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CONSTRUCTION
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The Industry’s Newspaper www.constructionnews.net
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Volume 18
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Number 11
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NOVEMBER 2015
Causes for rent
No need to niche
L-R: Jeff Wells, founder of Wish for Our Heroes, and Bill Lathrop Jr., president of B-C Equipment Sales, stand with the company’s latest cause machine. A percentage of the rental for this machine goes to Wish for Our Heroes to help active duty military members in need.
L-R: Shawn Kaarlsen, founding principal of SK&A, took on a partner two years ago, Fernando Garcia. Together, they keep the firm growing and running smoothly.
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eeling blessed and wanting to give back to the community, B-C Equipment Sales has been renting cause machines to raise money for three good causes. When those machines are rented from any of their locations, 10 percent of the rental for the month goes to the charity represented on the machine. The first machine, a Link-Belt 8030 Crane, was decked out in pink for breast cancer. Several people within the company have mothers or wives who battled breast cancer, and the names of their relatives are on the crane. Bill Lathrop Jr., president of B-C, and Cathy, his wife and vice president, have a daughter, Melanie Lathrop, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 39.
Today, she is cancer-free, and the cause remains close to the family. Now, the donations from that machine go to MD Anderson in Houston. The second machine, a Link-Belt 210 Excavator, is for childhood cancer, and they call it their “Gold Digger.” Donations from the rental of that machine go to Brooke’s Blossoming Hope. When B-C opened its San Antonio branch, Lathrop already knew he wanted to do the next cause machine for the military. Brooke Matherne, assistant to Damon Bean, branch manager for the San Antonio location, was working on finding the right charitable organization when continued on Page 24
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hen Shawn Kaarlsen started his own architecture firm in 2002, he knew he was taking a chance hanging his own shingle out there. Today, Shawn Kaarlsen & Associates (SK&A) has a client base that has been built up through word of mouth, repeat business and referrals. The first year was slow and tough. Beginning without any clients, Kaarlsen went out and hit the streets to find projects for his new enterprise. He worked out of a barn behind his house in Helotes for the first year-and-a-half. As it grew, the firm drew steady clients, Kaarlsen found good employees and the business found its own home on Bandera Road in Helotes. SK&A has 15
employees, and Kaarlsen estimates that 80 percent of SK&A’s business is from repeat clients. He says the firm has grown every year since it started. Finding the right people for his firm was one of the challenges Kaarlsen faced, but two years ago, he realized he had one that he wanted to make a partner. Fernando Garcia joined the firm eight years ago, and Kaarlsen explains that the firm has grown a lot because of his hard work and dedication. Doing a little bit of everything, Kaarlsen emphasizes that they make it a point not to have a niche. SK&A has done continued on Page 24
The first resident of the North Rim
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angchao isn’t just a restaurant serving Mandarin cuisine; it’s the cornerstone for what will be known as the North Rim, and Better Built Enterprises set it in place. It is the first of many new projects underway as a north addition to the Rim along the I-10 frontage road. With construction lasting nearly a year-and-a-half and completed this summer, building costs ran approximately $3.5 million on this project. Bob Rathburn, project manager, notes Wangchao is unusually large for a restaurant. The building is 11,000sf with a capacity of 422 people and sits on 2.5 acres, which includes 151 parking spaces. Getting started with the property was a bit of a challenge, since it seemed to have been setting a very long time and was a little bit low. The construction team built the property up 7 feet in its entirety. In order to accomplish this, they imported structural fill from other parts of the Rim
Better Built Enterprises recently finished the first business at the North Rim, Wangchao, a restaurant specializing in Mandarin cuisine.
that were being dug up for other projects, which seemed only fitting since it is a former quarry. Rathburn comments that Wangchao is a one-of-a-kind concept, but perhaps a prototype for more in the future. The restaurant was in design for about two years before construction began. Owner Agustin Zurita, Oriental Development, collaborated with the architect, Charles William Pope & Associates. Rathburn recalls that Zurita was very specific and very knowledgeable about what he wanted, which helped the design team translate his vision into reality. “He was able to combine a rustic and a slick modern approach to a number of things inside,” describes Rathburn. “It has some rustic ceilings, hand-applied plaster on the walls throughout the dining areas, creating sort of an antique effect.” In addition to its dining areas, the restaurant includes three separate continued on Page 24