CCR Issue 4 - 23

Ashley Manley - Area Director of Sales and Revenues Dallas King - Area General Manager, Co-Founder, Sandra Academia - Corporate Controller, Niveesha Hill - Multi-unit Hotel General Manager, Rea Denny - Multi-unit Hotel Assistant General Manager, Robert Rauch - Chairman of the Board, Founder, Cameron Lamming - Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder, Jean Firestone - Director of Sales, Sarah Lynch - Area Assistant General Manager, Co-Founder, Dari DeSousa - Corporate Director of Human Resources

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It all starts with the ‘why’

“Start with Why:

Sinek’s deep dive into how great leaders inspire the masses uncovered one unifying characteristic: Each leader thought, acted and communicated in the exact same way, doing in essence the complete opposite of what everyone else was doing. Sinek calls the strategy The Golden Circle, a framework upon which organizations can be built. The Golden Circle is a movement that can lead and inspire people.

Everything starts with the “why.” While any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; only a few can clearly articulate why. Strategically buried in that framework is the key to human innovation, influence and power.

In the throes of 2023, as the commercial construction powers through another cycle of post-pandemic planning, building, renovating, designing, renovating and the

like, each of us are doing so chasing our why. From the C-suite to the workers in the field, each and every project serves a purpose that goes way beyond that initial sketch on a drawing board.

You could make the case, as I will here, that you cannot truly have a “why” without people. Take our latest “Women in Construction” supplement (see “Women in Construction, “Page 99) and read the stories behind why these amazing construction professionals do what they do. You cannot do what you do unless you believe in the why.

So, as you prepare for another day of checking items off your to-do list, ask yourself why it matters. Take your own deep dive into why that at the end of each day you can hold your head up high to the work you put forth.

Because here’s the thing: We may ask that question. Why do you do what you do?

On your mark, get set, go...

In

How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to take Action,” best-selling author Simon Sinek discusses the ins and outs of human behavior. There are only two ways, Sinek writes, to influence behavior: “You can manipulate it or you can inspire it.”

In the throes of 2023, as the commercial construction powers through another cycle of post-pandemic planning, building, renovating, designing, renovating and the like, each of us are doing so chasing our why.

From Midtown to Manhattan Beach.

We’ve expanded to the West Coast Bringing decades of experience building high profile retail and office environments for the world’s largest brands.

We’re ready to build for you.

Tom Fenton, Business Development Manager (914) 244-9100 x 322

tfenton@schimenti.com

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EDITORIAL

EDITOR: Michael J. Pallerino

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CCR EDITORIAL BOARD

RETAILERS

AARON ANCELLO Facilities Asset Management

Public Storage

DEDRICK KIRKEM Facilities Director Fragracenet.com

BOB MEZA Senior Construction Project Manager Target

JOHN MIOLOGOS Director, Store Standards Store Design and Planning Walgreens Company

LAURA GROSS Retail Facilities Manager American Signature Furniture

KELLY RADFORD VP Retail Construction and Development Ascend Wellness Holdings

RESTAURANTS

RON BIDINOST Vice President of Construction Bubbakoo’s Burritos

DAVID SHOTWELL Construction Manager Atticus Franchise Group

RON VOLSKE Development Director Focus brands

HOSPITALITY

JOHN COOPER Principal Executive Vice President

Stormont Hospitality Group LLC

SAMUEL D. BUCKINGHAM, RS AMS CMCA President of Construction Devco Development

GARY RALL Vice President of Design and Development Holiday Inn Club Vacations

ROBERT RAUCH Chairman Brick Hospitality

JOE THOMAS Vice President Engineering Loews Hotels

LU SACHARSKI Vice President of Operations and Project Management Interserv Hospitality

ANDY BRIGGS, CHA Managing Principal A14 Capital Management

REAL ESTATE

ROB ADKINS, LEED AP CDP Senior Tenant Coordinator, Retail Peterson Companies

MEGAN HAGGERTY Founder Legacy Capital Investment

MARIE ANTONETTE

G. WAITE

Founder and CEO Finest Women in Real Estate

GENERAL CONTRACTOR

DAVID THOMPSON

Vice President TCB

Construction Group LLC.

MATT SCHIMENTI President

Schimenti Construction

JOHN STALLMAN Marketing Manager

Lakeview Construction

JEFFREY D. MAHLER

RCA Advisory Board Member

DEVELOPMENT/PROJECT MANAGEMENT

KAY BARRETT NCIDQ, CDP Senior Vice President Cushman & Wakefield

CLINTON “BROOKS” HERMAN, PMP Construction Project Manager Hill International, Inc.

PAM GOODWIN Goodwin Advisors, LLC Goodwin Commercial The Pam Goodwin Show

JIM SHEUCHENKO President Property Management Advisors LLC

CHRIS VARNEY

KEN DEMSKE

Vice President

Jones Lang LaSalle

PERMITTING

VAUN PODLOGAR

CEO, Owner, Founder State Permits, Inc.

ARCHITECTS/ENGINEERS

MICHAEL MAGEE

Studio Leader Retail, Store Design Senior Associate Little

FRED MARGULIES Director of Retail Architecture

Onyx Creative

STEVEN MCKAY

Managing Principal, Global Design Leader DLR Group

STEVEN R. OLSON, AIA President CESO, Inc.

ADA

BRAD GASKINS Principal

The McIntosh Group

ACADEMIA

DR. MARK LEE LEVINE Professor Burns School/ Daniels College University of Denver

BOB WITKEN Senior Project Manager Fox Restaurant Concepts

GINA MARIE ROMEO Senior Consultant, Key Accounts Rarefied Real Estate Partners

Principal, Executive Vice President EMG

STEPHEN HEKMAN Executive VP Kingsmen Retail Services US

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AroundtheIndustry

RESTAURANTS

Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A’s $1 billion plan will take the quick-service restaurant brand to Europe and Asia by 2026 with a presence in five international markets by 2030.

Yum Brands

Yum Brands, the parent company of chains including KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, has partnered with Miami-based investment firm Lafayette Square to launch a program to back franchisees from underrepresented groups. Lafayette Square will provide $50 million to fund the Franchise Fast Start program, which will be available to new and existing franchisees to help them further their goals of becoming multi-unit operators.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill recently opened two restaurants that use all electric power, with a third slated to debut this summer. The new format is part of the chain’s effort to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and more than 100 new locations slated to open next year will use the all-electric format and other sustainable design elements.

Sweet Tomatoes

In what could be a final indicator of the return to pre-pandemic normalcy, it appears Sweet Tomatoes is planning a comeback. The buffet salad chain has signed a lease to reopen in Tucson, Arizona in a former location. It remains to be seen how the brand will adapt to the post-pandemic era.

McAlister’s Deli

McAlister’s Deli has grown to 500 units with a strategy that focuses on opening units in small towns that other chains overlook, and the chain is poised to become the first $1 billion brand in Focus Brands’ seven-concept portfolio.

The Halal Guys

Fast-casual Middle Eastern food chain The Halal Guys has about 400 new units in the works around the world, including five planned for three cities in Iowa.

P.F. Chang’s

P.F. Chang’s launched its To Go concept in February 2020, weeks before the world knew COVID-19 would be a pandemic that brought big changes to the way restaurants and their customers interacted. Today, there are about 20 of the takeout-only locations in four states and Washington, DC, with five more in the works, and the company is focusing on areas where there’s demand for takeout but not enough to support a full-service P.F. Chang’s restaurant.

HOSPITALITY

Marriott International

Marriott International plans to open up to eight hotels in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, representing several of its brands, such as Westin Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton and Four Points by Sheraton. The new hotels are part of an agreement with Rua Al Madinah Holding Company and will encompass about 4,400 rooms.

Extended Stay America

Extended Stay America has partnered with Bask Development, a real estate development and investment company, to open eight newbuild Premier Suites properties in Florida. Extended Stay America Premier Suites, which offer apartment-style accommodations, operate in 36 locations in the US.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ Manufacturer Direct program, which assists franchisees taking on renovations by giving them access to pre-approved vendors and reducing costs by 20% or more, has been extended to the company’s Ramada and Microtel brands. Introduced last year for Days Inn franchises, the program allows owners to take on a more active role in the process, while ensuring the redesign adheres to Wyndham brand standards.

Wynn Resorts

Wynn Resorts is poised to begin work on a $2 billion casino-resort it is building in the United Arab Emirates in partnership with hotel developer RAK Hospitality Holding. The project, which will be on AlMarjan Island, is expected to be completed in four years.

Radisson Hotel Group

Radisson Hotel Group has almost 100 hotels under development throughout Africa, with eight openings planned this year in countries, including Zambia, Morocco and Tunisia. In the next five years, the company hopes to have 150 properties across the continent.

The Mondrian Tulum Hotel & Residences

The Mondrian Tulum Hotel & Residences in Tulum, Mexico, will be developed by Ennismore and is expected to open in 2025. The property will include a 64-room hotel with a spa, pool and four dining options, as well as 151 residential units.

The Peninsula Beach Resort

The Peninsula Beach Resort, a 110-acre development planned in Crystal Beach, Texas, will feature 222 luxury cottages, a private guest clubhouse, two Olympic-size pools, beachfront condos and the largest bar on the Texas Gulf Coast. A private, Federal Aviation Administration-approved airport with a 2,700-foot runway will be added during the final phase of construction, making it the country’s first fly-in beach resort.

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AroundtheIndustry

RETAIL

Nike

Nike has opened a store exclusively for its Jordan brand in Japan as part of a push to drive growth from direct-to-consumer sales and stores centered around high-profile brands. The company has Converse stores across 28 states and is also opening a variety of new store formats ranging from small neighborhood concepts to larger locations that can host events.

Target Stores

Target expects to spend $4 billion to $5 billion this year to expand its private-label lineup with new brands, roll out curbside delivery and open 20 stores. The company also is leaning into its in-store shop partnerships with brands like Ulta Beauty, Apple and Starbucks.

Gucci

Gucci’s first Salon has opened in Los Angeles solely to serve top-tier clients by appointment only. Nine additional permanent and temporary ultra-luxe Salons are planned around the world to showcase made-to-order collections, accessories, high jewelry and watches, as well as rare restored vintage pieces.

Dollar General

Dollar General has officially begun its international expansion with the early March opening of Mi Super Dollar General store in Escobedo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The store features a bakery, tortilleria and a financial-services center, as well as products and household essentials sourced from Mexico, and is the first of 35 stores the company aims to open in Mexico by the end of fiscal 2023.

Kohl’s/Sephora

Kohl’s will open in-store Sephora shops at 250 more locations this year, bringing the total to upward of 850 locations across 48 states by year’s end. Sephora has proven to be a draw for Kohl’s—almost 8 million Kohl’s shoppers bought Sephora items last year and about half of them also bought goods from other categories while in the store.

Swarovski

Austria-based luxury crystal and jewelry retailer Swarovski is in growth mode in North America, with plans to open 10 new stores in the US and Canada starting next month. The new stores are designed to create an immersive shopping experience and focus on Swarovski’s ethically sourced products, including a line made with Swarovski Created Diamonds.

Arc’teryx

Arc’teryx, a technical high performance brand turned cult luxury product and—more recently—a downtown New York City meme, is ready for worldwide expansion. It is understood that much of

that growth is seen coming in North America, with New York being the key focus that brand executives feel is the region’s center for brand heat.

GROCERS Fig & Favor

Harwood Hospitality Group has debuted a new market concept in Dallas called Fig & Favor that houses a wine club, espresso bar, groceries, grab-and-go meals and a gelato station. Fig & Favor is curated for the local provisions, creating a sense of community to work and live.

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market locations in the Denver area have adopted Amazon’s palm-recognition checkout technology, Amazon One. The push brings Amazon One to 11 stores—one of which will also be the retailer’s fourth US store to feature Amazon’s Dash Cart smart cart solution.

Giant Food

Giant Food has paired with area restaurant chain Nalley Fresh to open its first fast-casual eatery in Giant’s Ellicott City, Maryland store. Nalley Fresh will offer bowls, salads and wraps at the location starting today and will fill third-party delivery orders via UberEats and DoorDash.

Southeastern Grocers

Florida-based Southeastern Grocers completed a busy year in 2022 in which it remodeled 51 locations and opened two new Winn-Dixie and 17 new liquor stores. The company also launched a delivery service for over 375 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket locations and donated more than $6.75 million to nonprofit and community organizations.

Dollar Tree

Dollar Tree is continuing to invest in grocery by opening a test kitchen and preparing to roll out hundreds of private-label products following a hefty expansion of its $3 to $5 frozen and refrigerated offerings. The retailer also is introducing more cooler doors to accommodate a wider assortment of fresh and frozen foods.

ALDI

Aldi has become the third-largest grocer in the US by store count thanks to the low prices that have earned it a wide following. The retailer plans to continue expanding with 13 new stores slated to open in the Gulf Coast in 2023 after opening 20 stores in the region last year.

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Bridging the Gap

Recognizing that access to capital is a roadblock to hotel ownership and development, Marriott set out to offer financial support and other incentives to qualified owners and franchisees with its Bridging the Gap program. As part of the initiative, the chain recently announced its Aloft Hotels, Autograph Collection, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites and Tribute Portfolio brands will be among the first 19 development projects to receive assistance through the program.

The numbers game 72 45 50

The percentage increase of the workload in the infrastructure sector during Q1, according to the “Q1 2023 US Construction Monitor” by RICS (The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Sub-components such as energy and transport also are performing well. The positive trend is expected, given the implementation of both the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

The number of new hotels Red Roof will open this year, a 60% year-overyear increase, with one out of 10 new properties belonging to the revamped Red Roof PLUS+ brand. The company also continues to expand in the extended-stay sector and is introducing a dual-branded prototype to franchisees with HomeTowne Studios and Red Roof Inn on the same site.

The percentage increase of construction employment (259) 358 metro areas between March 2022 and March 2023, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Association officials said expanding manufacturing construction was helping drive demand for new workers in many parts of the country.

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They said it...

Down for the count

Report shows the cost of injuries on the job

According to the “2023 Injury Impact Report” by Travelers Insurance, the construction industry had the highest average number of lost workdays per injury (99 workdays), followed by transportation (77 workdays). Further, the data shows that construction workers compensation claims were the most expensive, more than double the average among all industries.

More notable findings across construction data include:

First year employees are at risk — 47% of all construction claims occurred within the first year of employment, representing more than half (51%) of total incurred costs

Most common causes of injuries — Slips and falls (27% of claims), overexertion (25%), struck by an object (14%), cuts and punctures (7%), and motor vehicle accidents (6%)

Most expensive causes of injuries — Burns and scalding, slips, trips and falls, struck by objects, and motor vehicle accidents

Most common injuries — Strains and sprains (30%), fractures (21%), dislocations (10%), cuts and puncture wounds (7%), and contusions (6%)

Most common body parts are injured — Lower back (11%), shoulders (11%), knees (11%), fingers (8%), and ankles (5%).

—

— Gen Z Planet founder Hana Ben-Shabat on how today’s restaurants can cater to Gen Z

“People are social and COVID has forced us to come to grips with that. Everyone shopped online during the pandemic because they had to, but I think most people would say they like the in-person experience and are looking for a pleasant, enjoyable experience when they go shopping.”

— Macerich CEO Tom O’Hernon on why retail shopping centers in general are continuing to evolve

“We heard repeatedly from drug store shoppers that convenient locations, discounted pricing and onestop shopping are appealing drivers in choosing drug stores over other retail options.”

Kathy Risch, Acosta’s Senior VP of Consumer Insights and Trends, on why more drug stores are attracting grocery shoppers

“It’s important to understand that for Gen Z, diversity is not only a statistical demographic fact, it is a cultural lens through which they view the world.”

Better Business Development by Design

Why the task starts with your audit of current processes

By Bobby Darnell

Having been in the AEC industry my entire career, the process waters in which I swim are all about business development, marketing, data management and working with engineering and architectural firms, general contractors, subcontractors and building product companies. While all the above have different roles, the process for effective business development is the same.

If one is looking to design a better business development process, I suggest starting with an audit of current practices. When engaging a new client, we start with a review of over 110 specific items worthy of review and further consideration.

Allow me to share a few items to consider:

Online Presence

> How does your firm’s visibility compare to your competition?

> Do you have an active LinkedIn Company Page?

> Is your website guilty of the three mistakes 30% of companies we engage in make?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

This should be your top priority if you are "enjoying" any downtime. Give your CRM a thorough review to make sure you are leveraging this valuable tool to your benefit.

First and foremost, I am not a designer. (Architect or engineer) But I am a process person and a big believer in the wise saying, “Processes run businesses, people run processes.” Architects and engineers are process people, which is part of why I have enjoyed working with them, especially when it comes to building new business.

Review your report menu, ask your project managers, marketing team, operations, etc. if there is a report or list, they need but are not currently receiving. Make sure your system delivers the report automatically at the appropriate time/interval.

Can you effectively tell where you stand with each prospect as far as being able to submit a proposal?

Can you see, on one screen, a quantifiable result of the past 30-day efforts of

your proactive approach to marketing your business? Emails, calls, appointments, marketing packages and qualification statements sent, etc.

What is your rate of improvement on closing a deal timeline for each of the past three years?

Side Note: For those who may say, “But Bobby, we’ve been in business for XX years without a CRM.” I don’t doubt that. But are you still using a slide-rule for calculations? Still drawing on paper?

Hint: Excel/Outlook is not a CRM.

Networking

> What percentage of new business comes from your formal networking group?

> Can you easily identify your top three networking categories for leads?

> Do you have a formal finder’s fee program? If so, are your employees aware?

Qualifications

> When was the last external review of your current company presentation?

> When was the last external review of your current statement of qualifications?

> When was the last external review of your current information package?

Somewhere on the timeline between entering a new contact’s information to signing a contract is often doing the proverbial ‘dog and pony show’.

(Sales or qualification presentation.)

I suggest you present yours live, with a trusted ally, share your ‘presentation deck’ and ask for their feedback. The same can be done with your collateral material, elevator pitch, tagline, etc.

Go through your client list and if you haven’t already, determine what makes a company an active or inactive client. Once you have set that benchmark, create a brief template to touch base and reintroduce yourself.

Think about the following, from a non-designer.

I believe few things rival a set of plans and specs for providing very specific information and defining processes to reach a desired goal. In construction, plans and specifications tell how steel will be erected, how many windows, doors and ceiling tiles will be installed, and which manufacturers can provide those components.

The same data set will indicate how much concrete will be needed, the type of roof system all the way down to something as specific as the direction air will flow from a diffuser. Now, apply this way of thinking to the desired goal of a new, targeted client.

There are so many items to unpack from a thorough business development and marketing audit. Each result should

be viewed as an opportunity to design a better process.

In closing, as a reminder:

> Marketing is a process

> Networking is a process

> Prospecting is a process

> Lead Generation is a process

> Lead Management is a process

> Building New Business is a process

> Business Development is a process

> Customer/Account and Prospect Management is a process

W. Edwards Deming, who was an engineer, once said, "If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing." I have to believe he may have been talking about business development in the AEC world. CCR

Bobby Darnell is the founder and Managing Principal of Construction Market Consultants Inc. The Atlanta-based consulting group specializes in business development, sales, marketing, CRM as well as executive placement for the AEC (Architectural, engineering and construction) industry.

I believe few things rival a set of plans and specs for providing very specific information and defining processes to reach a desired goal.

Building Together

How employee ownership is changing our business for the better

By Nathan Wilkes

Since the 1980s, Select Sand & Gravel, a leading sand and gravel provider in Texas, has grown to serve many communities across East and Central Texas, from Dallas and Austin to Houston and San Antonio. In 2007, Jason and Kim Rudman purchased Select Sand & Gravel and put everything they had into it. Their approach to running the business themselves was all or nothing—and since 2007, they were all in.

Fast forward to 2022. The business was booming, and the Rudmans were looking to spend more time with their family. They knew that if they were going to sell, then they had to transition fully out of the business rather than supervising from afar, but it wouldn’t be easy.

They were worried about their employees, their customers, and their legacy. They needed to sell the business to someone who understood how important it was not just to them, but to the community they built and served.

After entertaining offers from several buyers, they accepted one from a company called Teamshares, which came with a unique proposition: transition the business into the hands of their employees at no cost to them, and ensure the business would never close its doors. When the transaction closed in June 2022, I took on the role of president. I’ve had the honor of experiencing firsthand how employee ownership has allowed us to extend Jason and Kim’s legacy and transform the company.

My leadership style was first forged as a cadet at West Point, where I learned how to handle responsibility at a young age. As I worked my way through leadership roles in the Army, I also learned what great—and not-so-great— leadership looked like.

When I was given the opportunity to lead as a platoon leader and company commander, I led with those examples in mind. When it was time to leave the Army, I took those leadership lessons with me into civilian life and began to lead companies in the corporate world, starting with a sand mining business.

After seeing how well employee ownership worked in a California painting company, I was hooked and jumped at the chance to bring employee ownership back to my home industry and state at Select Sand and Gravel.

Employee ownership can be difficult to understand, but once you take the leap, it opens a world of possibilities. I started by teaching my company about dividends and ownership percentages. It is important to understand that those numbers start off small; for example, our company is currently 14% employee owned, and has paid about $1,500 in dividends to each full time employee.

That’s because our ownership model was designed to reward us for the time that we invest in the business, and encourages initiatives that help it grow; as the business grows, so do our ownership percentages and long-term wealth. We currently have

four locations across Texas, and are beginning to grow our service area.

As we serve more customers, we will have more profit to spend on retiring our initial buyer’s stock, meaning that every employee’s stake in the business will increase without costing any of us a dime.

The impact of this was best demonstrated by Ethan, our general manager. Curious about how the employee ownership model would work for him, he ran the numbers to determine his financial outlook at retirement and when he’d be eligible to sell back his stock to Select Sand & Gravel.

Our finance lead has started to workshop changes to our accounting systems, making the company’s financial moves accountable to the larger team. We constantly develop new processes more suited to our transparent operations, including improving our approach to billing and better tracking our performance. We celebrate our wins as a team, and ring a gong every time we hit a new milestone— even though the location of the gong is still up for debate.

Best of all, we’ve been able to invest more in our community. We’ve spearheaded the formation of a charity committee to

He came back with a single sentence: “This is my future.”

Ethan’s peek into the future was a breakthrough moment for our company. Colleagues started to see the promise of employee ownership, and connected the work they did day to day with the company’s long-term financial performance. As I’d seen time and time again in the Army, everyone was motivated by sharing one mission. Employees realized that today’s efforts directly impacted their future prospects, and they took control of their destiny.

Suddenly, we had a culture of proactive questioning, innovation and engagement like never before.

As a group, we work to become more financially fluent and apply that fluency to every aspect of our company. Colleagues ask how specific practices impact our bottom line, to the point where employees consistently ask about delivery margins. They take ownership of our service values and reputation of the company with every sale.

share the wealth that we’ve been blessed with. This enables us to be good stewards of Jason and Kim’s legacy of kindness and dedication.

As a result of these transformations, business has been better than ever. Our revenue is up over 20% year-over-year since we started becoming employee owned, and the eight of us who work at the company are on track to own 80% of Select Sand & Gravel within 15 years. We have that chance because Jason and Kim decided to put their trust in their employees’ ability to run and own the business by partnering with Teamshares, and we’re not going to waste it.

Employee ownership unlocked something for us, giving us access to the tools and information we needed to do the things we’ve always wanted to do with this company. It is a blessing to come to work every day with the excitement of building something together. I can’t wait until more people have the opportunity to experience it. CCR

Nathan (Nate) Wilkes is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point and a former Army engineer officer. He earned a graduate degree in business administration from Texas A&M University. In 2017, Nate founded an aggregates mining company that uses mobile equipment to decrease logistics dependencies. He was selected as President of Select Sand & Gravel by Teamshares in 2022, where he currently leads the employee-owned company in sand and gravel distribution across the state of Texas.

Employee ownership unlocked something for us, giving us access to the tools and information we needed to do the things we’ve always wanted to do with this company.

IT’S THAT SIMPLE

We’re a company with a fresh approach. We are highly skilled and passionate design and construction experts brought together and bonded by mutual trust and respect.

Every member of the PMC team stands ready to deliver, regardless of location, complexity or challenge. We will bring your projects to market with a focus on quality, performance and speed.

Professional Design and Project Management Services for the Retail, Restaurant, Hospitality, Entertainment and the Commercial Markets.

Better. Faster. Smarter

A new era

How Brick Hospitality is working to change

For Bob Rauch, it starts with a commitment. The internationally recognized hotelier, who has spent the past 40-plus years in the hospitality-related management game, knows this is the way to the top.

Recognized as the “hotel guru,” Rauch has been directly involved in developing several hotels, including the Del Mar Marriott, Hilton Hotel Gaslamp Plaza, Hilton Garden Inn Carlsbad, Hilton Hotel Santa Clara and several Marriott resort hotels.

Today, he is turning his efforts to Brick Hospitality, a diverse team of hotel management professionals offering the best in class in customer service, recruitment, training and retention, and financial performance for properties specific in the Southwest US and Southern California.

We sat down with Brick Hospitality Chairman Bob Rauch to get a lead on how the brand is helping elevate the hospitality landscape.

Give us a snapshot of your brand? What type of consumer are you targeting?

We appeal to both business and leisure travelers. We are big believers that this market delivers the safest if not the best returns on investment for our partners. These business travelers are serving the bioscience and communications technology sectors at most of our properties.

We believe those business sectors are solid and that leisure travelers post-pandemic believe that travel is a birthright. They will visit family, friends and places where they have never been.

How does the design of your hotels cater to today’s consumers?

First, we believe in today’s leading brands. No, they don’t always get it right and yes, sometimes they are behind the times by a few years, but with some simple tweaks, we make it work. Today’s consumers want clean, reliable hotels with high speed internet and with friendly and responsive staff. Many of our Gen Z and Millennial guests want designs that allow for “Instagrammable” photos and videos.

Second, we use an outside design firm to help us negotiate design trends with the brand. Regardless of which demographic group we target, and we target all of them, they all want contemporary, clean, light, bright and airy designs. Our restaurants are not your father’s restaurants, so to speak. Our bars do not look like hotel bars of the past either. Our menus strike a balance between healthy and nutritious meat and potatoes comfort foods.

Some items have rich sauces, others are calorie conscious lean dishes. Our wine and beer lists are curated by market.

Take us through your construction and design strategy.

Our strategy is to appeal to the broadest range of demographic in tasteful, contemporary and unique ways. This requires a combination of design elements such as sustainability and technological innovation. We utilize innovative robotics technology into all of our hotels to set us apart from other branded properties.

We want all guests to feel that they are staying in a boutique hotel despite the fact that it may be a brand or soft-brand hotel.

We create a local vibe in our restaurants and bars that allows us to compete with local restaurants as opposed to being a place where our hotel guests just grab a bite to eat.

The biggest challenge is avoiding a “dated” look down the road. The design must be timeless and brands can be the worst offenders as they cannot think local. Scale is great but the uniqueness is greater. In essence, we need to craft an experience that makes the guest comfortable.

Sure, they want some consistency if they are brand loyal—but more importantly, they

We are sticking to the west coast and Southern California is our primary market. The trends we see include a few from our Top 10 Trends of 2023—we put this list out every year.

need to feel that the hotel meets their needs and that it makes them want to return.

What’s the biggest issue today related to the construction side of the business?

There are several construction-related challenges and they include lumber prices, labor costs, interest rates and more. Finding a contractor who can handle the myriad changes in labor and supply chains is difficult. Often, the lowest priced contractor is not a good way to go. We have found that every single project is going over budget and way over on time.

Talk about sustainability. What are you doing?

We see a higher demand from leisure travelers who want to reduce their carbon footprint as well as travelers who are more mindful of the local communities and industries impacted by tourism. Naturally, we recycle as much as possible and are constantly looking at energy savings.

Cost is always a driving factor and reducing operating costs provides a compelling incentive for hoteliers. Investing in energy and water-saving technologies can greatly reduce both energy and water consumption, which in turn can mean lower operational costs. Recent advances in

technology related to renewable sources of energy (solar, geothermal, wind, etc.) have improved the economics of using these kinds of alternative energies at the property level. We employ a variety of strategies to reduce, reuse and recycle waste.

Swapping out standard incandescent light bulbs with high-efficiency LED bulbs can help our hotels save on electricity costs in the long term. Standard incandescent light bulbs use 60 watts of electricity, while LED light bulbs use just 6 to 8 watts of power. LED bulbs can also last up to 25 times longer than standard light bulbs even while emitting the same amount of light.

As for reducing water consumption, we have begun implementing water conservation programs. Installing low-flow faucets and aerated shower heads, an employee education program, a towel reuse program and installation of water-saving laundry equipment have been shown to greatly reduce our water costs.

Travelers are more eco-conscious than ever, so hotels that make sustainable efforts will attract more guests, generating more bookings and revenue. When our hotels apply green practices, our values will align with many of our guests’ ideals, which can lead to more loyal brand advocates.

The bottom line is that we believe employing green practices will save our

hotels money, generate more bookings from eco-conscious customers, and help make the planet a better place for future generations. A simple mantra for sustainability is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future.”

What do you see as some of your biggest opportunities moving ahead?

We believe that there will be many hotel owners looking to exit their CMBS (commercial mortgage-backed securities) loans next year since they mature and have a low interest rate. Eventually, interest rates will come down but an exit will be coming for many.

So, there is an opportunity to purchase hotels that missed their opportunity to renovate due to the pandemic and now they have equity to sell but are stuck without a loan and without enough cash to renovate.

Beyond that, like we found with our hotel under construction in Imperial Valley California, lithium and other materials needed for the next generation of transportation, travel and tourism are coming.

Are you optimistic about what you see in the hotel sector? Why did you pick the locations you did for your hotels? What is your growth plan?

We are very optimistic. 2023 will be a solid year, 2024 even better as it is an election year. We are at a period in time where baby boomers and Generations X, Y and Z are all traveling. A pandemic is behind us which will allow for more international travel. The combination of leisure travel strength, a return of corporate travel and group travel, plus our solid economy has us believing these are going to be good times ahead.

We are working on several projects right now. We have hotels in Southern California and Arizona and are seeking to fill in some new hotels in the strongest submarkets where we were able to acquire land with partners who share our goals. One great opportunity is in Imperial, California, home of lithium and much more. Our partners acquired a hotel that was already over 50% built.

We showed the city of Imperial and many others that there is in fact a market

to complete this hotel. We negotiated a deal with one of the best sub-brands, Cambria. Choice Hotels is best known for economy and midscale hotels targeting leisure travelers. Cambria was designed for Choice as a direct competitor to the top upscale brands in the industry—Hilton Garden Inn and Marriott Courtyard.

The real key is to pick high barriers to entry markets and have a team that can get the project done. We have a combination of seasoned veterans and up and coming rock stars. Our team reflects the diversity that today’s guests want—yes, we recruit the best employees, regardless of race, creed or color. But we seek out diversity in our hiring.

Speaking of our up-and-coming rock stars and how it relates to our growth plan, we have set this company up for success. I have had nearly 50 years in the hotel industry and want to ensure that a team is in place for the long haul. My business partners at our hotels have always been my age and I am so fortunate to have partners who are both smart and great guys.

Nine years ago, I met Cameron Lamming, at the time, an up-and-coming rock star who had worked at Disney. Now, Cameron is CEO of the firm we have put together to exclusively manage owned hotel assets. His team is well-seasoned but generally young and hungry for more. The formation of Brick Hospitality is under way and will likely come to fruition at the time of this publication.

Our plan is to find these high-barriers to entry markets and exploit the lack of new supply by building something different. Cameron took what was a motel called the Dolphin, the bottom of the barrel motel that sat next to a Palm Reader. He acquired the two sites, went through all the entitlements and now has a great property for our team and his partners called the Monsaraz Hotel, a Tapestry by Hilton resort.

What areas are you targeting? What trends are you seeing?

We are sticking to the west coast and Southern California is our primary market. The trends we see include a few from our Top 10 Trends of 2023—we put this list out every year.

Here are three of our favorites:

> Customization and specialization toward how we interact with our guests will enable increased value creation for hoteliers in 2023. This is truly personalized service.

> Training. It is clear that employees who stepped it up during the pandemic are now supervisors or even managers and many of them have received limited to no training.

> Purpose-driven travel might include food and beverage extravagance, captivating escapes, cannabis and/or spiritual experiences. Today’s travelers seek meaningful experiences that create stories worth sharing.

What’s the secret to creating a “must visit” hotel/resort in today’s competitive landscape?

The secret sauce is the secret. Our sauce is relentlessly talking to our guests at breakfast

every single morning, seven days a week. Our general managers and top management team walk around breakfast and talk to our guests. We ask the kids who are dining with their parents, “Where are your folks taking you today?”

The relationship we build by talking to the kids is fantastic. Most importantly, guests are not accustomed to meeting the general manager of a hotel. We find out everything about our guest stays and it improves our guest satisfaction scores enormously. That is more important than anything else at a hotel—personalized, attentive service.

What’s today’s consumer looking for?

Value for dollars spent. Hotel stays are very expensive and if a guest is going to pay $200 per night, it better be for more than a bed. They want free wi-fi,

Founder of Brick Hospitality

The ladies of Brick Hospitality

WHEN HIGH PERFORMANCE IS

good food, thoughtful service, a TV that has everything they want to watch and as Holiday Inn once proclaimed, “no surprises.” The only surprise they want is great service. When we get to resorts and more money is spent, the experience has to be memorable.

What’s the biggest thing on your to-do list right now?

My to-do list is loaded with property improvement plans (PIPs). We have two Hilton PIPs that must be completed and one Marriott PIP coming up next year. Negotiating what should be on that PIP is specific to each brand. We decide where we are going to dig in our heels and fight for some items that may not provide a return-on-investment. That is where we fight.

This is the kind of thing that requires serious owner participation; it is not a dayto-day operations matter. Brands are great but they have a cookie-cutter approach—it is the owner’s job to determine what is a guest benefit and what is a brand benefit. An experienced owner knows the difference.

Describe a typical day.

I get up at 6 a.m., have cereal and coffee, and check my texts, calls and emails. These include occupancy and rate data from all of our properties. It also includes pass downs from our front desk staff that show any major maintenance concerns, guest satisfaction comments—good or bad, and anything unusual that I need to follow up on.

My daily to do list is tackled next and it typically will include follow-up on the status of our PIPs at each hotel. We currently have these plans at two of our properties, both of which require negotiation and collaboration with our brands, our designer, our purchasing company and any contractors required. Our Cambria Hotel is under construction and will require follow-up.

In addition, I normally check our bank balances, have calls or meetings with our executive team and have calls or meetings with membership organizations where I sit on the board of directors or advisors. These organizations include the San Diego Tourism Authority, Carlsbad Tourism Business Improvement District, Women in Tourism & Hospitality, industry leaders in

general, our PR firm or one of my great business partners.

I try to get my work done early in the afternoon to leave time for golf practice and a workout. No, I am not planning on going on the tour anytime soon.

Before calling it a day and spending time with my wife, I check on my students at Arizona State. I have 50 online students of Entrepreneurship. After grading papers and handling student concerns, my wife normally cooks a great, healthy dinner—I am solely the barbecue chef.

On days where I don’t workout, there is a 55-plus basketball game one night a week, a baseball game, (also 55-plus) a run on the beach in the late afternoon, a bike ride or a round of golf—walking the course rather than riding. I stay active physically so that nobody on our team dares to challenge me to a run.

Tell us your story. How did you get started in the industry?

I started as a college student looking for a job and found one that was basically a banquet dishwasher position. They first told me I was overqualified but when I told them I spoke Spanish, they hired me. I quickly advanced into one of their combination banquet dishwasher/busboy/ waiter spots.

We all did everything from moving tables and chairs from one ballroom to another, to setting up rooms, serving the food, clearing the tables and finally washing all the dishes.

It was a great college job and paid $2 per hour. Armed with that experience of maybe 8 months, I found jobs waiting tables in high end restaurants as I had studied both French and Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Wine Tasting. I then

transferred to hotel school at Florida International University and at 20 had launched my hotel career. After about 20-plus years in the business, my very smart wife said, “You will be working forever making millions for others.”

We decided to acquire the 52-unit motel called Ocean Inn (we called it a boutique hotel but when we bought it, the guests were all prostitutes and drug users). We fired the guests by raising the rates substantially on day one.

Three years later, we sold it and ultimately built two Hilton-branded hotels that we still have in our portfolio. Getting through 9/11 and recessions in general should give those who don’t like stress some pause.

In January of 2024, it will have been 50 years of fun in the hotel industry! And while you can see the depth of our team, I still plan to be around our hotels and the industry. The first thing to go will be the daily reports!

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?

I’m afraid there are two pieces of advice that tie for first place. Work for big companies until you are 30, then start your own business. It was my father who told me that and it is exactly what I did. He was a successful entrepreneur in the supermarket industry.

My mother, also very successful in education, was less specific about how to succeed but strongly encouraged me to have good communication skills. Maybe I will write a book.

The other piece of advice that was at the top was from my wife who said, “we should buy a hotel instead of you consulting and making millions for others.”

With $50,000 and lots of friends and family, we bought that first hotel or motel. CCR

The Brick Hospitality Braintrust

Bob Rauch – Chairman Cameron Lamming – President and CEO Dallas King – VP of Operations

Sarah Lynch – Director of Operations

Sandra Academia – Controller

Dari DeSousa – HR Partner

Engineering firms take center stage on annual listing reports

One of the most critical aspects to any commercial construction project is the engineer firms tasked with helping make it all come together. To help you get a lead on some of the industry’s premiere companies in the retail, restaurant, hospitality, healthcare (and other) sectors, our annual listing provides the contact information and contact person for each firm. If you didn’t make the list, contact Publisher David Corson at davidc@ccr-mag.com.

Top Ten Totals

MULTI-HOUSING

3MG, PSC

Manuel Ray, President

1649 Ponce de Leon Ave.

Repto. De Diego

San Juan, PR 926

(787) 979-9982, Cell: (787) 375-5770

mray@3mg-pr.com

www.3mg-pr.com

Year established: 2006, Number of employees: 17

Retail: $650,000, Hospitality: $723,000, Restaurant: $124,000

Healthcare: N/A, Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A, Other: $1,250,000

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $2,747,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 6

Specialize In: Retail, Hotel/Casinos, Office Other: Waterfront, Marina

Leading national clients: PRIDCO, Hilton, Marriott, Sonesta, Pepe Ganga,

ArcVision Inc.

Janine Buettner

Dir. of Business Development

1950 Craig Rd. #300

Saint Louis, MO 63146

(309) 255-2863

jbuettner@arcv.com

www.arcv.com

Year established: 1995, Number of employees: 100

Retail: N/A, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A

Healthcare: N/A, Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A

Other: N/A, Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 900

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Shopping Centers, Cannabis, Office, Healthcare, Leading national clients: Boot Barn, Hot Topic/ Box Lunch/Torrid, Lovisa, Tesla

BlueStreak Consulting

Rich Knapp

VP, Engineering

25001 Emery Rd Suite 400 Cleveland, OH 44128

(216) 223-3294

rknapp@bluestreak-consulting.com

www.bluestreak-consulting.com

Year established: 2005, Number of employees: 40

Retail: N/A, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A, Healthcare: N/A

Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $8,000,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Shopping Centers, Cannabis, Office, Multi-Housing, Commercial Interiors

Leading national clients: N/A

Bureau Veritas

James Pash

Business Development Manager

17200 N. Perimeter Dr, Suite 103

Scottsdale, AZ 85255

(800) 733-0660

Cell: (321) 271-4114

james.pash@bureauveritas.com

www.BVPORT.com

Year established: 1986, Number of employees: 759

Retail: N/A, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A, Healthcare: N/A

Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 3,200

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Shopping Centers, Cannabis, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Federal Government, Commercial Interiors, Craft Brewery

Leading national clients: The Home Depot, Walgreens, Chick-Fil-A, Various EVC Clients

Case Engineering, Inc.

Matt Case, COO

796 Merus Court

Saint Louis, MO 63026

(636) 349-1600

mcase@caseengineeringinc.com

www.caseengineeringinc.com

Year established: 1995, Number of employees: 82

Retail: $3,920,000, Hospitality: $130,000, Restaurant: $4,010,000

Healthcare: $1,590,000, Multi-Housing: $190,000

Federal: $7,850, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: $60,000, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $18,300,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 2,758

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Shopping Centers, Cannabis, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Federal Government, Commercial Interiors

Leading national clients: Aaron’s, AT&T, ATI Physical Therapy, Auntie Anne’s, Blaze Pizza, Burger Fi, Christian Bros. Automotive, Cinnabon, Circle K, Dollar General, Domino’s, Dutch Bros., Fast Pace Urgent Care, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Game Stop, Habit

Burger, Jersey Mike’s, Kohl’s, McDonald’s, MOD Pizza, One Medical, Oportun, Popeye’s, Pot Belly Sandwich Works, Psycho Bunny, Sprint, Starbuck’s, T-Mobile, Village Medical, Wingstop

CEI Engineering Associates

Debbie Jones, Director Business Development

3108 SW Regency Parkway

Bentonville, AR 72712

(479) 273-9472

Cell: (918) 704-6782

Fax: (479) 273-0844

djones@ceieng.com

www.CEIeng.com

Year established: 1973, Number of employees: 170

Retail: $10,812,256, Hospitality: $238,425

Restaurant: $584,800, Healthcare: N/A, Multi-Housing: $496,600

Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A

Other: N/A, Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $20,171,281

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 494

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Shopping Centers

Leading national clients: Walmart, Murphy USA, Love’s Travel

Stops, Chipotle, Starbucks, Turnkey developers with multiple brands

CESO, Inc.

Mike Pothast

Director, Business Development

3601 Rigby Road, Suite 300 Dayton, OH 45342

(937) 435-8584

mike.pothast@cesoinc.com

www.cesoinc.com

Year established: 1987, Number of employees: 296

Retail: $10,820,000, Hospitality: N/A

Restaurant: $2,693,000, Healthcare: $2,913,000

Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $76,500,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants,

Leading national clients:

Walmart, Love’s, Valvoline

Contineo Group

Erick Garcia-Salas, Owner

755 Commerce Dr, Suite 800

Decatur, GA 30030

(404) 457-3919

Cell: (404) 457-3919

breannaj@thecontineogroup.com

www.tcg.engineer

Year established: 2009, Number of employees: 25

Retail: N/A, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A

Healthcare: N/A, Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A

Other: N/A, Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $4,000,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 80

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Shopping Centers, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Other: Golf Courses

Leading national clients: N/A

Core States Group

Kevin Behnke

Vice President

3237 Satellite Boulevard, Suite 465

Duluth, GA 30096

(770) 242-9550

kbehnke@core-states.com

www.core-states.com

Year established: 1999, Number of employees: 473

Retail: $12,800,000, Hospitality: $70,000

Restaurant: $5,100,000, Healthcare: $300,000

Multi-Housing: $1,400,000, Federal: $1,100,000

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A

Other: $13,600,000 (Fueling: $4.5M, Energy: $9M)

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $34,000,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 1200

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Other: Fueling, Energy

Leading national clients: McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, JPMorgan Chase, QuikTrip, Walmart, Best Buy, Pep Boys, 7-Eleven, Circle K, Advance Auto Parts, Enchanted Rock, Electrify America

Cuhaci Peterson

Kraig A Koelsch

Manager of Marketing and Communications

2600 Maitland Center Parkway, Suite 200

Maitland, FL 32751

(407) 661-9100

kraig.koelsch@c-p.com

www.c-p.com

Year established: 1978, Number of employees: 250

Retail: N/A, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A

Healthcare: N/A, Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Shopping Centers, Office, Healthcare, Multi-Housing, Leading national clients: N/A

DPCE, IEG

Michelle Judkins

VP of Business Development

1301 Solana Boulevard

Building 1, Suite 1420

Westlake, TX 76262

(817) 428-5917

Cell: (817) 366-5451

michelle.judkins@iegmep.com

www.dpce.com

Year established: 1990, Number of employees: 40

Retail: $3,021,087, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A

Healthcare: N/A, Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A, Other: $5,452,950

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $8,474,037

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 460

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Shopping Centers, Cannabis, Office, Education, Leading national clients: Tesla, Salad and Go, T-Mobile, AT&T, Massage Envy, Allbirds, Joybirds, Jenni Kayne, Swarovski, L’Occitane, Arc’teryx, Dr. Marten’s, It’Sugar, Rhone, Sandro, VEL, Vans, Timberland, The North Face

EBI Consulting

Taylor Martin

Marketing Communications Lead

21 B St. Burlington, MA 1803 (860) 638-9974

Taylor.martin@ebiconsulting.com www.ebiconsulting.com

Year established: N/A, Number of employees: N/A, Retail: N/A

Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A, Healthcare: N/A

Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $95,000,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Shopping Centers, Cannabis, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Commercial Interiors

Leading national clients: N/A

GPD Group

Steve Turner

National Leader - Strategy & Growth, Multisite Programs

1801 Watermark Drive, Suite 210 Columbus, OH 43215 (614) 588-8081

steve.turner@gpdgroup.com www.gpdgroup.com

Year established: 1961, Number of employees: 700+

Retail: $19,000,000, Hospitality: $1,400,000

Restaurant: $9,000,000, Healthcare: $5,300,000

Multi-Housing: $1,500,000, Federal: $3,500,000

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A

Other: $80,300,000

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $120,000,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 2,000+

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Shopping Centers, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Federal Government, Commercial Interiors, Leading national clients: RaceTrac, CVS, Starbucks, Taco Bell/YUM! Brands, PNC Bank, Meijer, 7-Eleven, The Home Depot, JOANN Stores, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Bloomin’ Brands, Jason’s Deli, Five Guys, Papa Johns, PetSuites, Maverick, Wyndham Destinations, Dollar General, Darden-Olive Garden.

GreenbergFarrow

Danielle Barr

Senior Marketing Coordinator

251 W 30th Street, 10th Floor

New York, NY 10001

(631) 848-5172

dbarr@greenbergfarrow.com

www.greenbergfarrow.com

Year established: 1974, Number of employees: 300

Retail: $23,000,000, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: $14,500,000

Healthcare: $618,000, Multi-Housing: $300,000

Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A

Other: $23,000,000

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $61,250,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 1200

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Shopping Centers, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing

Leading national clients: Texas Roadhouse, The Home Depot, Murphy Oil, Circle K, Meijer, IKEA, Bath & Body Works, Starbucks

Henderson Engineers

Mike Achoki

Public Relations & Communications Specialist

8345 Lenexa Drive, Suite 300

Lenexa, KS 66214

(913) 742-5000

Fax: (913) 742-5001

mike.achoki@hendersonengineers.com

www.hendersonengineers.com

Year established: 1970, Number of employees: 886

Retail: $78,780,492, Hospitality: $1,304,374

Restaurant: $4,552,546, Healthcare: $7,719,367

Multi-Housing: $3,821,473, Federal: $2,259,465

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A, Other: $53,604,482

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $152,042,199

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Shopping Centers, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Federal Government, Commercial Interiors, Craft Brewery

Leading national clients: N/A

Hixson Architecture, Engineering, Interiors

Patricia Heimbrock

Media Relations/Communications

659 Van Meter Street, Suite 300

Cincinnati, OH 45202

(513) 241-1230

Fax: (513) 241-1287

pheimbrock@hixson-inc.com

www.hixson-inc.com

Year established: 1948, Number of employees: 135

Retail: N/A, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A, Healthcare: N/A

Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: $24,000,000

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $24,000,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 100+

Specialize In: Office, Other: Food & Beverage, Science & Tech Facilities

Leading national clients: CVS Health, Abbott Nutrition, Maple Leaf Foods, Tyson Foods, T. Marzetti

Interplan LLC

Rachel A Reife

Business Development Manager

220 E central parkay

APOPKA FL 32712

Altamonte Springs, FL 32704

(321) 246-4043

Cell: (321) 246-4043, Fax: (407) 645-5008

rreife@interplanllc.com

www.interplanllc.com

Year established: 1972, Number of employees: 195

Retail: $882,521, Hospitality: $156,990, Restaurant: $5,510,343

Healthcare: $209,536, Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: $40,975

Other: $1,631,105

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $8,431,470

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 304

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Cannabis, Office, Healthcare

Leading national clients: N/A

MBI Companies Inc.

Cindy Moore

Marketing Director

299 North Weisgarber Road Knoxville, TN 37919

(865) 584-0999

cindym@mbicompanies.com

www.mbicompanies.com

Year established: 1990, Number of employees: 95

Retail: $1,150,000, Hospitality: $350,000, Restaurant: $600,000

Healthcare: $1,800,000, Multi-Housing: $800,000, Federal: N/A

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A, Other: $15,000,000

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $19,700,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 200

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Shopping Centers, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Commercial Interiors

Leading national clients: Smith & Wesson, Nissan, Pilot, Weigels, Honda, UT Medical Center

Moda4 Design + Architecture

Jason Sheets

Principal Architect

23 Wayne Ave Dayton, OH 45402

jsheets@moda4.com

www.Moda4.com

Year established: 2005, Number of employees: 10, Retail: N/A

Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A, Healthcare: N/A

Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $2,000,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Shopping Centers, Cannabis, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Commercial Interiors, Craft Brewery, Leading national clients: N/A

NOVA Engineering and Environmental, LLC

Audra Sabin

Marketing Director

3900 Kennesaw 75 Parkway, Suite 100

Kennesaw, GA 30144

(770) 425-0777

Cell: (678) 994-2223

asabin@usanova.com

www.usanova.com

Year established: 1996, Number of employees: 632

Retail: $4,900,000, Hospitality: $3,400,000, Restaurant: $500,000

Healthcare: $2,700,000, Multi-Housing: $13,600,000

Federal: $3,300,000, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: $58,500,000

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $86,900,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 833

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Federal Government, Other: Mixed-Use, Residential, etc. l, Transportation, etc.

Leading national clients: N/A

P2S Inc.

Sam Rios

Marketing Strategist

5000 E. Spring St, Suite 800 Long Beach, CA 90815

sam.rios@p2sinc.com

www.p2sinc.com

Year established: 1991, Number of employees: 287

Retail: $156,741, Hospitality: $10,273, Restaurant: N/A

Healthcare: $13,220,322, Multi-Housing: $490,086

Federal: $6,429,126, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: $35,673,610

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $55,980,158

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 126

Specialize In: Healthcare, Education, Federal Government

Leading national clients: CSU Long Beach, Port of Long Beach, Los Angeles Unified School District

Peña Architecture and Engineering Corp.

Manuel Peña

President 2875 NE 191 ST, 500 Aventura, FL 33180 (786) 220-7717

paecorp@gmail.com

www.paecorporation.com

Year established: 2012, Number of employees: 5, Retail: N/A

Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A, Healthcare: N/A

Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $45,224

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 5

Specialize In: Other: Architecture & Engineering Planning

Leading national clients: N/A

POWER Engineers

Kate Wutz

Public Relations Manager 3940 Glenbrook Drive Hailey, ID 83333 (208) 788-3456

kate.wutz@powereng.com

www.powereng.com

Year established: 1976, Number of employees: 3870

Retail: N/A, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A, Healthcare: N/A

Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $720,000,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: N/A, Other: Professional Services

Leading national clients: N/A

Stantec

Darren Burns

Vice President

1100-111 Dunsmuir Street

Vancouver, BC V6B 6A3

(604) 698-8009

mary.jepsen@stantec.com

www.stantec.com

Year established: 1954, Number of employees: 26,000

Retail: $24,846,432, Hospitality: $5,781,313

Restaurant: $788,983, Healthcare: $49,081,136

Multi-Housing: $18,519,363, Federal: $25,628,586

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A

Other: $488,672,814

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $547,690,043

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 9623

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Shopping Centers, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Federal Government, Commercial Interiors, Craft Brewery, Other: Airport, Civic, Industrial, Science and Tech, Workplace/Office

Leading national clients: 7-Eleven, Microsoft, Amazon, Walmart

Canada, Jones Lang LaSalle, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A

Stellar

Carina Brillhart

Director of Marketing

2900 Hartley Road

Jacksonville, FL 32257

cbrillhart@stellar.net

www.stellar.net

Year established: N/A, Number of employees: 750+

Retail: N/A, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: N/A, Healthcare: N/A

Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: N/A

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: Healthcare, Education, Federal Government

Leading national clients: N/A

Wallace Design

Collective, PC

Brad Thurman, PE, FSMPS, CPSM

Principal & CMO

123 N Martin Luther King Jr Blvd

Tulsa, OK 74103

(918) 584-5858

Cell: (918) 633-3488, Fax: (918) 584-8689 brad.thurman@wallace.design

www.wallace.design

Year established: 1981, Number of employees: 250

Retail: $13,000,000, Hospitality: $300,000, Restaurant: $2,000,000

Healthcare: $2,500,000, Multi-Housing: $5,000,000

Federal: N/A, Craft Brewery/Distillery: $100,000

Cannabis: $200,000, Other: $23,500,000

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $46,600,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: 3500+

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Shopping Centers, Cannabis, Office, Healthcare, Education, Multi-Housing, Craft Brewery

Leading national clients: N/A

WD Partners

Mary Rea

Sr. Administrative Assistant

7007 Discovery Blvd

Dublin, OH 43017

(614) 634-7000

mary.rea@wdpartners.com

www.wdpartners.com

Year established: 1968, Number of employees: 465

Retail: $41,000,000, Hospitality: N/A, Restaurant: $14,200,000

Healthcare: $36,000,000, Multi-Housing: N/A, Federal: N/A

Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A, Cannabis: N/A, Other: $35,000,000

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $62,300,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Healthcare

Leading national clients: N/A

Woolpert Inc.

Libby Martin

Proposal Coordinator/Technical Writer

4454 Idea Center Blvd.

Dayton, OH 45430

(800) 414-1045

Fax: (937) 461-0743

libby.martin@woolpert.com

www.woolpert.com

Year established: 1911, Number of employees: 1735

Retail: $10,415,311, Hospitality: $4,981,236, Restaurant: N/A

Healthcare: N/A, Multi-Housing: $3,260,445

Federal: $9,147,361, Craft Brewery/Distillery: N/A

Cannabis: N/A, Other: $16,664,498

Total Billings from Jan - Dec 2022: $362,000,000

Commercial projects from Jan - Dec 2022: N/A

Specialize In: Retail, Restaurants, Hotel/Casinos, Shopping Centers, Office, Education, Multi-Housing, Federal Government, Commercial Interiors

Leading national clients: N/A

Photo

Colliding with the future

Advanced medical center speeds progress through collaboration

By Katherine Bonamo

The medical miracles of the past century have been numerous and dramatic. Advances ranging from organ transplantation to implantable defibrillators have made strides once thought impossible. But for anyone facing an illness that has not yet yielded its secrets to science, the pace of medical progress can seem agonizingly slow.

At the University of Missouri, a bold new initiative is devoted to addressing this critical need for speed. The Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Institute, a $221 million, 265,000 square foot facility that opened its doors in October 2021, is focused on one of the leading edges of medical research—the quest for individualized medicine. “Precision health” refers to a form of medicine that uses information derived from a person’s own genes or proteins to prevent, diagnose, or treat disease, an approach whose potential is only beginning to be realized.

Just as importantly, NextGen Precision Health is designed to accelerate progress down this path by fostering collaboration—the more unexpected, the better. The program builds on MU’s strengths as a public institution with schools of medicine, veterinary medicine, and engineering all on the same campus— not to mention the highest-power university research reactor in the United States.

The high aspirations of the NextGen Precision Health initiative are reflected in the architecture of its anchor building, which expresses hope for medical progress through both form and function.

Photo by Michael Robinson Photography

But beyond that, the NextGen Precision Health Building itself is designed to bring researchers together—in the literal sense. As MU Faculty Council Chair Clark Peters observed to the Columbia Missourian, “Life is about molecular collisions. Research is about expertise collisions.”

Creating a Crossroads

This emphasis on bringing a large and varied team into physical proximity may seem a bit old-fashioned in the wake of COVID-19. After all, remote collaboration has become an accepted fact of life. But the pandemic also highlighted as never before what can be lost without those informal encounters at the water cooler.

A 2021 study by Microsoft showed that fully remote work can endanger innovation, precisely because it tends to reduce contact with the people we know less well.

In this spirit, it was essential for the architects at Burns & McDonnell to fit the NextGen Precision Health Building into the heart of MU’s flagship campus in Columbia. Not only did the new center need to be in easy range of University Hospital and the MU Medical School, its physical location and appearance were important as a visible symbol of MU’s commitment.

Clint Blew, Senior Design Manager for Burns & McDonnell, says this was a major focus for the college and the state. “They wanted a building that was iconic and complementary to the campus, a design that is sophisticated, but approachable and comprehensible—a clarity, confidence, and purpose that people can understand. We wanted the science to be on stage.”

To accomplish this objective, the project team had to start with one extremely concrete challenge: the 100-year-old network of steam tunnels running beneath the site. MU’s Combined Cooling Heat and Power Plant uses more than 26 miles of underground tunnel to supply the campus with steam for heat, sterilization, humidification and other purposes.

Damage to this buried system from the new construction would have proved

an enormous—and embarrassing—setback. In the end, a combination of technological sophistication and old-school teamwork provided the solution. With extensive input from veteran MU employees, Burns & McDonnell was able to create accurate digital representations of the location of every steam line, allowing the dig to proceed without disaster.

Other project challenges also reflected the program’s revolutionary goals. The NextGen Precision Health initiative is intended to attract world-class talent to Missouri—and also to influence the way those researchers interact. By locating a diverse group of scientists and clinicians within the same building, MU planned for unplanned encounters, the kind that spark new ideas.

Suiting form to function, Burns & McDonnell built room for happy accidents right into the architecture. An open laboratory concept creates “collision/collaboration space” right where essential research is being carried out. The building’s Research and Innovation Towers both deliberately include comfortable spaces for discussion, a stone’s throw from more tangible assets such as the Imaging Center’s 25-ton 7T MRI.

Beauty with a Purpose

The project architects also understood that from an aesthetic standpoint, no ordinary outcome would do. In Clint Blew’s words: “We were after a building that speaks to the human condition.”

Nowhere is this desire to express purpose through beauty more evident than on the first floor of the center’s Innovation Tower, where an artwork entitled Enduring Impermanence lines the space on walls of backlit glass.

The artist, MU faculty member Katina Bitsicas, lost her father to mantle cell lymphoma in 2020—very shortly before the approval of a new treatment. The arresting work that she created in his memory combines vivid color with unmistakable images of cancer cells in cross-section.

In keeping with the focus on innovation, Bitsicas’ installation was mounted with a new technology: the TurnKeyTM Fusion Light Wall system from Bendheim. The UL-listed system integrates the LEDs and glass right into the patented rail and key attachment system. Shadow-free dispersion—ideal for Bitsicas’ high-resolution images—was ensured by the choice to

Thematic artwork was created for the first floor of the NextGen Precision Health Innovation Tower with a graphic film applied to Bendheim’s LE’Diffusion Safety Glass, which is specifically engineered for even dispersion of LED light.

Photo by Michael Robinson Photography, Art by Katina Bitsicas

Where Your Vision Meets Our Expertise

Terrazzo is a handcra ed building material; its primary components are assembled on the construction site. For 100-years, the contractor members of the National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association have brought integrity and skill to countless installations. The NTMA has the expertise your project needs. Find specifications, information, color samples, contractor and supplier members at www.ntma.com or call 800-323-9736.

specify Bendheim’s new LE’Diffusion Safety Glass, which is engineered to provide exceptionally even illumination.

As Clint Blew says the company sought a high quality of light from a technical, space, and budget standpoint. Bendheim’s system met those criteria. “The light quality before the artwork was applied to the glass was incredibly clean and even, virtually no ghosting. The Bendheim system is also engineered in such a way that we were able to integrate it into the building pretty effortlessly and flawlessly.”

With no adhesives required, installation was quick and straightforward—and panels can be demounted just as easily. At just over 2 inches in depth, the TurnKeyTM Fusion Light Wall system hugs the wall, preserving valuable corridor space.

Success on All Fronts

The scientists at NextGen Precision Health report that their “collisions” with colleagues are already bearing fruit. Oncologist Dr. Kevin Staveley-O’Carroll said to the Missourian: “When I walk out of my office in NextGen, I’m going to bump into tumor immunologists, I’m going

to bump into experts in metabolic disease... When you put teams together that are interested in the same science, it’s very helpful.”

Meanwhile, the institute’s campus home has been greeted with accolades including the International Interior Design Association’s 2022 award for laboratory space. With its elegant and innovative structure, Burns & McDonnell appears to have achieved its goal of “building a bridge to science with architecture.”

As hopeful families wait, that bridge may bring the future of medicine “from bench to bedside” just a little faster.

Katherine Bonamo writes on architecture, building, construction and other engineering topics for publications throughout the United States.

Installers from Central Missouri Glass required no special tools to mount backlit glass cladding at NextGen Precision Health, due to the architects’ selection of Bendheim’s TurnKeyTM Fusion Light Wall system.

Photo: Courtesy of Bendheim

The TurnKeyTM Fusion Light Wall system from Bendheim is UL listed and can accommodate glass panels up to 8 feet in height for floor-to-ceiling illumination, while its slim profile preserves valuable space.

Photo by Michael Robinson Photography, Art by Katina Bitsicas

ALSO COVERING LOCAL, STATE & REGIONAL PROJECTS AND FACILITIES

Holding the line

US Army Corps of Engineers heads natural solutions for coastal flooding in New York and New Jersey

Team visiting the successful Elders West marsh island restoration project in Jamaica Bay, New York.

Credit: USACE.

Holding the line

US Army Corps of Engineers heads natural solutions for coastal flooding in New York and New Jersey

By JoAnne Castagna

Last spring, Dr. Todd Bridges and his colleagues were visiting a part of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in California, a remote region that encompasses 45,000 acres of rivers, woodlands, wetlands and grasslands.

Over the years, the refuge has experienced flooding many times. Bridges, National Lead for the US Army Corps of Engineer’s Engineering nature initiative, was there to see how the refuge and associated restoration was working as a nature-based solution for flood risk reduction.

He was pleased with the results that included the restoration of 7,000 acres of floodplain habitat through a combination of conventional, natural, and nature-based engineering features. Conventional features

including levees and pump stations and natural features including the planting of 600,000 native trees.

While touring the project, Bridges came across a group of men who traveled several hours to visit the refuge for the first time. He asked them what they thought, and one man said, “It looks prehistoric and heavenly. We’re visiting what we’re losing; it’s painful too.”

Bridges has spent much of his career researching how conventional and nature-based engineering features can be used

together in projects to provide storm risk reduction, maintain wildlife habitats, provide recreational space, and most importantly to maintain the natural resources cherished by so many. “People need nature. Concrete can’t satisfy all of the needs people have. Projects that include natural engineering features also provide social benefits.”

Bridge’s research is helping to make the Army Corps an international leader in the use of natural and nature-based engineering features. Many are benefitting, including the Army Corps’ New York District, which has experienced extensive coastal flooding and is increasing the use of these features in its projects.

Natural and nature-based engineering features are landscape features used in combination with conventional engineering features. Natural features occur naturally in the landscape and nature-based features are engineered, constructed or restored to mimic natural conditions.

Examples of these features include beaches and dunes; vegetated environments, such as maritime forests, salt marshes, freshwater wetlands, fluvial flood

Sand being pumped through pipelines onto Gilgo Beach, one of several beaches receiving sand replenishment with the Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point, New York, Coastal Storm Risk Management Project.

Credit: James D’Ambrosio, Public Affairs.

plains, and seagrass beds; coral and oyster reefs; and barrier islands. “By combining something natural and nature-based with something conventional, we make the system better overall,” Bridges says. “This is nature supporting engineering and engineering supporting nature.”

For example, he says when a concrete flood wall is designed to include an expansive reef and marsh in front of it, the wall provides flood protection benefits during storms while the reef and marsh system reduce the power of waves, can grow with sea level rise, captures carbon, improves water quality, and provides recreational opportunity. The combination is better than either of them.

The Army Corps has been working with natural and nature-based features for years, but recently there’s increased interest due to climate change.

On Earth Day in April 2022, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14072: Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies, which directs to take multiple actions designed to tackle the climate crisis, make our nation more resilient to extreme weather,

and strengthen local economies, including focusing considerable attention and federal effort on nature-based solutions.

As a result, Bridges and other Army Corps staff worked with the White House to develop a report on how the federal government can accelerate the use of nature-based solutions. In addition, the Army Corps with collaborators recently released a set of guidelines for how to use natural and nature-based features.

The award-winning guide—the “International Guidelines on Natural and Nature-Based Features for Flood Risk Management”—involved five years of collaboration with scientists and engineers from around the world and is one of the first guidelines of its kind.

These guidelines are now being used by engineers inside and outside the Army Corps including those with the Army Corp’s New York District. Following are two of its projects that include natural and nature-based engineering features—The Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point, New York, Coastal Storm Risk Management Project and the Hudson Raritan Estuary New York and New Jersey Ecosystem Restoration Project.

Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point, New York, Coastal Storm Risk Management Project

This project is taking place along the south shore of Long Island, New York. Long Island extends out east into the Atlantic Ocean from New York City. Along the south shore of the island there are barrier island chains from Coney Island to Shinnecock Inlet. A barrier island is a long narrow island that lies parallel and close to the mainland, protecting the mainland from erosion and storms.

The project encompasses an 83- mile subset of the barrier islands of the south shore of Long Island—from Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point and extends inland two miles. In between Long Island’s mainland and these barrier islands are the Great South Bay, Moriches Bay and Shinnecock Bay.

Over the years, the south shore of Long Island has become very populated. Today, there are approximately 150,000 residents within the project area. The region also receives a large influx of seasonal beachgoers and visitors annually.

The south shore is also very developed. Within the project area, there are 46,000 buildings that include 42,600 homes and 3,000 businesses, and critical infrastructures including 60 schools, two hospitals, and 21 firehouses and police stations.

In the past century, especially in the last 20 years, Long Island’s developed coast has experienced storm damages. Elevated tides and waves from these storms caused extensive flooding and sand erosion, leaving communities and shore life vulnerable.

In 1992, a Nor’easter breached a barrier island in several locations. Water from the ocean side of the island washed over and into the bay side, splitting the island, creating a breach or gap. The breach quickly turned into a full-blown major inlet that swallowed up 160 homes.

Most recently was Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Storm surge from Sandy eroded forty

A flock of Cormorants, a type of bird, in Jamaica Bay. Credit: Don Riepe

PHOTO iD is a cloud-based platform that allows team members to stay up to date in real time throughout the entire job or inspection process.

Receiving photos from the site in an organized manner from reps as the tasks are happening, displays a clear story of what has occurred at various job-sites.

percent of the beach sediment from some areas and created three breaches in the barrier islands, leaving the area vulnerable to significant damages.

This project is a collaboration between numerous agencies and communities that will manage the risks and attendant loss of life from tidal flooding, waves and erosion, in part by restoring the natural coastal processes while minimizing environmental impacts for the barrier islands and back bay communities on Long Island’s south shore. The project utilizes conventional, natural, and nature-based features that include the restoration of barrier islands, beaches and dunes.

Restoration of Barrier Islands

According to the International Guidelines, barrier islands are a critical element in the multiple lines of defense when it comes to coastal flooding. They provide multiple benefits including reducing coastal erosion and flooding from wind-driven waves and extreme water levels, on the nearby habitats and shorelines. In addition, they provide critical habitat for threatened and endangered species and migratory birds, as well as provide access to recreational opportunities and navigation.

As part of this project, the eroded barrier island chains from Fire Island Inlet to Shinnecock Inlet and the shorefront area east of Shinnecock Bay to Montauk Point will be built back up using dredged sand.

Peter Weppler, Chief, Environmental Analysis Branch, New York District, US Army Corps of Engineers, says building these barrier islands up will also help to restore the natural cross barrier island transport of sand. “This sand will naturally flow to areas where it’s needed, augmenting the resiliency, and enhancing the overall barrier island’s natural system coastal processes.”

Maintaining barrier islands is so critical that the Army Corps established a range of breach response plans that will close barrier island breaches immediately after storms for the next 30 years.

Restoration of Beaches & Dunes

According to the International Guidelines, beaches and dunes are valuable to flood risk reduction because they dissipate wave energy, can trap sediments, and have the potential to grow with rising sea levels. In addition, they provide habitat for diverse species.

Dunes are areas of the beach where sand is elevated several feet to act as a buffer between the waves, wind, storm water levels and the structures landward on the beach. Over the years, much of Long Island’s south shore has eroded, removing the natural beachfront and dunes that provide coastal protection to the communities from storm surge.

The beaches and dunes will be restored with sand dredged from several federal channels including Fire Island Inlet and shoals and Moriches and Shinnecock

Inlets and shoals and from offshore sand borrow areas. The sand will be placed in a way to mimic natural features and native vegetation will be planted to create nesting and foraging habits for endangered wildlife, including the piping plover, least tern, black skimmers, yellow oystercatchers and seabeach amaranth.

A sand-replenished beach with dunes can prevent elevated ocean waters, caused by storms, from inundating coastal communities. Anthony Ciorra, Project Manager, New York District, US Army Corps of Engineers, says, “Post-Hurricane Sandy analysis showed that beaches that had previously received sand placement and dune construction sustained less damages and saved an estimated $1.3 billion in avoided damages on New York and New Jersey shorelines.”

Project Area Map of the Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point, New York, Coastal Storm Risk Management Project. Credit: USACE

“People need nature. Concrete can’t satisfy all of the needs people have. Projects that include natural engineering features also provide social benefits.”

— Dr.

Todd Bridges,

National Lead, US Army Corps of Engineer’s Engineering

Aram Terchunian, Coastal Geologist and President of First Coastal Consulting Corporation, saw this first-hand on the south shore of Long Island. “Superstorm Sandy is the event that really proved the importance of beaches and dunes as effective natural features. Sandy was a violent storm that broke three inlets through Long Island’s barrier beach system. At West Hampton Dunes, it was a nonevent. The beaches and dunes withstood the storm fury with only a small incursion over the dune near a vehicle overpass, which was rectified within hours. The Village of West Hampton Dunes was up and running within 24 hours of Sandy’s visit.”

Terchunian has worked with the Army Corps for decades as a representative of

several south shore villages and towns on the east end of Long Island.

Storms, like Sandy, may occur more frequently in the future due to relative sea level change. The project is monitoring relative sea level change and adjusting the project when necessary, so that it will continue to perform as planned. This may mean over time increasing the volume of sand that is placed on beaches and increasing the height of dunes to account for observed increases in relative sea level change.

Joseph Vietri, Director of Coastal Storm Risk Management National Center of Expertise, North Atlantic Division, US Army Corps of Engineers, happens to live on one of the barrier islands. He predicts that future low,

intermediate and high rates of Army Corps relative sea level change projections could increase anywhere between approximately 1 to 6 feet over the next 100 years, resulting in more frequent and severe storm damages. Bridges says the natural and nature-based features may actually be more capable of adapting to changing environmental conditions than conventional features. “For example, if you have a levee and marsh as part of a project. The hard levee will not move in response to sea level rise, but the marsh can migrate on its own if we haven’t put something in its way.”

Hudson Raritan Estuary New York and New Jersey Ecosystem Restoration Project

The Hudson Raritan Estuary is located within the boundaries of the Port District of New York and New Jersey and is situated within a 25-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

An estuary is a partially enclosed, coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries can include a variety of habitats including salt marshes, mangrove or maritime forests, mud flats, tidal streams, rocky intertidal shores, reefs and barrier beaches.

The Hudson Raritan Estuary is a complex ecological system located within a highly urbanized region of 20 million people that includes the New York Harbor, rivers, wetlands, coastlines and open waters. Over the years, industrialization has degraded the estuary and hardened the coastlines resulting in the tremendous loss of habitat. The estuary has lost more than 85% of its tidal wetlands, 99% of its freshwater wetlands, and 100% of its oyster reefs.

Restoring the estuary is important because the ecosystem provides habitat for birds, fish, shellfish, and other wildlife, maintains water quality by filtering out contaminated sediments, provides recreational opportunities, boosts the region’s economy, and acts as a buffer from flooding for

Types of natural and nature-based features used in Coastal risk management projects. Credit: USACE.

According to the International Guidelines, coral and shellfish reefs can act as the first line of defense against flooding, storm damage and erosion in coastal areas.

Resilience Begins with Quality

Seal and preserve your roof

Silicone, Acrylic, SEBS coatings for restoration on all types of roofs.

coastal communities during destructive and powerful storms.

One study done by Lloyd’s of London showed marshes play a critical role in reducing damage to infrastructure from coastal storms. The study showed that during Hurricane Sandy marshes prevented $625 million in direct flood damages across twelve states. In New Jersey, coastal marshes reduced property damages by more than 20%.

Lisa Baron, Project Manager, New York District, US Army Corps of Engineers, says the plan for the Hudson Estuary Program is to restore a mosaic of 621 acres of habitat at 20 individual project sites. “These projects will restore estuarine and freshwater wetlands, shorelines, fish passage, oyster reefs, shallow water habitat, coastal forests and marsh islands while providing maximum ecological and societal benefits to the region.”

Work is starting up on several of these restoration sites. Natural and nature-based features being used include salt marshes and oyster reefs.

Restoration of Salt Marshes

According to the International Guidelines, coastal wetlands and intertidal areas can reduce flood and erosion risks in coastal environments because they can dampen wave, surge, and current energy, trap sediments, and, in the correct settings, be self-sustaining under rising sea levels and other pressures. They provide additional benefits including fish production, filtration of pollutants from upland runoff, water quality mediation, recreation and carbon sequestration.

Within the Hudson Raritan Estuary is Jamaica Bay. The bay is located in portions of the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City and is part of the Jamaica Bay Park and Wildlife Refuge, the country’s first national urban park and one of the Gateway National Recreation Areas that is visited by millions of people each year. The bay covers 26 square miles and opens to the Atlantic Ocean. The land surrounding the bay is heavily developed and includes

John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Belt Parkway and several landfills.

Inside the bay there is a marsh island complex. In the last century, these once-vibrant islands have been rapidly disappearing resulting in extensive habitat loss. Eight-five percent of the wetlands have been lost in the region. This loss is primarily due to human development that’s included the filling in of marshes

and open water areas, hardening of shorelines, sewer overflows, and landfill leachate or water containing contaminants seeping from landfills.

The disappearing marshes pose a threat to wildlife and coastal communities. It’s been estimated that the marsh islands if left alone would vanish completely by 2025. Fortunately, due to work the Army Corps has performed over the years, this

Restoration site locations for the Hudson Raritan Estuary New York and New Jersey Ecosystem Restoration Project. Credit: USACE.

will not happen. The Army Corps, along with partnering agencies, has restored approximately 160-acres of marsh islands in Jamaica Bay through a number of successful restoration projects.

Baron says restoring these marsh islands provides significant benefits to the region. “The restored marsh islands keep the sediment within the Jamaica Bay system; wetland vegetation stabilizes the island; the islands reduce waves and erosion of surrounding shorelines and adjacent islands; the wetlands improve water quality within the bay; and the marsh islands that we construct will continue to build the ecological resilience of the bay to respond to increasing sea level rise.”

In fact, according to a report released by the US Army Engineer Research and

Development Center, the Army Corps restoration of a Jamaica Bay marsh island in 2011 likely mitigated storm surge during Hurricane Sandy the following year and helped to protect the community. The Cross Bay Bridge—which is near this island—was not damaged due to Sandy and was only temporarily closed.

In contrast, bridges east of this structure suffered substantial damage and were closed until the following year. Stakeholders attribute the bridge’s survival to the nearby restored marsh island.

The Army Corps in collaboration with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection plans to restore five additional marsh islands as part of the Hudson Raritan Estuary Restoration Program and is currently advancing one of these marsh

islands that sits in the heart of the bay— Stony Creek Marsh Island.

Sixty-two acres of the island will be restored. To perform this work, approximately 150,000 cubic yards of sand will be beneficially used from the dredging of the Jamaica Bay Federal Navigation Channel or nearby Ambrose Channel and placed on the island. The material will be graded and contoured to appropriate elevations suitable for a marsh and then planted with native vegetation.

When completed, the island will have 26 acres of low marsh, 22.5 acres of high marsh, 3.5 acres of scrub-shrub wetland, 8.7 acres of shallow marine habitat, and 1.4 acres of tidal channels or narrow inlets.

This will create a healthy marsh island within one of the most biodiverse regions in

Aerial photo of the Yellow Bar marsh island restoration project in Jamaica Bay, New York. Credit: USACE.

the Northeastern United States. Jamaica Bay provides critical spawning and nursery habitat for more than 80 migratory and estuarine fish species, as well as terrapins and four species of endangered or threatened turtles.

In addition, 300 bird species—or 20% of the Nation’s birds—call the bay their home and visit it every year as a stopover point along the Atlantic Flyway migration route to their breeding grounds. They include many species of sparrows, warblers, thrashers, crows, herons and urban birds. Many of the species are listed as threatened and endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, including the threatened piping plover and red knot.

Restoration of Oyster Reefs

According to the International Guidelines, coral and shellfish reefs can act as the first line of defense against flooding, storm damage and erosion in coastal areas. Reefs do this by buffering wave energy. Reefs also provide additional benefits, including fisheries production, habitat and biodiversity, recreation, and tourism and revenue.

Unfortunately, in the Hudson Raritan Estuary, oyster populations are practically extinct. Up until the late 1800s, the bottom of the estuary was blanketed with oysters. The eastern oyster populated 200,000 acres of the estuary; today it’s considered ecologically extinct, primarily caused by water pollution, dredging, poor land management and overharvesting.

The Army Corps in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the NY/NJ Baykeeper is aiming to bring the oyster back with the Oyster Restoration at Naval Weapons Station Earle Project in New Jersey.

The Naval Weapons Station Earle is a secluded Naval location on the coast of

New Jersey, on the Raritan Bay. The plan is to expand a .25-acre oyster reef constructed by the NY/NJ Baykeeper to create a 10acre oyster reef habitat under the station’s 2.9-mile pier that is close to the land and away from naval ship activity.

Stacey MacEwan, project manager, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Natural Resource Restoration says that oysters bring a range of benefits to the estuary. “[They] improve water quality through filtration processes, but the reef itself provides a vertical structure that supports a diverse community of fish and invertebrate species, and the reef structure can also help to protect the shoreline from erosion. This type of project can provide large-scale benefits in a relatively small footprint.”

Meredith Comi, Coastal Restoration Program Director with the NY/NJ Baykeeper, says that knowing that protecting our

shorelines is leading to an increase in species diversity is very cool and is even more of a reason to use natural and naturebased features in resilience projects.

Bridges may have felt a pang of sadness when the tourist he encountered in the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge expressed that the survival of our natural resources is fleeting. But there is also hope that many of these natural resources will continue to thrive for future generations, especially with the increased use of natural and nature-based engineering features.

Terchunian is optimistic that the natural features provide multiple benefits, including flood and erosion protection, habitat creation, open space, and recreation. These benefits accrue to multiple segments of society from naturalists to property owners and the average citizen. Building natural beaches and dunes will ensure that there is room on the beach for everyone.”

Dr.

JoAnne Castagna, Ed.D., is a public affairs specialist and writer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District. She can be reached at joanne.castagna@usace.army.mil. To receive a free copy of the International Guidelines on Natural and Nature-Based Features for Flood Risk Management, visit www.ewn.erdc.dren.mil.

Dr. Todd Bridges (Left) and his colleagues visiting the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in California, a remote region that encompasses 45,000 acres of rivers, woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands. Credit: Dr. Todd Bridges.

You can find answers to these and other important questions to help you market your products in construction and renovation from one of the leading B2B research firms in the country. Just spend some time at www.a-i-m.com. Then call 847-358-8558 for a confidential conversation with Jim Nowakowski, President.

AIM is a full-service B2B marketing research, information company with 30+ years experience.

Companies who want to innovate use AIM’s custom-designed research and analytical data services to get needed answers quickly, neatly and efficiently.

Why Not Have a Conversation Now?

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Call 847-358-8558 for that confidential conversation with Jim Nowakowski, President.

Or email him at jnowak@a-i-m.com.

Let AIM help shed some light on what you’re doing.

Thank you.

Manufacturer Brief: How COVID-19 is Changing the Way Interior Designers Get Product Information

Manufacturer Brief: How COVID-19 Changed the Way Architects Get Product Information

Accountability Information Management, Inc. 553 N. North Court, Suite 160 Palatine, Illinois 60067 847-358-8558 www.a-i-m.com

Boston’s Crown Jewel

A $55 million, two-plus year project breathes new life into Huntington Theatre

By Thomas Renner

In many ways, Michael Maso is the Huntington Theatre. He stepped down in June after 41 years as the managing director of the Boston theater and steered it from an in-house department at Boston University to a highly regarded community treasure, working with four artistic directors to produce more than 260 productions.

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“Michael Maso has been the heart and soul of The Huntington for a remarkable 40 years,” says Loretta Greco, the theater’s artistic director who will assist in the transition to bring in a new managing director.

Maso’s final act, and by far his most enduring, will be the creative input he provided in a $55 million, 2.5-year renovation project that transformed the building from a decaying structure into a restored community jewel. The extensive overhaul touched every artery of the building, including the stage, lobby, dressing rooms, exterior and mechanical systems. The theater opened in 1925 and needed drastic improvements.

“We were holding it together with chewing gum by the end,” Maso says.

Just a few years ago, the building was at risk of being knocked down for condominiums. “I think what’s most exciting is the arc we’ve been through,” Maso says. “Thanks to a lot of work by a lot of people, we had the opportunity to not only save it, but also restore it to its former architectural glory.”

The newly renovated theater opened in October 2022, crystallizing the vision that Maso began developing four decades earlier. “We began this journey with a clear goal to save this gem of a theater, to return its former architectural glory and to infuse it with new, modern systems and amenities so that we could broaden the scope of our artistic ambitions and increase our services to artists, audiences and the community,” Maso says.

‘Radical Hospitality’

The scope, complexity and balance of the project make the project noteworthy. Covering 75,000 square feet, architects from Bruner/Cott delicately knitted a structure that blended major mechanical system upgrades and technical theater improvements all while respecting the theater’s history. That’s a tightrope that only a handful of architects can perform skillfully.

The overarching objective strived to create “radical hospitality” within the building, creating a welcoming and comfortable space for all theater visitors. “To meet the objective of providing radical hospitality, the design focused on refreshing public spaces and improving circulation and accessibility,”

says Nurit Zuker, an Associate at Bruner/ Cott. “All patrons enter the building using a new ramp that ceremoniously brings them to a series of lobbies and to their seats. Creating an entrance that could be used by all, regardless of physical ability, was important from the early design stages.”

In the renovated theatre, larger, more comfortable seats in a new configuration improve sightlines to the stage. The theater has fewer seats—the new setup includes 739 seats, compared to 890 prior to the renovation—but they are up to 22 inches wide and aisles have been expanded to include up to 22 inches of legroom.

“There’s not a bad seat in the house,” Zuker says. “The renovated theatre is now more welcoming, fully operational, and completely accessible and visible. It offers new capacity for creativity, innovation, and outreach and helps elevate the identity and contribution of the Huntington Theatre to Boston’s Avenue of the Arts.”

The primary public toilet rooms are designed to be all-gender spaces with floor-to-ceiling stalls for maximum privacy as no detail was spared in providing theater patrons a memorable experience. “It offers new capacity for creativity, innovation, and

outreach and helps elevate the identity and contribution of the Huntington Theatre to the Boston’s Avenue of the Arts,” Zuker says.

Setting the stage

In any theater, of course, the play’s the thing. And the renovation promises enhanced audience experience with stateof-the-art stage technology, including a new fully automated and programmable fly-rigging the system. It replaces a manual system for flying in scenery and the curtain, improving both safety and efficiency.

Teams restored 45 historic lighting fixtures that were original to the 1925 building, including the chandelier and vintage star fixtures, in the theater and lobby. A new elevator—which makes the second floor accessible for the first time in the building’s history—an accessible orchestra pit with a ramp entrance, an automated sound booth and an accessible lift to the mezzanine level will also improve accessibility and patron comfort.

A second-floor rehearsal hall and event space pay homage to Maso. Named the Michael Maso Studio, the hall was originally built as a ballroom. All of the spaces used by staff, crew and artists received upgrades.

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“Art is the center of everything we do at The Huntington, and this incredibly beautifully renovated theatre complex expands the possibilities around our art and creativity,’’ Greco says.

Upgrading mechanical systems

While theatergoers will enjoy the technological advancements right in front of their eyes, less apparent are the upgrades in the systems that help everything run smoothly and guests and workers comfortable.

“This major renovation addresses sorely needed maintenance and updating of the almost century-old building, providing critical upgrades of all mechanical systems from HVAC to the electrical wiring, making the facility accessible to all, and bringing the building into the 21st Century,” Zuker says.

Last year, for example, fires erupted at theaters at Disney World, Hollywood, Branson, and Connecticut. In 2021, three transformers at Jackson College in Michigan caught fire and forced the campus to close. One of the transformers was near a theater in the building. About 135 miles east of Boston, a 2020 fire at Doris Duke Theater in a performing arts venue called Jacob’s Pillow destroyed the structure.

A report indicated that officials believe the fire started in an area of the building where theatrical and electrical equipment was located, but no official cause was reported.

The plan for The Huntington included new smoke vents. The existing vents were positioned vertically and relied on manual operation. They were abandoned in place

large enough to ventilate the entire stage appropriately,” Zuker says.

The project included four 6-feet x 6-feet double-leaf acoustical smoke vents and a single-leaf smoke vent, 4-feet x 4-feet. The latter is a thermally broken vent and is the first to be used in a commercial application. The thermally broken properties greatly improve energy efficiency.

The thermally broken smoke vent, which was introduced by BILCO in 2022, is part of the theater’s initiatives to reduce energy consumption. The unit is designed with an element of low conductivity integrated between interior and exterior surfaces of the cover and frame to reduce temperature transfer. The thermally broken components also dampen vibration.

“The BILCO smoke vents were specified because they met all the project’s needs,” Zuker says. “The smoke vents are located at the top of the flytower, directly above the theatre stage, and therefore needed to be quiet acoustically. In addition, the units also had the correct size to provide the required ventilation above stage.”

Take a Bow

The project used key elements of sustainable design as the city moves toward a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. New windows and better insulation will reduce energy use by up to 70%, and 80% of the energy used in the building will come from electrified systems. New plumbing fixtures and systems will reduce water use by up to 30%, and low-touch and non-touch hardware was used whenever possible.

Shawmut Design and Construction partnered with Bruner/Cott and Legat McCall Properties to complete the renovation.

Unique smoke vent dilemma

One major concern with any theater—and has been an issue for centuries—is fire protection. Technology advancements increase the risk of fire hazards. While modern building practices and materials have dramatically reduced the risk of fatalities, theaters still face an uncommon fire threat.

and replaced with horizontal vents that vastly improve the building’s fire safety.

“The existing ventilation structure was ineffective, and the theatre relied on manual operation of smoke vents,” Zuker says. “The location and condition of the existing ventilation structure on the roof was positioned vertically, but at an angle, which meant it could not be replaced with a modern unit.”

It is not uncommon to find vertical smoke vents above stages in theaters built at the turn of the century early to mid1900s. A project at a Colorado high school was built with the assistance of the Works Projects Administration (WPA) that also included vertical vents.

Architects selected five smoke vents from BILCO, the manufacturer of specialty access products, for The Huntington. “The BILCO smoke vents were specified as a solution as they were ready to install, could be integrated with the fire alarm, and were

Maso has seen it all during his tenure at The Huntington. From the early days when the theater was merely a blip in the city’s cultural landscape, the transition to vital creative hub and then a curtain-killing pandemic, he has helped shepherd the theater during good times and bad.

The theater has been his life, and the role he played in in the renovation along with his four decades of service is indeed worthy of an extended curtain call.

“We began this journey with a clear goal to save this gem of a theater, to return it to its former architectural glory and to infuse it with new, modern systems and amenities so that we could broaden the scope of our artistic ambitions and increase our services to artists, audiences and the community,’’ Maso says. “Now with these goals accomplished and the first phase of our renovation complete, we look forward to the joyful return of artists and audiences to breathe life into this magnificent facility in the heart of our city.” CCR

One major concern with any theater— and has been an issue for centuries—is fire protection. Technology advancements increase the risk of fire hazards.

Thomas Renner writes on architecture, building, construction and other trade industry topics for publications throughout the country.

Another Bridge for the City of Bridges

Unique design inspired by Fort Pitt Tunnel will connect airport terminals

By Oscar Rzodkiewicz

Pittsburgh’s most iconic feature may be its dramatic entrance from the Fort Pitt Tunnel into downtown—and it will now have a companion at the airport. Pittsburgh International Airport has unveiled designs for a dynamic connector bridge and tunnel from the new landside terminal—now under construction—to the existing airside center core, a uniquely Pittsburgh gateway for passengers to reach their favorite airside shops, restaurants and, of course, gates.

“Pittsburgh is a city with a magnificent entrance and this design, as part of our new terminal program, provides travelers with a similar experience,” says Paul Hoback, Chief Development Officer for the Allegheny County Airport Authority. “Capturing the essence of Pittsburgh is an important part of our new facility.”

The new terminal will give passengers and vendors a right-sized space that allows for more seamless travel, quicker access to gates and an expanded security checkpoint. The connector bridge highlights the conceptual design of nature, technology and community dubbed “NaTeCo”—an initiative the visionary architects behind the future building incorporated into every aspect of the project.

ensuring a quick, efficient way to reach PIT’s concessions and gates in the concourses.

But in form, the 150-foot bridge replicates the concept and feel of the Fort Pitt Tunnel exit and is intended to evoke the beauty of the region using the design qualities of compression and expansion as passengers exit the bridge and reach the airside center core.

The ceiling’s flower petal-inspired design will peel away slowly as passengers walk across the bridge, rising from about nine feet in height to about 15 feet. Dynamic lighting built into the ceiling inside will emulate the scenic skies of western Pennsylvania in real time: light, fresh colors in the morning and deep oranges and purples near sunset.

escalators and elevators down to the main level to reach their gates.

Other airside improvements will include upgrades to lighting, bathrooms, ventilation systems and pipes. “We need to make sure passengers do not come into the new terminal facility and feel like they are in the Jetsons, only to enter the existing concourses and have it feel like the Flintstones,” Hoback says.

Renovations and changes

A key mantra during the design, bidding and construction of the new terminal is “for Pittsburgh, by Pittsburgh,” and the use of fabricated materials from nearby Sippel Steel in Ambridge, Pennsylvania for the connector bridge underscores that commitment—almost 90 percent of work on the project is being completed by local companies.

Ultimately, the Terminal Modernization Program is expected to generate $2.5 billion in economic activity and create more than 14,000 direct and indirect jobs within the region. For passengers, the airport will begin to look a bit different as construction moves ahead.

Construction on the connector bridge will begin around the escalators currently leading up to the center core from the Automated People Mover platform, including the installation of scaffolding and new wayfinding signage in the coming weeks.

The Fort Pitt Tunnel provides an awe-inspiring gateway to the city of Pittsburgh, captivating tourists and longtime western Pennsylvanians alike with a skyline and yellow bridges that complement the rolling hills and the connecting rivers to paint a beautiful portrait of the area.

In function, PIT’s connector bridge will accommodate one-way foot traffic for departing passengers moving on from a recompose area past the security checkpoint,

The bridge also features the capability to add familiar, subtle scents to the room that add to the ambiance and character.

“This is something that’s uniquely Pittsburgh, and we want passengers to have that feeling of awe as they enter the mezzanine level,” Hoback says.

Once passengers reach the end of the bridge, the revitalized center core will expand into full view. From the mezzanine of the center core, they will take newly installed

Nearby, the Multi-Modal Complex parking structure and roadway systems are also undergoing construction, and drivers are encouraged to use caution and exercise patience as they navigate the airport campus. Travelers should take note of all temporary signage throughout the campus.

Airport officials emphasize that passengers should allow more time to get to their gates while construction is underway; new signs will help direct them once they get beyond the TSA checkpoint.

PIT will continue to provide updates and adjust wayfinding throughout the construction process. The new terminal and Multi-Modal Complex are expected to open in 2025. CCR

Oscar Rzodkiewicz is a Marketing and Communications Specialist with Jacobs, a Pittsburgh-based company that provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector.

IS YOUR SUPERINTENDENT CERTIFIED?

Ask your GC if they have a Certified Retail Superintendent on your project.

Being a retail superintendent requires a unique set of skills different from other market segments. While all construction superintendents have responsibilities for schedule, productivity, safety, and quality on the project site, the challenges and constraints of the retail environment mean that a special training focus is needed.

Superintendents must learn how to think like a retailer and a contractor throughout these projects.

RCA’s Retail Superintendent Training Program addresses this need.

Certified Retail Superintendents have:

• At least three years of experience in retail construction

• Completed OSHA 30-hour certification

• Completed RCA's two-day workshop, which includes in-depth training on retail-focused customer service

• Passed the Certified Retail Superintendent exam

The Voice of Craft Brands

It’s a brother thing

How Karben4 Brewing continues to build a craft beer legacy

It’s a brother thing

How Karben4 Brewing continues to build a craft beer legacy

The first real beer Ryan Koga ever tasted changed his life. He was 25 and was working in a local brewpub trying to make ends meet doing the college thing in Billings, Montana. The goal was to get a Master’s Degree in Athletic Training.

That beer changed everything. Completing his degree, his newfound love of beer drove him. That’s when he approached his younger brother, Zak, who he convinced to start a new venture with him. In 2012, they opened the doors to Karben4 in Madison Wisconsin, the home of Zak’s alma mater the University of Wisconsin is.

Driven by Ryan’s passion and Zak’s drive, they created a recipe to level up the Madison beer scene, including high-quality beer, creative branding and brotherly sense of humor. Today, Karben4 distributes in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.

CBAM sat down with co-founder Zak Koga to get an inside glimpse of the Karben4 Brewing brand and what the future holds.

Interview by Michael J. Pallerino

Give us a snapshot of today’s craft brew market from your perspective. What’s likely to happen next?

Craft beer and the industry looks much different than it did when we opened Karben4 in 2012. We’re experiencing a period of back pressure, with high saturation in both the number of different beer SKUs on the shelf and in the number of brewery establishments open. It’s awesome that we’ve diversified the marketplace and brought craft beer to more people across the country, but it’s turning into SKUmaggeden.

As a result, there has recently been a winnowing down of brands and styles to only leave the best of the best. This process is being accelerated by distributors who are no longer interested in carrying brands because they don’t fit into their portfolio. It’s ultimately going to be beneficial for the market, as it will force the top quality brands to rise to the top and bring up the overall quality of the industry.

In the near future, we can expect to see a further narrowing down of the craft beer market, with the best of the best surviving and growing.

What trends are defining the space?

The main trend that continues to define craft beer is quality over quantity. Consistent quality is so much more important than pumping out a ton of beer. Driven by increasing competition for cooler space, really only the highest-selling products will remain on shelves.

Niche products are moving to smaller quantities and taprooms, while quality needs to improve to remain competitive. We’re seeing trends from outside of the space also beginning to make an impact on craft beer. Breweries are dipping their toes into spirits, RTDs and cannabis.

What’s your story from a brand perspective?

When we opened in 2012, we were joining a generation of growth. In

Wisconsin, Ale Asylum was one of the brands from the previous generation that hit it big, and we were inspired by them. With the demand for craft at the time, we had a lot of success starting as a production brewery and growing into our taproom. That being said, I would not build the business the same way if we were to open today.

Our brand strategy is focused on distribution and celebrating beer as a connector between people. We have been very deliberate about our growth, and are intentional when adding new markets. We started by growing our presence in Wisconsin, and we are beginning to look at entering new markets. We have kept our branding fun, avoiding the “Beer Nerd” label and staying open to all types of beer drinkers.

Instead, we keep our focus on the human connection that beer can bring. We see beer as a part of our culture – it’s been a connector between people for thousands of years. Let’s keep it fun and celebratory and lighthearted.

What’s the biggest issue today related to the marketing/sales side of the craft beer business today?

It can be challenging to focus on long-term growth and sales execution rather than just trying to release new beers. Being creative is fun, it keeps the work fresh, but it’s important to focus on the core best products, telling the brand story, and executing an effective brand strategy through packaging, newsletters, and press.

It is also essential to get back to the basics of the business. Craft brewers have seen early success in the past decades, but now it is about the long-term execution of the fundamentals.

What’s the secret to creating a branding story that consumers can buy into?

Pairing technical skill and high quality with humility and lightheartedness is the secret to reaching consumers. Don’t take yourself too seriously, in

person or on the shelf. We’ve used this strategy since the beginning, when we were one of the original cans featuring really crazy artwork at retail in our state.

We found a great artist in Jason Hueser, who created total face melter work for our labels. Karben4’s Fantasy Factory cans have a cat riding a fire-breathing unicorn. It’s a super high-quality, technical painting, but it’s just fun and ridiculous at the same time. It’s similar with beer. Don’t get pretentious—execute at a super high level and then get out of the way.

What’s the one thing that every craft beer brand should be doing in the way of marketing?

Create brand consistency and let the brand values of the brewery shine. Every time you interact with a customer is a chance to reinforce your commitment to quality, give some insight into your personality and differentiate yourself.

Keep it fun and lighthearted, but don’t lose sight of the quality of your product. Use the tools you have intentionally and make a statement that resonates with your current and potential customers.

What do you see as some of your biggest opportunities moving ahead?

Retail (your taproom) with a subcategory of Beer Clubs. Direct-to-consumer shipping is the biggest opportunity for craft breweries across the country right now. Even though beer is about 30 years behind wine in this arena, we’re starting to see more desire and momentum for shipping to become legal, state by state.

What’s the biggest item on your to-do list right now?

My brother Ryan and I are working on bringing back some of the best beers in Wisconsin, from the now closed but still iconic brewery Ale Asylum. We started with Hopalicious in March, and we’re developing a production calendar to bring back more of our favorites from the Ale Asylum lineup in 2023. It’s a brand that means a lot to us. The Ale Asylum crew actually got their start in our current space, so it’s important to us to bring the brand back in a thoughtful way.

How does your taproom space integrate into your branding/marketing strategies?

Our taproom is critically important from a business standpoint. We’re

not exactly restaurateurs, but we have worked hard to create a taproom space that is a reflection of our brand, and we use it as a platform to showcase our beers and engage with our customers. We are always looking for ways to improve our taproom experience and make it even more attractive to our customers. We also use our taproom as a marketing tool, leveraging it to introduce our beers to a larger audience and drive more sales.

What are some of the adjustments you made with/to your business model surrounding the recent state of events?

The biggest adjustment we have made to our business model is a major focus on growing our contract brewing. The combination of pressure on our own volume and cost pressure from inflation has caused us to need more volume quickly. We don’t want to compromise on our core brand, so we are growing our overall volume by brewing beer and other beverages for other companies.

Chatting with... Karben4 Brewing’s Zak Koga

What was the best advice you ever received?

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

Being so close to my family and getting to work with my brother, who is also a co-founder of Karben4. We have a lot of our family consolidated in Madison now, and it’s been so special to be together. My brother Ryan and I each have four kids. We bring them to church with their grandparents every Sunday. We fill up a big pew.

Know your “why”. We’re all big nerds about beer, and working in beer is really fun and rewarding, but at the end of the day, work is work is work. My reason for coming to work is my family, they’re my why.

What’s the best thing a customer ever said to you?

I’d be lying if I tried to quote something. I’m not very good at receiving compliments, and have often reflected on how I should be more polite and kind when people say something nice to me. I also try not to internalize the complaints too much. I had many coaches tell me I shouldn’t

get too high when things are good and I shouldn’t be crushed when things are bad. My favorite interactions with customers are usually anonymous. If I hear someone sharing a positive thought about our company or our beers, or I see a T-shirt on a stranger, those things tend to make me smile.

What is your favorite brand story?

Out of our brands, Fantasy Factory is my favorite. It helped us stand out at retail and gave people a reason to try our beer. The shelf was boring at the time, and Fantasy Factory pushed the boundaries of traditional beer labeling by incorporating bold colors and creative designs.

'I was hooked'

Turning a passion into career perfection

By Ann Poppen

` As a freshman engineering student at Purdue University, all the engineering majors had to take a class where alumni from various disciplines presented what their daily work lives entailed after graduation. Before I had even enrolled at Purdue, I was determined to be an electrical engineer—until I saw the presentation from a construction engineer in that class.

I was hooked.

Construction engineering presented me with an opportunity to be an engineer. I could be outside building projects and seeing the results. The icing on the cake was my internship, where I spent three summers testing out the career path.

The construction industry offers endless opportunities for a wide range of skill sets for men and women alike. With the innovation and collaborative software solutions we have today, the industry needs individuals who celebrate all aspects of our business. Safety. VDC/BIM expertise. Pre-construction planning. Operations. Craft professionals. Quality and scheduling. MEP. Accounting and business development.

At McCarthy, we have office and field positions available in all of our locations. These are exciting times to be in our industry. Over the past two-plus years, we’ve seen additional market sectors leaning toward design-build delivery to deliver their projects. While this need is driven initially by the need for more timely delivery of an end service—courtrooms, medical facilities, etc.—it also carries the advantages of more cost certainty over the traditional method of design followed by pricing, scope refinement to match budget, and then advancing into construction.

The largest trend is not a trend specific to construction. Being able to communicate—taking the time to clearly and concisely be on the same page is critical. That means you have to be willing to ask questions, and deliver the news—good and bad—on the status of each project.

What does it take to succeed today? You must be driven, learn everything you can, be open to challenge and focus on the solutions that matter. By doing your part and

supporting your entire team, you win. Performance conquers all things and enables anyone to achieve their goals.

I remember what one of the vice presidents I worked with early in my career said to me about being in this business: Success in the construction industry is analogous to being set adrift

on the ocean with a lifeboat that holds six people. You will have 12 people to keep alive at all times. It is your job to determine who needs to be on the boat and who can swim for a bit, but they are all your responsibility.

So, as you make your way, remember to celebrate your successes. This industry will continue to challenge each of us. The best thing you can do is perform. While that sounds simple, it is easy to get distracted. Learn your role. Gain the knowledge you need and go for it.

` Ann Poppen is Executive Vice President of Operations of McCarthy's Northern Pacific region. Ann serves as the regional lead for pre-construction and operations, ensuring effective execution of its projects from award to closeout, including planning, budgeting, risk management, quality, safety programs and cost control. She brings more than 30 years of operational experience in design, planning, preconstruction design phase services and project execution.

You must be driven, learn everything you can, be open to challenge and focus on the solutions that matter. By doing your part and supporting your entire team, you win.

Pay it forward

The key to success is remembering who you are and where you are going

By Grace Yu

` I grew up with an architect dad and a mother who was gifted at fashion design and art. My parents, who both loved design, would take me to Sunday Open Houses in our neighborhood. That’s where my interest in design and architecture began.

I often daydreamed about my ideal bedroom, which included creating a staircase in my closet, leading to the attic, which would be transformed into my private ballet studio. To better express my daydreams, my parents encouraged me to draw proposed bedroom floor plans and rearrange my furniture to match. No surprise, my initial floorplans weren’t practical, but even so, it helped spark my interest in design.

Fast forward to senior year of high school, and I knew I wanted to pursue a design-related major in college. Weighing the options between fashion design or architecture, I ultimately chose to study architecture at the University of Southern California (USC). After five years of living in LA traffic, upon graduating I moved across the country to begin my architecture career in New York City.

During my time in NYC, I worked at Perkins Eastman in their Commercial MixedUse and Residential practice areas, where I had the opportunity to support, then lead multiple projects from schematic design through construction into TCO. From being a designer to project architect and eventually project manager, I quickly learned the project lifecycle and how to deliver projects.

By overseeing a project into construction, I experienced the tensions that naturally exist between design and construction in a traditional project delivery method, and learned the importance of communication, early construction input and reflecting on lessons learned to foster teamwork and successful outcomes. I feel grateful to have had the support of the principals at the firm who believed in me and empowered me to take on growing responsibilities, from designing facades to business development to leading multimillion-dollar projects.

After seven years and several completed projects, I asked myself, “What’s next?”

I felt ready for a new challenge and to take

what I had learned as an architect and apply it in a different functionality. With a bit of luck and timing, the perfect opportunity presented itself with Lendlease as a Design Manager within its construction business in California’s Bay Area.

I am excited to bring my design expertise into pre-construction and “front-end” conversion activities, and work together with Lendlease’s operations, EH&S and field teams to bring value-add to projects and clients.

While architecture and construction are traditionally male-dominated, I’m seeing more female leaders rising to the top—such as Claire Johnston, Lendlease Americas CEO – which is incredibly encouraging for all women in the field. Hopefully, this is one step toward a level playing field for all genders.

When I look at the construction industry, I believe there are opportunities in prefabrication, virtual design and construction, and hopefully a comeback in office, residential and hospitality by 2024. When the economy rebounds, I believe there will be an influx of opportunities. In preparation for this, I encourage everyone to make genuine connections and find people who will champion you and support your endeavors. You don’t get what you don’t ask for, and I’ve been lucky enough to work at firms that value diversity and equality, in tandem with merit and enthusiasm.

What can today's women do to get a seat at the table? Here are my top tips, collected from advice I’ve received and personal lessons learned:

> Be your authentic self and take pride in what you do.

> Stop worrying if people like you. You should be asking yourself, “Do you like them?” This is especially true when you are looking for a new job; a strong culture fit and alignment of values are important considerations.

> If you want growth, don’t settle for the comfortable. Find your next challenge and be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

> Take the time to find out more about yourself—take a personality test to better

understand your communication and management styles, and weaknesses, and strengths. Once you understand more about yourself, you’ll have a better understanding of what responsibilities you want in the workplace and how those responsibilities support your career goals.

> Work should be fun. If it isn’t, you’re doing the wrong thing. My dad told me this—a lesson I have taken to heart.

For women to succeed today, I recommend speaking up, being confident and paying it forward. I believe paying it forward is the most important for empowering the next generation of women to get a seat at the

table and to feel inspired by and supported by today’s female leaders.

Too often you hear women complaining about senior female leaders at their firm suppressing junior colleagues, being reluctant to provide mentorship or not speaking up to champion a junior colleague’s success. Hearing these stories and seeing the discouragement it creates in these early-to mid-career women is disappointing.

Let’s all work better to support each other. n

` Grace Yu is Design Manager, Design Build, for Lendlease Americas.

For women to succeed today, I recommend speaking up, being confident and paying it forward. I believe paying it forward is the most important for empowering the next generation of women to get a seat at the table.

Believe in yourself

Why putting your best self forward matters

By Marie Paris

` It all happened by accident. I was in purchasing in fashion, but they needed someone to work in purchasing for lighting. I said I didn’t know anything about lighting, and they said they just needed somebody with purchasing experience. That's how this all started.

And what an industry it is. Take technology. There have been a number of increases in lighting integrated with technology and sanitization related to lighting, such as Biovitae. And when it comes to sustainability, lighting is huge. Everything relates to sustainability. The lighting industry has become much more human-centric as well, with focuses on healthcare, wellness, etc.

But I was never as proud to be in this industry than during the pandemic. Forced to do everything remotely—recreating everything from how we acted to how we communicated—our industry rose to the challenge. Instead of doing in-person training, we did training videos. Instead of lunch-n-learn presentations, we did zoom calls. We reinvented the way we did business to make it work.

While it was a big experiment that I don’t want to repeat again anytime soon, I learned a lot about flexibility and how to keep positive when everything around you wants you to react otherwise.

And what's not to be positive about when it comes to lighting. Lighting is physical. People want to see products. They want to see in real life the tangible effects it has on their experiences.

Every lighting designer I know is looking for people. There are not enough people to fill those jobs, so there's a big opportunity for people, especially women, if they want to work in this industry. In regards to women, there is no glass ceiling in lighting. You can do whatever you want. From my experience, you can go as far as you want to go. You can own your own firm, be a CEO of a company; there's no barrier to entry or success.

Making in this industry not only means believing in yourself, but showing your best self to everyone. The best advice I can share is to do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it. That goes a long way. It sounds simple, but it really is the truth. People will come back to you because they trust you. It is still a relationship-based industry, and those relationships are built on trust.

If you believe in yourself—if you have confidence in yourself—it will pay off. n

` Marie Paris is CEO of Targetti USA, which offers a wide range of products suitable for many different applications and are characterized by a high level of quality, design, functionality, performance and compliance with North American standards.

The best advice I can share is to do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it.

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Lighting Design: First Circle Design

Architect: Michael Hong Architects

Photos: © Limeleaf Studios

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Follow Your Dreams

Succeeding, thriving and surviving in today’s male-dominated industry

By Mimi Oliver

` People often refer to Jack DeBoer as the grandfather of the extended-stay hotel concept, but I am lucky enough to call him my mentor and family. My late grandfather was an inspiration for my current responsibilities at WaterWalk. Since joining the brand in 2016, I have led the creative and financial vision for the hotel.

As WaterWalk expands to double its portfolio in the next year, I am thrilled to bring my vision of affordable and comfortable housing to life and to continue the work of extended-stay hospitality in memory of my grandfather. WaterWalk allows people to live and stay within my dream of comfortable real estate opportunities, which I love.

Since starting with the WaterWalk team in 2016 to becoming CEO in 2018, I’ve been active in every facet of the business. Everything from market research and business analytics, real estate development, operations, sales and marketing, and franchise development has taught me to know the business inside and out.

Building WaterWalk has informed me about more than just the real estate and hospitality industries; I’ve learned to appreciate the unique abilities of my teams and to use their expertise to empower the

brand. WaterWalk recently unveiled the first property of its Gen 2.0 model, which contains upscale amenities and large living accommodations of many sizes.

It was a visionary concept of my late grandfather and it has been brought to life by the collective effort of the brand’s fantastic leadership team. Building a

business requires internal persistence, united coordination and a well-rounded understanding of the business that can only come from an insightful mentor or years of industry experience.

As a new mother, creating a culture of work-life balance has been a challenging but thrilling adventure. My son, Jack Oliver, empowers me to work towards a brighter future in the hospitality industry every day. My daily routine starts and ends with the people I love and is sandwiched with work that I enjoy.

While it is not always the most glamorous undertaking, motherhood has added a new perspective to my life. As I make decisions in the workplace, I think of the families who live and stay in WaterWalk’s hotels and inform our decisions. WaterWalk is a community for all and in building that community, I have come to appreciate the unique perspective families, and specifically mothers, bring to the table.

Whether that table is the kitchen table or the boardroom, I balance work and life every day; and I am overjoyed to see more female perspectives shared in all lifestyles and applications. n

` Mimi Oliver is CEO of WaterWalk, one of the country' most innovative flexible lodging brands. Mimi has received an array of honors and accolades for her work and contributions in the hospitality industry. She has been featured in Hotel Management Magazine’s "30 under 30: The Hotel Industry’s Top Rising Stars" issues, as well as their "Most Influential Women in Hospitality" edition. Under her leadership, WaterWalk was awarded “Best Places to Work in Wichita'' by Wichita Business Journal in 2022.

Whether that table is the kitchen table or the boardroom, I balance work and life every day; and I am overjoyed to see more female perspectives shared in all lifestyles and applications.

Hooked from the start

Why the construction world is perfect for me

By Jennifer Gee

My sister’s godmother was an architect in the US Army Corps of Engineers, so I always had some working knowledge of the engineering and construction worlds. It was during a college internship in the engineering department of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) that I received my first real opportunity to shadow a supervisor in the construction department.

Although most of the construction projects were being contracted out, I was able to get an overview of being on a construction site. I was hooked. I started seeing myself doing this for a living.

When I returned to school at the end of that summer, I enrolled in some additional construction-related courses at a junior college close to my university. I figured it would give me some additional skills I could utilize for my construction job search.

Being a woman in a male-dominated industry is the reality, but I have made my way by continuing to push past the stigmas and negative perception that these careers are not made for us. And yes, the past few years have been particularly difficult for women in the industry, with many having to leave the workforce due to the need to take on more of the family/caregiving responsibilities during the pandemic. The impact of this reduced the number of women in the workforce in general as well in our industry.

But we are slowly starting to recover. And if you want to know the truth, it is up to each of us to make sure that happens. You could become a mentor to other women entering the industry. By doing so, you can help raise awareness for the types of careers there are for us. We don’t need stereotypes; we need opportunities.

The opportunities for women are endless. Today, there are more women in senior leadership roles than ever before, as more and more companies look to diversify their teams. The careers are there if you

can push past your perception of who should fill them.

The current trends in commercial construction continue to show more diverse jobsites. That means the likelihood of women working on a project in various roles has increased, along with the diversity of these women—including those in leadership positions. I appreciate being able to encounter women in the construction industry who look like me or can speak to similar experiences or obstacles that I have had or may encounter.

The more experience you have in your career, including the bad ones, the better you will become at your craft. There is a quote from Mark Twain that states, “Good decisions come from experiences. Experience comes from making bad decisions.”

The best minds in this business gained their success by leveraging their knowledge to their advantage. You can only obtain that level of knowledge by stepping outside of your comfort zone and being in those unknown situations.

One of my mentors told me once that you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room to have a seat at the table and contribute to the success of a project. Your unique knowledge and experience can be used as an asset to the project and project team.

In this business, it takes a collaborative effort by all parties involved to succeed. n

` Jennifer Gee is Project Manager at McHugh Construction, a Chicago-based full-service construction firm in the US. The firm’s experience ranges from national landmark renovations to projects in the hospitality, office, retail, multifamily and education sectors.

Jennifer Gee

The opportunities for women are endless. Today, there are more women in senior leadership roles than ever before, as more and more companies look to diversify their teams.

Commercial Construction Data

Following is a brief report on new commercial construction projects. The information is presented as a service of Commercial Construction Data , a product of Commercial Construction & Renovation . For more information, visit www.cdcnews.com.

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This old boat W

hen we took our boat out of the water at the end of last year, we discovered that the original engine needed some TLC. It was 25 years old, so who knew how many hours it had left in it. A boat without an engine is just a piece of fiberglass. You know what boat stands for, “Bust Out Another Thousand.”

Sure, we could have sold it by unloading it on an unexpecting buyer, but that's not how we operate. And yes, we could have gone out and purchased a new or used boat for a boatload of money, no pun intended.

We ended up deciding to rebuild the engine with a local marine engine expert. Our third generation master automobile mechanic explained that if we wanted to rebuild a marine engine, his buddy was the go-to person.

These Master Mechanics are harder to find these days. They are masters of their

craft who have spent years learning through trial and error. They know what's needed to get the job done.

I am old school when it comes to cars, boats, motorcycles or anything that has age to it. I would rather bring something back to life than just buy new.

So we decided to yank the motor out. After some serious research, we found a new block that would fit on the 1998 365 Indmar Motor. Once we collected all the parts needed, the marine Master Mechanic went to work, eventually turning a rusty,

fatigued engine into a new thoroughbred with some serious horsepower. It sounds awesome. Turning the ignition key and hearing that rebuilt engine idle like it is brand new was worth the investment.

When my son, who is a maintenance specialist with Boeing working on the Boeing 787 airplane platform, found out what we were doing, he called it “Resto Mod,” which is taking an old vehicle, motorcycle or boat, and restoring it with some newer features—all the while keeping its historical or vintage look.

To give it that modern look, we also added a tower for skiing and wakeboarding, and cleaned up the boat by shampooing the carpet and interior. There also was some fiberglass touch up, followed by a serious wash with buffing, wax and new graphics. The boat looks like it just came off the showroom floor.

But the motor was the key item on the "to-do" list. Getting it fixed correctly by our Master Mechanic made all the difference. They just do not make them like him anymore. If you think modern mechanics are the best, I beg to differ. Give me an old school greaser with the hands of genius every time.

Just like old school construction professionals who built locations for a long time, they take their old school experience and apply it to the modern era by using new technology and equipment, etc. There is no replacing hands-on experience. Restoration is not cheap. But now our boat is worth so much more than when we purchased it— and will be turning heads all summer long on Lake Lanier.

We look forward to seeing many of you at our monthly networking receptions. Our next one is scheduled for June 6 in Atlanta, as the Braves take on the New York Mets.

As we enter into the second half of 2023 and Q3 & Q4, here's to prosperity, safe travels, good health. As always, Keep the Faith.

And as our rebuilt 365 Indmar Engine might say, “Vroom, Vroom.” CCR

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