QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 2 ND QUARTER // 2025
IN THIS ISSUE: DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHT CHAMPIONS PROJECT WATCHLIST BUILDING TOMORROW, TODAY GUEST WRITER PROJECT HIGHLIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS & EVENTS
NEW EQUIPMENT This quarter, we added a new W 220 XFI Mill to our fleet. This machinery will enhance our capabilities and improve efficiency on site, allowing us to tackle projects with even greater precision and speed.
Thank you to the team who has brought this machine to life!
A NOTE FROM WILLARD As the summer months begin, I want to emphasize the importance of safety in our work. Each member of our team is a vital part of our success, and your health and well-being are our top priority.
Be aware of the signs of heat stress, which can include symptoms such as dizziness, excessive sweating, fatigue, and confusion. If you or a coworker experiences any of these signals, seek assistance immediately. Your commitment to safety is what makes Superior Bowen thrive, and it helps us all return home to our families in good health. Thank you for your dedication and for making our job sites a safer place. Stay safe and take care of each other!
SB QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | Q1 2025
With the rising temperatures, we face the increased risk of heat-related illnesses. Please remember to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day. You can find cooling safety helmet liners, electrolyte packets, and other supplies at the Manchester Shop.
WILLARD BARRY DIRECTOR OF SAFETY & COMPLIANCE, SUPERIOR BOWEN 3
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHT EQUIPMENT & MOBILIZATION TEAMS
The 2025 season is heating up, and the Equipment and Mobilization teams are keeping us all moving. This quarter, we want to shine a spotlight on two vital pieces of our team: the Equipment and Mobilization teams! Their hard work and dedication don’t go unnoticed. They’re the backbone of our operations, ensuring everything runs smoothly. The Equipment Division is all about keeping our projects moving forward. They tirelessly manage the purchasing, sales, and maintenance of our equipment, making sure that everything is in tiptop shape. Their attention to detail means our crews can count on reliable tools and machinery, which ultimately ensures we deliver the highest quality work on our projects. But their support doesn’t stop there! They also provide essential parts and supplies needed for both our equipment and our personnel. This guarantees everyone on the team has exactly what they need to get the job done right.
Mobilization is another critical piece of the puzzle. The Mobilization team expertly handles transportation and crew supply hauling, making sure the right equipment and materials are delivered to the right place at the right time. With just 11 drivers, they can knock out between 3060 moves a day. This essential support allows our teams to focus on what they do best: building and delivering exceptional projects. A big thank you to the Equipment and Mobilization teams for being such integral parts of our success. We appreciate everything you do for the team! It’s the support we provide each other that keeps us all moving forward. Let’s keep lifting each other up as we tackle this busy season together!
SB QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | Q1 2025
5
2025 SECOND QUARTER CHAMPIONS Every month, we celebrate the individuals and teams who go above and beyond in living our core values. Through the Champions program, we highlight their hard work and dedication, which inspires all of us to keep building a positive and collaborative work environment. Congratulations to our Champions! Your actions make Team SB stronger every day!
MARCH CHAMPIONS
MARCH CREW
APRIL CHAMPION
JOHN ARNOLD, HUNTER MCKOWN, & TONY MALIZZI
CONCRETE CLAIRE TEAM
KEVIN GAROUTTE OPERATOR
“These three are doing their best to cover all of our active projects right now and making sure every job has what it needs to keep moving forward. It’s a lot of work to keep jobs moving and productive, and the hard work is not going unnoticed!”
“Excellent job to everyone involved in the CLAIRe event this past week on Curb Machine #13703! The event was a success, and the machine looks fantastic. Great work team: Cody Frederick, Ian Schaben, Monte Buerman, Chet Nicholson, Camilo TovarAbonce, Brian Hall, and Luis Vera-Espinoza.”
“For the last couple of weeks, Kevin has helped train a new distributor driver and a service truck driver for my crew. He’s answered all the questions the drivers have had and taught them tricks only a veteran would know. He always shows a willingness to pass on his knowledge and has our backs!”
NOMINATED BY GREG PFAU
NOMINATED BY ADAM RIDDELL
NOMINATED BY BILL WAY
MAY CREW
MIKE COLEMAN’S CREW
MIKE COLEMAN SUPERINTENDENT
PRAIRIE VILLAGE CLINT EDWARDS & MONTE BUERMAN
“I want to nominate my crew for doing such a great job while I was in St. Louis at World of Asphalt. I left William Conrad in charge, and the crew stepped up to the challenge. They followed his lead and got the job done safely while hitting our goals every day.” Great work, Dustin Casselman, Paul Shoopman, Enrique Decker, Kevin Backus, Jason Young, John Strutton, and Travis Brookshire.
“Once again, Mike Coleman has stepped up to help Superior Bowen run smoothly. Mike recently volunteered to take on a new challenge with a new crew. The decision to lead a new crew wasn’t an easy one, but Mike answered the call. Thank you, Mike, for stepping forward, and know that it doesn’t go unnoticed.”
“I received this email from a resident on the Booth Street project.”
NOMINATED BY MIKE COLEMAN
NOMINATED BY TIM MULVANY
NOMINATED BY CODY FREDERICK
SB crews worked on my driveway and curbs, and I just want to say how nice and accommodating they were. I had surgery Monday, and they kept me informed and went above and beyond. I really appreciated their kindness.
7
MAY CHAMPION
SB QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | Q1 2025
APRIL CREW
PROJECT WATCHLIST 95th Street to 635 Project Manager: Matt Weyer 67,814 tons
Belton Overlay Program Project Manager: Tim Mulvany 39,464 tons
Miami County Overlay 2025 Project Manager: Tim Mulvany 22,777 tons
1-470 Western Gateway Project Manager: Rhett Klinksick 14,032 tons
I-470 Project Manager: Rhett Klinksick 46,517 tons
Black Bob Road 157th to 167th Project Manager: Craig McCloud 35,003 tons
Olathe Local B Project Manager: Craig McCloud 11,007 tons
Overland Park 2025 Project Manager: Tim Mulvany 46,188 tons MODOT I-35 and I-670 Project Manager: Matt Weyer 26,421 tons
Project Kansas (Panasonic) Project Manager: Craig McCloud 15,775 tons
Tomahawk Creek Parkway Project Manager: Dan Evans 39,885 CY of earthwork
Ford Outfall Improvements Project Manager: Mark O’Hara 2,630 tons of aggregate
Erika’s Place Project Manager: Mark O’Hara 59,537 CY of earthwork
Black Bob Road Project Manager: Dan Evans 20,660 tons of aggregate 2,843 CY of concrete $4.9M of subcontractor scope 44,382 yards of earthwork 9,842 CY of import
East Village of Leawood Project Manager: Mark O’Hara 79,735 CY of earthwork 24,444 yards of rock excavation
Prairie Highlands 8th Project Manager: Angela McAtee 1,126 tons 2,968 SY of stabilization 24,835 CY of earthwork
Thousand Oaks Connector Trail Project Manager: Garrett Cates 4,580 SY of stabilization 727 CY of concrete 22,400 CY of earthwork
Employee Spotlight: Chet Nicholson // Leadman
SB QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | Q1 2025
Employee Spotlight: Mark Franklin // Heavy Equipment Operator
9
GUEST WRITER
SAMANTHA BOYLE // PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE MANAGER
AI: What We’re Learning & What We’re Doing
We’ve all heard the buzz—AI is everywhere. It’s on the news, in industry articles, and probably even on your jobsite group texts. It’s changing how work gets done in nearly every industry. At Superior Bowen, as we looked ahead to 2025 and reaffirmed our focus on Learning and Innovation, it became clear: AI had to be part of the strategy. During our first AI training in May, Trey said it best: “AI isn’t going away. It’s here, and it’s evolving fast. And we have a choice. We can wait and react— or we can lean in, learn, and lead.” “This isn’t about replacing people—it’s about empowering all of us to do more with less friction. The more we can amplify our capabilities, the better we can serve our customers, grow our business, and keep great people here doing meaningful work.” Training: What We’re Learning To get started, we brought together over 50 team members from across the company—Superintendents, equipment techs, estimators, quality managers, marketers, HR, and accounting—for a three-part training led by Quantum Rise, an AI consultancy. We covered the basics: What is AI? What is ChatGPT? How can it help me in my job?
Let’s talk about some examples: Need to replace a hydraulic hose on a Cat D6? Ask ChatGPT to act as a Caterpillar mechanic and walk you through the steps.
Of course we’re looking at how to solve big problems, but instead of waiting for the AI committee to come up with the perfect plan, we’re empowering people to start now. Our people are using it every day in creative ways to solve problems, learn new things, and make their day smoother. Here are some ideas of how our teams could use ChatGPT: Toolbox talks: “What do I tell my crew about how to stay safe when it is 95 degrees out? Learning about new equipment: “What’s a vacuum excavation trailer and when would it make sense to use it for utility locates?” Parts sourcing: “Where in KC can I find a replacement hydraulic hose for a 980 CAT loader?”
Scouting future work? Ask it to scan publicly available city websites and news sources to compile proposed Capital Improvement Projects.
Just one rule: don’t put confidential company data into ChatGPT—it’s not a secure vault. Keep it general or anonymized.
Comparing plans or specs? Upload two versions of a project document and ask ChatGPT to outline the differences. It’ll give you different answers whether you tell it to be an estimator or legal counsel.
You don’t have to be an expert to get started. If you’ve never used ChatGPT before, open it and talk to it like you would a coworker.
Start Now
SB QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | Q1 2025
One of the biggest takeaways was how to write a great prompt. A great prompt includes: Context (what you’re working on), Role (who you want ChatGPT to act like), and Expectations (what you want back).
What We’re Doing
Use it when you: Want to summarize something long or complicated, need help thinking through a problem, or want to learn something new. 11
Next time you reach for Google, try ChatGPT instead. It might surprise you.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHT MODOT I-470 MILLING & PAVING
Creating a smoother, safer, and more enjoyable roadway experience for the tens of thousands of daily travelers on I-470. We’re about to kick off one of our most ambitious projects to date. This isn’t just any project. It’s the I-470 roadway milling and paving job, covering an impressive 213,000 square yards of milling and the placement of 46,000 tons of fresh asphalt. The scale is massive, and the challenge is even bigger, but we’re excited about the potential to make a real impact on the 60,000 to 80,000 vehicles traveling I-470 daily. While a project of this magnitude typically requires 40-50 night shifts to complete, our goal is to finish much sooner. To keep traffic flowing smoothly and meet project deadlines, we’ll be conducting two weekend closures, one for each
direction of traffic, and just a few scheduled night shifts. It’s a delicate balance, requiring precision and careful planning. Over each weekend, we’ll remove around 32,000 tons of old material and lay at least 11,200 tons of asphalt, and up to 17,700 tons before opening the road back up to regular traffic. Behind the scenes, the asphalt plant will be working overtime to produce and deliver materials quickly enough to keep pace with demand.
Every member of our asphalt and milling teams will be working in unison to get the job done. Project Manager, Rhett Klinksick, and a talented team including Brian McCloud, David Wilson, Adam Riddell, Jennifer Breuer, Grant Breuer, Jeremy Davis, Steve Trotter, Tommy Stackhouse, John Belger, and others have been meticulously planning and preparing for every challenge. Their expertise has been key to setting us up for success. We’re keeping our Core Value of “Have Each Other’s Backs” at the heart of this project. We’re committed to supporting every team, every step of the way. Whether through planning, resources or just being there when needed, we want to ensure our team has everything necessary to succeed. This project is a perfect example of what happens when you bring together a skilled, dedicated team, plan ahead, and work with precision. When we’re finished, I-470 will be safer, smoother and make the commute better for everyone in the city. It’s all a part of building tomorrow, today. SB QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | Q1 2025
Stay tuned for project updates as our team transforms I-470!
13
ANNOUNCEMENTS & EVENTS MATCHING GIFTS PROGRAM
ONEDIGITAL FINANCIAL WELLNESS SERVICES
Donate $50 or more to an eligible charity and we’ll match your donation 1:1 (up to $500). Volunteering? We match your time at $25 per hour. This is available to all current employees who are active at the time of donation. Eligible organizations include 501(c)(3) non-profits and community programs like food pantries. Donations to political, religious, or third-party groups like GoFundMe aren’t eligible. Contact HR@superiorbowen.com with any questions!
Superior Bowen now offers OneDigital Financial Wellness — a free service to help you take control of your money and reduce financial stress.
SB DAY AT THE K Join us at Kauffman Stadium for Superior Bowen Day at the K on Saturday, September 20! We’ll have tailgate-style eats, drinks, music, activities for the kids, and an all-star visit from Sluggerrr. Bring your team and help us knock it out of the park! Superior Bowen employees, spouse/significant other, and children are invited. REGISTER HERE
Whether you’re budgeting, saving for a goal, or planning for retirement, OneDigital gives you access to real advisors and practical tools to guide you. SB is providing this because we care about your well-being — not just at work, but in every part of your life. What’s Included: Financial Academy: Monthly webinars on key topics, with ondemand access. 1-on-1 Guidance: Unlimited, confidential meetings with licensed advisors. Self-Paced Learning: Interactive modules on debt, savings, retirement, and more — choose what matters most to you. GET STARTED
WELCOME INTERNS We’re excited to welcome our Summer 2025 Interns to Team SB! They’ve had an exciting few weeks filled with opportunities to dive into the construction industry and gain hands-on experience in their fields. Keep following our social media this summer to see the exciting projects and experiences our interns are involved in! CLICK IT, DON’T RISK IT All crew members are now required to secure the strap on their helmets to ensure maximum protection. If you need new straps for your helmet, see Inventory!
SB QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | Q1 2025
15
SB QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | Q1 2025
17