Covering the Industry’s News
Texas Style
P.O. Box 791290 San Antonio, Texas 78279-1290
PRSRT. STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT #1451
Change Service Requested
San Antonio Dallas/Fort Worth Austin Houston South Texas
Dallas/Fort Worth
CONSTRUCTION
™
The Industry’s Newspaper www.constructionnews.net
H
(210) 308-5800
H
Volume 13
H
Number 4
H
APRIL 2015
High note
Taking it by storm
Melinda Wood Allen uses her voice in construction and music.
Gibbs, Augustus, Trotter and Brooks at the Hard Hat 2015 event.
M
elinda Wood Allen didn’t anticipate that she would find her voice in the construction indus-
try. “Not at all,” Melinda, president and CEO of Allen & Company Environmental Services, says, shaking her head. “The way I got my start in this business is working for my husband, Bob. Initially, I worked for him before we were dating; I was a schoolteacher and had summers free. He asked if I would work in the office over a summer doing sales cold calling and other work, and so I got to know a little bit about the business through that.” A couple of years and one wedding later, Melinda began helping more at the office and even worked on larger jobs when Bob was low on personnel.
“I came out and did the actual work with him; I was a lot younger then, and I felt pretty empowered actually!” Melinda remembers. “It got to the point where he was relying on my expertise more and more, and I realized I couldn’t teach school full-time and work this many hours for Bob. What I was hoping he was going to say was ‘Okay, you don’t have to work for the business anymore,’ but he was like, ‘Quit teaching!’ So I quit and worked for the business full-time.” Melinda went on to become an Air Systems Cleaning Specialist (ASCS), a Ventilation Systems Mold Remediator (VSMR), a licensed asbestos abatement contractor and licensed mold remediation contractor. She also testified before continued on Page 18
I
n 2012, many construction companies were tentatively feeling their way out of the recession, wondering what steps to take next or how much risk their companies could manage. Addison-based general contractor Alpha & Omega Professional Services Group LLC, on the other hand, had little choice but to hit the ground running. The young company had only a few years of residential projects and custom homes under its belt when an F4 tornado decimated the Texas town of Lancaster. Suddenly, president R. Lamar Brooks, and vice presidents Alfred Gibbs, Darrell Augustus and Estavion Trotter had more work than they’d ever dreamed of and were fulfilled knowing that their work was making a difference.
“During that time, we were so busy scheduling projects that we were actually putting people on hold,” Trotter remembers. “After we completed our first project, it sort of spoke for itself. Other people were coming to us, requesting that we look at their homes and determine what we might be able to do for them. We were able to be a part of some life-changing experiences as far as putting people’s homes back together, far greater than where we started.” It was this success, and the four men’s own strong bond (some of them have known each other for more than a decade) that provided the group the firm footing they needed to branch out into commercial construction. continued on Page 18
All in good health
W
hen general contractor Adolfson & Peterson Construction was contracted to build the three-story, 51,500-sf Park Hill Medical Office Building and Ambulatory Surgical Center in Fort Worth, they knew the deadline would be tight. From the moment of the April 2014 groundbreaking, the race was on to meet the project’s December completion date. Weather, unfortunately, doesn’t always appreciate the urgency of deadlines. Fortunately, the entire team – including developer LandPlan Development Corp. of Frisco, Ascension Group Architects in Arlington and the project’s many quality subcontractors – did. “Time is money to the owners and contractors; from the owner’s perspective, there’s loss of revenue when not receiving a return on their investment, and there’s also cash flow problems,” A&P project manager Michael Ortiz says.
“From a contractor’s perspective, we face big challenges when there’s inclement weather or weather delays – snow, rain or muddy days. However, A&P overcame these issues and challenges of the project and came in on time and within budget. It was built on an extremely fast-moving schedule, but across the Metroplex and especially in Fort Worth we would hear about how quickly Park Hill was going up, especially with the [weather] delays.” Ortiz gives special credit to the project’s subcontractors. “Our subcontractors are definitely one of the main reasons why we finished so strong,” he says. “We collaborated with the subcontractors daily. We brought them into our schedule sessions and got their input on the schedules – they actually buy in on the schedules so we hold them accountable and hold ourselves accountable to meet dates. Then, The deadline was tight to build the Park Hill Medical Office Building and Ambulatory Surgical Center.
continued on Page 18