily federal work for the US Army Corps

of Engineers, alongside smaller commercial projects. To complement the company’s steady growth, Scott opened a second office in Fort Collins in 2005, followed by a third, in Denver, seven years later.

Primarily a construction management company, Bryan Construction prides itself on a local approach to its projects. “Each of

“The biggest risks to construction right now are two things. Supply chain issues continue to affect our industry, with the shortage of chips for mechanical equipment and light fixtures, but also raw materials from overseas. The second issue is inflation. If the cost of construction continues to rise like we’re seeing now, projects that are deemed unviable are going to be cancelled”

our regional offices boasts full service preconstruction departments, giving us unique familiarity with our local markets,” insists Brian Burns, President of Bryan Construction.

“We have 15-to-20 craft workers, which is very small for a company of our size. They will perform certain tasks that other trades don’t pick up, like blocking, backing, and some

hardware. The majority of our team includes our superintendents, site safety officials, quality control experts, project engineers, project managers and office support staff.”

Today, the company boasts impressive revenues of $270 million per year, with a portfolio that includes work for the US Federal Government. “We are just finishing a $55m

special forces training facility in New Mexico,” Burns explains. “That was a fun project to undertake, comprising four different buildings all with specific components tailored to facilitate special forces training.

“Across Colorado Springs, Denver, and Fort Collins, we also have commercial construction groups working on schools,” he adds. “In the

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Bryan Construction

former, we just finished the brand-new Carmel Middle School. As part of that, we removed the existing building on the site, and rebuilt a new one in its place. Multifamily is another growing area. In Westminster, we recently completed an age-restricted living facility for those 55 and older, partnering with a nationwide developer out of Minnesota.”

Another area of intrigue for Bryan Construction is its ‘facility services’ field.

“In Colorado Springs, a flagship project for our services group is for SRAM,” Burns notes. “They design, engineer, and build components for bicycles. About ten years ago, we built their original design, engineering, and testing labs. They’re now moving into a new 120,000-square-foot building, with the intention of relocating their engineering headquarters and labs into that space. It’s a large project, with many unique design features. In Denver, we’re also seeing the medical office building (MOB) market expand, as a result of Covid-19.”

For Burns, what really sets the company apart from the competition is its breadth and diversity when it comes to construction.

“Particularly on the Front Range, there aren’t many companies that have offices in each of those sectors,” he argues. “I don’t think you would find a contractor that performs the amount of work we do in as varied a set of markets.”

Turning the spotlight on its own operations,

32 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

a key focus for Bryan Construction has been the recent relocation of its office in Colorado Springs. “We’d been in our previous location for about 17 years, and we’d grown to a point where, short of stacking people on top of each other, we had run completely out of space,” Burns admits. “We’d already remodeled the building a couple of times, and five years ago we ended up renting some space next door, so we were working across two adjacent but separate buildings. That wasn’t ideal.

“When this new building became available, we came to see it, and it immediately checked all the boxes,” he recalls. “The building itself gives us room not only to get everyone back together, but also provides some room for expansion. As a highly visible building right off the interstate, it’s also been beneficial for our brand recognition.”

With the building providing somewhat of a blank canvas, the new office space has been designed and built with Bryan Construction’s specific needs in mind. “It’s a high-tech space, offering everything needed to hold meetings, prepare our marketing proposals, or close out

Aqua Terra Environmental compliance is a highly technical, often dynamic field. Staying up-to-date on regulations and specifications is a time consuming task, which requires the proper education, experience, and understanding. When Aqua Terra Environmental (ATE) is hired to fulfil a company’s environmental compliance needs, this burden is shifted away from the client and is placed in ATE’s capable hands. Our model is so successful that no client of ATE has ever failed a state audit.

For Bryan Construction, as a leading Colorado contractor, having ATE manage their environmental needs is part of their success story.

33 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Bryan Construction

bids,” Burns elaborates. “We also have a lot of collaboration space for the teams to get together and talk, which we didn’t have before.

It doesn’t look like your typical construction office. There’s a large reception area, with some phenomenal views for people to enjoy. It’s a sign of our growth, and a project we’re really pleased with.”

The arrival of Covid-19 is another factor that has given shape to the company’s new workspace. “Living through that for the last couple of years has changed how we conceive of our working environment,” Burns explains.

“Everyone has enough space to be at least six feet apart, if not further. In our cubicle design, we’ve also moved away from the current trend of low, collaborative spaces, in favor of taller panels that create privacy and allow people to work without fear of exposure.

“During Covid-19, we were considered an essential business, so we never shut down completely,” he continues. “With that came other challenges, however. In the field, we tried to keep our workers safe by distancing them, implementing hand sanitizing stations, and mandating masks. Within the office, we went through a couple of different variations of protocols depending on the situation. When we did have to close, we had to grapple with the challenge of working remotely. How are we going to deal with the mail? Who’s going to take phone calls? Those were some of the issues we had to consider. Our staff worked

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shifts during certain periods, with separate teams assigned different days in the office as we looked to reduce capacity.”

Despite a push across several industries to make remote working a permanent fixture, Burns remains vocal about the value of faceto-face interaction. “For some industries, it works fine,” he concedes. “But for us, it really doesn’t. We need our teams to be together, to collaborate, and we believe that’s important for our culture, and for that reason, we’ve strongly encouraged people to come back.

“Of course, we still accommodate our employees when they have issues or concerns, but approximately 95 percent have now returned,” Burns says. “You read and hear about this huge abundance of office space that is set to go on the market, because companies aren’t going to need as much space as they had. From our end, we think that trend is likely to reverse.

We’ve seen first-hand how people want to come together in the office, and to engage with their co-workers in the real world.”

Despite Bryan Construction’s long history of work within the Colorado area, not all its projects take place on US soil. Thanks to its long-running partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers, the company has an international portfolio, having undertaken work in locations as far afield as Eastern Europe and Afghanistan. It’s a relationship that’s left a clear imprint on Bryan Construction, in the shape of a fourth office, situated in Istanbul, Turkey.

“The Army Corps Engineers approached us in 2009, identifying companies who could complete work in the Middle East,” Burns notes. “At that time, the US was in the middle of a little depression, and our domestic federal work wasn’t what it needed to be.

So, we decided to launch a joint venture with Turkish firm 77 Construction. Through that enterprise, we were able to compete on several Multiple Award Task Order Contracts (MATOCs) in the region.

“To the partnership, we bring all the expertise of the Army Corps of Engineers, along with the project management, oversight, and the quality control capabilities that these jobs require,” he goes on. “We started bidding on MATOCs, with success. We built some barracks at Bagram Air Force Base, we worked on the Dahla Dam in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and we’re just finishing up a troop deployment center in Romania. It’s been a fantastic relationship with 77, and one we hope to continue as new opportunities emerge.”

Atop this foundation of global success, the future for Bryan Construction looks bright.

“We had a record year in 2021, and 2022 is

shaping up to be even bigger,” Burns reflects.

“We have a whole host of new projects in the pipeline, and our backlog is as strong as it’s ever been. We think the medical market is going to continue to grow, and we believe the same will be true of schools.

“The biggest risks to construction right now are two things,” he concludes. “Supply chain issues continue to affect our industry, with the shortage of chips for mechanical equipment

and light fixtures, but also raw materials from overseas. The second issue is inflation. If the cost of construction continues to rise like we’re seeing now, projects that are deemed unviable are going to be cancelled. The situation in Ukraine is likely to affect that, and it’s one we’ll continue to monitor. For us, the plan is continual improvement at what we’re doing, to keep providing our customers with the service they deserve, and to deliver a great product.”

35 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Russell

Complex

construction

Russell www.russellco.com Services: Construction and development services

Just shy of four decades since its inception, and Russell Group, Inc, (Russell) is hard at work. The company has recently completed the new University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, and is targeting yet more expansion in the near future

J

une 2008 was a significant time for communities across the US Midwest.

Months of heavy precipitation caused rivers to overflow, and levees to break. Damage stretched from Michigan to Missouri, but the state hardest-hit was Iowa, home to the University of Iowa campus, and the Stanley Museum of Art. Its collections safely evacuated, the building was deemed

36 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

uninsurable by its art insurer, Lloyd’s of London.

Shifted between cold storage, and temporary homes at institutions nearby, the collection has remained in exile ever since.

This August, that exile comes to an end.

First proposed in 2016, and approved by the State of Iowa Board of Regents two years later, the collection has found a new home, in what is now the University of Iowa Stanley

Museum of Art. Promoted under the tagline #NewStanley, and overlooking the adjacent Gibson Square Park, the resurrected museum has been designed with a slick rectilinear structure, punctuated with a set of three voids to provide space for outdoor terraces, and an open-top lightwell. Contained within an exterior composed of dark brick masonry and glass, the museum boasts an impressive

16,500-square-feet of gallery space, finished with effortless white walls, and warm wood detailing. Jackson Pollock’s Mural (1943) is a highlight of the collection, which also features pieces by Picasso, and Matisse. A lounge, visible storage, and a classroom add to the Museum’s functionality.

For a project of such obvious significance – for the university, its staff and students, and

for Iowa as a whole – nailing the project build was essential. To undertake the work, those in charge of the Stanley Museum’s revival turned to Russell. Incepted in 1983, the company has a strong legacy of construction and development services across the US Midwest, having delivered more than $3bn in projects across 33 states. Headquartered in the nearby city of Davenport, Iowa, straddling the border with neighboring Illinois, its previous projects include the Figge Art Museum – the former home of the Stanley’s displaced collection.

“This wasn’t just a standard building on a university campus,” admits Erin Marsh, Russell Project Manager for the Stanley Museum project, when asked about the development.

“It’s the Stanley Museum of Art. The expected level of quality was exceptionally high, and

the requirements for the construction were extremely specific. Executing this project required coordinating with multiple people, from multiple trades, well before commencing construction, in order to guarantee that we’re tackling the unique details, and getting things right the first time.”

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Russell, however.

With the Stanley Museum so close to its longawaited reopening, it’s easy to forget that much of the build took place under the shadow of Covid-19. “The biggest challenges to the project were the shortages and delays of labor and material,” confirms Alisha Schmitz, Russell Project Executive. “Thankfully, we were able to navigate those difficulties by communicating constantly with our trade partners to ensure that everyone knew the latest information.

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Russell Ultimately, and despite the obstacles that we were faced with, we’ve been able to deliver the project largely on-schedule.”

Erin agrees. “Added to that, a lot of the details are drawn very tight, with nearly no tolerance allowed,” she comments. “For instance, there are 750,000 bricks on the museum’s exterior, none of which were designed to be cut. We then had to coordinate all of our curtain wall and door openings with the hardware teams and suppliers to make sure that the dimensions would work. It required an extensive shop drawing review process to get all the details aligned precisely.”

Staff at the Stanley Museum speak highly of the company’s role in the project. “Our interactions with the Russell team were delightful,” recalls Elizabeth Menninger Wallace, Manager of Communications and Marketing at the Stanley Museum of Art. “I was aware that they had built the Figge, and so I was already familiar with the fruits of their labor.

The Stanley isn’t a large building, but it’s complicated. Other than hospitals, there aren’t many buildings that have the same complexity of internal organs and utilities.

“The staff at Russell made me feel included throughout the process,” Elizabeth continues. “If I needed an image of something onsite, they’d take it for me. They were also extraordinarily accommodating of my multiple requests for access. Above all, they understood my excitement on behalf of the museum, and on behalf of our audiences. They’ve done a beautiful job.”

For Caitlin Russell, President of Russell, this is an assessment that speaks to the company’s core values: safety, integrity, client-centric, and appreciating its people. “We’re adaptive to the product type that we’re dealing with, and with regards to the services we’re willing to provide,” she insists. “Clients come to us with needs that we might not typically cater to, but regardless, we’ll figure out how to deliver a solution. If achieving that requires innovation, or embracing new technology, then that’s what we’ll do.

“Within our culture, we give people the autonomy to work on projects that are monumental to our community,” Caitlin adds.

“We try to be a supporting family, by providing opportunities for continuous learning, and entrusting our team members with the responsibility of delivering critical, exciting projects. We’ve recently undertaken the restoration of the former YMCA premises in St Louis, Missouri, which has been transformed into a 21c Museum Hotel, bringing the old building back to life. That renovation component is also on display in another project we’re

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currently executing, in Clayton, Missouri.”

As its portfolio suggests, Iowa isn’t the only base for Russell – the company also has further offices in St. Louis, Missouri, and Olathe, Kansas. “Iowa is only so big,” Caitlin points out. “Most contractors stick to their home town; our willingness to travel for our clients is unique.” This USP isn’t going unnoticed, either.

A market leader within its core markets of new construction, and complex additions and renovations, it was announced in 2020 that Russell had ranked in the Giants 400 report for Building, Design, and Construction.

In achieving this accolade, the company continues to navigate the aftermath of Covid-19. “Everyone is having supply chain issues,” Caitlin acknowledges. “We’re buying in larger quantities, and taking steps to prioritize the products we need. It also requires considerable communication – not only internally, but also with our external vendors.

Timing is more important than price in many cases. In general, it’s about aligning and understanding our customers’ needs.”

Nevertheless, Russell continues on its

upward trajectory, buoyed by its recent acquisition of Kansas City-based Merit Contractors. “It’s a growth opportunity, helping us reach out to new markets, embrace new challenges, and explore fun projects. Merit already had its own history behind it, with over $1bn in total revenues from more than 500 completed projects. The same goes for a St. Louis based contractor that we acquired in early 2021.

“For the remainder of 2022, our focus will predominately be connecting the two new operations with our main operations,” Caitlin continues. “We aim to add our expertise to theirs, welcome them into our culture, and pursue a mutually beneficial future. Alongside

that, the goal is to see through to completion the projects that we already have in our pipeline, before increasingly growing in the years to come.”

For Russell, the future looks bright. “Our capabilities allow us to be nimble and take on a diverse cross-section of projects,” Caitlin insists.

“I hope to see the company continue to stretch, taking on more developments like the Stanley Museum and 21c Museum Hotels.”

“Within the next five years, we expect to have at least one more location,” Caitlin concludes.

“As we expand physically, we’ll also look to broaden our service offering from our base in Davenport. Our top priority is, and will remain, client satisfaction.”

Ryan and Associates, Inc. Ryan and Associates, Inc. is a national mechanical contractor, specializing in complex projects in the industrial and commercial markets. Offering comprehensive services including preconstruction, installation, fabrication of industrial systems, engineering and design of commercial mechanical systems.

Ryan and Associates is proud to be a vital trade partner to Russell Construction. The successful installation of the mechanical and building automation system at the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art stands as a testament of what can be accomplished when working as a team.

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Quasius

Staying one step ahead

Quasius www.Quasius.com Services: Commercial and Industrial construction

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Below

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Quasius

Multi-generational, familyowned construction company, Quasius Construction, continues to see success as it takes on new challenges in the multi-family and commercial building market

42 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

F

or over 130 years, Quasius

has provided forward-thinking construction solutions to customers in the commercial and industrial industries. Quasius, which has been family-owned and operated since inception, is a strategic partner that works hard to manage project supply, budget and schedule parameters from conception to project completion. Having overcome traditional challenges over the past few years, Quasius is now expanding its team, and taking on exciting new multi-family, commercial and industrial projects.

Since being founded in 1891 Quasius has come a long way, as the company’s President, Matt Quasius, reveals: “The company was

founded by my great-grandfather 131 years ago. He started as a residential contractor with a horse named Daisy, and a foot-powered saw.” During that time the company has evolved tremendously, but it has always remained focused on building relationships.

Matt shares: “That has been my family’s core value; collaborating with customers and our industry partners, developing long-term, mutually beneficial relationships, is the foundation of Quasius.

“Going forward, we will continue as a strategic industry partner to numerous new and existing customers. While the company’s focus has historically been in manufacturing and industrial warehouse space, Quasius also works in a number of other industries,

including multi-family housing, commercial construction, and educational buildings.”

Over the course of four generations, Quasius has developed a depth of industry knowledge that makes it a valuable partner to customers across a range of different sectors. “Today, we primarily do design-build work, which means we are collaborating with customers during the early stages of planning and conceptualizing. We like to help customers make smart decisions early in the design process, so that they may benefit from value engineered design requirements, which focus on building needs and materials.

This also helps us establish the correct budget and schedule, which are the main variables that we manage, beyond quality and design.

“Our model allows us to work across a number of different markets, with different customers. The labor market is extremely tight, so our clients often have other responsibilities that they are working on simultaneous to focusing on their construction project. They rely on Quasius to help them with planning, scheduling and site management, so that they can focus on doing what they need to do to run their business,” states Matt.

Forward-thinking is an integral part of the way Quasius works “The biggest secret to our success is the ability to have a very long-term perspective on projects, and put the client’s interests first. We focus on building long-term relationships with our customers, and we consider all of them to be long-term partners of the company.

“If that means coming up with designs and ideas in advance of when the client needs to break ground, we do that. Our ability to look ahead has garnered a lot of respect within the industry, because it highlights to customers how we are looking out for them and their long-term needs.”

Treating each and every customer as a valued partner is part of Quasius’ ethos as a family-owned and operated company. “Being a multi-generational family-run company has definitely been an advantage,” confirms Matt.

“That has influenced our working culture for the better; we focus a lot on our core values both internally and externally.

“Our core values are that we treat everyone with respect, and we are a family, so we look out for each other. Being a family also allows us to recognize when someone else needs support, and holding one another accountable when necessary. We love coming together to solve problems, which is especially useful in the construction industry, where nothing ever goes 100 percent according to plan. It’s about

how you respond when a situation arises, and you need to pivot.

“We also share the value and profit that Quasius generates. We are in business to generate revenue, but we also want to help our customers make money for themselves; I think that understanding is what makes us a strong strategic partner, as we take the approach that, everyone will come out winning,” he continues.

Working together as a family also helped Quasius weather the storm of Covid-19, and the supply chain issues that followed in its wake, as Matt discusses: “There have been numerous challenges to overcome in the last few years, and absent our core values we may not have come out as well. At Quasius, we are a team that supports one another, and that means we are really focused on communication and being proactive.

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Quasius

“Our ability to problem solve in collaboration with our employees and industry partners makes us nimble and solution-oriented. Most of our customers were very understanding because they were facing many of the same challenges in their own businesses; in the end it was about working together to minimize the impact on schedule and cost.

“I am very proud of my team and their ability to prosper through difficult times. Especially in early 2020, when there was a lot of uncertainty about whether we were going to be able to get our construction projects off the ground. The way our people responded was incredible.”

As restrictions and shortages begin to ease, Quasius continues to thrive. Having taken on a number of exciting new projects, the company prepares for a strong year in 2022. “This year is forecasted to be an exciting one for Quasius. We have a couple of projects coming up in the food industry, including additions to two cheese production plants. We are also working on a couple of multi-family home projects, which we will be breaking ground on shortly. Finally, we have a townhouse project and several industrial

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projects coming up later in the year, so we are quite busy,” enthuses Matt.

In the long-term, Quasius will expand its team in order to match the company’s organic growth, as Matt details: “We anticipate needing to grow our team in the near future with additional project managers, field personal and a marketing coordinator this year. In order to facilitate the growth we are expecting, we need more people on board.”

As the construction industry gains momentum, Quasius establishes itself as a reliable, forward-thinking, and experienced partner for customers throughout the Midwest. As Matt concludes: “In our particular area the market is very strong, especially on the manufacturing and industrial side.

“There are normal challenges that impact lead times and material shortages, but that really just enhances the benefits Quasius provides by partnering early in a project. We identify those longer lead time items, get them ordered early and accelerate construction schedules, while minimizing the effect of lead times on the supply chain.”

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Bove Industries, Inc.

Weathering the storm

Bove Industries, Inc. www.boveindustries.com Services: Contracting firm

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D

espite the challenges of the pandemic, Bove Industries, Inc. (Bove) has grown continuously since its founding in 1984, with its most successful year happening in 2020. Now, the heavy-civil contracting firm boasts an encouraging backlog and an optimistic outlook that is helping it continue to excel. Ralph Lapadula Jr, the

Executive Vice President, accompanied

by Thomas Gliganic, the company’s Senior Project Manager, discuss how Bove has refined its best practices to support the construction industry.

Our conversation begins with Thomas’ thoughts on how the company is contributing to the development of the New York Metropolitan area, where the business

Best-in-class practices take years to refine, and Bove Industries is a company that has indeed taken great care over the past three decades to ensure its services to the construction industry are of the highest standards

is based, while remaining determined to overcome market turbulence. “The design build market is getting larger and larger, and we recognize how that method of project delivery is becoming more important. The NY metropolitan area provides a strong market for infrastructure related to the coastal environment and including recovering from Super Storm Sandy. Climate change is also

driving an increased demand for coastal resiliency projects. We are currently involved in a large coastal infrastructure protection project in Long Beach as we speak,” he says.

Expanding further on that, Thomas highlights additional contracts in which these beach replenishment and hardening projects are becoming paramount to the development of the communities and cities adjacent to

the shorelines. “Recent projects that were consistent with this type of work were our Ocean Parkway and Smith Point contracts that were completed within the last ten years. Our Ocean Parkway project was a $37 million job that we and our partners completed in four months and required us to move one million yards of sand that was dredged from a nearby inlets and stockpiled

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Bove Industries, Inc.

“Owing to the amount of work we have completed and the increased volume of work in the NYC Metropolitan area, we found it necessary to open up a regional office in New York City. So that our administrative staff and project teams could have modern work space in close proximity to the various project sites, we have just extended our Whitestone, NY office and we are moving to a new facility in College Point in April 2022”

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on shore for us to re-handle and create a natural barrier along the shoreline to prevent future erosion due to inclement weather. As recently as 15 years ago, there is no way we could have assumed that such projects would be possible, and yet today they are becoming a major source of revenue for us,” he notes.

Maintaining his thoughts on the company’s diversity into new sectors, Ralph continues to share with us; “Bove’s experience in highway and bridge rehabilitation work has enabled us to enter into emergency repair contracts with several State and City Municipalities. The nature of this work requires us to be able to respond quickly to a variety of repair work on these contracts; these services range from replacing damaged or deteriorated steel bridge members, to performing structural concrete repairs to existing roadways, bridges, and relieving platforms throughout NYC and Long Island.”

He goes on to say; “Another example – is population growth occurring in the suburbs.

The exodus from urban cities has surpassed the sanitary infrastructure that was in place

for many of the households and businesses, which were designed utilizing septic systems instead of sewage treatment systems. This has resulted in some environmental problems on Long Island, such as algae blooms and the nitrification of the water ways. Suffolk County recognized this, and they have set up a dedicated fund for upgrading the existing sanitary sewer systems throughout the county. This has resulted in the creation of a new sewer district in Suffolk County, and the ultimate award to us and our joint venture partner to construct a $56 million new Sewer Treatment plant and several Low-Pressure sewer main contracts.”

Bove continues to maintain its grass roots in the private work sector. The company is exploring potential opportunities associated with the planned expansion of New York’s JFK Airport. This 9.5 billion dollar ‘Mega Project’ is part of the Port Authority’s 2050 Plan which includes the reconstruction of Terminals 1 and 6 and the creation of a streamlined airport roadway network. This project is intended to reinvent JFK as a world class,

modern, and sustainable airport. Bove also continues to partner with private developers to meet their infrastructure needs.

Having been providing services in a number of sectors for over three decades, Bove has developed the expertise and skillset to provide quality work to many different markets. “If the bridge market is active or the highway and/or utility markets become more attractive, we can pivot and become very competitive in this ever changing industry.

That is due to the diversity of our firm.” Ralph shares with us.

Working in a radius of 60 miles of its main office requires a dedicated and talented management team. According to Ralph, the culture at Bove has changed tremendously in an effort to adapt to the impact of Covid-19. “During 2020, we went into lockdown, and yet we were very successful in the fact that we were able to transition much of our project teams to work remotely.

Our entire estimating department and project management team while working remotely, were able to maintain or even exceed the ability to manage their projects

and provide detailed estimates to our clients.

Again, if this had happened a couple of years ago, there would be no way we would have had the means to support this level of transition.”

Fortunately, when many markets were forced to shut down as a result of the pandemic, Bove’s line of work in regional critical infrastructure was considered essential, and remained up and running, in spite of industry obstacles. “We were expected to continue working, which meant that the office had to stay open. However, one challenge we faced was the scarcity of personal hygiene protection at that time.

We couldn’t get PPE, sanitizer, or even toilet paper, but I am pleased to share that our

people were extremely resourceful. We set up hand washing stations at our job sites with hot and cold running water, which is not always possible. So, the big take away for me was that our people were incredibly innovative, and that is one of the things that got us through the pandemic,” Thomas expresses.

Now, with the height of the pandemic behind us, Thomas and Ralph share details of recent in-house additions that have helped to capitalize on the company’s efficiency, as well as exciting new developments in the pipeline.

“Owing to the amount of work we have completed and the increased volume of work in the NYC Metropolitan area, we found it necessary to open up a regional office in New

Bohemia Garden Center All of us at Bohemia Gardens congratulate Bove Industries on this well-deserved recognition. This is a family generational company that is highly professional and skilled at the work they do, but this is also a company who believes in giving back to communities as well. We thank Bove Industries for giving us the opportunity to complete the landscape portion of the projects they are awarded, that enhance, beautify and revitalize the communities we all live and work in. We wish them continued success, and many more exciting projects in the future.

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Bove Industries, Inc.

York City. So that our administrative staff and project teams could have modern work space in close proximity to the various project sites, we have just extended our Whitestone, NY office and we are moving to a new facility in College Point in April 2022. This office is twice the size of the Whitestone office. As far as field of expertise is concerned, we have been in the bridge construction and rehab sector for about eight years. I believe this will be an area that we can continue to be successful in due to the recent passage of the federal Infrastructure bill,” Ralph explains.

“The focus in 2022 is to manage the work we have on our books currently. We are starting about seven new jobs at once in 2022. That being the case, our focus for the first six months is to hone in on successful completion strategies while simultaneously continuing to bid on new work. This is important because the timeline from when you bid a job to when its awarded and you physically put a shovel in the ground can take up to 12 months; hence the reason we are already looking towards 2023,” he adds.

“In order to maintain our current level of sales revenue, we have to keep bidding – the work never ends, which is why we have to ensure that we are ahead of our competition in terms of scoping out projects.

Thomas is forecasting the next 12 months, while our operations side is focusing on the

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present. And by bringing those two segments together, that is how I believe we will remain successful well into the future. We are continuously keeping the wheels turning and looking to the future for ways to keep Bove a successful contractor,” explains Ralph.

In conclusion, Ralph and Thomas express that the legacy Bove wants to instill into the construction industry is one of high-quality work, as the business continues to grow and thrive. “We want to maintain the excellent standard of work that we have been doing for the last 37 years, and grow the company in a steady and controlled fashion.

If we can maintain a five-to-ten percent growth rate each year, then I truly believe that Bove Industries will remain one of the leading businesses in the construction sector,” Ralph concludes.

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Coastal Construction

Creating the

future

Coastal Construction www.coastalconstruction.com Services: Commercial/residential builder

Coastal Construction has earned a reputation for excellence thanks to its work on some of the most outstanding commercial and residential buildings in Florida

F

lorida has borne witness to the Murphy family’s building expertise since 1955, but it was in 1988 when Coastal Construction was officially launched and over the ensuing three decades Founder and CEO Tom Murphy has led the business to greater and greater heights.

With four generations (and counting) of construction expertise under one roof and values that include quality work, commitment to safety, long-standing relationships and unwavering personal commitment, Coastal Construction has earned a Top 20 Construction company ranking and a roster of public and private clients.

There is really no better way to illustrate the caliber of its work and the sheer engineering brilliance of Coastal Construction than by shining the spotlight on some of its current projects. Let’s start in Sunny Isles Beach in Florida, where the business is currently constructing the Residences by Armani/CASA for client Dezer Properties and The Related Group. This 54-story luxury residential tower

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will consist of 308 condominium units, plus 28 beachfront cabanas, offering floor-to ceiling glass and private balconies complete with summer kitchens. Described as ‘high fashion meeting high-rise luxury’ the Residences will include an Armani Privé Lounge, fine dining restaurant, cigar room and wine cellar, two story spa, fitness center and an amenities deck featuring pool and spas. The design, also a collaborative effort by renowned design professionals Giorgio Armani, Argentine-born architect César Pelli, Swiss landscape artist Enzo Enea, award-winning designers Sieger Suarez Architects, Miami, and Michael Wolk Design Associates, Miami, is sure to appeal to the most sophisticated of buyers.

There will even be a professionally curated collection of museum-quality art on site, including sculptures by Sandro Chia and Sinisa Kukec and works by Venice Biennale artist, Marcelo Legrand.

If some clients are being tempted in by the name Armani, then another demographic will be interested in an alternative luxury

brand collaboration, this time in Downtown Miami. Working with client G & G Business Developments and architect Revuelta Architects International, Coastal Construction is creating the ‘Aston Martin Residences Downtown Miami’, overlooking the Miami River.

A 66-story, 817-foot tall luxury residential tower, this project includes 391 residences ranging in size from studio to four bedrooms and 6.5 baths - the largest residence exceeds 18,800-square-feet!

With amenities spread over three levels and including an art gallery and art lobby, 24-hour valet and valet butler, roof top infinity pool, private residence movie theatre, event space, state-of-the art business center and conference rooms, fitness center and beauty salon, the Aston Martin really does endeavour to meet the needs of the most discerning clientele. It even offers Super Yacht Marina Facilities and digital connection to concierge and all building amenities from every residence.

The Plaza Coral Gables is another ongoing

multi-family/commercial (retail)/active project for Coastal Construction, this time for client Agave Holdings/Agave Ponce. Located at 2801 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, The Plaza Coral Gables is situated on approximately seven acres, encompassing more than two millionsquare-feet on three city blocks facing Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Ponce Circle Park. The project is being developed in overlapping phases: Phase I of this mixed-use project is currently under way and being constructed by Coastal Tishman and will consist of a 14-story Class A office building with retail/commercial space on the first two levels and a 17-story apartment building with 135 luxury rental units. The tower buildings are connected by an eight-story parking garage podium. Residential amenities include a fitness center, pool and a clubhouse on the amenity deck, while office tenant amenities feature meeting rooms, a roof deck and gardens, a second gym and catering kitchen spaces. When Phase II of the development is completed, The Plaza Coral Gables will boast a 242 key luxury hotel, a second Class A office tower, 162,000-squarefeet of street level shopping and restaurants,

as well as 35 low-rise lofts/apartments and approximately 2200 parking spaces.

The projects described here are prime examples of Coastal Construction’s work in the multifamily arena, and the Plaza Coral Gables also introduces its work in the Commercial sector. Another significant ongoing scheme in that segment is Starwood Capital’s new headquarters in Miami Beach for partners North Bay Owner and Integra - a Coastal/ Brodson joint venture.

Designed by Gensler, an international architectural firm with offices in Miami, the six-story facility will contain 105,000-squarefeet of Class A office space, and will have approximately 80,000-square-feet of parking, including 104 car stackers, and car charging stations. Projected to be LEED Gold-Certified, Starwood Capital’s Headquarters will house 300 employees and feature 8000-square-feet of ground-level retail and restaurant space.

Clearly an expert in both commercial and multifamily residential tower blocks (as

it has completed over 250 high-end homes and interior build-outs from Key West to Jupiter. These have been completed for a distinguished clientele, including Fortune 500 CEO’s, international business tycoons, and celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Sylvester Stallone and Frank & Kathy Lee Gifford.

What unites all of the work undertaken

by Coastal Construction is the Murphy family commitment to the best projects and the best people. While the business is proud of its portfolio of extraordinary buildings, it is the relationships that it has created along the way that it truly treasures.

As Thomas P. Murphy, Jr., Founder, Chairman and CEO puts it on the Coastal website: “One of our core values is to build and maintain long-standing relationships, and this includes the relationships we build within our own

well as education and hospitality) Coastal Construction also works on beautiful, individual luxury homes and interiors – indeed,

walls and among the team at Coastal. Some people have been with us for 25 years. That means a lot.”

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Giroux Glass

Breaking the glass ceiling Giroux Glass’s competitive advantage is its people, who are dedicated and driven to see the company become a recognized expert in the construction industry

Giroux Glass https://girouxglass.com/ Services: Glaziers

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Below: The Grand Canyon Skywalk

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Giroux Glass

H

Left: The award-winning Pendry Hotel, Hollywood iring the right people from a wide range of diverse backgrounds, and training and empowering them to succeed is the secret to Giroux Glass’ history of achievements. Opening the doors to companywide collaboration and encouraging all to join in has enabled the company to maximize its resources during the typical industry peaks and valleys. “Our belief in complete transparency demonstrates our integrity, as well as our trust in our employees. Offering services in the different glazing markets is a practice we’ve learned over the years, and has served us well through many economic changes,” says Nataline Lomedico, the company’s Chief Executive Officer and President. She shares details of her business’ inner workings, and the key elements that make Giroux Glass an industry pioneer.

The glass, glazing, and architectural metals contracting company operates branches in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Fresno, Orange County, in California, as well as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona.

Catering to the commercial, retail, and luxury residential sectors, and with over 75 years of experience, award-winning Giroux Glass continually challenges the boundaries of its capabilities. “We believe that the awards we receive reflect both sides of our business values: our dedication to quality and thoroughness, and a degree of risk-taking that pushes us to find creative solutions and propels us into the future of the industry,” Nataline expresses.

The awards mentioned include the USGlass Magazine Design Award from USGlass Design Magazine and the 2021 ‘Best Glass Interior’ award from Glass Magazine. Concerning the former, Giroux Glass applied both its deep-rooted expertise and creative problem-solving skills to revise plans for a new scientific greenhouse facility at UC Riverside. “Drawing on our first-hand knowledge of the unique Southern California climate and its implications for glass installations, our team recognized water intrusion issues in the project’s initial design.

For a research greenhouse requiring full climate control, this was an obvious issue.

“To correct these errors, our team got to work, going beyond our initial ‘labor only’ role to provide in-depth consultation on materials and construction methods.

Although this was not initially asked of us, we responded to the task at hand, and our insight and decisive action played a huge

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Below: Phillip J. Patino School of Entrepreneurship, Fresno role in making the project a success. We believe this was why we were honored by USGlass Magazine.

“The other award was given to us following completion of the Pendry Hotel. Here, our company exhibited fastidiousness and reliability via our organized, timely approach to sourcing and receiving thousands of custom pieces, as well as our extreme attention to detail when installing them.

We showcased innovation and creativity in the face of significant challenges, like when a change in plan on a complex mosaic mirror wall required our team to improvise a new arrangement that met both the aesthetic standards and physical dimensions of the wall, or when custom shower door components arrived stacked by size, instead of by installation location, requiring our team to quickly implement a new organizational system that got the components exactly where they needed to go across more than 140 hotel rooms. All of these approaches factored in to Glass Magazine’s decision to award us the 2021 ‘Best Glass Interior’ award,” Nataline explains.

Another impressive project that the business completed, which Nataline shares with us, concerned the Resorts World Complex, the first of its kind in ten years.

“Perseverance, extreme organization, adaptability, and hard work were integral to our successful completion of the massive Resorts World Scope. On the estimating end, it took our team nearly a year to win the large bid. To demonstrate our dedication, we helped general contractor WA Richardson develop the project drawings on which all competing glaziers would place their bid.

We also took multiple meetings with other trades and coordinated our work with theirs as part of our bid. Essentially, we did as much work as we could in advance to map out our scope, schedule, and plan for the project in order to make our bid the most appealing to the general contractor.”

Once the company secured the bid, it was on to sourcing and receiving materials.

Due to the sheer quantity of glazing products required to complete the project, the team at Giroux Glass had to be highly strategic regarding material supplies in order to optimize its manufacturers’ limited quantities and schedules. “We also had to remain very flexible and adaptable, as there were a number of late-stage changes made to the project. To implement these changes against approaching deadlines, our team created a unique, coordinated schedule

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Giroux Glass

Above: Resorts World, Las Vegas

Above: Sheats-Goldstein Residence

Above: Las Vegas City Hall

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that involved constant installation across all areas of the scope. We did not have the luxury to wait for every piece to arrive before beginning the work; we had to install materials as we received them. In the final months of the project, our field crews were working seven days a week to meet the approaching deadline. Fortunately, their hard work, combined with the strategic efforts of the management team, had our scope completed in time for the hotel’s grand opening in June 2021,” elaborates Nataline.

To make projects of this scale happen, Giroux Glass utilizes cutting edge technology in order to maximize project efficiency. Its CAD department, for example, has been implementing new software programs that allow it to collaborate with other trades in the planning phase of a project. “This significantly cuts back on time and money on our end. In the preconstruction phases, it allows us to view any changes to the project other trades have made in real-time, so we can adapt to them as we create our plan – as opposed to completing a set of plans individually, and awaiting edits and approvals. Once installation begins, we can continue to map out ongoing changes, which significantly reduces the amount of requested change orders.

“This type of software is especially helpful when it comes to providing design-build assistance on projects that involve serious code, material, and structural regulations – like healthcare facilities. Architects and general contractors often look to us for our expertise on selecting the right systems and glass types to meet the requirements on a project, and it is a much more effective way to present plans to regulatory agencies (OSHPD, in California, for example) for review,” Nataline explains.

“In addition to that, in the field, our team uses new equipment that makes our work easier, safer, and more efficient. One current industry trend is the use of extra-large, extra-heavy pieces of glass, which require specialized equipment to move and guide into place. We use the latest Wood’s vacuum cups and lifters, which feature Intelli-Grip technology that monitors lifter operation and safety conditions via a user-friendly control unit and app.”

Finally, although it has not yet been implemented, her team is looking forward to adopting a state-of-the-art installation program called Total Power Station. This application, which operates via smart phone or tablet, uploads CAD plans to its system

Below: Aria Resort and Casino, Las Vegas and advises, in real-time, how to install glass according to drawing dimensions.

Turning to the people of the business, Nataline shares how her team is absolutely everything, and how her management crew goes above and beyond to learn the needs of their employees, enabling them to prosper. “We believe our employees are not only important, we do our best to learn how they need to be taught in order to grow and thrive. By prioritizing our people, we create success. The faith we put into our crew leads to them taking the utmost pride and precision in all they do, whether that’s through double checking their work, or even soliciting feedback from our clients for example. By wanting our employees to succeed, they in turn ensure that our clients succeed as well.”

This was evident in how the company navigated the turbulence of the Covid-19 pandemic, by ensuring that every member of the crew was well-looked after. “We never closed down our offices, and our work continued on many of our projects with the multiple layers of Covid-19 safety precautions in place. We did allow our employees to work in the setting where they felt most comfortable during the lockdown period. We already had companywide virtual meeting capabilities, but obviously we increased those at that time. We also invested in additional companywide technology functions, such as Microsoft Teams applications. It not only further enabled continual communication both from desktops and mobile phones, but features on those apps, like virtual informal chatting and sharing photos provided a new way to engage in the types of activities that demonstrated our strong culture,” she says.

Now, turning to the future, Giroux Glass’s ongoing goal is to continually improve, and Nataline is excited about what lies ahead for her company’s journey. “I often tell our team, ‘We’re just getting started!’ This year we plan to increase sales by 50 percent,improve margins through increased efficiencies, and roll out companywide dashboards for each of our employees. We’re all about empowering our employees and continually offering them the tools to ‘own’ their work. In five years’ time, we will remain a 100 percent employee-owned company with over $100 million in revenue, while expanding our reach in the Southwest region of the US,” she concludes.

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Kowalski Construction, Inc

For those in

need

Kowalski Construction, Inc www.kowalski.com Services: Construction, remediation and restoration

An established name within the restoration sector, family-owned Kowalski Construction discusses its recent work at a West Valley Shopping Mall and strategy for future growth

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roudly serving Arizona since 1967, Kowalski Construction (Kowalski) is a nationally recognized, awardwinning construction, remediation, and restoration company. Celebrating its 55th anniversary in 2022, Kowalski began its work in disaster-related restoration, before gradually expanding into rehabilitation, remodeling and repair services. Now serving

Arizona and for large loss emergency services all its surrounding states, except California, commercial restoration remains the company’s specialty, with a 24/7 emergency service that covers everything from localized fire and water damage to mold remediation, asbestos removal, and electrical work.

Recent years have played host to all manner of difficulties, not least the arrival

of Covid-19 in the first half of 2020.

Nevertheless, Kowalski has thrived. Thanks to the experience under its belt, the veteran company bucked a trend by earning a place as a 2020 and 2021 Inc 5000 honoree, confirming its status as one of the fastestgrowing companies in the US. “Amid the challenge of the pandemic, so many businesses are just trying to keep their head

above water,” admits Jim Kowalski, Co-owner and Vice President at Kowalski. “For us to achieve such fantastic growth in a very difficult climate is something we’re really proud of, and it requires a ton of work behind the scenes.”

Kowalski recently found itself with a major job on its hands, after a fire at one of Arizona’s largest shopping malls in the West Valley.

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Kowalski Construction, Inc

Damage to one of Arizona’s largest shopping malls and top picture shows start of the rebuild that took only 14 days to complete

With a third of the mall damaged by the blaze, Kowalski’s objective was not only to keep the remainder of the premises open, but to restore the business to full working order as quickly as possible. “With typical construction projects, you have months or even years to plan,” Jim tells us. “But with emergencies, you don’t know what you’re up against, and you’re handed an extremely short deadline.

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“To deliver under those conditions requires an exceptional level of communication and coordination,” he continues. “How many team members are we going to need? What will the chain of command look like? Who’s going to be the liaison for the client? How will we deal with the media when they show up?

After years of working together, we’re able to identify on the fly the best way to handle

a situation. In that regard, our staff really stepped up to the plate at this West Valley mall, completing the project in just 14 days.”

But the trouble didn’t end there. When this mall received news of an impending riot attempt on its property, Kowalski was called in to help board it up. “They had an exact time for the attack, down to the minute,” Jim reveals. “Again, we had very little idea about what we would be required to do, but we got the plywood together, showed up, and set to work. The mall was boarded up for one day.

Combined with the visible police presence on the day, that averted the attack. Then they rang us up again, asking for it all to be dismantled by nine in the morning. We worked through the night to make that happen.”

None of this would be possible without the

depth of expertise throughout Kowalski’s employee base. But for Jim, the real secret is culture. “The number one thing we ask whenever we make a new hire is: will this person be a good fit?” he explains. “If people feel at home in an environment, it gives them a better opportunity to thrive, and the same is true of our vendor partners and our clients.

Yes, processes are important, as are our software and systems. But without culture, the company wouldn’t have the rocket fuel it needs to propel things forward.”

With this mindset, it makes sense that Kowalski holds its local communities in similarly high regard. “My late uncle was one of the original founding fathers of the local Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP),” Jim tells us. “Growing up, we were always helping, serving meals and doing whatever we could, and we’ve translated that into our company culture, coordinating opportunities for our staff to do the same. We have four main charities that we contribute to regularly, along with other infrequent donations.

Working in our environment requires you to

be invested in helping others, so we’re never short of people willing to give back through other avenues.”

Looking ahead to 2022, the outlook for Kowalski is bright. “We’re in the process of getting approval for our GSA government services, which we see as a natural progression for us,” Jim reflects. “At the same time, what we don’t want to do is focus on a new market, vertical, or service at the expense

of those we already have, and we maintain scorecards for each of our divisions to help us monitor and anticipate any atrophy in business. We are considering an additional office location in Arizona, to provide a stronger foundation from which to operate. But we’re not pursuing that simply because it sounds good; we want it to make sense, and to provide a valuable additional resource within our operations.”

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OC Construction Management

OC Construction Management https://oc-cm.com/ Services: General contractor

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C Construction Management (OC Construction) was founded with the intention of building better. The company boasts an exceptional range of diversity, owing to the extensive history of its management team.

“I myself am a registered architect,” begins

Jonathan Ninnis, the company’s Principal and CEO. “I also worked on the development side for a number of years, while my partner and our Director of Construction, James Robinson started in civil engineering, before turning to construction, and our third partner, our COO, Michael Sci comes

Diligently diversifying Anchored by the fundamentals of construction, OC Construction Management embraces diverse concepts and intelligent collaborations to lead the building sector with its in-house industry expertise

from corporate real estate. So, we really do understand everything that takes place throughout a construction project. We’re not pretending to be developers, but we do understand the intricate details of the process, which makes us far more able to align with the interests of the owner.”

As Jonathan has progressed in his career, he has taken notice of how the construction industry has struggled with modernization, despite the forward movement of other sectors. In response, he is determined to bring about positive and impactful change. “It’s probably one

of the very few areas that has remained unchanged for decades. When we started, we felt the urgency to build better, and aside from an advancement in technology and techniques, we wanted to focus on the people managing our processes,” he shares.

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OC Construction Management “Culture, in particular, in our opinion has not been an area of significant investment in the building industry, and this is where OC Construction is determined to stand out.

We’re a people business that is heavily dedicated to revolving our operations around the skills and talent of those who work with us. To reinforce this, we have a full-time cultural architect and leadership coach, Tim Dobbins, who works almost exclusively with our firm, and we work consistently with him, on a weekly basis, both at the partner level and throughout our entire team.

“My partners and I all come from large company and large project backgrounds, so when we set out to establish this business, we wanted to start strong out the gates, and springboard ourselves to a sizable company in the most responsible way possible. We began with internal operations by deploying the best technology and hiring the best people to create a more scalable structure, and continued to grow from there,” Jonathan explains.

This calculated approach has allowed OC Construction to achieve what others could not. Rather than directing its attention on increasing its size first, OC Construction was determined to have a united and wellcoordinated core from the get-go. “From processes, to putting together playbooks, to hiring the right people, and arranging the necessary departments; that was how we prepared ourselves for future growth. It allowed us to scale up in 2018 and 2019, when the market was expanding. Then we scaled back down slightly as we’ve dealt with Covid-19, and now we’re back to scaling up again.”

Jonathan acknowledges that outside investors also originally played an instrumental role in getting the company started. “It takes a sizable amount of capital to get a major construction company off the ground, especially in New York, and so we were very fortunate to have had early investors who had a lot of faith in us. Not only did they invest dollars, but they gave us their resources and experience, in addition to projects, that a company of our age could typically never dream of. So, when you combine the previous experience of our partners, with that level of investment and those early projects, we were able to put together a resume that levelled us upfor more projects, larger projects and institutional clients.”

Diving deeper into the topic of OC Construction’s project experience, the CEO shares with us two in particular that

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“Over the last two years, we have opened offices in Newark, New Jersey, and Stamford, Connecticut. To support our move towards diversification, we are pushing into retail, industrial, and multi-family residential work in those geographies in addition to our historic strengths in the commercial office market.” demonstrate his company’s best practices.

“Our largest project to date was the 440,000-square-foot tenant interiors contract at 390 Madison Avenue,” he says. This project involved the relocation of 16 floors of front office private banking and leadership space for one of the largest banks in the world. Notable design features included 13 floors of work place, a two floor conference and amenity center including a full kitchen to support client functions, two enhanced café stations, a functioning terrace, as well as various collaboration spaces and a broadcast studio.

Another project that Jonathan is keen to discuss is 368 9th Avenue. “The site was originally built in 1930 by Sears Roebuck

& Company as a combined warehouse and office building. In late 2014, the property was then acquired by Nuveen Real Estate, the current landlord, from the Feil Organization and Savanna. It sits on the southeast corner of 9th Avenue and 31st Street, and is in close proximity to Penn Station, Hudson Yards and the Chelsea neighborhoods. We were honored to lay the foundations for WeWork’s new 236,000-square-foot location at the building, which was actually the largest co-working transaction completed in New York City in 2018.

“We renovated and revamped the building’s lobby, ground floor, and elevators as well as completed upgrades to the building’s façade,

and created a brand new 2000-square-foot rooftop amenity space that overlooks the New York City skyline. The entire project was completed in the third quarter of 2019,” he says, adding that working with older building structures falls under the umbrella of the company’s strengths.

Of course, completing projects of this magnitude proved to be trickier during the pandemic. However, OC Construction worked studiously to ensure that, as a young company, it would outlast market instability, even if the strategy required in-house adjustments.

“The reality of Covid-19 changed our thinking overnight. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for the direction of a young company to be influenced by external forces – the 2008 recession is a great example of this. So, in the case of Covid-19, our response was to diversify. This was due to how the commercial office sector contracted rather substantially, which forced us to open our eyes, and diversify by expanding our geography and ur project type.

“One area that we refused to change was

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OC Construction Management

our focus on culture and the development of our team. In fact, when we were looking at overhead costs and how we could save

dollars, we actually decided to invest more in these efforts. We needed to keep the team together and keep moving forward. It

was definitely worth it. I don’t deny we faced our challenges, and navigating that first year was incredibly difficult, but we were really able to keep the team together, and the company moving forward.”

On the topic of the future, 2022 is looking to be a promising year for the business, and going forward, Jonathan is excited to see the completion of several projects in the pipeline. “We’ve been doing preconstruction on 23 Wall Street for the better part of two years; understandably so, as it has been a difficult market for redevelopment. So, we’ve been working alongside our clients there, and now finally it looks like that project is going to move forward. It’s the original office building of JP Morgan down on Wall Street and Broad, and it fits perfectly in our wheelhouse of historic building redevelopment.

“Similarly, there’s another project underway at 14 Vesey Street. Fortunately, it looks like that project is going to be moving forward this year as well. These are substantial contracts, and they’re phenomenal buildings, so we’re really looking forward to getting moving on them as soon as possible,” he informs us.

“In this industry, we do believe that scale is meaningful, from the perspective of cost control, maximizing efficiencies and buying power. So, the goal for us is to keep growing, while balancing our commitment to our clients.”

OC Construction would also like to continue its expansion throughout the TriState area. “Over the last two years, we have

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opened offices in Newark, New Jersey, and Stamford, Connecticut. To support our move towards diversification, we are pushing into retail, industrial, and multifamily residential work in those geographies in addition to our historic strengths in the commercial office market. I believe if we continue with this strategy, the next five years or so will be incredibly prosperous for us,” Jonathan says.

Our conversation ends on a note of gratitude as Jonathan pays homage to the clients with whom the company works, and he looks forward to the many more projects ahead. “Who we’re working for is indicative of how we operate. The majority of our clients are institutional, class-A owners and landlords. Whether its Trinity Church, Beacon Capital, Boston Properties, Related or Nuveen, and many others, we are incredibly privileged to be working with them. I’m especially grateful for the fact that the vast majority of these clients are repeat clients, and I think that speaks to how we perform and how we operate,” he concludes.

Streamstown Construction Streamstown Construction specialize in commercial, industrial and upscale retail projects, many of which have received custom made bespoke ceilings. Each project is self-performed by our skilled tradesmen, completed with the highest standards. We aim to be our clients first choice for construction partnership as we have proven to deliver on each promise that we have made. This leads to building strong long-term relationships with our clients. We take pride in maintaining strong quality control, achieved by ensuring any issues that arise are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

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US Framing

A better way to

frame

US Framing https://usframing.com/ Services: Multi-wood framing experts

With over two decades worth of experience in large timber frame construction, US Framing provides unparalleled services to contractors on a range of structures, from multifamily homes to assisted living facilities 70 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

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ffering a comprehensive range of services, from wood framing to hardware installation to house wrap, has helped US Framing become a strategic partner to dozens of construction company’s across America. The company offers expertise in a

“US Framing designs its processes around the sitespecific requirements of each project, using more than 40 years’ worth of accumulated knowledge.

Using its specialist abilities in wooden, cross laminated timber, metal stud and industrial framing, US Framing will then advise on the most effective materials and layout for the project’s internal structure. These decisions are made by carefully evaluating safety, longevity, reliability and ease of maintenance”

range of applications in the modelling, preconstruction, and construction phases of a project, priding itself on accuracy, quality and timeliness. Today, US Framing has completed over 10,000 units worth of wood-beam construction, and it looks forward to further large-scale projects in the near future.

As an industry-leading Type III framer, US Framing works in several major categories: multifamily projects, assisted living facilities, student housing, hotels, takeovers, and high-end estate homes. The company offers a variety of services, from framing labor to complete turnkey packages, including

lumber, structural steel, trusses and stairs.

As a national operation, US Framing offers it services to any major project, in any region of the US. Multifamily homebuilding is the primary focus of US Framing’s work. The company has completed more multifamily units than any other wood framing contractor group in the US, and has a vast depth of experience in division 6100 rough carpentry. With a portfolio full of two, three and four-story projects, US Framing is capable of managing a structure of any size, shape or complexity.

Boasting an incredible understanding of its market, US Framing has expert capabilities in the framing of connecting walls, low-rise duplexes, and high-rise apartment complexes in a range of densities and heights. The company has specifically trained its team in the management of these kinds of structures, in response to industry trends

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US Framing

that show the rising popularity of larger, shared spaces.

As an expert in the field, US Framing actually offers a more aesthetically pleasing and easier to maintain alternative to industry standard framing. Using timber beams, the company can create a variety of structures with integrity. The wooden frames are not only more reliable, but they offer higher levels of thermal resistivity, meaning that the building is less likely to be affected by cold weather conditions. It is more energy efficient than masonry and steel during and post

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construction, thanks to the cellular structure of wood as opposed to metal. Holding pockets of warm air inside of it means that the finished structure will have an overall higher level of insulation.

Further, the use of wooden beams makes US Framing the green alternative. As a renewable material, wood releases less greenhouse gas than concrete and steel, and it also requires less energy to extract, manufacture and transport. US Framing is an industry leader in timber framing, making it the ideal choice for environmentally conscious builders.

The company’s depth of knowledge also makes it a strategic long-term partner for construction companies in the multi-family or high-end housing market. The working culture at US Framing prioritizes customer satisfaction, and seeks to form lasting relationships with contractors through reliable, on-time service.

Thanks to its years of experience in largescale construction, US Framing is able to offer its services to any project, at any point in its lifecycle. The company regularly partners with builders and contractors as early as the pre-construction stage, wherein its expert team can provide support in planning and designing, as well as sourcing materials.

With its designated pre-construction team, US Framing guides customers through important decisions regarding foundation planning and design, materials, budget, schedule and even risk assessment.

These highly-skilled teams are effective in supporting projects through the preconstruction phase, ensuring a far smoother overall build. Furthermore, they are dedicated to meeting the client’s needs, listening to their opinions and working collaboratively to achieve the goals of a project.

These assets are the reason that US Framing is such an important and strategic partner for builders looking to work with wooden framing. Its services are broken down into two sections: pre-design and start-up. To begin with, the pre-design team will build a digital version of the project building, so that clients can get a good idea of what the end result will be. The startup phase then involves making in-depth, collaborative changes to the design, until it meets the needs of the client perfectly.

Builders can continue to rely on US Framing as a trusted partner throughout the construction process. US Framing designs its processes around the sitespecific requirements of each project, using more than 40 years’ worth of accumulated knowledge.

Using its specialist abilities in wooden, cross laminated timber, metal stud and industrial framing, US Framing will then advise on the most effective materials and layout for the project’s internal structure.

These decisions are made by carefully evaluating safety, longevity, reliability and ease of maintenance.

The company then provides framing laborers to erect the structure, following a strict plan that considers fire resistance, thermal insulation, and noise insulation as

important variables. These decisions are supported by US Framing’s additional 3D modelling capability.

US Framing is leading the way in Building Information Modelling (BIM) for wood framing applications. The company is now capable of managing and controlling customer projects through new and innovative technologies that include the design and framing process.

This new software allows US Framing to work together with customers to get architectural designs right the first time around. With practical applications in the pre-construction and co-ordination phases of a project, US Framing’s 3D modelling software adds a new innovative layer to its already comprehensive offering.

These developments highlight just how forward-thinking US Framing is as an operation. Providing builders with a more sustainable, technologically advanced alternative, will no doubt continue to spell success for the company, as it leads the wood framing industry into the future.

National Lumber Turnkey Framing National Lumber Turnkey Framing provides key structural components for large multi-family wood framed projects, working with US Framing and General Contractors across the United States. Only one team to supply and frame roof and floor trusses, wood wall panels, and all the other lumber and building materials to erect your structure. Plus, the team provides value engineering, efficient framing techniques, and coordinates with trades to keep the project running smoothly. The proof of its effectiveness is seen in the numbers of repeat customers. Once a builder works with National Lumber Turnkey Framing, they have continued to use its services to estimate and plan their next projects.

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Willis Smith Construction

Living a

legacy

Willis Smith Construction www.willissmith.com Services: Residential and commercial builder

Based in Sarasota, Florida, Willis Smith Construction offers expert commercial builder services, and has been providing quality construction services in Southwest Florida since 1972

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elebrating its 50th year in business, Willis Smith Construction (Willis Smith) is proud of the journey it has undertaken to reach its level of success. The business began as a small company with two employees and has continued to grow successfully within the Sarasota region. “We’ve rarely ventured too far beyond a 100-mile radius, and the reason for that is we can provide outstanding customer service to our clients,” says David Sessions, the

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business’s CEO. “For the last couple of years, we have tried to be very strategic through the challenges that have arisen in order to focus on who we are, our core values and to continue to provide a wonderful working experience, not only for our employees but also for our clients.”

We speak with David, and Taylor Aultman, the VP and Project Executive, as well as Zack Holzworth, the company’s Project Manager to learn more about how Willis Smith guarantees best practices for its work in the public and

private sector, with a larger portion of projects in the educational field. “We have a number of different colleges and universities that need building, which our clients come to us for on a regular basis. We build a number of fire stations in the community as well, in addition to libraries and transportation facilities that fit in that public sector realm,” says Zack.

“We are very customer service driven, and we are strategically selective about the sorts of projects we choose to do. We don’t

Main image left and below: Block 40, Hollywood

“We are always looking five years ahead, and our plan is fundamentally simple and that is to offer good value to our clients, and have a wonderful internal culture to provide challenges for our employees that will reinforce their personal growth and career development” necessarily go out there and chase every construction project for the sake of building a revenue stream or growing the company. We pick projects where we think we can provide significant value to our clients,” David adds.

For Willis Smith, maintaining an exemplary reputation that continues to put its people first is vital to its continued success, and David would agree that this is what sets the construction company apart. “Although we stay in a very close geographical area, it’s on our

employees to maintain those relationships. Our biggest benefit is our employees are here in the community every day, providing customer service and keeping those relationships great.”

A demonstration of the company’s best practices can be seen in the conversion of a high school built in 1926 into a museum, a project that it recently undertook. “We had to work with architecture and engineering teams to figure out ways to make the building suit a new use, which included using epoxy

to reinforce on the exterior walls. When we worked on the historical lobby, we restored it to its original state, so that some of the residents that once attended could see their old high school in that museum. It was a unique project, and a challenge, but incredibly rewarding once it had been completed,” explains Zack.

“We used wood joists that were across the whole floor structure to create reclaimed heart pine in the gallery spaces. Instead of just throwing it out - some of them are 300-year-

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Willis Smith Construction

old heart pine joists, and it would be a shame to put them into landfill - we found a way to use them in that space, and it’s now a really beautiful, unique feature in that museum,” he continues.

According to David, the building is a landmark for its surrounding community, and being able to restore some of the original features while giving new life to a historical building has played a significant role in the heritage of the area. “Our vision is to build landmarks and iconic structures and facilities for this community. I can share a couple of current projects that we have broken ground on. One is at Selby Gardens, also known as the Selby Gardens master plan, which will consist of a new welcome centre, a research facility, restaurant, gift shop and art gallery, as well as provide parking for future expansion.”

In addition to that, the company has begun working on what is called Mote SEA, which stands for science, education, aquarium. “I feel it is going to be an iconic structure that

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will host a state-of-the-art aquarium that is currently under construction in this region. Once it is completed, the existing facilities will be converted to a state-of-the-art marine research centre,” says David.

The conversation then moves towards the people of the business, which David alluded to earlier, and how adamant the company is to provide an excellent training scheme to support its employees. “We have a number of project managers who all started here, fresh out of college, and we basically fitted them into our company’s culture, ethics, integrity, and customer service values, which is all part of the initial recruitment philosophy. This also helps us maintain our family-type environment here. We work hard, but we also have a lot of fun doing different events together, whether it’s a 5K run on the weekend, or going on company retreats. The other thing we do is encourage our people to get out in the community and volunteer, or join in helping a non-profit organization that is set up with a mission

loosely geared towards the betterment of our community.

“We support anybody who wants to go through leadership programmes, but volunteerism is just as important to us. We view that as a social responsibility to our community, and part of that is giving back in whatever way we can. There is a very strong commitment and culture here in doing just that,” explains David.

Willis Smith is now ready to take on the future, with a determination to refine its practices and take on bigger projects. “The goal is to continue with what we have been doing successfully, and provide outstanding value to our existing clients, as well as new ones.

Roughly 75 percent of everything we do is repeat business, so our strategy is to maintain good customer relations, stick with what we know best, and focus on whatever changes come our way.

“We are always looking five years ahead, and our plan is fundamentally simple and

that is to offer good value to our clients, and have a wonderful internal culture to provide challenges for our employees that will reinforce their personal growth and career development,” David informs us.

In his final thoughts, David shares a few closing remarks on the importance of 50 years in business, and how proud he is of his company. He looks forward to the journey ahead, and has every confidence that his

team will continue to do an excellent job, no matter the project. “We haven’t been great at reflecting on what we have accomplished each year, and now we’ve had 50. Life goes by so quickly, and so for 2022, we are spending all year celebrating our 50th anniversary, and part of that is to look back on the legacy of this company, and how we can continue to serve our community going forward,” he concludes.

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Action Gypsum

Independent

success

Action Gypsum www.actiongypsum.com Services: Drywall distribution

As one of the industry’s few remaining independent distributors, Action Gypsum distinguishes itself through unparalleled customer service, and a diverse range of products

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ounded on the shared vision of its Managing Partners, Terri King and Lenin Juarez, Action Gypsum (Action) is a proudly independent company that is known for offering comprehensive services with a depth of industry knowledge. From its first sevenacre facility in Houston, Texas, the company has become a national operation, supplying material for major medical, residential, entertainment, and hospitality projects.

Whilst establishing new locations across Arizona, Las Vegas, and California, Action retains its innovative, solution-orientated, and collaborative approach to business.

The foundation of Action Gypsum is the partnership between Terri King and Lenin Juarez. As Managing Partners, the pair have worked for 18 years to build Action into an industry leader. “On May 1st 2003, myself and Lenin combined our 42 years’ worth of industry knowledge in order to create Action

Gypsum, an independent drywall materials distributor that now has 12 locations across the Texas region,” states Terri.

Since its inception, the company has experienced considerable growth, as Terri continues: “We have grown rapidly over the last few years, and have opened a series of new locations; six in California, three in southern California, three in northern California, Denver, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Action Gypsum Supply continues to look for

opportunities at new locations across the United States.

“The company has reached a number of major milestones in its time. When we first started Action, we had come from a large distributor in the same industry. They would put a lot of stumbling blocks in the way to prevent manufacturers selling to us, this made procuring drywall and metal studs a bit of a challenge, and it was probably the first major barrier to success that we had to

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Action Gypsum overcome. Fortunately, we are a determined partnership, and we found some suppliers in the Houston area with which we could build strong relationships.”

Competing with much larger corporations meant that Action needed to develop a unique selling point. By offering personalized customer service, the company was able to offer something no one else could, as Lenin details: “What differentiates us from the big companies is our full service offering. We offer comprehensive stocking for residential, commercial and multi-family purposes. Alongside our range of dry wall, we provide metal stud framing, acoustical ceilings, fiberglass insulation, doors, frames, construction tools and plaster.

“Culturally, Action Gypsum is different from some of its larger competitors. Generally, our competition focusses solely on dry wall distribution, and the service is far less personal. In contrast, Action’s management team is very much involved with the customer base, especially around the Houston area where we are based. Both Terri and I are here every day, keeping a close eye on our services and meeting the customer’s needs.

“We make weekly journeys not only to the markets in Texas, but also to Action’s branches in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Colorado. We find that customers appreciate our uniquely personal touch, and many industry experts have moved from larger competitors to join Action for that same reason.

“The growth has been exponential, especially over the last seven years, but that hasn’t stopped Action keeping in touch with every single customer. This sense of openness is also reflected in our corporate office; we have glass-front offices and open-door policies to ensure people feel comfortable communicating openly with management. Many of our customers have known Terri for over 30 years, and they would feel comfortable just coming into her office for an informal chat. It definitely makes for strong relationships, and easy problem solving between us and the people we supply.”

Keeping the company connected is a big motivator for Terri and Lenin, as community is at the core of everything Action does. As Terri affirms: “We maintain that small company feel by being out in front, communicating with the customers. They know they can pick up the phone and talk to myself or Lenin with ease. Additionally, we

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make ourselves available in person all across the country; just last week Lenin was in California, Nevada, and Arizona.

“One of the other assets we have that sets us apart is the service we provide. Everyone is selling the same thing at around the same price point, so all we can really control is the service that we pride ourselves on offering.

We serve our customers, personally, to the best of our ability.”

It is clear that Action’s customer service is one of its most important offerings, as Terri confirms: “We do everything from taking the orders to delivering the goods, and providing an accurate invoice. All of those services come together to add value, and ensure customers have a hassle-free experience.”

“It’s all about making sure the customers are getting their bills in a timely manner, that the material is showing up as promised, and that everyone is on the same page. We do this by remaining entirely transparent, and engaging in effective two-way communication,” Lenin adds.

Shifts in the broader industry culture have also supported Action Gypsum’s success over the past few years, as Terri observes: “Over the last two years we have benefitted from a lot of our competition being acquired by larger companies. When a smaller competitor becomes part of an acquisition, the avenue is opened up for us to go in and offer our unique services. Further, a lot of the people working for these smaller businesses don’t want to go and work for a large corporation, and so we get a lot of really informed and experienced people reaching out to us to become a part of Action. That’s how our San Diego location got off the ground, and it has also benefitted our Las Vegas network.”

Action’s community-focused working culture also helped it throughout the pandemic, as Terri and Lenin kept the company’s doors open throughout. “We left stores open, and allowed customers in as long as they felt safe, which allowed us to take some of the market share at that time,” Terri explains.

“We also allowed employees to make decisions for themselves in terms of what they felt comfortable with. A lot of our customers had to keep going in order to survive, and we were one of the only drywall distributors in the state of Texas that kept its doors open to them. I think people really appreciated that,” Lenin adds.

Maintaining an open-door policy in difficult times has helped Action Gypsum continue to grow by ten percent, year-on-year since

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Action Gypsum

2020. Supporting the company’s expansion is its network of vendors and suppliers, as Terri enthuses: “Our vendors have been invaluable in managing such rapid growth. Our success is definitely in part thanks to the strong relationships we maintain, and we really appreciate having been able to work with such great partners for over a decade.

“They have grown with us, and enabled the company to continue expanding, without worrying about supply. Many of our suppliers have supported us when we have grown into new areas where we didn’t have an established location yet, and in return we

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have provided them with a steady flow of business, and a reliable partner.”

As an industry leader, Action Gypsum has become a go-to source for material on landmark projects. “One of the biggest projects we have been working on recently is the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin. We also worked on the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – California project at Disneyland, California, which was great fun.

“In terms of upcoming projects, we are now preparing to work on Fontainebleau Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV. This will be really key, as it is taking place in a newly emerging market for us,” Terri confirms.

For 18 years, Action Gypsum has successfully added value to its customer’s projects through comprehensive service, partnership, safety and dexterity. As it continues to grow, and establish itself in new markets, the company is determined to remain true to its original mission, as Terri concludes: “2022 is an important year for us, we will be establishing ourselves in the new markets, and continuing to build relationships with customers across the US. With everything going on, one of our primary goals is to remain independent, and continue offering unparalleled customer service.”

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