San Antonio Construction News January 2017 by Construction News

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Volume 19

Number 1

JANUARY 2017

95 years young

Plumbing people

L-R: Andy Mitchell, Melvin Mitchell, Bill Mitchell, Erin Clementson and Lane Mitchell celebrate 95 years in business.

L-R: Tyler Smith and Greg Smith carry the family business that dates back to the 1940s.

t is hard to find something that is still around after 95 years, whether it be a business, a building or a person. However, G.W. Mitchell Construction gets to reflect on its success and its journey as it celebrated its 95th anniversary in December. Bill Mitchell has been with the company for 33 years and is proud to see the company remain in the family’s hands. “It’s really a big deal to able to continue a family business that started in 1921,” Bill said. “My grandfather started it and the second generation was my dad and his two brothers. My dad is still active in the company at 85 years old, and one of my uncles comes to the office everyday. He’s 91.”

Bill’s father, Melvin Mitchell, is the chairman of the board and graduated from MIT with his civil engineering degree. Bill received his education at Texas A&M in civil engineering and learned the ins and outs of the business with handson work as a teenager. “Definitely hands-on experience is helpful,” Bill says. “I started working in the construction business when I was 16 years old. I had done it all when I was a teenager and it made me really appreciate getting into the office because those guys work really hard.” Throughout his years in the company, Bill has seen big changes while some things have remained the same. continued on Page 24

he inside and outside of the E.L. Smith Plumbing building looks rustic and gives a feel of an older time. Fourth-generation plumber Tyler Smith is keeping the traditions alive and well along with his father, Greg Smith. Tyler Smith’s great-grandfather was a plumber in the 1920s and his grandfather opened up E.L. Smith in 1948. “My grandfather started the company and his dad helped him start it,” Smith said. “As a kid growing up, I was always around it and came down here for Christmas parties to hang out and see my dad. As a kid, my dad said ‘Get up. If you want extra money, you have to earn it.’ “Honestly, I want to keep it pretty much like it is. I want to carry it on but

change and tweak a few things here and there. Maybe the look of the building on the outside and some stuff on the trucks.” To be in business for almost 70 years, a company has to have a good foundation. “My grandpa and my dad employed people they knew for over 30 years,” Smith said. “We’ve been good at we do. We’re honest and we’re trustworthy. We give you the price of what it will cost to do the job and that’s it.” Tyler is a supervisor at the company and Greg Smith is the president and owner but is training Tyler to take over the business. E.L. Smith and its 12 employees does continued on Page 24

Wedding and event wonderland

n Tejas Rodeo Company’s plot of land in Bulverde, they have created a destination. Not only can you see a rodeo, visit the steakhouse and enjoy the weekend in a bunkhouse or casita, now you can have a business party or your big day with the addition of the Western Sky Wedding & Event Center. Tom Fore Restorations was the general contractor on the project, building the event center from the ground up. “We did all the dressing rooms, bathrooms, stage and show rooms,” Tom Fore said. “There’s a full-length porch on the front and back. It was all metal studs and we did the finish-out on that. It’s now all covered in rough cedar. That was a real job.” The 7,500-sf building was finished in July and is open for weddings and other events. The owners, Yancey James and Trey Martin built the building to match

the demand for an indoor venue. One of the many unique features of the building is the corrugated metal on sections of the interior and exterior. “It comes from the factory with a coating on it, and when you take it out, it immediately starts rusting,” Fore said. “So the whole outside of the building is corrugated, rusted metal. It’s supposed to look like that. We could leave sheets out and come back the next day, it’d be solid rust.” Fore, who is a one-man operation, subbed out multiple jobs for the woodwork, masonry and cement. Some of the subs include Billy Day, Joe Sosa, Vasquez Masonry, Steele Montague and Abel Garza. Not only was Fore working with his guys, but he was also working with other contractors on the HVAC side. Rather Western Sky Wedding and Event Center

continued on Page 24

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Gala greatness

he 16th annual Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala held Dec. 1 at the Freeman Expo Hall was the largest in the fundraiser’s history. With more than 1,200 tickets sold, silent and live auctions, and the biggest-to-date Texas –sized Grand Gala Raffle, the night was historic. Construct A Kid’s Christmas was able to present a check for $60,000 to help Bexar County foster children have a merrier Christmas this year. After 17 years of fundraising and collecting toys, the cumulative total donated by Construct A Kid’s Christmas since the gala and toy drive began is an incred-

ible $640,381 in cash and gift certificates and an awe-inspiring 23,311 toys and gifts. This year’s gala featured live music by Texas Unlimited Band, a catered dinner and a plethora of deserts by Heavenly Gourmet and casino games. Silent auction items ranged from BBQ supplies to an autographed helmet of Houston Oilers great Earl Campbell. The grand raffle was won by attorney Elizabeth Connally, who was shocked and amazed at the amount of prizes that were delivered to her home. –cs (photos by Mary C. Haskin Photography)

continued on Page 19

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

A lot to smile about

L-R: Elizabeth Connally, Connally Law PLLC, and her husband, Dwaine, were the winners of the Texas–sized grand gala raffle at Construct A Kid’s Christmas Dec. 2. The Connally’s took home four hunting and fishing trips; five “getaway” trips to different destinations; a package called “Camo and More” that included a kamado-style grill, a Ruger Rifle Predator 308, a BBQ pit, $600 Bass Pro gift certificate, Spurs diamond necklace and custom fishing rods with reels; and finally, in the “Big Kid’s Toys, an E-Z-Go EXPRESS L6 Utility Vehicle, a DJI Phantom 4 Quadcopter Drone with camera, a custom-made fire pit, Best Buy $800 gift certificate and an Aquaglide Malibu Lounge. –cs

Funny sights

he Construct A Kids Gala not only provides Bexar County foster children with a merry Christmas, it also provides guests to the annual gala some humorous moments. Here’s a small selection of holiday merriment for our readers. Enjoy! –cw (photos by Mary C. Haskin photography)

Pat Freund puts his dancing shoes on, while wife, Amy, goes for the more comfy barefoot look.

Mary Haskin and a gala guest demonstrate the CAKC version of the Tarantella.

Tell me again how this thing works???

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Dedication to service

ervice is a term Ray Mendez knows well, whether it be with his time in the Navy or in his company, Mendez Engineering. “When the market was really down, I decided if I was ever going to go off on my own, this would be the best opportunity,” Mendez said. “I actually got laid off at my position. It just made more sense for me than to go to another firm.” Mendez still serves in the Navy reserves as an engineer while running his company. “Everything we’ve done since then is with the L-R: LT Ray Mendez and his brother, SGT Anthony Mendez, CEC’s, which is a compostationed in Balad, Iraq in 2010. nent of the civil engineer corps,” Mendez said. “We do construction and design work for the Navy as a contingency engineer. “Originally, the CEC’s were created during World War II to build runways and stuff off the island. We’ve continued to do the same thing. In Iraq, we did IED repairs on the road, repair runways and build facilities for the troops, which included setting up new camps from scratch.” Mendez Engineering has six employees. Its services include street design, parking lot layouts, construction-phase service and more. “We do site development, drain engineering and utility design,” Mendez said. “We do it in pretty much Central Texas.” Ray Mendez, Mendez Engineering Mendez received his education at the University of New Mexico, but his and high standard,” he says. “When practices come from his time in the mili- you’re in the military and you’re tasked with something, you don’t give up on it tary. “Since day one, I’ve made sure that until you do it and do it right. If you don’t we’ve done everything at a high quality do it right, you do it again.” –cs

Hitting its stride

Roxanne and Adan Silva are gearing up to build their business.

ust three years in business, ARIVA Contracting LLC is figuring out what is going to make it successful going forward. Adan Silva is going into his fourth year at the head of ARIVA after nine years of working in the construction business and 11 years active duty in the Navy. “I’m real familiar with the start up of a small company,” Silva said. “I’ve worked for small companies in the past so it was a matter of getting all of our ducks in a row. “Through both our networking experiences and selling business for other companies, we had the resources for how to reach out and what to do for certifications and to talk to buyers.” Silva’s wife, Roxanne, has recently gotten into the business full time on the administrative side, but was along for the ride of growing the business. “You have to be thick skinned, and specifically in the construction field,” Roxanne said. “I think that the hardest part is being supportive. Everyday is dif-

ferent and you never know what to expect. When you’re working for yourself, all those challenges and problems come down on you.” A majority of the business is commercial interior finishes, but ARIVA has many other services in its repertoire, including general contracting. “I’m focusing primarily on schools, hospitals, government work,” Silva said. “Our target is strictly federal work. We do more retrofits and renovations. That’s about 80 percent of our business right now.” Silva realized he wanted to do commercial work during his time in the Navy when he worked in Washington D.C. with the Department of Defense. “It’s what gave me the motivation to learn and do business with the government,” Silva said. “It’s more of a business. When you’re working at that level, you can see the country being ran by these guys and it’s like running a business.” –cs

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Industrial innovation wanted

Peter John Holt and Corinna Holt Richter

ith a heritage of innovation, the Holt family has announced the formation of HOLT Ventures, an investment arm within HOLT CAT®, which will invest in people and companies focused on new technologies and solving challenges in the industrial and manufacturing industries. “We are looking for people to bring an innovative mindset to heavy industry,” says Adam Bridgman, director of HOLT Ventures. Companies from around the world entered the pitch competition. Fifteen finalists were selected and each will have the opportunity to present their idea on Mar. 14 at SXSW in Austin this spring. “We are leveraging SXSW since its such a big event and has a global reach,” Bridgman says. Partners in the new organization include Caterpillar Ventures, Cottonwood Technology Fund and Brick & Mortar Ventures – all with a global reach and all interested in finding and investing in new technologies. HOLT Ventures aims to provide funding, along with real world mentorship and guidance. The organization is committed to helping companies fast-track growth and commercialize big ideas through access to the internal workings of the largest Caterpillar® dealership in the nation and a deep-seated advisory committee that includes mentors from across the company. “The Holt family’s great success in the commercial dealership arena over the past 40 years is partially due to the company’s values-based leadership platform,” said Charlie Strickland, HOLT Ventures

San Antonio

Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) San Antonio Chapter broke ground Nov. 30 on its new 11,000-sf building at 5511 Ingram Road. The building will feature six classrooms with up-to-date technology and a new lab for training. L-R: Mike Varnum, Good Electric, IEC San Antonio president; Billy Ross Hill, Hill Electric, IEC San Antonio secretary; John Verhelst, VA Electrical Contractors, IEC San Antonio treasurer; Raul Vasquez, IEC San Antonio training director; Julie Howard, IEC San Antonio executive director; Joey Howard, IEC San Antonio apprenticeship coordinator; Doug Burg, IES Commercial, IEC San Antonio A&T committee member; Tommy Monaco, Circle Electric, IEC San Antonio representative; Scott Smith, Dealers Electric Supply, IEC San Antonio associate member representative –cs Adam Bridgman

managing director. “As a capital partner and advisor, HOLT Ventures is furthering the Holt family’s legacy of fostering innovation by helping emerging companies and entrepreneurs in our industry.” The competition is divided into three separate one-hour sessions, in which the winners will be awarded a cash prize and/or potential strategic partnership opportunity. There is a total cash payout of $50,000 across all three categories. “As we enter a new phase in industrialization, HOLT Ventures will focus on solutions that drive efficiencies across our business and the services we provide,” said Peter John Holt, HOLT CAT executive vice president and general manager. “Companies that have a strong vision in developing efficient, innovative solutions, from process improvement to smart technologies, are what we are looking for.” Find out more at holtventures.com/ sxsw –cw

San Antonio Editor: Mary Hazlett — SAeditor@ConstructionNews.net — 210-308-5800

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

We had a great life growing up, partly in McQueeney with horses and motorcycles. My big brother, Robert, who now has a landscaping business in Port Aransas, was very into motocross so we raced all over Texas virtually every weekend. Dad was the pit doctor. I used to ride my own little Suzuki with my dog following. Mom and Dad gave us a great sense of freedom and responsibility.

Nicola Vigini and Leslie Morrison, Co-founders Vigini Paint & Design

icola Vigini and Leslie Morrison have spent much of their lives traveling the world stage and honing their skills and crafts in a variety of artistic methods. Leslie was born and raised in San Antonio, Nicola in Rome and they met in Florida. Together, the partners have spent the last 18 years delighting customers in Texas and elsewhere, as well as sharing their combined talents and knowledge through teaching. Nicola’s work appears in the famed San Antonio Missions and magazines, including Veranda, and he has been featured on the Discovery Channel, in Institute of Texan Cultures, Palazzo Moroni, Bergamo, Italy and Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, The Netherlands. Nicola and his plaster work were included in the 2014 Oscar nominated short documentary “Tim’s Vermeer.” He is also the author of the forward to The Handbook of Painted Decoration by Yannick Guegan and Roger Le Puil. Leslie worked at Marcoz Antiques and the French Library in Boston before moving to The Hague, Brussels and Manchester, U.K. where she practiced and instructed the craft of decorative and faux finishes. Upon returning to her native Texas in 1995, Leslie worked in a decorative painting studio in Houston and three years later began Vigini Studios Inc. (school) and Vigini Paint and Decorating, Inc. (contracting) with partner Nicola. Tell me about your upbringing. Nicola: I was born and raised in Rome. My father, Lino Vigini, was an architect and my mother, Piccarda, was a librarian and also had a Ph.D. in Art-History. I was an only child and my parents were extremely supportive of me. Both of them were very artistic. I grew up around museums and art and I helped my father design. They were very present in my life – I remember a house of discussion and culture. I started painting as a child. I wanted to be an artist, but I also wanted to make a living! Leslie: My father, James Burke Morrison, was from Center, deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas. With a lot of hard work, he became a well-known internist in San Antonio, starting at the Nix downtown then eventually starting his own practice at the Medical Center. He built an incredible business and was the go-to internist in San Antonio. He taught me a love for Texas, hunting and the country, but also culture and languages by sending me to Europe at a young age. He also taught me to be politically incorrect and proud of it. My mother, Jane “Sis” was an RN from the Valley. They met in Galveston while he was in medical school and she was in nurses training. She’s 88 and still very sharp! Dad passed away three years ago. My mom is an extremely strong person: She was a two-times world champion skeet shooter and we grew up with a skeet range (and house) designed by O’Neil Ford on our property in McQueeney.

It sounds like you have both had very interesting young lives. Tell me what happened next. Nicola: I graduated from the Liceo Artistico in Rome and went to Paris to the Institut Superieur de Peinture Decorative (IPEDEC), a painting school run by craftsmen who specialized in certain painting techniques. Typically, a young craftsman coming out of the school worked for a large company as an apprentice, which I did in Assisi and the Umbria region. Leslie: I graduated from Alamo Heights High School in 1982. I went to college in Boston at Pine Manor and received a double major in French, and Art History with an emphasis on textiles. My sophomore year, I completed an internship at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. I assisted in the Monday cleaning of the collection (three floors) and helped with the textile department cataloguing tapestries. I knew however, that restoration was not where I was going to specialize. I’ve always been a voracious consumer of culture, languages and art, but I wasn’t sure which one I wanted to pursue. My junior year was spent in Tours and in Paris, attending the Ecole de Louvre and L’Institute Catholique, becoming fluent in French, followed by a summer in Greece studying the Greek language and archaeology at Deree College in Athens. After graduation, I attended the two-year Cooper Hewitt Masters Decorative Arts Program in Manhattan, accredited through Parsons School of Design, followed by another summer in Paris studying modern architecture and decorative arts. Many of my classes were at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. That’s where I met one of the most influential people in my life: Ina Marx. She is a decorative painter/restorer and she became a mentor. In one of our evening classes at the Met, Ina taught a gilding class. At that point, I began taking her faux finishing workshops in Long Island. The rest is history. What happened next? Nicola: In 1986, I moved from Paris to Seattle. I started working for a company called Faux Effects International based in Vero Beach, FL as a distributor. Because of my experience and specialty training, I was invited to come to their headquarters and to other distributor studios around the country to teach workshops. I met Leslie in a five-day Marble workshop in Vero. I then began teaching at the studio where she was working in Houston. Leslie: My first husband and I were transferred to Holland from Boston. A year later, we were transferred to Brussels and I was accepted to the Van Der Kelen, the oldest school for decorative painting. Shortly thereafter, I found out I was pregnant with my son, Stefan. I knew I couldn’t be around all those chemicals so I grudgingly had to decline. After returning to the States and settling in Houston, I began working for a Faux Effects distributor. In 1996, I went to Vero Beach to take Nicola’s workshop. It was providence that I found an American water based system after dealing with the toxic oils in Europe. One that acted exactly like an oil, with all the benefits of being water based. Nicola, did you follow Leslie back to Texas? Nicola: Yes, I did. There were only a

Partners Nicola Vigini and Leslie Morrison bring their many painting and decorative skills to the table for projects. (Photo by Lilianna Story)

few people in the U.S. who were teaching what I was able to teach at that point and I had garnered a nationwide reputation, so I was able to move to San Antonio in 1998. San Antonio felt as close to Rome as I was going to get in the U.S. It is a colorful and vibrant city. Is that when the two of you started the business? Nicola: Yes, we started Vigini Studios and we were mostly teaching these skills: mural, different levels of faux finishing, furniture and cabinetry, gilding and refined finishes and many other types of workshops while completing more and more projects. When did the company become Vigini Paint & Design? Leslie: We rebranded during the recession in 2008. Physically, mentally and financially we needed to change things up. We were spending a lot of time on things that weren’t providing a satisfactory return. Nicola: By 2008, there were a lot of people out there doing the same workshops and teaching, but most of our competitors had gone out of business. Leslie: Actually, the recession was a blessing. We looked at what we had and we slimmed down to the basics of what was necessary. We became more focused on our creativity and doing the things we enjoyed doing and that were financially beneficial, not draining. Nicola: When we were teaching, we could not even take a sick day. Students flew in from everywhere and we couldn’t cancel a class due to illness – or really anything. We also organized trips to Italy and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico with other famed instructors where students focused on many aspects of decorative painting, including mural, grottesca, trompe l’oeil, fresco, and marble. Vigini Studios hosted the Salon, the International Conference of Decorative Painters, a gathering of international artists in 2002 where artists from 14 different countries exhibited their work and gave lectures and demonstrations. Tell me a little bit about your son, Stefan. Leslie: He is 23 and doing his part to keep Austin weird! He’s a Civil War buff, a walking history book. He’s incredibly good with languages. He is a wonderful young man. Nicola: He loves music and is helping his father, who ironically runs several Pinot’s Palettes in Houston.

Bring us up to date – what’s happening now? Leslie: What I love right now is the repurposing and growth of San Antonio. I’ve always called San Antonio home. It’s experiencing incredible growth and I feel so blessed to be part of it in any way. I work occasionally down at the Pearl, at The Tiny Finch, where I meet tons of artists, designers and people from all over the world. There, I get to see what is happening in the design industry which directly relates to and inspires my creativity and our business. Just keeping it fresh. I am also busy selling our stencil line and launching new designs all the time. They can be seen on our website. We are also working on our giclee (pre-printed murals) line which I hope to launch by this summer. We have already had a soft sell and several shops are carrying them. Nicola: We are launching a new alternative to paint and plaster we call DaVinci Stone. It’s more affordable and is much quicker to apply. This application eliminates one step of the process and has the same, if not more, sophisticated look. It is important to project that we are not only designers and decorative artists, but also contractors and work directly with builders and homeowners to enhance walls at any level, whether texturing, plastering, or patterning. We are experts in everything from ceiling to walls to floors, including painting concrete and faux Redondo tiles, and we’ve been doing specialized cabinetry and wood finishing for some time. Leslie: Any surface can be painted. We enjoy using water-based mediums so as not to interfere with our client and our health. I very much enjoy working with gilding, furniture and cabinetry as well as troweling different types of plasters. Nicola: We are happy to work with builders to price an affordable package for their new builds. Who would you buy a beer for? Nicola and Leslie: Delacroix and Baudelaire. Delacroix was an artist and Baudelaire was a poet and art critic. Baudelaire started the Salon of 1845. They were interested in art that caused jaws to drop in those times. They enjoyed pushing the envelope. Leslie: Or Jimmy Buffet. –cw

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Certified cool

Monica Harris owns Accu-Air Mechanical LLC, which specializes in commercial HVAC services.

ack in 2005, Monica Harris moved from the sidelines to the forefront when she started Accu-Air Mechanical LLC. Her husband owned a HVAC company in Alabama, but when they moved to San Antonio, they decided to start another business but with Monica at the helm. Accu-Air does a variety of commercial work, including HVAC service and maintenance, boilers and refrigeration and cooling towers. “We just started doing plumbing this year, but on the HVAC side, the bulk of our business is on the service side,” Harris said. “We have a construction side, as well. “We try to take on one or two construction jobs a year. We try to keep it at a minimum … just quick, fast jobs. New construction can go a year or two.” Accu-Air started doing commercial work because of all the opportunities and frequency of work.

“I like the commercial because it’s year round,” Harris said. “The residential side is kind of seasonal. It’s either really hot or cold in San Antonio and in those in between times, people turn off their air and open their windows. Calls come in at the end of the day when people get home, and on the commercial side, calls come in all day because they need to maintain the temperature of their businesses.” Harris and her 28 employees work with the city of San Antonio, the airport and school contracts around the area. Recently, Accu-Air was SBA Certified 8(a). “I’m trying to get between a $5-10 million company,” Harris said. “That’s my goal. We’re pretty much at $3 million right now. “The SBA Certification allows the government to sole-source jobs to you directly so you don’t have to bid against anyone and they can give you one single project up to a million dollars.” –cs

Marking a milestone

CBS Rental & Supply headquarters in Houston.

hen Jimmy Lanphier co-founded CBS Rental & Supply (formerly Contractors Building Supply & Equipment Company) in Corpus Christi in 1965, he probably didn’t anticipate a 50-year success story. Even though he had already had success with his venture Lanphier Construction Company, one of South Texas’ largest general contractors at the time, that kind of longevity in construction can be difficult to fathom. Buddy Herin saw the company’s long-term potential and purchased CBS in 1979, adding the equipment rental side as well as a San Antonio, Tyler and Longview and Houston offices. Last year, Jason Herin, who is Lanphier’s grandson and Buddy’s son, became the proud owner of CBS, and has added six locations since the purchase. CBS honored its rich history and expansion with a milestone occasion. “We’re celebrating our 50th anniversary with the groundbreaking of our largest facility in the location where we started, Corpus Christi,” Herin says. “We’re re-

ally happy and excited about tit in terms of what we do for our customers and having our employees to share this with.” The new facility is the perfect tribute to the company’s half-century of success in the industry. Located at 7219 IH-37, the six-acre landmark location is designed with the customer in mind.” “We want to give our customers a fantastic experience,” Herin says. “We really put a lot of thought into how our customers pick out material and how we deliver, the flow through the showroom, what kind of experience they’re going to receive and how the warehouse ought to be optimized. We want it to be a technologically-advanced facility in terms of our check-out process and how we speed up the process between the time the customer walks in the door and the time they’re back at their trucks.” The store will be the latest in CBS’ lineup, which include Arlington, Austin, Conroe, Houston, Longview, San Antonio and Tyler, as well as three Florida stores. –mjm

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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In the spirit

Just stopping by

B Howell Crane and Rigging employees pose for a photo at its office at 134 FM 1516 N in Converse. Howell has been in business since 1977. –cs

arker Structural’s San Antonio and Las Vegas offices got into the holiday spirit with friends, food and fun. The San Antonio office celebrated Dec. 7 at the Iron Cactus on the Riverwalk.

Barker Structural of San Antonio was formed in 2010 and provides structural engineering and building design services for new and existing buildings of all sizes. –cw

Construction News ON LOCATION

Holiday supply

San Antonio Masonry and Tool spread some holiday cheer at its location at 7480 FM 1560 North in San Antonio. –cs

On the hunt for good times

On the hunt were Christine’s Group: Kevin DeAnda, Cara DeAnda, Anita Garcia, Christine Suniga, Ron Bennett

alaxy Builders team members took their annual day to celebrate their combined hard work, dedication and workand life-bonds on Nov. 11. This year, they had an additional reason to celebrate – being named for the first time to the San Antonio Express News Top Workplaces award. Janice Degollado and Tabatha Erdely planned a fun filled day in downtown Anita Foote getting a piggie back ride from a stranger. San Antonio. The entire office met early in the morning and took a bus down to the AMC Downtown Theatre, where they watched Inferno. Following the movie, everyone strolled down to Iron Cactus, where they enjoyed a sizzling fajita buffet and happy hour. Once lunch was over, the office was split into teams for a scavenger hunt throughout the River Walk. The day was spent laughing, bonding and making great memories among this strong and Sam Beierle, Jancie Degollado tight-knit team. –cw and Tabatha Erdely

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Speeding and tailgating!

Plenty of people came to work the tables at the Speed Networking event.

merican Subcontractors Association (ASA) San Antonio Chapter has been busy the last few months with a Speed Networking event Nov. 1 at Old San Francisco Steakhouse and its annual Tailgate event in October. Eighteen

subcontractors and 15 general contractors signed up to attend the first event and a huge outpouring of support led to an incredible $10,000 raised at the Tailgate for the ASA Scholarship Fund. No tickets were issued! –cw

The ASA Scholarship Fund will benefit from a successful Tailgate event.

What is your most useful tool? There’s no question that it’s our people. That is really what makes the business. I’m honored to have my name on the door but my people are the ones that make it happen. Bill Mitchell, G.W. Mitchell People. That’s the best answer I can come up. Without the right representatives for you company, you don’t get anything done. You don’t make a sale and you can’t help a customer. Adan Silva ARIVA Contracting LLC My calculator. I use it for everything. I have the same calculator I used in college. Ray Mendez Mendez Engineering That’s a great question. Our most important tool is our people. That’s the best answer I can come up with. Without the write representatives for your company, nothing gets done. You don’t get a sale, you don’t help a customer and you don’t get a referral. Martin Bomba Brickstone-Window World A shovel for all the BS people give for being late. Mark Garcia, GFP Group, LLC Our most important tool is our people. Having a value-driven company insures every decision we make it in the best interest of our customers. Rick Reeder Wolfpack Roofing and Construction I wouldn’t be able to do my job if it wasn’t for my computer and the editors that

write the articles for the paper. So, I would have to say that. Sue Johnson, Construction News Patience. I need it when working with clients and potential new clients on the phone. John Miller Virtual Builders Exchange

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Seasonal salutations

Rocky Hill Equipment Rentals and JCH Construction wish a happy and prosperous New Year to all. –cw

Past issues of Construction News can be downloaded at www.ConstructionNews.net

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Election raises questions of future policies

New construction or remodeling: sales tax consequences

James Christ, Rodney Christ and Terrell Taylor Christ Taylor Insurance Houston, TX

Jon Wellington, Director of State and Local Taxes Lane Gorman Trubitt PLLC Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

ike many other states, Texas has unique rules for imposing sales tax on the construction industry. In addition to imposing sales tax on the sale of materials, Texas also imposes sales tax on certain services. A variety of factors impact the taxability of the sale of various materials and services, including the type of contract (separated versus lump-sum), whether the work is performed on residential versus commercial property, and whether the property is tangible or real property. Another factor to consider is also whether or not the project involves “new construction.” Determining whether a project involves new construction is important because Texas imposes sales tax on the repair, restoration, remodeling, or modification of nonresidential real property. Such services are not taxable, however, if performed as part of new construction (or if performed on residential property) and if the charges are separately stated to your customer. Making the distinction between new construction and real property repair or remodeling can often be more difficult than it first appears. Consider a scenario where a contractor is hired to finish out the shell of a building that has been gutted. The natural instinct may be to view such work as new construction, and therefore the labor charges would be exempt from sales tax. Unfortunately, the Texas Tax Code views such work as taxable real property repair or remodeling. Before engaging in a construction project, it is vitally important for a contractor to determine whether the work performed is new construction for sales tax purposes so that it can be properly bid for the project and fulfill the sales tax compliance responsibilities. Under the Texas Tax Code, new construction means “all new improvements to real property, including initial finish-out work to the interior or exterior of the improvement.” New improvements to real property that include finish-out work to the building’s interior or exterior before the initial occupancy are considered nontaxable new construction. New construction also includes addition of new usable square footage. For example, adding a new dining area to an existing restaurant or building a ramp for handicap access would be new construction. Adding a new roof, however, would likely not be considered new construction because even if it adds square footage it is not “usable.”

On the other hand, as mentioned above, the finish out of a previouslyexisting structure that has been gutted would not be considered initial finish-out work, and would not be new construction. If there is an existing improvement to real property, only its complete demolition would allow for new construction to occur where the improvement once existed. Lastly, it is important to note that the new construction exemption only applies if labor charges are separately stated from charges for materials. Using a “separated services” contract instead of a “lump-sum” contract is the only way for the labor charges to be exempt from sales tax. Simply having a breakdown between labor and materials on change orders or your invoices will not be sufficient to support a finding that the new construction labor should be exempt. Further, a contract that involves both remodeling and new construction will be fully taxable unless the charge for new construction labor is separately stated from charges for remodeling labor. Jon Wellington has more than 19 years working as a licensed attorney, having worked for big four accounting firms, including PWC and E&Y, along with law firms, including Baker Botts. He is responsible for state and local tax matters including audit defense, income and franchise tax planning, sales and use tax consulting, and nexus reviews. Jon has extensive experience helping clients in the construction industry. A full biography is available at www.lgt-cpa.com. LGT is one of the largest professional accounting and advisory firms in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Finding assurance and tax solutions for construction contractors and adjacent industries has been a cornerstone throughout LGT’s 65year history.

fter hard-fought campaigns by both candidates, Republican candidate Donald Trump has been elected the 45th president of the L-R: James Christ, Rodney Christ, Terrell Taylor United States. Trump’s victory in the election, along with Republican majorities retained in both the Senate and House of Representatives, will likely have a significant impact on a number of compliance issues over the next four years. During his campaign, Trump called for a repeal of President Barack Obama’s hallmark health care reform legislation, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In addition, Trump’s victory raises uncertainty over the future of other policies enacted under President Obama, including the new overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Action steps President-elect Donald Trump will not take office until he is inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017. This means that, despite the coming change in power, there will likely be no significant legislative or regulatory changes prior to 2017. As a result, employers should continue to prepare for upcoming requirements and deadlines to ensure full compliance. The future of the Affordable Care Act Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump ran on a platform of repealing and replacing the ACA. In addition, since its enactment, Republicans in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have virtually all opposed the ACA, calling for its repeal. Due to the sweeping Republican victories seen in this election, it is likely that some changes will be made to the ACA over the next four years. While it is largely unclear, at this time, what those changes will look like, Republicans in the past have suggested the following: Full repeal of the ACA, with or without a potential replacement health care reform legislation; partial repeal of key provisions (such as the individual and employer mandates), while retaining some less controversial provisions; changes to the Medicare and Medicaid programs; and implementing new policies intended to expand coverage and lower health care costs. There will likely be no significant legislative or regulatory changes to the ACA before early January. Due to the additional uncertainty for employers, with compliance obligations hinging on the political process, employers may want to hold off on making any large-

scale changes related to their employerprovided health care. Regardless of any future changes that may be made, employers that provide group health coverage for their employees must prepare for upcoming ACA deadlines. These may include: Employer Shared Responsibility Rules: The ACA requires applicable large employers (ALEs) to offer affordable, minimum value health coverage to their full-time employees (and dependent children). Penalties can apply for each month in which an ALE does not offer this required coverage. Employer Reporting of Coverage: Employers must also report information under Sections 6055 and 6056 to the IRS and to certain individuals about the coverage they offer or provide during the year. Returns and statements for each calendar year are due at the beginning of the following year. Changes to ACA Limits for 2017: Several dollar limits are adjusted each year, and employer-sponsored plans should be updated to reflect those adjusted limits. For example, the out-ofpocket maximum increased to $7,150 for self-only coverage and $14,300 for family coverage for the 2017 plan year. Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC): Health plans and issuers must provide an SBC to participants and beneficiaries that includes information about health plan benefits and coverage in plain language. The Departments issued a new SBC template and related materials to be used for health plans with open enrollment periods or plan years beginning on or after April 1, 2017. Christ Taylor Insurance is an employee benefits and insurance brokerage firm doing business for over 50 years in southeast Texas, and long-time ABC member. The firm provides solutions to small and medium size companies in the areas of healthcare and other benefit programs, as well as life insurance and retirement plans. Contact the Christ Taylor team at 713-850-7747 or www.christtaylor. com

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Compliance with the DavisBacon Act: Not just prime contractor’s responsibility Elizabeth H. Connally Connally Law PLLC San Antonio, TX

ou may think paperwork about payrolls is the general or prime contractor’s problem and that subcontractors just need to perform the work. If the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) applies to the project, the work, regardless of who is performing it, is not done until the paperwork is complete. The DBA, 40 U.S.C. § 3142, was enacted in 1931 to provide local laborers and contractors a fair opportunity to participate in federally-funded construction projects and to protect local wage standards by preventing contractors from basing their bids on wages lower than those prevailing in the particular geographic area of the project. Simply put, the DBA, sometimes called the prevailing wage law, requires that contractors engaged in work on federal, state or other governmental projects in excess of $2,000 pay all mechanics and laborers not less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits. Contractors subject to the DBA must prepare certified payroll reports. In addition, Texas has similar requirements that apply to public projects. Section 2258 Subchapter B of the Texas Government Code also requires a contractor (general or prime) or subcontractor that is awarded a contract to perform work on a public project to pay the workers not less than the prevailing wage rate for the work performed in the same locality. The prevailing wage is determined by using a survey of wages paid to classes of workers employed on projects of similar character to the contract work where the project is located (Section 2258.022 Texas Government Code). Penalty for Non-Compliance Section 2258.023 of the Texas Government Code also imposes a hefty penalty for non-compliance. The government entity that issued the prime contract may penalize the contractor or subcontractor $60 for each worker employed for each calendar day or part of the day that the worker is paid less than the required prevailing wage rate. In addition, the Department of Labor (DOL) may also conduct its own investigation to ensure compliance with the DBA, which includes inspections of employment records and confidential employee interviews. If the DOL determines there is a violation of the DBA, it may take action against the contractor, including assessment of penalties and payment of backwages. In addition, the contracting agency may suspend payments to the contractor until the violations are corrected or withhold funds to compensate employees for unpaid wages as well as assess liquidated damages. The contractor may also face criminal liability if it is determined the DBA violations were willful (29 C.F.R. 5.10). In addition, where the DOL finds a contractor violated its obligation to employees or willfully violated the DBA, a contractor may face contract termination or debarment from future contracts covered by the DBA for up to three years (29 C.F.R. 5.12). It is important to recognize that prime contractors may suffer these punishments based on the sins of their subcontractors. Therefore, ensuring a subcontractor’s compliance with the DBA is just as important as ensuring compliance of your subcontractor’s electrical or plumbing work with the building codes.

Record Keeping Requirement All contractors, regardless of tier, must comply with specific DBA record keeping requirements. During the course of the contract, contractors must maintain records on each worker which includes the following: name, address, social security number, worker classification, hourly rates of wages paid and fringe benefits paid, daily and weekly number of hours worked, deductions made, actual wages paid, information regarding other various fringe benefit programs and if applicable, detailed information about apprenticeship programs. Texas also requires contractors and subcontractors to maintain such records (Section 2258.024 of the Texas Government Code). In addition, the Fair Labor Standards Act requires an employer to keep exact records of all time worked, all wages paid and all wage deductions. Bottom line Prime contractors and subcontractors on public projects are both obligated to pay their workers the required prevailing wages and fringe benefits for the proper class of work performed and maintain proper payroll records for each worker. Failure to comply subjects both prime and subcontractors to significant consequences. Elizabeth Connally is the managing shareholder of Connally Law PLLC, San Antonio. Connally is licensed to practice law in OH, DC, HI and TX and is a former warranted contracting officer for the U.S. Dept. of State (DOS), where she handled contracts for the DOS’ largest procurement office in Frankfurt, Germany. Her email is ehconnally@eclegal.biz.

OSHA updates fall protection in general industry Joann Natarajan Compliance Assistance Specialist OSHA Austin, TX

alls from heights and on a working surface are among the leading causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths. OSHA’s final rule on Walking-Working Surfaces and Personal Fall Protection Systems better protects workers in general industry from these hazards by updating and clarifying standards and adding training and inspection requirements. The final rule replaces the outdated general industry scaffold standards with a requirement that employers comply with OSHA’s construction scaffold standards. The rule phases out a 1993 exception for the outdoor advertising industry that allows “qualified climbers” to forego fall protection. The rule requires employers to protect workers from fall hazards along unprotected sides or edges that are at least 4 feet above a lower level. It also sets requirements for fall protection in specific situations, such as hoist areas, runways, areas above dangerous equipment, wall openings, repair pits, stairways, scaffolds, and slaughtering platforms. And it establishes requirements for the performance, inspection, use, and maintenance of personal fall protection systems. OSHA defines fall protection as “any equipment, device, or system that prevents a worker from falling from an elevation or mitigates the effect of such a fall.” Under the final rule, employers may choose from the following fall protection options: • Guardrail System – A barrier erected along an unprotected or exposed side, edge, or other area of a walking-working surface to prevent workers from falling to a lower level. • Safety Net System – A horizontal or semi-horizontal, cantilever-style barrier that uses a netting system to stop falling workers before they make contact with a lower level or obstruction. • Personal Fall Arrest System – A system that arrests/stops a fall before the worker contacts a lower level. Consists of a body

harness, anchorage, and connector, and may include a lanyard, deceleration device, lifeline, or a suitable combination. Like OSHA’s construction standards, the final rule prohibits the use of body belts as part of a personal fall arrest system. • Positioning System – A system of equipment and connectors that, when used with a body harness or body belt, allows a worker to be supported on an elevated vertical surface, such as a wall or window sill, and work with both hands free. • Travel Restraint System – A combination of an anchorage, anchorage connector, lanyard (or other means of connection), and body support to eliminate the possibility of a worker going over the unprotected edge or side of a walkingworking surface. • Ladder Safety System – A system attached to a fixed ladder designed to eliminate or reduce the possibility of a worker falling off the ladder. A ladder safety system usually consists of a carrier, safety sleeve, lanyard, connectors, and body harness. Cages and wells are not considered ladder safety systems. natarajan.joann@dol.gov 512-374-0271 x232

Happy New Year!

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

How the Grinch stole the Christmas party

Old-fashioned Christmas

he American Institute of Architects (AIA) San Antonio Chapter held its annual holiday party with the theme Ole to the Holiday. The party was at the AIA Center for

Architecture in its gallery. The provided food was tamales, picadillo, and quesadillas, along with a dessert bar from Panaderia. The AIA tree was decorated with vintage folk art ornaments. –cs

he National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) San Antonio Chapter got together to celebrate the holidays with a party at the El Tropicana Hotel on Dec. 10. The Grinch, who took time to pose for photos, joined the members as they enjoyed their night of food and drinks. There was a live auction and raffle with funds benefitting its Chapter Scholarship Fund.–cs

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Hallelujah, it’s raining toys!

ittingly, toys came raining down for the Construct A Kid’s Christmas toy drive on Dec. 2, along with cold and wet weather at the Construction News office. Multiple companies and associations brought 410 toys to the office, which were added to the 385 collected at the Alterman Inc. holiday party, plus the 808 toys donated at the annual Construct A Kids Christmas gala on Dec. 1 for a grand total of 1,603 toys and $660 in gift certificates. A warm thank you to everyone who donated time and effort to help Bexar County foster children have a bright and toy-filled Christmas morning, including Allen & Allen Co., who delivered the toys from the gala to the toy drive; Urban Concrete Contractors for providing the truck and driver to deliver the toys to Bexar County Child Protective Services; and CBS Rental and Supply for the scissors lifts that hung the banner outside the Construction News office. –cs

The CAKC Committee presented a donation for $60,000 to the Bexar County Child Welfare Board. L-R: Sandee Morgan, Mechanical and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (MCASMACNA); Steven Cannon, Gardner Law; Karen Ridout, Ridout Barrett; Nora Romero, MCASMACNA and American Subcontractors Association (ASA); Michelle Urbanczyk, Urban Concrete Contractors; Dana Calonge, Construction News; Yolanda Valenzuela, Bexar County Child Welfare Board; Buddy Doebbler, Construction News; Carol Cannon, Gardner Law; Steven Schultz, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC); Ruby Trejo, (ABC); Dawn Thompson, Texas Air Conditioning Contractors of America (TACCA); Ted Dunnam, ESC Safety Consultants; Jennifer Swinney, (ASA)

United Tool and Fastener brought a truck loaded with bicycles of all sizes.

Yolanda Valenzuela of Bexar County Child Welfare Board helps unload more than 800 toys donated at the Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala.

Volunteers from CPS and the Hispanic Contractors Association de San Antonio

Volunteers begin loading the truck with toys while NBC’s WOAI films. Ridout-Barrett CPA

Lynne Grix, CPA

CMC Construction

Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC)

s ear with tors!” Y “20 ealing ntrac o of d ral C ne Ge Metal Studs Drywall Acoustical Insulation

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9018 Tesoro Suite 101 San Antonio, Texas 78217 (210) 826-4123 Fax (210) 826-5801

Mechanical Reps Inc.

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ore than 1,000 construction industry folks, families and friends attended the always-anticipated annual Alterman Inc. holiday event Dec. 7, where guests were treated to a luxury shuttle ride from Blossom Athletic Center, a spectacular buffet of treats and plenty of fun and networking. Attendees also donated 385 toys to the industry’s Construct A Kid’s Christmas. –cs

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Charged by cheer

Fore the kids

L-R: Tiger Sanitation Tiger, Operations Manager Jason Smith, Sunshine Cottage Principal Jeff Bryan, Sunshine Cottage Director of Development Connie Munn, Sunshine Cottage 4th grade student Kylene Kramer, Sunshine Cottage Parent Advisor Donna Kramer and San Antonio Division President Chuck Calvin get ready to begin the Golf Tournament.

enefiting Sunshine Cottage, the SpawGlass San Antonio 3rd annual Golf Tournament was Oct. 28 at Olympia Hills Golf Course. Clients, archi-

tects, specialty contractors and other industry friends enjoyed a round of golf and an awards lunch complete with live and silent auctions. –cw

Melodye Tomsu, Stephanie Dixon, Chuck Calvin and Jason Smith present Sunshine Cottage Executive Director Dr. Belinda Pustka and Sunshine Cottage Chairman of the Board Vicki McLaughlin with a $25,000 check, representing proceeds from the 2016 SpawGlass-San Antonio Golf Tournament.

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Staying in touch with winter patterns by Capt. Steve Schultz Sponsored by: Waypoint Marine, Majek Boats, Evinrude Outboards, Fishing Tackle Unlimited, E-Z Bel Construction, Power Pole Shallow Water Anchor, Aggregate Haulers, ForEverlast Fishing Products, MirrOlure, and Columbia Sportswear.

here are certain things to remember when transitioning to winter fishing. One may start out using some of the techniques that were successful in the spring and fall with not much success this time of the year. Then you’re going to start wondering if all the fish were caught during the summer, or they have all migrated to the gulf for the winter. Relax, Don’t Panic!!! Think about what your doing and how your going about doing it. Let’s start out by saying that winter

Chris Huey and Mark Walter had plenty of action after a front pushed thru last month. No big fish caught, but at least they didn’t go home empty handed. Fishing with Steve Schultz Outdoors.

fishing is cold. If you’re cold, then so are the fish. There is no need to set the alarm for 5 am and start your day off at day break just to freeze you’re butt off on the ride to your favorite fishing spot. Stop and have some coffee and breakfast and plan on leaving the dock about 8 am. By the time you get the boat unloaded and on your way, the water temperatures are just starting to warm up. Plan on fishing late into the day as water temps will continue to rise till about 3 pm. During the winter fish slow down ev-

Submitted to Construction News

Bring it home!

Above, Allen & Allen Company’s Mike McGinnis’s son, Ty McGinnis, 11, was successful at the family deer lease in Sabinal. Right, Buzz Miller, president of Allen & Allen Company and a guide from Grace Ann Fishing Lodge on Lake of The Woods in Canada show off one of Buzz’s amazing catches. Reeled in were pike, walleye and bass. –cw

erything they do because their metabolism slows down. They move less, eat less and feed less frequently. On a more positive side, when they do decide to eat they focus on larger meals instead of several smaller meals. They want to maximum yield with minimal effort. Also in the winter bait fish are less present, so trout and

reds are less picky about what they eat. If you are willing to adjust to their feeding habits, you will produce better success. When fishing in the winter, you must also have the right tackle. A light action rod with a fast tip is what I recommend. My set-up is a FTU Green Rod (model APL-1) in a 6-ft. 9-in. length with a Concept 10 baitcaster. My line of choice is Maxcuatro in 30# moss green. During the winter I’m usually throwing slow sinking baits such as the mirrolure corky or one of my favorites, the Soft Dine XL. The baits allow for a slow presentation which is key when fishing winter months. Winter fishing also requires the angler to prepare for extreme weather conditions. Be sure to layer up with good quality clothing and waders. My Simms gear is the best money can buy and keeps me warm and dry throughout the day. Wading boots are just as critical. Soft booties this time of year can cause your feet to cramp when wading soft mud. I recommend ForEverlast Baffin Flats Stalker boots for all day comfort. Always pack a change of cloths just in case you trip or take water over your waders. That 50 mph boat ride home will be a lot more confortable. I have already started to fill the calendar for the upcoming 2017 season. Don’t wait till all the good dates are gone! To schedule your next bay fishing trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361813-3716 or 361-334-3105 or e-mail him at SteveSchultzOutdoors@gmail.com. Good luck and Good Fishing.

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Ken Milam’s Fishing Line Since 1981, Ken Milam has been guiding fishing trips for striped bass on Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country, You can hear Ken on the radio as follows: The Great Outdoors: 5-8 am Saturday on 1300, The Zone, Austin and The Great Outdoors: 5-7 am Saturday on 1200 WOAI San Antonio The Sunday Sportsman: 6-8 am Sunday on 1300, The Zone, Austin All on iHeart Radio

ell here we are in another new year. We are done with celebrating holidays and most of the deer hunting. Hopefully maybe we are a little better than half way done with cold winter days, because I’m already ready for spring. It is always a sign of the passing of winter when you see the ads for all the local boat shows. What better way to shift your focus back to fishing and water sports than to mozy through a boat show checking out the latest in boats and motors and fishing gizmos? This is your cue to start getting ready. You need to start paying attention to the weather. On these bright sunny warm days between cold fronts, you can be sure that the crappie are beginning to move up into shallow water to warm in the sun and start looking for places to nest. Warm water makes them hungry, so you need to be looking for them along the shore line around structure so you can tempt them with live minnows or the artificial lure of your choice. I can’t think of a better winter supper than a platter of fried crappie! Be thinking white bass too. It won’t

where you want to be fishing. Largemouth fishing should be getting interesting too. Don’t forget, this is the time of year the ShareLunker program starts putting out all those pictures of monster bass being caught. You might want to go chase some of them too! Now for my favorites, stripers and hybrid stripers; stripers are cold water fish, so they and their hybrids are in their element this time of the year. Right now their instincts are telling them to eat everything they can catch, so they will be ready for spring spawning. Like white bass, they will move upstream a little for spawning time, but they are still open water feeders that need lots of room to roam and feed. They won’t usually get serious about spawning until April or Mayish, but they will be tearing their way through every school of shad they can, so they will be fat and sassy and full of eggs. Is your boat running good? If no t, get it into the shop right away before everyone else finds out their boat’s broke too. If she’s running good, don’t forget to use a good fuel additive to keep her going. There is nothing worse than standing on the bank on a nice day when you discover your rig won’t run! I hope you made two good resolutions for this New Year: 1. Make more time for fishing! 2. Take a kid fishing! Good luck in everything you do in 2017!

be long before they will be starting to run upstream to spawn. It depends on how cold the weather has been, but they seem

to get going in late January to mid-February. On most lakes they will run as far upstream as they can get, and that’s

We’ll see you on the water!

Submitted to Construction News

Start ‘em young!

Submitted to Construction News

Great start to the season

Colby Lewis, Alpine Contracting, and his kids spent some time in nature lately, learning about deer hunting. –cw

Raygan Brown The Brown family has already claimed another awesome season after Raygan and Blaze Brown, daughter and son of Robert and Bridgett Brown, Brown Excavation & Utilities LLC., took these beauties at Victoria Oaks Ranch in Medina County. –cw

Blaze Brown

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Submitted to Construction News

Major buck

One to write home about

Kylie Major, daughter of Holes of San Antonio owner George Major Jr., shot a nine-point buck in McMullen County on Nov. 26. The spread was 20.5”. Congratulations, Kylie. –cs

Alamo Crane owner Marvin Ohelbusch bagged a massive 20-point buck on Oct. 28 in Tilden, TX. The deer weighed in at 235 pounds with a 26.5-inch spread and scored 235 1/2. –cs

Submitted to Construction News

What a beauty Ken Milam Guide Service (325) 379-2051 www.striperfever.com

Sandra Baird, Bac-Flo Unlimited, shows off one of many fish caught on a recent fishing trip on Aransas Bay. –cw

Submitted to Construction News

That’s a big fish

Mike Sireno of Baker Triangle recently took a trip to the Rio Negro in the Amazon and came away with a prize fish. The Bar Peacock Bass weighed in at 14.25 pounds. Congratulations, Mike! –cs

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Trucking fun

imms Trucking and Excavation Ltd. gave its employees a chance to show off their singing skills and to win some prizes at its annual Christmas party. This year’s party was held at Paulina’s Mexican Restaurant at the Moursund location. Javier Lopez claimed first prize in the karaoke contest. Each guest re-

Submitted to Construction News

Ugly sweaters, fun party

ceived a number, and when that number was drawn, that person selected a gift of his or her choice. At the end of the night, Timms handed out bonuses to its employees, who then had a chance to win one of the 10 grand prizes, which included a BBQ pit and a TV.–cs The staff of NAPCO Precast LLC dug deep into their closets to find the ugliest Christmas sweater they could. The winners were Delia Rincon and Scott Ramirez. Rincon went rogue with her Darth Vader sweater with bells that could be heard from down the hall, and Ramirez wore an upside down snowman to avoid being frosty. –cs

Submitted to Construction News

Bartlett celebrates holidays

Employees from different offices of Bartlett Cocke got together for a holiday party on Dec. 6 at Sunset Station in San Antonio. People from the San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, Houston and Bayton branches all made the trip to celebrate another year. –cs

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

continued from Page 2 — Gala greatness

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San Antonio Construction News â&#x20AC;¢ Jan 2017

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Networking nirvana

Party cheer

he Small, Minority, Women and Veteran Business Owners (SMWVBO) Business Conference was at the Freeman Coliseum Dec. 7. Around 150 booths were set up for businesses to connect with other companies for services and opportunities. The event was kicked off with San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor and had Microsoft’s Public Affairs and Citizenship Director Raamel Mitchell as the keynote speaker during lunch. –cs Bartlett Cocke General Contractors

Zachry Construction Corporation

SpawGlass

Alpha Building Corporation

ndependent Electrical Contractors (IEC) San Antonio Chapter held its casino night for a night of fun on Dec. 9. Around 80 people attended to play casino games and eat a meal of tamales, brisket, pulled pork, chili and desserts. A raffle was held for 35 gifts, with some being donated by Milwaukee Tool and others from IEC. –cs

Whiting-Turner Contracting Company

Submitted to Construction News

Driving to the basket

Virtual Builder’s Exchange

Hispanic Contactors Association De San Antonio, Inc.

Submitted to Construction News

Moving dirt

Over 60 Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) members showed up to join the Associated General Contractors (AGC) San Antonio Chapter at its membership drive at the San Antonio Spurs v. Orlando Magic game Nov. 29. Prior to the game, there was a happy hour at The Porch and a picture after the game on the court. Andrew Alvarado, Turner Construction Company, won the big raffle prize of two lower-level seats at a Spurs’ game of his choosing. –cs

Submitted to Construction News

The code for fun

L-R: Fabian Castillao, Fabian’s Construction LLC., John and Melanie Chaney, owners, and Joe Da la Garza, Jefferson State Bank, break ground on the future site of Baird Foundation Repair. –cs

Coding4TX, a coding and computer science education program serving teachers and students in Texas, took students from IDEA Monterrey Park school to Studio8 Architecture’s San Antonio office Nov. 21 to learn about the firm’s technology processes. Architects Milton Hime, Miles Vandewalle, Richard Garrod, Ryan Squyres and marketing director, Deanna Bounds had a blast! –cw

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Deck the hall

Holiday cheer

t was good cheer and company at the annual Associated General Contractors (AGC) San Antonio Chapter holiday mixer Dec. 8 at the headquarters. Plenty of people braved the seasonal cold chill to attend, mix and mingle and spread the holiday spirit. –cw

he San Antonio Masonry and Contractors Association (SAMCA) celebrated its Christmas on Dec. 8 at Sunset Station. 85 people enjoyed the party that included, dinner, casino games, prizes, and a silent and live auction. The association also elected four members to its 2017 board. –cw

L-R: President Don Tarrillion, Tarrillion Masonry, Secretary James Busing, Spec Mix, Treasurer Marisol Fuentes, I-10 Building Materials, Vice President Michael Hunt, Curtis Hunt Restorations.

Games and gifts

an Antonio Association of Building Engineers (SAABE) held its annual holiday party at the Hilton airport location. The night included casino games, food and beverages for everyone involved. Raffle prizes were given out, for those whom did well at the tables, including a fireplace as the grand prize. Prizes were drawn throughout the night for those in attendance. Lauren Littlefield and Britney Brantley put the event together for the SAABE members to kick back and enjoy. –cs

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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10 years strong

Plenty of generosity

Steubing Ranch Tablet giveaway

O L-R: Mary Lupe Arana, VP of operations, and Mark Garcia, president, receive gifts for boss’ day in the tenth year of the company.

ark Garcia is a competitive man, whether it is in Iron Man events or in business. A decade into his business at The GFP Group LLC, Garcia is happy where he is currently and sees where he wants to go. “It’s like a child. It’s my baby,” Garcia said. “There have been some growing pains. It’s been tough for sure, and we survived some tough times in 2007 and 2008. We felt pressured and it was tough to make a living at that time. It made us stronger and appreciate where we are now. “We’re cautiously optimistic. We very much appreciate having the work and we don’t take it for granted.” GFP offers design-build, general contracting and engineering as part of its services. “We are start-to-finish,” Garcia said. “We’ve had success with design build but we’re more of a general contractor and construction manager. We specialize in quality control and all the aspects of the construction and management.” GFP has 25 employees and part of its goals is to keep them safe while creating

a great place to work. “We have a company goal that is a dollar amount that we are on track for and we should exceed that goal,” Garcia said. “More than that, I’ve been around the workplace and I know safety should be our No. 1 goal. We want to provide a professional and organized workplace. We have very specific things we’re doing for that. We have training that we offer and are offering better insurance. We are trying to attract the best craftsmen and employees.” Garcia earned a Bachelor of Business degree with a concentration in economics from UTSA, and although he says he got it to stay out of construction, he ended up in the business anyway. Since then, he has put together some projects he can hang his hat on 10 years later. “I’m a bit of an outdoorsman,” Garcia said. “We did some of the trails for the city of San Antonio. We did the Salado Creek connection at Tobin and I did Leon Creek South. I’m really proud of those trails. I’m really proud of a project we did for the city of Live Oak. We did the City Hall and we received an award from the mayor.” –cs

ne of Yates Construction’s “Top 10 Strategic Vision Goals” is to actively engage in the communities in which the company’s employees live and work. In 2016, Yates’ San Antonio personnel gave back in the following ways throughout the city: Any Baby Can Autism Walk, CANstruction Food Drive benefiting the San Antonio Family Veterans Unit, Salvation Army Food Bank, WATCH D.O.Gs (Dads of Great Schools) at Timberwood Park Elementary, Drug Free Week at Raba Elementary, UTSA Career Day, Charitable Donations to MDA/ALS Charity Golf Tournament, Steubing Ranch Elementary School Field Trip to the Texas State Capitol, and the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, to name a few. One of the more touching outreach

Faith in service

Salvation Army

events occurred at Steubing Ranch Elementary, where Yates’ San Antonio personnel identified high need students in the community and teamed up with the school staff to hold a Tablet Giveaway Contest called “Round Up Your Writing Skills,” wherein students were encouraged to write a one-page essay discussing the importance of a good education and what it means to their future. Yates’ San Antonio staff read through hundreds of well-written essays, and identified a total of 12 kids that they believed would benefit the most. Winners consisted of one boy and one girl from each grade, kindergarten through 5th, who received a Tablet, Tablet Cover, Stylus Pen and $10 Google Play Card. “This past year, Yates has actively supported and sponsored a wide range of organizations, such as health, children and veterans organizations, as well as charitable projects and community initiatives,” says Randy Powell, senior vice president/ Texas Division manager. “Yates is committed to creating lasting partnerships for mutual success and providing value for our clients and communities.” –cw

CANstruction

Red Ribbon donations at Raba Elementary

Terry Marshall, father of owner Josh Marshall, is the longest tenured employee at Wolfpack Roofing and Construction.

olfpack Roofing and Construction started off with a core set of values that is its backbone as it

grows. Wolfpack is an eight-year-old company founded by Josh Marshall in Dallas, but they soon opened up shop in San Antonio. Marshall saw a new way for a business to operate. “The name Wolfpack came from the concept of a tight-knit group of people,” says Rick Reeder, VP of operations. “We’re a family-owned, faith-based company and we’re very tightly connected to one another. We’ve been doing very well and we’re up to five offices now.” Wolfpack leases its offices from nonprofit organizations because the payments go back into the community. San Antonio was the second branch opened by Wolfpack. “One of the things that attracted us to the San Antonio market, besides helping the military community, was that we

thought the commercial opportunities in San Antonio were better than other locations that we had considered,” Reeder said. Wolfpack does roofing, remodeling, windows installation, and exterior repairs, along with other services. Roughly 80 percent of its work is on the residential side. In December, Wolfpack saw a surge in work from the hailstorm back in April. “Most of the homeowners weren’t aware they needed new roofs and those roofs have been deteriorating from the results of the hail storm,” Reeder said. Wolfpack has its own crew but subs out certain jobs. The subs go through a 90-day process to see if their values match the company’s. “The customer is what drives us,” Reeder said. “We’re never going to be a publicly held company even as we continue to grow. We believe that money isn’t the big deal; it’s our good name, rather than riches.” –cs

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Round-Up O’Haver Contractors recently announced the promotion of Lori Reynolds to the position of vice president, Director of Project Administration. Reynolds joined the company 13 years ago and started in the accounting department, before transferring into operations. She has also held the positions of project administrator and project administration manager. Kim O’Brien was recently promoted to vice president, Director of Finance and Human Resources. O’Brien started at O’Haver Contractors fourand-a-half years ago as a head bookkeeper and quickly moved up to the accounting manager. Meghan R. Lannom has earned her license in Texas as a Registered Interior Designer. She attended Texas State University receiving a Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Science in 2010. She has been a part of RVK's Interior Design Studio since September 2011.

O’Connell Robertson has added registered engineer Jeremy Zorn PE to its engineering team. Zorn is an electrical engineer based in the firm’s San Antonio office. He has over 15 years experience providing design and construction administration services on a variety of projects in the San Antonio area. His experience includes the design of power distribution, interior and exterior lighting, fire detection and alarm, and emergency power and grounding systems. Zorn earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University in 1999. Pape-Dawson Engineers Inc. recently announced the promotion of Trey Dawson to vice president. In this role, Dawson will continue providing technical oversight of the firm’s land development services, and he will take a strong leadership role in the promotion and management of these services throughout the San Antonio region. Dawson joined Pape-Dawson in 2009. He holds Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. Nick Flory has joined Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing in San Antonio as a project estimator for roof maintenance and leak repair. He will review plans and specifications to compose bids and estimates for projects, and assist in the review, negotiation and execution of contracts.

Submissions This is a section for brief company announcements of new or recently promoted personnel, free of charge as space allows. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Email (w/digital photo, if available) by the 15th of any month, for the next month’s issue Email info to appropriate city issue, with “Round-Up” in the subject line: ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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SAeditor@constructionnews.net Austin austineditor@constructionnews.net Dallas/Ft. Worth dfweditor@constructionnews.net Houston houstoneditor@constructionnews.net

continued from Page 1 — 95 years young “When I first came here, we didn’t have any computers,” he says. “We got our first computer about the time I got here. It was an ancient dog, and we thought it was awesome. Then, we evolved into fax machines and we thought they were the coolest things ever. The actual construction business has seen some evolution, but we still use cranes.” G.W. Mitchell does budget development and estimating, preconstruction services and construction. The benefits of being involved in the whole process can be seen throughout the job. “That’s what makes jobs come together, in my opinion,” Bill says. “Working with the owner and architects before you go into construction makes everything smoother. You have a better handle on the cost and you know exactly what’s going into the job.” One of the new additions to G.W.

Mitchell is the special projects division that specializes in renovations, remodels and retrofits. “We’re busy and all of our good competitors are busy,” he says. “We started a new division called the special projects division. We brought a new lady in who has been doing that her whole career. It’s anything that is not ground up. That’s going to be a large part of our business going forward. We’ve always done it; now it’s a specialty.” Mitchell’s daughter, Erin Clementson, is the director of Business Development, making it a fourth generation business. Looking forward, G.W. Mitchell will continue to evolve while leaning on its background. “We built our business and reputation off repeat business,” Bill said. “We’re not a one-and-done contractor. We want to work over and over for our clients.” –cs

Around 150 people showed up to celebrate G.W. Mitchell’s 95 years in business.

continued from Page 1 — Plumbing people commercial and residential plumbing, including maintenance, installation and new construction. It has been able to expand its business with the new construction going on in the surrounding area. “We’ve been through the ups and downs and it’s real nice when it picks up like it has,” Smith said. “The surrounding areas of San Antonio have picked up and gets us out there, which is good because there is businesses and customers that we can get.” Smith has three kids – two boys and a daughter – and hopes to someday pass on the business to make it five generations.

“I would love to pass it on,” Smith said. “I want my kids to be happy and do what they want to do, but it would be an awesome thing to see this passed on to either one of my sons. If one or both wanted it, I would love to keep the doors open for another 30 or 40 years.” Smith grew up ranching and hunting with his grandfather, a tradition he has passed on to his kids. “I go down there now and teach them all the things about gun safety and how to hunt,” Smith said. “It’s nice to get them out in the country and away from the XBOX and other things like that.” –cs

continued from Page 1 — Wedding and event wonderland than it turning into a turf war, the contractors were able to work around each other on the large project. “That was the one of the problems. You can’t work here today because someone else was there,” Fore said. “We were real flexible. It was such a big job.” Fore was there at the beginning of the project, before there was a river and chapel built outside of the building. “It was built from the ground up. We poured the slab and built the metal building,” Fore said. “Everything on the inside is natural wood. There’s a big cov-

ered wagon on one side and a stage on the far end for bands and things. It’s something to see.” Fore has been in business on his own since 1993, and Western Sky is near the top of his list of favorite and unique projects. “It was probably the most unique project I have been involved in,” Fore said. “I had just finished doing a $200,000 bathroom remodel down in Monte Vista. I thought that was unique until I did this. “It would probably be No. 1 or No. 2 on my list.” –cs

There is plenty of space inside at Western Sky Event Center.

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Construction Forecast Recent election’s impact still to be seen until it happens.

Edward De La Garza, President Gonzales+De La Garza & Associates San Antonio, TX

ow do you expect 2017 to be for Gonzales+De La Garza & Associates? If you base it on our success in 2016, we’re going to do about a 30 percent increase. That’s just us, though. I see an increase in the amount of opportunities. It should continue that upward climb in infrastructure opportunities. How do you think the recent presidential elections will affect your business? I do believe that does affect us. It just depends on the administration and their goals and outlook. Whether it’s cutting back on infrastructure or cutting back on federal construction, then that would

have an impact on our industry. However, either administration would have wanted improvements since recent reports have said the country’s infrastructure wasn’t up to par. Yes, it does affect us, but this term, it could only improve. Not to get overly political, but the question is in financing the improvements. Do you have any big projects on deck for 2017? I’ll know at the end of the week if a couple of big projects will come through. I can say, as of now, that there is going to be a couple of exciting projects that are going to happen for our company and I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag

An exciting 2017 Brian Webster, President KWA Construction Addison, TX

What markets do you expect KWA and the industry to see an increase in over the course of 2017? Why? KWA Construction specializes in multifamily construction, but we do expect to see another year of continued increases over all markets simply because of the strong population growth and immigration to Texas. Dallas/Fort Worth specifically has gone above and beyond to attract corporations from all over the country and we definitely see the impact in our fast-paced industry. In your perspective, what is your projection for the Dallas/Fort Worth construction industry for 2017? A major trend that we’ve noticed in the last few years has been the resurgence of Dallas and Fort Worth, so we predict an increase in HUD financing in order to help provide affordable housing options for the underprivileged in North Texas. This is, of course, driven more by tight financing requirements in place by lenders, and fortunately HUD makes deals possible that otherwise may never happen because of not being able to meet traditional financing requirements. As of today, we have four HUD housing complexes in our portfolio, two under construction and several in the works – and we’re as proud as ever to do our part in the revitalization efforts of the area. We also believe there will be a continued tight subcontractor labor market.

While Dallas may be fortunate at the moment with a surplus of construction projects underway, the multifamily development industry has been facing a challenge of a shortage of subcontractors. But, with everything else going on and the successes we’ve come across, we’re staying optimistic. Overall, we believe the industry will stay strong and near capacity. With production currently projected to increase as it did in 2016, it’s going to be a year of endless opportunity. What do you think the keys to success will be for your company in 2017? I envision a major driver for success in 2017 will be doing more with less. There will be more of a focus on productivity of subcontractors and less on how many people are on the job, in order to maintain schedules and increase the overall quality of work for everyone. Another major key to our success in 2017 and beyond will be the recent restructure of our leadership team. Richie Keene has graciously accepted the role of executive vice president while Keller Webster, founder and president of KWA Construction, has transitioned to chairman. Keller will still oversee the company as an advisor and continue to guide us into a successful new year, which is extremely important now that competition is becoming more apparent since DFW is such a hot market. But, Keller has decades

How was 2016 for construction in the area? It was good year when it comes to horizontal and vertical construction in the area. There is a growing problem with the lack of workforce. I see that being a problem. Other than that, I see an upward trend in the opportunities for construction. Were you constantly busy all year or was there any shortage of work? We’re somewhat relatively new to general construction. We have a civil engineering and surveying background, but we’re starting to pick up in our general construction side of the business. I can’t say I saw a dip, but I saw an increase or incline in our opportunities for construction. Have you been involved in any of the multi-family projects that have been going up? Not really. We don’t, but we’re open to those opportunities if they present

of experience in this industry and I have big shoes to fill as the new president. As we do now, we will maintain a focus on customer service, continue to improve virtual construction systems and enhance communication platforms. What do you think will be different for your company and the industry in 2017 compared to the previous year? Are there any trends generating buzz? We believe the market is driving owners to negotiate contracts with general contractors in place of competitive bidding, due to their overflowing workloads and the uncertainty of the process. Instead of putting projects up to bid, developers are talking with contractors they know and contractors with whom they’ve previously worked with in order to negotiate a contract. Competitive bidding doesn’t seem to be a driver of overall project savings so developers are more willing to pay-up for quality, and in turn, alleviate some of the risks including unforeseen costs, understaffed teams and slower turnaround times of a project. The process is transparent this way, and I think more and more companies will get on board. How would you sum up the last five years of business at KWA and what do you predict for the next five years? The most appropriate word that comes to mind is growth – growth in the market and growth in the workplace. In August, KWA was ranked one of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies by national business publication Inc. Magazine. Since 2012, we’ve nearly doubled our revenue and increased our workforce by more than 20 percent. We feel lucky to have been able to add talented and hardworking individuals to our payroll and construct much-needed multifamily housing units throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

themselves. That’s not something we’ve done on the construction side. We’ve done hotels and schools with woodframed structures. On the engineering side, we have. Have you seen higher quality products going to building renovations? Supposedly, the federal government is. That’s the idea. They would rather renovate and put money into what they have rather than build from the ground up. There’s typically a higher cost with those and it has to do with the location. Do you anticipate newer technology impacting your company? Absolutely. You have to always move forward and improve the process of design and construction. We are using drones for construction and new scanning techniques for survey. There’s an added benefit of safety. If you can get out there and scan and survey a congested, highly traveled area without putting the workforce in danger, it’s an added value. –cs

We’ve been extremely lucky to be selected as general contractors by companies including Seneca Investments and GroundFloor Development for multiple projects in recent years, which I believe speaks to our high quality of work and team members. Continuously collaborating with these companies means KWA is seeing bigger projects and more responsibility – which we are more prepared for than ever for the coming years. We’ve also recently made the switch from BIM 360 to Procore Technologies, the cloud-based project management solution. As most people in this industry know, having the tools on-hand to help your team work as efficiently as possible is huge. So other than going almost entirely paperless since the switch, we’ve been able to work more efficiently, eliminate any margin of error and increase productivity of all individuals working on a given project from the office to the job site. Having a digital job site, along with Procore, is imperative at this stage in our company. Tools such as 60” touch-screen smart monitors and personal tablets help our team members work more collaboratively and instantly share documents, and in turn, has benefitted our clients. They’ve significantly cut down on time spent waiting on the status of a critical RFI or a pending submittal; now, they can access it in the palm of their hand on the jobsite itself. This is certainly a change for our company, and we already feel it’s a step in the right direction. We look forward to continued growth and refinement of our processes and staff, and learning of bigger and better ways as we welcome more Millennials into the business. With the incorporation of these factors, KWA Construction is in for an exciting 2017. Founded in 2004, general contractor KWA Construction specializes in multifamily developments. – mjm

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Construction Forecast Construction outlook: more positive but with many possible problems Ken Simonson, Chief Economist Associated General Contractors of America Arlington, VA

exas construction, like its weather, is experiencing extremes. The outlook for 2017 is for sunnier but unsettled conditions. The state’s once-robust construction market has stalled. Year-over-year construction employment growth, which handily topped 20,000 throughout 2013, 2014 and 2015, slowed to a five-year low of just 500 employees (0.1%) from November 2015 to November 2016. The slowdown has appeared in four of the state’s five largest construction markets, but in varying degrees. The only exception is the Fort Worth-Arlington division of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Irving metro area, where construction employment rebounded to a 4% growth rate from November 2015 to November 2016 after posting year-over-year decreases every month from mid-2015 through May 2016. Construction employment growth in the Austin-Round Rock metro area slowed to a still-healthy 7% year-overyear in November after running at a double-digit rate for most of the prior two and a half years. Growth in the DallasPlano-Irving division of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth-Irving area slipped to just 0.5% from November to November, down from 5.5% one year earlier and nearly 7% the year before that. (The Bu-

reau of Labor Statistics combines mining and logging with construction in the Austin and DFW areas to avoid disclosing information about industries with few employers. The slump in oil and gas drilling may have contributed to the weakness in “construction” employment.) Similarly, contractors in the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area consistently added fewer workers in the 12-month periods ending in 2016 than in the previous year. Job growth from November 2015 to November 2016 was 2.9%, down from 5 to 8% in the three previous November periods. Predictably, construction employment was hit hardest in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, going from a 7% growth rate in November 2015 to yearover-year decreases in the second half of 2016. By November, the rate of decline had accelerated to almost -6%, the worst since mid-2010 The primary reason for the slowdown is, of course, closely related to the sharp decline in oil prices and drilling since mid-2014. Conversely, the rebound in prices for both oil and natural gas from the lows of a year ago portend a pickup in construction in some parts of the state in the next few months. Fortunately for Texas residents and

Construction market looks good for 2017 Rick Vavro, president and founder Austin Underground Inc. Austin, TX

hat markets do you expect Austin Underground and the industry will see an increase in over the course of 2017? All of our markets continue to expand. It appears that TxDOT will continue to release work coming out, so that means government markets are good. Commercial is still going strong. There are upticks in permits happening, which indicates that the subdivision and commercial market is still strong. It doesn’t seem like any of them are slowing down. What do you foresee as the biggest challenges your company and others like it in the industry will face in 2017? I see several challenging areas for the upcoming year. One area is increased labor competition. In October, the City of Austin instituted a minimum cash wage for its construction contracts, and we do quite a bit of city work. The minimum cash wage on those projects – and projects the city is giving tax credits to – is $13.50. There is some difficulty in knowing if it’s a job that requires this new minimum wage.

Another area is new competition moving in, and new companies starting up, due to the strong market. It creates some instability and downward pressure in the market. There are a lot of guys waiting for their chance to break into this market, and most of them are pretty competent in what they do. However, it takes time for someone starting out to figure out what their costs are going to be, and historically, these guys can bid way high or way low. Finally, the election has left a lot of questions as to what is going to change with the new president coming in. This has led to more uncertainty with health care, which a big chunk of our cost, and there is a potential for oil prices to go up. These changes will increase our overall costs, so we are following these markets pretty closely. How does Austin Underground plan to address and overcome these issues? We are making sure we realize what the requirements are for the new minimum wage. It is a bigger issue for us if everybody has to get a raise, and we are

contractors, the state’s economy is far more diversified, and population growth is steadier, than in past oil-price swings. The U.S. Census Bureau reported on Dec. 20 that the Lone Star State’s population increased by 433,000, or 1.6%, from July 2015 to July 2016 and accounted for nearly one-fifth of the entire country’s population growth. Each year this decade, the state’s population has swelled by more than 400,000, maintaining consistent demand for additional single- and multifamily housing, schools, stores and other types of structures. Census estimates for 2016 population change by metro area will not be available until March, but in March 2016 the agency reported, “The Houston-The WoodlandsSugar Land and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro areas added about 159,000 and 145,000 residents, respectively — the largest gains of any metro areas in the nation. Two additional Texas metro areas adjacent to each other ─ Austin-Round Rock and San Antonio-New Braunfels ─ were each also among the 16 nationwide to gain 50,000 or more people over the period.” Even if population growth has slowed since then, the demand for homes, businesses, public buildings and infrastructure generated by past inflows will help keep many contractors busy in 2017. The constant population influx has also contributed to a growing supply of construction workers, although the supply has not always matched demand in quantity or required skills. The 2016 elections have injected new uncertainty into the outlook for construction, nationally and in Texas. The state has an exceptionally large number of immigrants and foreign-born residents. Cross-border trade is extremely important, not just along the southern edge but in the Gulf ports and for oil-service and petrochemical industries. The

large hospital sector in all of the big metros, especially in Houston, may hit the brakes on expansion and modernization until there is clarity about whether the Affordable Care Act will be repealed and, if so, what will replace it. On the positive side, school bond issues that passed in November will add to plans already underway in many independent school districts for new construction and renovation. And the possibility of massive additional infrastructure spending may mean good news for highway and other transportation contractors. In short, 2017 poses the chance for contractors to recover from the slowdown that has hit many parts of the state. But there are also significant risks ahead. Ken Simonson has been the chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America, the leading trade association for the construction industry, since 2001. His weekly summary of economic news relevant to construction, The Data DIGest, goes to 47,000 subscribers. He was the 2012-2013 president of the National Association for Business Economics, the professional organization for individuals who use economics in their work. Currently, he serves as an appointed member of the Census Scientific Advisory Committee and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Data Users Advisory Committee. Ken has 40 years of experience analyzing, advocating and communicating about economic and tax issues. He earned a BA in economics from the University of Chicago and an MA in economics from Northwestern University. Ken Simonson has been the chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America since 2001. His weekly summary of economic news relevant to construction, The Data DIGest, goes to 47,000 subscribers.

training our people and talking about it. A continued focus on retention is also key. We offer a lot of good benefits to our employees, and we try to do things that other guys don’t, in order to attract talent. The way we train and treat our employees is what makes for good retention in our company. For example, on a rain day, which happened a lot in 2016, we will do training so we don’t have a lot of down time for our guys and they have a steady paycheck.

we’ve added commercial/institutional. We are also starting to do a lot of TxDOT work.

What are Austin Underground’s plans for 2017? I think we continue to grow. We’ve been seeing a 30 percent growth rate for the last few years. We are working to continue to become a more specialized contractor in our different markets. We will continue to shore up our people with advanced training to make us a more solid contractor. We also expect to increase our total employee count by 10 percent. How would you sum up the last five years for business at Austin Underground? After the downturn, a lot of commercial guys looked around to see who was still standing. We pushed in 2010 to get into commercial/institutional while the market was down. That’s really taken off in 2016 and has accounted for 20 percent of our revenue. We’ve been on a steady increase. We’ve grown probably 300 percent in volume and size, and we’ve been able to penetrate different markets. We started purely as a municipal contractor, and

How did Austin Underground survive the recession? For us, we were pretty conservative internally. Financially, when the downturn hit, we didn’t have any debt, and we had been investing the money back in the company. We didn’t have to do pay cuts or lay anybody off. We were bidding jobs cheap to keep our guys employed. That has paid off, because we have had retention in our workforce. Is that still the standard operating procedure? We’ve had industry people who look at our books and say we are in the 95th percentile as far as lack of debt goes. We have taken on some debt, and I don’t mind taking on a debt. However, it’s hard to project more than a couple years out, so you have to be careful as to what debt you take on. What is the most important takeaway you’ve learned in the last year? The past year for me has been more about developing good relationships. Across the board we have to figure out which contractors we want to work with, those we don’t, and develop good relationships wherever we can. Established in 2006 in Austin, Austin Underground Inc. builds water, waste-water, storm sewer and duct bank utilities in existing roadways with an emphasis on projects that have some degree of difficulty. –cw

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Construction Forecast Maintaining a great staff is key for 2017 Kevin Smith, President and CEO Equipment Management Services LLC Houston, TX

What is your projection for 2017? I think 2017 will be another good year for the business. We feel good about our market position at the moment. We expect the industry at large to grow and a lot of that is driven by the maritime industry and the Port of Houston’s impact on the container trade. This allows us to have greater inventory of containers. We expect to see an uptick in the service business. It allows us more availability of containers for resale and rental. We are focused heavily on that part of the business. We expect that business component to grow in 2017 as well.

Have you seen any material or cost increases in your industry? We have not seen a dramatic increase in material or supplies costs that we would consume in a normal course of our business. There have been some relatively small increases here and there. We expect to see some increases in steel prices in 2017. That is going to equate to the value of containers at the end of the day. We also expect to see increases in the sellout prices in 2017.

What do you think the keys to success will be for 2017? I think it is important to focus our energy on different components of the market. We have seen an uptick in the construction business as well from a rental perspective. What will be the challenges in the next year? We have some very good competitors. They are out there trying to do the same kind of things we are doing under whatever their management programs are to try and compete in a market that is very active but also very competitive. We look at them as our biggest challenge, and possibly right up there with our competition is our people. We have to maintain a great staff, which we have done a good job of and we are very proud of them. We certainly have to maintain the right people in the right jobs. Have you seen an uptick in commercial construction in Houston? Yes, we have seen an uptick in commercial construction. The commercial side has been good to us from a rental

perspective, especially modified type containers where we might modify one into a mobile office or a mobile job shack in addition to the standard storage needs of contractors. We have also seen a little bit of activity in the residential side which is new to us as far as residential contractors renting containers for different developments and keeping those for a longer period of time. Is there anything you would like to see happen on the local, state, or national levels to benefit the industry? I think in Texas, we have some more advantages than some other states. Texas is small business friendly, contractor friendly and generally a business friendly state. That is a major benefit to the construction industry and us. We have had the opportunity to work in many states over the years and consistently, Texas is a very user-friendly state The only thing we could say to our local, city and state government is to keep that attitude. Equipment Management Services LLC rents and sells containers to the construction and maritime industries. –ab

NEXT MONTH February 2017

Promoting leadership

Construction Safety Call for Ad Space Reservations

(210) 308-5800

2017 Schedule Jan: Feb: Mar: Apr: May: Jun: Members of the LTP class graduated at a ceremony at SeaWorld. L-R: Back row: John Wright, President/CEO, Gilbert Muniz, Jory Reed, Jacob Arocha, Mike Butler, Bruce Schmidt, John Manning, Michael Lopez, Tony Sanchez, Richard Flores, Ron Caccamese, instructor. Front row: Gabriel Pop, Eric Walker, Doug Lippert, Adam Barron, Alex Mojarro, Bill Cummings.

ll companies need leaders in their workforce. Becoming a good leader takes time and training, and local company Alterman recognized that fact. The result was the Alterman Leadership Training Program, whose first crop of trainees graduated Dec. 16 at SeaWorld. A second ceremony, where graduates received their LTP jackets, was at Alterman Dec. 21 during its employee Christmas party. It is the company’s intent to make the class a yearly program. Ron Caccamese, Director of Construction Services, put the program together after seeing the need to develop new and existing leaders. “One of the things we exhibited over the years, because we’re union contractors, is a large amount of our workforce comes the electrician apprenticeship program,” Caccamese said. “They get the technical tools to do their job but they don’t get formalized training in leadership development.”

The 18-night program focuses on different tasks and team-leading skills. Alterman looked for different ways to educate and assist the class on what it takes to be a leader. “We went through different departments within our company,” Caccamese said. “We then looked at general leadership qualities. Things that are important to us. We went to a couple of different books, like “Alpha Dogs” by Mark Breslin, and looked at some of the things he talks about.” The people who were chosen for this year’s program needed certain qualities. “With the group we brought through, the task group had a conversation about who would best be suited to sit through this,” Caccamese said. “We definitely had a target audience and we also wanted a group that we knew we would get good feedback from.” –cs

Construction Forecast Construction Safety Construction Education Women in Construction Concrete Industry HVAC & Plumbing

July: Aug: Sep: Oct: Nov: Dec:

Electrical Industry Service Providers Green Building Specialty Contractors Architecture & Engineering Construction Equipment

San Antonio • Austin • Dallas/Fort Worth • Houston

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Association Calendar

Content submitted by Associations to Construction News ABC Associated Builders & Contractors

Jan. 9: Supervisory Leadership Program Module Start, ABC Office, 6-9pm. Contact Chris Preetorius, chris@abcsouthtexas. org Jan. 9-11: OSHA #502 Update for Construction Industry Outreach Trainers, ABC Office, 8am-5pm. Contact Chris Preetorius, chris@abcsouthtexas.org Jan. 24-26: OSHA #3115 Fall Protection Training, ABC Office, 8am-5pm. Contact Chris Preetorius, chris@abcsouthtexas. org Jan. 25: Happy Hour, Little Woodrow’s Stone Oak, 4:30-6pm. Contact Ruby Trejo, ruby@abcsouthtexas.org Jan. 30: Supervisory Leadership Program Module Start, ABC Office, 6-9pm. Contact Chris Preetorius, chris@abcsouthtexas.org

AGC Associated General Contractors

Jan. 9: General membership and installation of directors luncheon, noon-1:30pm at Sunset Station. Congressman Will Hurd guest speaks. For more information or to make your reservation, call the AGC office at 210-349-4921 or email kwilson@ sanantonioagc.org Jan. 18: OSHA 10 Hr (free), Chapter Office, 8:30am–4pm Jan. 19: OSHA 10 Hr (free), Chapter Office, 8:30am– 3pm Jan. 20: CM-Lean Exam, Chapter Office,

12–4pm. Jan. 23: Proposal Writing Workshop, Chapter Office, TBA Jan. 25: BIM Unit 4: BIM Process, Adoption and Integration, Chapter Office, 8am– 5pm

Members $35, non-members $50. Space limited. 6-8pm Jan. 26: CPR/First Aid Training Spanish. Members $35, non-members $50. Space limited. 6-8pm

ASA

Independent Electrical Contractors

American Subcontractors Association

Jan 9: Accelerated Class begins, IEC Office, 5:30–9:30pm Jan. 16: Continuing Education Meeting, IEC Office, 5–9pm Jan. 19-20: IEC of Greater Texas Regional Meeting, Austin Jan. 21: Electrical Maintenance Technician Class, IEC Office, 8am–5pm Jan. 24-26: National Business Summit, Charleston, SC For more info on these events, contact the IEC office at 210-431-9861 or go to www.iecsanantonio.com

Jan 17: General Membership Meeting, topic: “Myths, Tricks and Tales of the Drug Testing Industry.” 6:30pm, The Petroleum Club of San Antonio Jan 18: Safety Update, 11:30am, presented by Western States Fire Protection

GSABA Greater San Antonio Builders Assn.

Jan. 6: San Antonio Housing Forecast, 7:30am, Omni Colonnade, $75 GSABA members; $90 non-members Jan. 27: SABPAC Chili Cook-Off, 4:30pm, Raymond Russell Park. $35 pre-sale, $45 at the door Contact Lucy Gale at 210-696-3800 for more info.

HCA de San Antonio Hispanic Contractors Association

Jan. 9-10: Free OSHA 10 Hour English. Jan. 18: Installation Banquet, 5:30-8pm, Aggie Park, 6205 West Ave., Guest speakers: Turner and SANA Energy talking about future construction opportunities. Members: $35; non-nembers: $50. Jan. 24: CPR/First Aid Training English.

IEC

MCA–SMACNA Mechanical Contractors Association Sheet Metal & A/C Nat’l Assn.

Jan. 4: Regular and Associates meeting, Oak Hills Country Club, 11:30am. Speaker – Mike White with TCA Jan. 18: Industry Fund meeting, Oak Hills Country Club, 11:30 a.m. Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Walk on the Capitol, Austin Contact Sandee Morgan at 210-822-3763 for more info

NAWIC Nat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

Jan. 4: General meeting, 5:30pm networking, 6pm meeting, Petroleum Club San Antonio. Feb. 1: General meeting, 5:30pm networking, 6pm meeting, at Petroleum Club San Antonio. For more info, check www.nawicsatx.org

PHCC Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors

Jan: 2: 6-9pm, DOL Plumbing Apprentice School spring classes resume Jan. 7,14, 28: Plumbers Continuing Ed Jan. 12-15: Plumbers OSHA-10, 8-hr & 18-hr code classes Jan. 12: 11am, membership meeting, The Petroleum Club; Feb.1: PHCC Texas Walk on the Capitol, Austin For more info: www.phcc-sanantonio.org

TACA TX Aggregates and Concrete Association

Jan. 10-Jan. 11: TACAMP Beginners 2017, Embassy Suites, San Marcos. Call 512-4515100 or register at https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1898584

TACCA TX Air Conditioning Contractors Assn.

Jan. 19: Chapter meeting, lunch. Location TBD. Check accasa.org for more.

Construction News JOB SIGHT

Bringing the heat

Charlie Jackson, far right, owner of Red Hot Signs, and employees George and Jesse spent a cold day installing the sign at the China Sun Restaurant on Naco Perrin Blvd. –cw

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Seasonal shine

Holiday hurrah

aba Kistner’s San Antonio office celebrated the season’s spirit at its annual holiday event Dec. 10 at Oak Hills Country Club, followed by a great Ugly Sweater contest on Dec. 16. Everybody should be ready for good cheer now! –cw

Merry Raba, front and center, leads the human resources department.

PBK employees celebrate the holidays with its annual party.

P Environmental department, including Dr. Tomka, left in front, head of the archaeology department.

Corporate development department, including Vice President Joe Irizarry, back left.

BK San Antonio enjoyed its own holiday and also gave back to the community for its holiday party. On Dec. 1, employees volunteered at the Elf Louise Gift Wrapping Event and delivered gifts on Dec. 20 to families in need. On Dec. 16, the employees of PBK had a potluck, ugly sweater contest, games and went to Dave and Buster’s after work to continue the fun. –cs PBK employees help out the community with the Elf Louise Gifts Wrapping Event.

Congressman Will Hurd stopped by the office for a special picture during the Ugly Sweater contest. L-R: Front: Lisa Wik; middle: Mary Ortiz, D’Anna Wallace, Tausha Rainey, Kim Beckman, Lindy Faires, Kristi Nichols; back: James Velasquez, Mark Luzmoor, Congressman Will Hurd, Barbara Camarco.

Employees enjoy the potluck for its holiday party.

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Plenty to celebrate

Submitted to Construction News

A smashing good time

At Cleary Zimmermann, the team works hard and plays hard, sometimes in unconventional ways. This year, they decided to celebrate the fall season with their very own Pumpkin Chunkin’ contest! Four teams made up of CZ-ers from diverse departments built catapults and trebuchets to launch pumpkins. Winners were: Distance, Thomas Watson; Accuracy, Thomas Watson; and Splat, Don Gonzales, Bill Slough and Randy Barnhill. –cw

alaxy Builders Ltd. specializes in multi-family and commercial projects – and they also specialize in having great parties! On Dec. 2, more than 170 guests gathered at the Kendall Plantation in Boerne to celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary, as well as the upcoming holiday season. Guests enjoyed great food, an awards ceremony, casino games, dancing and making memories at the photo booth. –cw

Rolling present delivery

he non-profit organization Santa’s Rolling Reindeer has been delivering toys to children since 2001. Construction industry companies Quality Fence & Welding and Pro-Line Pavement Maintenance take part in the daylong trip each year. This year, 90 people participated and more than 1,000 kids received toys. The riders went to St. Jude Ranch, HeartLand Children’s Home (Boerne), St. Peters Church, San Antonio Children’s Shelter and the Fisher House. –cw

Gary Walker, Boots Field, Teresa and Craig Noto

Who ever heard of a black reindeer with a 30” front wheel and turbo charge? Mike Crawford, that’s who!

San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

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Reason to celebrate

Christmas rocks

lamo Crane held its annual Christmas party on Dec. 10 at Marvin and Marge Ohlenbusch’s ranch. 169 people attended the event with food provided by Black Tie Affairs Catering and music by Dana Wehrmann and the Ranger Band. Omelets were served up as a to-go meal at the end of the night for the final touch. “We have had this Christmas party for 10 years to get family and old friends together at this season,” Marvin Ohlenbusch said. –cs

VK Architects celebrated two more overwhelmingly successful collections! Jackets for Benchmark Family Services San Antonio Regional Office garnered a whopping 112 jackets and coats

collected! The toy drive for Guiding Angel Foundation to benefit children of Monclova Coahuila, Mexico resulted in two huge boxes filled with toys for all ages. Way to go! –cw

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San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2017

Cookie construction

ompetition brings out the best in people, and RVK Architects brought out its best with some friendly competitions to celebrate the holidays. Not only did the employees get a chance to make an entrance in their ugly sweaters, but also participated in a gingerbread house making contest. The teams of five had an hour to create the most interesting building possible. –cs

Submitted to Construction News

Red Christmas

Big City Access Inc. poses for its holiday photo outside of its office at 1636 Northlake Pass in Universal City. –cs