San Antonio Construction News October 2018

Covering the Industry’s News

Texas Style

P.O. Box 791290 San Antonio, Texas 78279-1290

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CONSTRUCTION

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The Industry’s Newspaper www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 20 H Number 10 H OCTOBER 2018

1998

20 years later

2018

o n i a S nton A T

THANK YOU TO OUR ADVERTISERS, SUPPORTERS AND READERSHIP

he year was 1998. Reesa and Buddy Doebbler were trying to figure out what to do for their next venture.

He had a background in real estate development and the construction industry and she had experience in computers/ graphics and journalism.

There were target market publications out there, but none for the local construction industry - one about all the people, construction-related companies and their trade associations.

Working as a team to develop their concept the two worked day and night for months coming up with the design, editorial format and ad pricing they An eight-page paper mock up complete

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with articles and ads was done and Buddy hit the road to talk with potential advertisers.

Fortunately there were enough people willing to help make the vision real and soon the presses started to roll for the first edition of the San Antonio Construction News in October 1998.

“I remember sitting down with Steven Schultz of Associated Builders and Contractors with my pitch,” said Buddy.

“It didn’t take him long to come on board and ABC along with Lynwood Building Materials has been in every one of our papers for the last 20 years and we are grateful for their support.”

Other companies from the first pa-

per including G.D. Interiors, Holes of San Antonio, Niznik Concrete Contractors have also been a mainstay in the papers for many years.

Through the years the company expanded to other Texas cities - Austin in 2001 and Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston in 2003 to bring the coverage of this great industry and its people to many more readers.

Asked about the highlights of the last 20 years, Reesa and Buddy say that Construct A Kid’s Christmas is at the top.

“It started as a toy drive to help the foster kids at Christmas in 2000,” said Reesa. “And over the years it has grown to become the largest event in the local

construction industry with the toy drive and huge annual Gala,”stated Buddy.

“So many of the trade associations and people in the industry make this happen each year. This is a unique city with people who really care and I don’t think it could happen like this in other areas the way it does here,” said Buddy, “We also have been fortunate to have had so many talented people working with us over the years writing the articles, selling the ads and doing the admin functions of the company AND trying to keep Buddy out of mischief,” says Reesa.

Here’s to 20 more years of covering the construction industry.-dz

Pristine luxury

ounded in 1991 by Arun Verma, Galaxy Builders created a tradition of excellence by delivering impeccable projects to its clients and communities. The company specializes in award winning, turnkey, luxury and affordable multifamily housing throughout Texas.

Galaxy takes great pride in providing a dedicated, accountable and enthusiastic team, while providing unmatched service. It is for these reasons that owner Dalian Development LLC selected Galaxy Builders to construct Dalian Monterrey Village Phase II.

Nestled in the landscape of Westover Hills, Dalian Monterrey Village Phase II is a new 360-unit luxury apartment complex on the Northwest side of San Antonio.

The property provides residents the options of one, two and three bedroom apartments with elegant, top of the line finishes. In addition to the units, the com-

munity houses a lavish clubhouse, expansive pool, Bark Park and many other superior entertainment amenities.

Galaxy Builders began construction in the spring of 2017. The project was completed two months ahead of schedule in Aug. 2018. B&A Architects Inc. designed this $31,882.784 project to allow residents to revel in the enchantment of San Antonio’s vibrant culture, and then retreat to the extraordinary luxury, the Dalian Monterrey Village has to offer.

The project is comprised of wood frame, garden style buildings, asphalt shingles, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, wood cabinetry and combined exterior finishes of stone, stucco and siding.

Although this is the second phase of the Dalian property, it is run as a completely independent complex. The property brings unique amenities to its resiDalian Monterrey Village Phase II

continued on Page 20

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San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

A new company, familiar name

35 years of safety

L-R: Craig Noto, Gary Walker and Steve Gooden

Safety Supply team members pose for a photo with the Safety Supply mobile training unit.

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aving over 30 years experience in the fence and welding business, Craig Noto has taken things a step further. For the past several years, he has been dabbling in structural steel fabrication. This came about from established relationships within the construction industry asking him to fabricate some specialty items in the structural arena.

This struck a chord in Noto. He decided to construct a steel fabrication shop on the back of his property for beams, columns, red iron, etc. Then, five years ago, Noto purchased an overhead bridge crane from a company in Florida and began fabricating structural steel for a variety of construction projects under the assumed name of Quality Steel Fabrication (QSF), a division of Quality Fence & Welding. While things were moving along quite nicely, Steve Gooden came out of retirement, joining the QSF team as the structural steel fabrication department manager, overseeing the estimating of the fabrication division.

Gooden has been in the structural steel business for 43 years. He was involved in the miscellaneous steel pack-

age, stairs and handrails, during the construction of the Alamo Dome and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree. He has a good reputation with the City of San Antonio. After coming on board, Gooden captured a young engineering student from UTSA, Chris Loeffler, who is in his final semester of achieving his degree in Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and has been with the QSF family since 2017.

“We have a pretty good facility out there now,” says Noto. “We’ve built a team that is running quite a bit of steel through there and thought this would be a good time to launch Quality Steel Fabrication officially as a separate division.”

Filing all the necessary paperwork and forms, Quality Steel Fabrication became official in June 2018, performing only straight fabrication of structural items and delivery of such under the direction of shop department manager Gary Walker. He is well versed in large tilt-wall projects, multi-level hotels, multi-level parking garages and large office buildings.

QSF is a complete separate operation with its own diverse group of skilled, experienced craftsmen; production; website; by-laws and certificate of incorporation.

“QSF averages 5060 tons of steel a month and we are in order to grow even bigger. We have the right people to fulfill the structural needs of any job,” adds Noto.

Quality Steel Fabrication is a structural steel fabricator in San Antonio. -cmw

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n 1983, husband and wife team Joan and E.W. Stafford started Safety Supply in Victoria, TX. A few short years later, the duo moved their operation to San Antonio where it has been operating from for a little over 30 years.

Five years ago, when they were ready to retire, they sold their beloved company.

But before they would do that, they wanted to ensure it would remain a family business.

At about that time, Garret Wacaser and his family were looking to move back from Mexico. “I worked in the automotive industry for 15 years making car parts in Mexico. My exit out of Mexico was my entrance into being an entrepreneur and what was important to us when we decided to buy a company was a family business. We did not want a franchise. We wanted to be able to make it our own and something in Central Texas. We were as much being interviewed to be the owners as we were deciding to buy,” reveals Wacaser, president and co-owner.

You have to wonder – why safety when coming from the automotive world? Was it opportunity? And, why safety? Opportunity played a small role in their decision, but mostly it was an ever-changing industry. “It was a lot to do with an industry that is only going to grow. We have the least amount of regulations today in safety as we are ever going to have. It affects every industry base.

It’s in manufacturing, government work, public safety, construction, transportation – if it has people involved with it, then we are involved in the industry. We really like the diversity of its customer base. It’ not economy proof, but it is a lot less dependent upon on a certain niche than anything else, and that was the thing that attracted us the most. That and the fact that Safety Supply had been there 30 years before we got there.”

The company has evolved since Wacaser and his father took over the business. After acquiring Safety Supply, they

purchased a glove company, Southwest Glove & Safety in Fort Worth. “San Antonio is our home base. We have an office in Fort Worth, a stocking location in West Texas and we also operate a location on the board in Eagle Pass and the Mexico sister city in Piedras Negras, Mexico.

“We evolved. We tried to take it from just being an equipment or PPE company and partner with safety conscious companies assisting their efforts in keeping their people safe. We don’t want to just sell to you and be your glove person, your glove supplier. We want to work with you, to train your people, help you identify your risks and make sure you’re using the right equipment.”

Celebrating 35 years in business, Safety Supply treated their customers to an afternoon of fun at Bushwood BBQ on Aug. 29 with a chance at a hole-in-one to win $10,000. Customers and guests were given the opportunity to learn more about their mobile training unit. The mobile training unit is a state-of-the-art classroom on wheels in which individuals are taught, hands-on training built around the entire OSHA and PEC certified curriculum. It’s focused around competency for working heights or fall protection from how to climb ladder systems and vertical descent to rescuing someone. In addition, the mobile training unit is geared for hands-on confined space training from gas detection and monitoring, proper respiratory apparatus use, vertical and horizontal confine space entry and rescue to cascade air systems, breathing tanks with hoses. “We should be able to help employers identify – am I sending this guy to a job that he can actually do and do it safely.

“We were not safety experts when we came in, but it really has been a lot more fun than I had ever expected would be.”

Safety Supply is a safety supplier and service provider based in San Antonio. -cmw

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

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Free, free, free

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eople spend more time at home than they do at work, yet we rarely think about the potential hazards, like fire, that can occur and what we would do. “October is fire prevention month.

What better time to give back to the community,” says Clint? “We want the residential community to know we are here for them as much as we here for the commercial industry. We want the residential side to know they can come here too.

“For the entire month of October, we will give away one free new fire extinguisher per household to anyone who comes by. Homes get forgotten. At home you have just as much danger of fire as you do at a jobsite.”

Living in a disposable society, we as consumers are used to just throwing things away. Any rechargeable fire extinguisher made after 1985 can be serviced and recharged. “We can save a customer half the money of replacing a fire extinguisher by servicing your old.” Of course, there are extinguishers that will have to be disposed of and can be for a minimal

disposal fee. But if you are not sure, October is the month to become aware of just how prepared you and your home are should the unthinkable occur.

For almost 50 years, A-1 Fire & Safety has been providing fire safety services to the construction industry. It is one of the oldest fire and safety protection companies under the same management.

Owner and founder, Jerry Williams started the company in 1971. He started out working on fire extinguishers in his barn. After Jerry’s father, Ray, retired from civil service work, he began helping his son and the two joined forces, providing fire safety services to the construction industry. Upon Ray’s death, grandson Clint Williams bought out his grandfather’s share of the company to partner with his father and carry on the family business.

Jerry and Clint have both worked as firefighters and EMT’s over the years as well as operating A-1 Fire & Safety. And they are always looking for ways to give back.

A-1 Fire & Safety is a fire and safety protection service provider in San Antonio. –cmw

FIRE PROTECTION WEEK OCTOBER 7-13

1 new FREE fire extinguisher per household while supplies last

PICKUP AT 203 E. Rhapsody San Antonio, Tx 78216

San Antonio

CONSTRUCTION NEWS

Call 210-308-5800 or email information to: AustinEditor@ConstructionNews.net HoustonEditor@ConstructionNews.net Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Buddy Doebbler Editorial/Production . . . . . . Reesa Doebbler Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carol Wiatrek Production Manager . . . . Helen Greenwood Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terri Adams Account Manager . . . . . . . . . . . Dana Calonge Editors

Carol Wiatrek Lexie Velasquez

Daniel Zulli Reesa Doebbler

Contributing Editors

Melissa Jones-Meyer Ann Keil Jesse Abercrombie San Antonio Area Counties Atascosa, Bexar, Bandera, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and Wilson counties Construction News Ltd. Home Office P.O. Box 791290 • San Antonio, Tx 78279 210-308-5800 Fax 210-308-5960 www.ConstructionNews.net

DFWeditor@ConstructionNews.net SAeditor@ConstructionNews.net Free Monthly Digital Subscription www.ConstructionNews.net The San Antonio Construction News (ISSN 1547-7630) is published monthly by Construction News LTD., dba San Antonio Construction News, and distributed by mail to construction-related companies of record in Bexar and 7 surrounding counties.

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Construction News, Ltd. , dba San Antonio Construction News, will not be liable for errors in copy or in advertisements beyond the actual cost of space occupied by the error. Publisher reserves the right to reject any advertisement at any time. ©2018 Construction News, Ltd.

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San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Plastics in construction

Changing with the times

L-R: Maria Escobar, Angel Martinez, Jacqueline Roberts and Mario Martinez

L-R: Kyle, Scott and Kevin Cribley of Cribley Enterprises, Inc.

n 2010, Jacqueline Roberts became the new owner and president of Plastic Supply of San Antonio Inc. Coming from the food service industry, taking on plastic was a new adventure with lots of twists and turns.

When Roberts came on board, one of the first things she realized was the former owner was operating “old school,” meaning all pin and paper with no computer. “Can you imagine running a business today with no computer, even eight years ago with no computer,” says Roberts? Of course she had to rectify that obstacle immediately. In addition, she had to find the right software program, and that too would prove to be challenging.

Then she realized her production department only spoke Spanish. This too would be an obstacle to overcome. Fortunately, her longest tenured employee, Mario Martinez, would save the day.

Martinez, who oversees production and has been with Plastic Supply prior to Roberts, knew the operation and products very well. But he too, spoke very little

English. His son Angel Martinez would eventually come on board and broke the language barrier. Angel and his wife, Maria Escobar, would become partners as vice president and secretary, respectively. With the four working together, the company has become a vital source for the construction industry.

“Framers are one of our big customers for specialty work such as shadow boxes and display cabinets. Glass breaks, acrylic does not. More and more contractors are coming in with custom designs that we are able to produce for them locally. They no longer need to reach out of the San Antonio market and we have a quick turn around time. We can fabricate any type of design from cellphone lockers, bases and risers, holders and shelves, sneeze guards for restaurants, furniture, marine windshields to drawer organizers, laminations, cutting boards to restoration work.

Plastic Supply of San Antonio Inc. is a fabricator and supplier of wide range plastic products. -cmw

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cott Cribley is a welder by trade.

Even as the owner of Cribley Enterprises, which does hardscapes and landscapes, he says of himself, “I’m the designated welder here.”

But since he was having difficulty making money as a welder back in the ‘80s, Cribley moved to the landscaping world, doing acreage mowing for homebuilder Ray Ellison,

“I had to go into business for myself,” Cribley said. Of the business world in general, Cribely stated, “Businesses always evolve.”

Thus, he went from welding to the landscaping world, then on to the hardscaping world, doing railroad tie retaining walls. Now, that too has changed, and Cribley transitioned from railroad ties to modular/segmental retaining walls.

Cribley Enterprises officially started in 1994, after first being called BLM. In 2004, Cribley added a landscaping division to his company. In 2015, a commercial landscape and irrigation division began, making them able to handle all

hardscape, landscape and irrigation needs of a client.

Cribley will venture out further, but tries to stay in a 100-mile radius of San Antonio. Their largest job to date is the current one on which they are working: Alamo BMW off I-10.

The hardscaping world is governed by the National Concrete Masonry Association, which has the standards to which one must build in order to account for factors like seismic possibility and water drainage. “Every job is a little bit different,” Cribley said. All the calculations have to be done beforehand so the bid is accurate and there are no surprises when the engineer builds the wall. “No one like a change order,” he said. “We always try to leave a good taste with the owner or a GC.”

Cribley is the first to credit his team. “I still wear a lot of hats, but I don’t wear every hat. I like to hire people better than me.”

That means that the former welder leads his crew in an ever-changing world.

Cribley Enterprises is a hardscape and landscape business in San Antonio. -dsz

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 5

Plumb happy to stay

Dove primer

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he Hispanic Contractors Association de San Antonio (HCAdeSA) held their 4th Annual Paloma Primer on Aug. 31. The event was held at the San Antonio Gun Club, kicking off a three-day weekend with 80 shooters competing for top honors. All Tex Electrical team’s Pito Garcia, Justin Garcia, Andy Arrellano, Brent Toms and Bob Walsh took second place. –cmw

Shawn Roberts and Lynda Neff of Bryco Plumbing.

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ryco Plumbing Company was the first company Shawn Roberts ever worked for, and as far as he is concerned, there is no reason it won’t be his last.

Starting three years after the business opened in 1991, Roberts worked his way up the ranks to become master plumber and supervisor of 12 employees.

Besides the opportunities, however, a chief reason Roberts stays is Bryco owner Bryan Stensrud’s leadership.

“Bryan’s a very good man and he treats everyone really well,” Roberts says.

“Most of our plumbers have been brought up from a helper or an apprentice and taught to do it the way Bryco Plumbing does it. I learned everything from Bryan and try to pass that along to the future plumbers and helpers that work here.”

Roberts says as the business grows with new trucks and services such as epoxy lining, employees stay close-knit.

“We’ve stayed pretty small so we’re more of a family-type business,” Roberts says. “Everybody knows everybody and gets along really well.”

The employees like each other so much that the company annually rents condos in Port Aransas for the team and their families to enjoy. They also band together to help with causes close to their hearts.

“We’ve done a lot of things over the years, like Habitat for Humanity and the Mi Casa makeovers,” Roberts says. “I can remember the flood that happened in Del Rio in 1998 over Labor Day Weekend. A bunch of us got together went down there and helped load the trucks with as much as we could and helped the gas companies down there try to get the gas systems back on.

We try to be charitable when we can be.”

Roberts says Bryco’s opportunities, leadership, camaraderie and stewardship are enough to make anyone stay put, but the “milestone gifts” employees receive seal the deal.

“We get a watch at 10 years and a cruise at 15,” he says. “I’ve almost been here 24 years and it’s been a great company to work for!”

Bryco Plumbing Company is a San Antonio subcontractor. –mjm

1st Place Team: (Tie) Vaquero Group and IBTX – L-R: Joe Ramos, Paychex; Tom Quintero, IBTX; Chester Dratto, IBTX; Clyde Culpepper, Speedway Erection; Bruce Culver, Speedway Erection; and Edward Paper, Vaquero Group

Top Shooter: Edward Pape, Vaquero Group

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San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

from an early age that’s helped me gain the success I’ve had.

Elizabeth Yetman Chavez President/Owner GARREN Construction San Antonio, TX

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ard work and education took firstgeneration American Elizabeth Yetman Chavez from small town beginnings to accomplished business owner. Today, whether she is managing her business, practicing law, acting as a therapist to an employee or performing La Negra with her family’s Mexican folklore dance troupe, her passion for doing her very best always shines through.

Share about your upbringing.

I was born to hard-working parents who owned a slaughterhouse and meatpacking company in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. Although I grew up humbly, my parents instilled in me from an early age that we had to work hard to be successful and that education was the key to future prosperity. Since we had livestock, my siblings and I had to do everything related to taking care of animals. It wasn’t necessarily easy work but it was expected of us, and now my siblings and I can handle any type of work. I’m not afraid to put on steel toes and show up at a job site. It keeps my guys on their toes if they see me work alongside them, even for a little bit.

I’m a first-generation American and I was the oldest of the children in my family. I grew up in a small town and when I went to school, I did not speak English. This was when there were no special programs for children who didn’t.

Back then, you were put in the back of the room until you caught on. My earliest memory of actually understanding what was going on in the classroom was around the second grade. I’ve gone on to get advanced degrees. Still, it was that spirit of hard work that was instilled in me

What degrees did you earn?

Coming from a very small town, when I graduated high school I headed to the biggest city I had ever visited—San Antonio. To me, it was the equivalent of New York City. Though I will always have my roots in the Valley, I now consider San Antonio home. I earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology from St. Mary’s University. I spent some time at Our Lady of the Lake University in a master of social work program, and then I went back to St. Mary’s University to get my law degree. I earned my Juris Doctor there in 2001.

After I sat for the bar exam, I had my first job with a big insurance defense firm, so I was practicing as an attorney before I was even licensed. Talk about pressure. Thankfully I passed the bar on the first try and went on to have a successful legal career before I got into construction.

What attracted you to construction?

When I met my husband, Ramiro Chavez, he had been in construction for a decade. He had that same fire in the belly and work ethic that I had, and I felt that together we could do something great. We founded the company in 2012, and with all of my husband’s experience and contacts, we hit the ground running.

I begged my mother, Alicia Galvan, who had been a career bookkeeper, to leave my father in the Valley and come be my bookkeeper until we got our feet off the ground. In the beginning, it was just the three of us as the management team.

From that, we’ve built up and it’s been a great few years.

How has the company evolved?

The company started as ARS Specialty Contractors. Since then, we have evolved into different companies and subsidiaries. We started with what my husband had been doing for many years, which was decorative concrete and industrial coatings. Now that division, ARS Concrete & Coatings, is just one part who we are.

We got into the installation of gypsum underlayment and lightweight concrete, and with that ARS Floor Systems was born. We brought on Bud Prollock, a 40-year veteran of the gyp industry, from Atlanta, Georgia to head up that division.

GARREN Construction is our general contracting arm. I am at the helm of GARREN and hope to grow it into a commercial and federal contracting firm.

I just received my federal 8(a) status last year, and I know there will be a lot of growth coming from that.

The business has evolved in many ways and it’s all very exciting. We’ve grown to a company of over 50 employees, but we maintain a sense of family among us. Perhaps it’s due to how we started, with just my husband, my mom and me. It brings me satisfaction to know that in building a successful company I am helping to sustain a good life for not only my family but for 50 families. There is nothing better I can do as a business owner than to do that.

How do you connect with employees?

We have a barbecue once a quarter for our guys and a lot of times, we’ll just surprise them as they start rolling in at the end of the day. We’ll have the pit going and have some cold ones in the coolers. We also have an annual employee appreciation party that we do every year.

In my business, I think I use my psychology degree just as much as any other skill I have. There is a couch in my office, and I jokingly say that I provide free therapy sessions. It certainly gets used like that quite a bit, as does my law degree. My employees know I am a licensed attorney, and they come to me if they need help with a legal matter. I always help them out free of charge.

Sometimes I spend a whole day in court with them. I don’t mind helping them because I know if I can relieve that source of stress, they will be a more productive employee.

What plans are you making?

I’m very excited about growing GARREN Construction into a formidable general contractor. I know that other companies have utilized the federal 8(a) program to grow in that regard and get

their company to the next level. I’m not losing sight however that the 8(a) certification is good for only 9 years, so I have a GARREN commercial division that maintains its focus on the commercial market in central and south Texas. We have done some larger concrete jobs and general contracting relating to road and bridge work, and we hope to continue to expand in those areas, as well as others.

What do you do in your free time?

My family and I love to travel. We take one long trip every summer and make use of school breaks and three-day weekends to jet off somewhere. This summer we spent the month of June in South America and went to Peru, Argentina and Chile. Last summer, we spent a month in Europe. Right now, we’re trying to decide where to go next year. It will either be Africa or Australia.

Do you have any hidden talents?

One thing that people might be shocked to know about me is that I danced Mexican folklore dance from the time I was 3 years old until the time I left for college. I danced with my aunt’s dance company, which is highly regarded and has performed all over the world.

She has a yearly extravaganza performance every December. Every few years, I will go back and do one dance, La Negra, as part of her extravaganza finale.

Have any your children worked in the business?

Between my husband and myself, we have five children and four grandchildren. All five of the children have worked for the company at some point.

Our hope is that one or all of them would one day choose to work for us.

I want to build something where any one of our children can work for the company and make a successful, lifelong career of it. Our 14-year old is diagnosed with autism, so it’s very important to me that I build a company where one day he can come and have a lifelong career here.

He is the hardest-working child you will ever meet. He’s worked with our crews, he very much wants to work and earn money and he has specific goals. Children with autism sometimes have fascinations with odd things; he loves washing machines and loves to watch them spin.

He wants a particular brand of washing machine that hasn’t been made since 1987! In his mind, he’s working very hard for that day when he’s going to be able to buy his washing machine. I want to build a company that, if that’s what he wants to do, he can do it.

Will you retire or continue to run GARREN Construction?

We would love it if one of the children ends up running things and sends us our monthly royalty check to our beach bungalow in whatever tropical paradise we’ve decided to spend the rest of our years. If that doesn’t happen, then yes, I will be here to the very end!

General contractor GARREN Construction is in San Antonio. –mjm

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 7

Law of success

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KCA Services Owner Steve Driskill

teve Driskill was weary of car sales when he asked his father-in-law Gaylen Schroeder if he could join him at KCA Services in 1994. Unsure if the business could sustain two families, Schroeder asked Driskill if he could pray on the matter. Eight months later, Schroeder invited his son-in-law to join, not as a partner but as an employee, and with one more condition.

“We made the agreement that communication would have to be No. 1,” Driskill says. “If either of us got mad at the other, we were going to let each other know and not let it build inside of us. That turned out to be the secret to our success, because even though I wasn’t a partner, I acted like a partner. I knew someday I would buy the business from him. I acted like it was my own.”

Driskill, lacking HVAC experience, started in the field and volunteered for undesirable tasks. He almost quit when he thought he may never sell again, but Schroeder invited him to join him on a sales call and they made a great team.

“After about six years of working here, my father-in-law thought I was

doing pretty well and he started taking Fridays and Mondays off,” Driskill says.

“After two weeks, he just never came back! When he stepped out in 2001, I felt like I had a pretty good handle on it, and he was fine going home and just receiving checks. It was nice for him.”

Driskill approached Schroeder about buying the business in 2007, and today owns the business and the land. He also implemented improvements, offering uniforms, health insurance and training for his 25 employees and frequently replacing service trucks.

Driskill’s wife Jimi and daughter Landri have helped in the business, which he appreciates, especially when Schroeder passed away in 2013. It’s a loss Driskill very much feels to this day.

“I was blessed with my father-in-law because most people don’t necessarily get along with their in-laws, but mine have been amazing to help us with this company. The business has been a great blessing to my in-laws and to us by the way that it has provided all these years.”

HVAC contractor KCA Services is in Boerne. –mjm

JOB SIGHTS Headline

After delivering a load of concrete to the McDonald’s remodel jobsite on Jones Maltsberger, Chris Challenger, Ingram Ready Mix washes out the discharging chutes on his truck. -cmw

Andreas Torres, Guadalupe Plastering performs prep work at the McDonald’s remodel project. -cmw

The leap

Valentine Zuniga with First American Construction makes ready for the installation of acoustical ceiling panels at the new C-Store at Nacogdoches Rd. and Iota Dr. -cmw

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L-R: Daniel and Steven Garcia, co-owner of Bluerock Construction Group

rothers Daniel and Steven Garcia look to their grandparents as their inspiration to be entrepreneurs, opening their own construction company, Bluerock Construction Group, in 2015. “We are the third generation going into construction,” says Daniel. “It all started with our grandpa.”

Struggling to make ends meet, the boys’ grandpa decided to venture out on his own while working for a concrete company in 1972 establishing FM Garcia Construction. Just ten short years later, the second generation of the Garcia family would venture out to do the same with Daniel and Steven’s father and their uncles who would start FARR Builders.

Now with a desire to carry on what seems to be a family legacy, the two brothers are making a name for themselves in the private sector of construction. While their first big project was a multi-family project, the duo is dabbling into all segments of construction.

“We got started doing a 10-unit apartment complex. That’s just how we got started. But we are doing a little bit of everything,” adds Steven. “We mainly focus on project management. we have some skilled laborers that do certain things like concrete. Our main thing is project managing.”

While Daniel and Steven are 33 and 29 years of age respectively, the two are taking a modern approach to business by utilizing the world of social media. This seems to be working well for them as 98 percent of their calls from their social media sites.

“If grandpa had not made that leap to start his own company, I don’t know what we would be doing now. We probably would not have our own business. It’s just funny how that one decision changed the whole course for generations and that’s something we cherish and we take pride in,” agree Daniel and Steven.

Bluerock Construction Group is a general contractor in San Antonio. -cmw

L-R: Raymund and David Gonzales with Concepts Construction LLC make a tedious task after a heavy down pour look like fun. Their jobsite, a new two-story, 3,200sf office building was a little saturated. -cmw

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San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Tax law impacts accounting Scott Allen, CPA, Tax Partner Cornwell Jackson Plano, TX

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any commercial construction projects can extend beyond one year. Federal tax law provides special rules for accounting for these long-term contracts (Internal Revenue Code Section 460). The rules apply to all long-term contracts unless the contract is exempt due to several exceptions provided by the tax law.

Not a Long-term Contract These contracts are not considered a long-term contract, and are therefore exempt from the accounting for long-term contract rules.

• Contracts with architects, engineers • or construction management • Contracts for industrial and commercial painting • Contracts completed before the end of the same tax year the contract commenced • Contracts with de minimis (minor) elements of eligible construction activities Exempt for AMT Purposes Any individual business owner who is subject to Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) must use the percentage of completion accounting method on long-term contracts, unless the business structure is a small C Corp (eff. 2018) or engages exclusively in home construction contracts (80% or more of the estimated total costs are expected to be attributable to 1) buildings containing 4 or less dwelling units and 2) improvements to real property located at the building site and directly related to the dwelling unit)

Talk to your CPA to determine if you will be subject to the increased AMT threshold for single or married filing jointly tax status.

To track expenses and income on non-exempt long-term contracts, contractors are typically required to use the “percentage of completion” accounting method for income tax reporting. The main disadvantage of this method is the inability to do much tax planning or tax deferment for things like accrued losses, uninstalled materials or retainage receivables, which can result in accelerated taxable income when compared with other accounting methods.

One of the exceptions to the tax law applies to companies with average gross receipts for the prior three years under $10 million. Under the new tax law effective for 2018, that threshold has been raised to $25 million. Now, long-term contracts of companies with average annual gross receipts under $25 million are considered exempt from the restrictive and complicated rules of Code Section 460.

For companies with average annual gross receipts above $25 million, compliance with the tax rules under Code Section 460 remains your only option.

If your CPA has not talked to you about the potential tax saving benefits of a different accounting method for your nonexempt long-term contracts — or explored if your company’s long-term contract status is now exempt — this year is a good time to ask about it. Because the accounting method chosen for each longterm contract must remain the same through the life of each contract, choosing the right accounting method is critical for any new long-term construction contract in 2018.

What is a long-term contract?

Before we explore various accounting methods, here is the simple definition of a long-term contract according to the tax code.

• Long-term contracts are those that on the contract commencement date are reasonably expected to not be completed by the end of the tax year.

Ironically, under this definition, a contract that is expected to take a week to complete could be a long-term contract.

For example, if a contractor with a calendar year-end begins work on December 27 and expects to end on January 2 – the contract is a long-term contract.

Due to the complexity of accounting for long-term contracts tax rules — with their exceptions — as well as the variable nature of construction revenue, we often find that contractors are using a catch-all accounting method across all contracts.

The key pitfalls of using the same accounting method for all long-term contracts over time may include: • paying tax earlier than necessary; • potential noncompliance with IRS rules as the company’s revenue grows; • and noncompliance discovered during an IRS tax audit, which could result in additional taxes and penalties.

For more information on Tax Law Changes and how they will affect your company, read November’s Accounting Column.

Scott Allen, CPA, joined Cornwell Jackson as a Tax Partner in 2016, bringing his expertise in the Construction and Oil and Gas industries and 25 years of experience in the accounting field. As the Partner in Charge of the Tax practice at Cornwell Jackson, Scott provides proactive tax planning and tax compliance to all Cornwell Jackson tax clients. Contact him at Scott.Allen@cornwelljackson.com or 972-202-8032.

Strong return to work strategy; key to good Workers’ Comp experience Wes Pitts, Sr. V.P. and Southwest Regional Construction Practice Leader for USI Southwest USI Southwest Austin, TX

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’d like to share a best-practice strategy that can change your Workers’ Comp. experience for the better. Strongly consider a dedicated person to manage your Workers’ Comp. claims. This person needs to be genuinely caring for the welfare of your employees, but also a tough “bull dog” personality type. You want to be prepared with a strategy of using Return to Work and a Bona Fide Offer of Employment Letter (get sample from your agent and put on your letterhead) on all cases of an injured employee getting hurt, going to get checked out by the treating doctor and the doctor releasing them to light or modified duty, which is always what you want as an alternative to just sending them home off work.

A full release with no restrictions is ideal, but this is the next best strategy if released by the doctor with restrictions.

Establish relationship with occ. med. clinic (in-network with carrier if elected) that supports your goals of returning employees to work. Your claims manager should constantly be on the doctor to see your employee, and constantly on the employee to get in to the doctor. Call and press the doctor prior to seeing your injured employee how important this is, and that you have light and/or modified duty positions for the injured employee available either at your job site, your office, or in your yard/shop, and may be as restrictive as just sitting watching safety videos– need to be able to accommodate the restrictions the doctor sets per his release with the DWC-73 work status form. As soon as the doctor sees your injured employee and assuming they are released to return to work with restrictions, that same day you want to provide to your injured employee your bona fide offer letter (with copy of DWC-73 attached) and ask for their written acceptance or declination by a reasonable time that same day (we actually amend the typical bona fide offer letter by adding two signature options at the bottom: Injured Employee Name, I accept the offer of temporary, modified-duty job assignment; and Injured Employee Name, I decline the offer of temporary, modifiedduty job assignment). If they accept and don’t show up they may eventually be subject to termination just like any other employee that doesn’t show up (not that that removes the WC claim), and if they decline in writing, that could be same as their willingly terminating their employment and you might just write them a letter back acknowledging their desire to terminate employment with you. The main goal is to try to mitigate your Workers’ Comp. claim (have better experience on your Workers’ Comp., which is going to translate into a better modifier and better rates versus your peers) while positively bringing your injured employee back to their full duty, and often the dynamic of using this bona fide offer letter and bringing them back in on light/modified duty at same pay will motive them to want to get back to full duty. Same pay is recom-

mended because you want to try to keep the claim medical only, no lost time–important because if the claim is medical only and coded this way by your carrier then NCCI for purposes of your experience modifier calculation will discount the claim by 70%. If the injured employee resigns or you terminate them that does not mean the WC claim just goes away, but it does often put you in a better position in ability to potentially remove a “bad apple” from your workforce. The most important thing this strategy accomplishes is the perception among your workforce that, “when you’re employed here you won’t just get off work with a WC claim.”

They are expected to return to modified/ light duty immediately! This strategy begins to make a difference because they all talk to each other.

To run with this on Workers’ Comp. claims need to: 1. Get employee to treating doctor asap, reach out to employee and doctor, discuss game plan, your desire to get them back to work, was he released to full or restricted duty? You are seeking a Work Status Report (DWC-73). 2. Clinic needs to follow any post-accident drug and alcohol screen requirement. 3. Get claim form DWC-1 filed with carrier as first notice. 4. Place bona fide offer letter on letterhead and send to the individual consistent with restrictions in DWC-73 (attach it to letter), and get this to the employee immediately after being seen and released. 5. A new bona fide offer of modified duty must be executed every time a worker’s restrictions change (after each follow up doctor appt.-attach the latest DWC-73 from doctor), accommodate updated restrictions (hopefully, able to perform more duties each time)..until released to full duty. 6. Work closely and weekly with carrier assigned adjuster on the claim with goal of getting it brought to a close.

Involve your agent’s claims manager or your producer as needed anytime and keep us updated of status or any questions with the claim.

Wes Pitts is a Sr. Vice President and Southwest Regional Construction Practice Leader for USI Southwest - Austin, TX. 512651-4107, or Wesley.pitts@usi.com

METRO breaks ground

Metropolitan Contracting (METRO) held a groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 29 for the construction of the new LYND corporate headquarters. The new three-story, 35,000sf facility is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2019. L-R: Bill Hill, Shavano Park City Mgr.; Billy Classen, KFW Engineers; Bob Werner, Shavano Park Mayor; Steve Schuetze, Metropolitan Contracting; Matt Merritt, LYND; Dave Lynd; Mr. & Mrs. Mike Lynd, Sr. -cmw

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 9

Getting your I-9 house in order J. Shannon Gatlin, Senior Counsel Cokinos | Young, P.C. Houston, TX

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rom the 2016 Presidential campaign up through the furor over separation and detention of immigrant families this summer, immigration has been a top priority of President Donald Trump and his administration.

Regardless of your personal politics, if you are an employer in construction or any related industry, you are in the crosshairs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) now more than ever before. In today’s climate, Texas construction companies and others in related fields must take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act (“IRCA”), the federal law requiring the use of I-9s.

IRCA has three major requirements for employers: (1) complete I-9s for all employees within three days of the start of employment; (2) retain I-9s and any related documentation for government inspection; and (3) do not discriminate against employees or applicants based on their immigration status. ICE’s primary enforcement responsibilities concern the first two of these requirements. To that end, in the first seven months of fiscal year 2018, ICE had already conducted approximately double the number of worksite investigations and I-9 audits compared to all of fiscal year 2017. The Trump Administration has promised to quadruple the number of ICE enforcement actions from the Obama years, and has instructed ICE to develop a process that would allow it to conduct over ten times the number of I-9 audits conducted in fiscal year 2017, when employers paid more than $105 million in penalties for I-9 violations.

IRCA’s requirements for completing I-9s are not difficult but they are strict, and any failure to complete a necessary step or to complete the form within the required timeframes can subject an employer to monetary penalties. Establishing certain best practices and bearing in mind a few key points can help your company stay on the right side of the law if ICE pays a visit.

When it comes to filling out I-9s, the employee must complete Section I of the form by the end of the first day of work, while the employer must complete and sign Section II by the end of the third day after the employee has begun working.

An employer must review original documents evidencing a worker’s identity and employment authorization when completing Section II. Employers cannot require workers to provide a specific type of documentation, but instead must ac-

cept any of the approved documents listed in the instruction sheet that accompanies Form I-9; requiring particular documents is a form of discrimination known as “document abuse.” If an employee has employment authorization documents that expire, then Section III of the I-9 must be completed to reflect any renewed employment authorization.

For ease of compliance with any ICE actions, retain I-9 forms and photocopies of presented documents for each employee in a file separate from employee personnel files. These records must be retained for at least three years after hire or one year after termination, whichever is longer. Because an employer has only 72 hours to submit documents to ICE after receiving a records request, I-9s and related photocopies should be organized to allow for easy sorting and access. Employers should use outside counsel to conduct self-audits of their I-9 records and procedures every two or three years so that the self-audit and any related communications are protected by attorney-client privilege.

By following the above steps, your company can rest assured that it is wellprepared for an audit or investigation if ICE comes calling, and the odds of that happening grow with each passing day.

J. Shannon Gatlin is Senior Counsel in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young, P.C. Mr. Gatlin has been Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2014, and has practiced labor and employment law on behalf of companies nationwide since 2009. Mr. Gatlin can be reached at (713) 535-5504 or sgatlin@cokinoslaw.com.

Construction News ON LOCATION

Stone of the realm

Empire Countertops LLC’s team L-R: Steve Hearn, Frank McClellan, Mitch Mahoney, Robin Mahoney, Victor Montoya and Patrick Tonick greet Construction News before showing off their product line in Garden Ridge, TX. -cmw

Some frequently asked questions about the OSHA Silica law Joann Natarajan Compliance Assistance Specialist OSHA Austin, TX

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SHA’s silica standard for construction applies to all occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica in construction work, except where employee exposures will remain below 25 μg/m3, calculated as an 8-hour Time Weighted Average, under any foreseeable conditions. The exception applies only where exposures below 25 μg/m3 as an 8-hour TWA are expected or achieved without using engineering or other controls.

1. Has OSHA identified specific tasks that are likely to be outside the scope of the law because they typically generate exposures below the Action Limit of 25 μg/ m3 as an 8-hour Time Weighted Average under all foreseeable conditions?

Yes. When the following tasks are performed in isolation from other silicagenerating tasks, they typically do not generate silica at or above the AL of 25 μg/m3 as an 8-hour Time Weighted Average under any foreseeable conditions: mixing small amounts of mortar; mixing small amounts of concrete; mixing bagged, silica-free drywall compound; mixing bagged exterior insulation finishing system (EIFS) base and finish coat; and removing concrete formwork. In addition, tasks where employees are working with silica-containing products that are, and are intended to be, handled while wet, are likely to generate exposures below 25 μg/m3 under any foreseeable conditions (examples include finishing and hand wiping block walls to remove excess wet mortar, pouring concrete, and grouting floor and wall tiles).

2. Does the OSHA law cover workers who they are exposed to silica for 15 minutes per day?

The standard does not include a specific exemption for tasks with exposures for 15 minutes a day or less. However, employees who perform construction tasks for very short periods of time, in iso-

lation from activities that generate significant exposures to silica, will be exposed below 25 μg/m3 as an 8-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA) under any foreseeable conditions. Short-term silica exposures must be very high in order for those exposures to reach or exceed 25 μg/m3 as an 8-hour TWA; for example, if an employee is exposed for only 15 minutes, his or her exposure would have to be higher than 800 μg/m3 for that 15-minute period before the 8-hour TWA exposure would be at or above 25 μg/m3.

Some examples of tasks that could generate very high short-term exposures include abrasive blasting and grinding, which are typically associated with high levels of visible dust.

OSHA has identified carpenters, plumbers, and electricians as types of workers who may perform tasks (e.g., drilling with a handheld drill) involving occasional, brief exposures to silica that are incidental to their primary work. Provided that these employees perform these tasks in isolation from activities that generate significant exposures to silica, and perform them for no more than 15 minutes throughout the work day, their exposures will usually fall below the Action Limit of 25 μg/m3 as an 8-hour TWA under all foreseeable conditions; when that is the case, these employees will not be covered by the law. natarajan.joann@dol.gov 512-374-0271 x232

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San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Construction News ON LOCATION

Caught in the act

Up for the challenge

Construction News greeted Francisco Villalobos with Beldon Roofing Company while picking up supplies. - cmw

Gabriel Sanchez

Construction News ON LOCATION

Supplier visit

L-R: Lance Thormaehlen, Ray Ortiz, David Medrano, Chris Carr, John Hernandez and Mike Guerra with HD Supply Construction & Industrial Supply, White Cap were ready to visit with Construction News. -cmw

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abriel Sanchez once had nowhere to go but up. Raised in a tough neighborhood by what he describes as an even tougher family, he managed to find stability in the Marine Corps. He lost it two years later, when he was released on hardship due to a family member’s illness.

Without the daily structure, he found himself slipping back into bad habits. Then, the unexpected happened.

“I became a young, single dad and basically had no help,” Sanchez says. “I slept on the floor for almost a year and a half, but I made sure my boy had everything he needed. I became a Ramen Noodle chef expert, and was so good at it they offered me my own show! I knew I needed to do something with my life.”

After getting basic electrical training through Job Corps in 1995, he started working as a floater for a large electrical company, and then built substations for a utility company. He earned an associates degree in the electrical trades from St. Philips College, discovered he was wellsuited for air-conditioning work and passed his journeyman’s license test on the first try.

When a maintenance job didn’t work out as he’d hoped, his girlfriend encouraged him to apply to the San Antonio Police Department. Ten months after applying, he was notified that he had been selected out of more than 6,000 applicants to become an officer. He had hoped to make it, but in the meantime, he had been building his business, Black Belt AC and Electric. He decided he would simultaneously pursue both career paths.

“I started the business in 2006,“ Sanchez says. “It was just me at first, but I hustled and hired guys. I’m busy, but I don’t make excuses and I get results.”

In his 24 years as an electrician, 22 years as an AC expert, and 12 years as a business owner, Sanchez has found a circle of support that he didn’t always have as a kid.

“One of my mentors, Mr. Timothy Edwards, my AC instructor from St. Philips College, told me to surround myself with good people, people who have good

intentions for me,” Sanchez explains.

“That’s what I started doing. I started surrounding myself with good people that had good intentions for me, great mentors.

Some people I met in the trades, business owners, gave me outstanding advice.”

He has built his team of six employees and continues to keep a busy business schedule, but has no plans to complicate that with growth.

“Right now, I’m still a small company and I think I’m going to stay small,” he says. “If I get too big, I’m constantly going to have to be feeding the machine and then I lose that quality control. I prefer quality over quantity.”

While Sanchez enjoys beating the heat for San Antonio residents, it’s his beat he covers as a police officer that holds a special place in his heart.

“The thing I enjoy about being a cop is that I patrol the same ‘hood I grew up in. I’ve changed a few kids’ lives around,” he says. “They freak out when they know my background.”

Sanchez hopes to show the kids he meets that tough beginnings can still result in happy endings. It happened for him, and it can happen for them, too.

“I’m not a victim, and I don’t play the victim card,” he says. “It made me the man that I am now. I had a lot of anger towards my family who were always very negative towards me. Out of that anger, I’m now where I’m at.”

Sanchez says he sometimes notices that respect has diminished for those working on the police force or in the trades. He wants to show others by his example that both of his careers carry a high amount of dignity.

Now that he’s up, he can look back at his troubled early life and appreciate the blessings – and lessons about himself – that it brought him.

“What I love most are the hard customers; it’s a challenge,” he says with a laugh. “And, I love to prove people wrong.”

Subcontractor Black Belt AC and Electric is in San Antonio. –mjm

Aiding construction in schools

Matching what the employees of Setien and Associates raised, owner Domingo Setien and his employees gave the money raised to the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD Career & Technology Education Department. The money will help purchase supplies and equipment pertaining to the district’s architecture and construction courses at Samuel Clemens High School and Byron P. Steele High School. -cmw

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

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Tiling San Antonio

Jacob Fernandez, owner of Fernandez Ceramic Tile (right), with brother Sam (left).

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acob Fernandez and his seven siblings all worked for dad’s tiling business growing up. Jacob is the youngest. Now, he’s the owner of dad’s company, Fernandez Ceramic Tile, and one of his older brothers - Sam - works for him.

When dad got ready to retire, he didn’t want someone from outside the family to buy the business, and Fernandez took it over in 2013. He was thinking about going into kinesiology and coaching after high school. Instead, he became the second-generation family member to go into the tile business.

Occasionally, during the busier spring and summer months, Fernandez will hire more help. Otherwise, it’s just him and his brother. He wouldn’t mind having his oldest son become the third generation, but for the moment, he’s too young to follow suit.

They do all things tile, but do mostly showers. They are “our favorite thing to do,” he said. Fernandez did all the tile work at Ben & Jerry’s on the Riverwalk.

Fernandez inherited hardwood floors from his dad, but soon dropped

doing them. Of course, nowadays, one can get ceramic tile that looks just like hardwood. Best of both worlds.

When it comes to doing the fancier jobs, Fernandez likes those. “The more intricate, the better,” he said. “We like being challenged.” For one reason, “It makes the day go faster” when they have to concentrate more.

Fernandez stays mostly in San Antonio, but has gone as far south as Kennedy and north to Austin/Round Rock. Many homeowners already have an idea of what they want, getting patterns from websites like Pinterest. Fernandez says, “In the tile business, things go out of style in six months.” Therefore, he does what’s called “timeless tile,” which won’t go out of style should a homeowner sell in a couple of years.

Someday, Fernandez would like to open a tile store and sell to the public, in addition to still being a tile installer.

“When I put my name on something, I expect it to be a high quality job.”

Fernandez Ceramic and Tile is in San Antonio. -dsz

The business of friendship

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John Clark, vice president of All In Construction

ost childhood friends simply stay in touch over the years, but Raul Ortiz and John Clark took it to the next level and started a business together.

Ortiz had a wealth of experience in a wide range of trades, but he knew he couldn’t sustain the hard manual labor in his later years. He approached his pal Clark, a third-generation contractor, about starting a construction company.

“I had other projects going on, but around 2014 and it became a better fit,” Clark says. “We decided with the economy changing it was a better time to get into the construction side of things. With our backgrounds, relationships and knowledge, it was a good tandem. We had a lot to offer.”

The duo founded All In Construction and took on small parking lot and street work. Four years later, the company focuses solely on civil projects including dirt work, site work, utilities, concrete and asphalt. The HUD zone company received minority status and TxDOT certification, but its proudest achievement is its employees.

“We’re really big on second chances.

We believe there are many people who make mistakes in life; nobody is perfect,” Clark, the company’s vice-president, says.

“We have many people that we have taken chances with that other firms wouldn’t. We work with shelters and organizations where we have open line with probation officers for people who have special cases and we try to help. Giving back to the community is a big thing that Raul instilled in me. Raul says that if we don’t practice giving back, it’s not worth being in business.”

“We’ve been very fortunate to take advantage of opportunity,” Ortiz, who serves as president, adds. “We give back because God has been good to us and has been good to me, for sure.”

Work has already taken them to Austin, Laredo, as well as Dallas, where they are opening a shop. Together, the friends are looking forward to the future.

“We want to sustain growth, make sure we’re doing it right, not growing too quick or too big,” Clark says. “We’re really becoming a great company.”

All In Construction is a San Antonio civil contractor. –mjm

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San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Plastic yup

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Cutting the Ribbon

IPEX marketing development specialist Tony Lopez shows off a duraflo gooseneck roof exhaust vent.

uraflo/IPEX USA LLC (IPEX) marketing development specialist Tony Lopez enjoys coming to Texas to sing the praises of the plastic mold manufacturer’s products. However, contractors who have seen other manufacturers’ weather- or delivery-damaged plastic products struggle to pick up the tune.

“I know that can be a hurdle for some contractors throughout the Texas market; they’re used to an aluminum or metal-type product category,” Lopez says. “However, we specialize in innovating against inclement weather, which can be pretty big in the Texas markets. We also back many of our products up with a pretty strong 35year warranty, since we’ve got UV protection built into that product material. We know it’s going to withstand.“ Denver-based parent company IPEX offers municipal, plumbing, mechanical, industrial and electrical products for a wide range of applications. Lopez focuses on Duraflo, the ventilation division within that, but says IPEX uses its larger focus as a plastic mold manufacturer to “achieve whatever product industry we need to.”

IPEX is so sure it can convert Texas con-

tractors it recently devoted Houston warehouse space to ventilation products.

“That is something we didn’t always have and that helps us in terms of the distribution point,” he says. “We get the product out to contractors, distributors and supply houses much faster.”

Because most of his time is spent in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Lopez serves as Texas clients’ first point of contact. He also relies on Doug Stein for North Texas clients and Jerry Stein to help Central/South Texas contractors.

There is also a regional manager/sales manager in each state, and Lopez hosts contractor appreciation events.

“Our plan is to make sure that we target Texas as a whole and that we’ve got coverage there,” Lopez says. “We’re seeing traction in the Houston and Dallas markets; some are already hopping on board at the contractor and distributor level. We want to see it grow and populate the market with resources so they have anything they need.”

IPEX Companies design and manufacture thermoplastic piping systems. –mjm

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he long awaited new location for ASCO Equipment officially celebrated their grand opening and ribbon cutting on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. Located at 1920 SE Loop 410, the new facility sits on 62 acres of land with 45,600 sf of building area.

The event brought together ASCO’s ownership, high-ranking officials of CASE Construction Equipment, customers, suppliers and special guests.

The festive event with Rinny Johnson of ASCO acting as MC introduced those attending to the company’s history, ownership and other staff members. There were also comments from key CASE executives.

The new facility was designed with 15,000 sf dedicated for sales and rental operations, a 25,000 sf service shop including 14 super bays, and 5,600 sf of warehouse.

“We had several goals to accomplish with the construction of our new San Antonio location,” said ASCO CEO Brax Wright.

“We wanted our customers to recog-

L to R: Kyle Smith, John Wright, Chase Key, Courtney Vanderham, Brax Wright, CEO, Steve Wright, President and Rinny Johnson.

nize our commitment to their business and the construction machinery market in Central Texas. Second, our new facility will increase our ability to provide the superior level of customer service in sales, rental, parts and service both we and our customers desire.”

“We are excited about Central Texas, the economy and our business and customer base here. We have done very well here since 2009 so it was an easy project to justify.

“It is the biggest and best we have done so far. In fact, we are so happy with it we are taking it to Houston next and then Dallas after that. Same design and we are already working on it in Houston,” continued Wright.

The project design was by Acuform Architecture and Hooker Contracting was the general contractor.

ASCO Equipment was founded on 1960 as Associated Supply Company in Lubbock, Texas. The company operates 23 locations in Texas and eastern New Mexico. New Mexico. - bd

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 13

can be tailored to your specific needs.

For pricing and availability please contact me at one of the numbers below.

I will also be scheduling my winter wade fishing trips in Port Mansfield starting in late January through March. These trips are strictly wading with artificial lures for trophy trout. Trips are minimum two days with accommodations and do book up fairly quickly, so don’t hesitate.

My 2019 calendar is now open for bookings for the entire fishing season. To schedule your next bay fishing trip or hunting adventure give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716 or 361-3343105 or e-mail me at SteveSchultzOutdoors@gmail.com. Good Luck and Good Fishing.

Struggling at the end of the line

by Capt. Steve Schultz Sponsored by: Waypoint Marine, Shoalwater Boats, Evinrude Outboards, Fishing Tackle Unlimited, E-Z Bel Construction, Costa Sunglasses, Diawa Reels, Simms Fishing, ForEverlast Fishing Products, Interstate Batteries, MirrOlure, JL Marines PowerPole, AFW and AFTCO Clothing

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s we approach the end of the summer season, I can’t help but reflect back on what a great season it has been. Granted, trout fishing has tapered off in the last month due to weather and higher than normal tides. With the aftermath and destruction that was left after Hurricane Harvey, coastal bend guides were wondering if they would have a chance at all getting clients to come fishing. All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good year up to now. Fall and winter fishing is also shaping up to be pretty good for me also.

Lately, the area has been experiencing a lot of tropical rains and high tides due to the activity in the Gulf of Mexico.

Combination of high tides and fresh water in our bay system has made it a bit more challenging to say the least. The areas we have been wading and catching

Daniel Bodie, San Antonio, hooked this 25-inch redfish free lining piggy perch in the land cut with Steve Schultz Outdoors.

decent numbers of fish are now too deep to wade. Fishing out of the boat is an option. However, you don’t catch the numbers or see the better quality of fish as you do when wading. Our saving grace this fall has been the large schools of redfish and black drum that usually show up this time of year. As you have probably noticed, there have been lots of pictures of these fish hanging on boards all over social media. These fish will stay in the

area until the first few cool fronts start arriving later this month.

Moving into the winter months, I will continue some winter fishing but will also concentrate on guided whitetail deer hunts and exotic hunts for axis and black buck. I have access to several private ranches and can accommodate single hunters to larger corporate groups.

These are all inclusive hunt packages that

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San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

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

Here came the RAINS!

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ust when we were thinking we were about to be in big trouble again, here came the rain. We had so much heat this summer and so little rain, everyone was getting worried. It seemed that wildfires were getting way too frequent and hard to fight. We were beginning to think we would run out of water before we ran out of summer.

Up here on Lake Buchanan, we don’t have an aquifer to rely on, only granite rock that might have you a crack that holds water or not. When the lake level falls, all too often we have to say good bye to our wells too. Lots of folks end up high and dry for even household water and nothing is sadder than having to watch old oak trees die for lack of water knowing you can’t save them.

Now days when it rains here, it is like a holiday, a sacred thing that we don’t take for granted.

Along with the rain came the cool cloudy days we needed to start the transition into fall and I think we are all embrac-

ing that! The hunter’s ears perk up at all the doves flying overhead and it is hard to go down the road for all the nice bucks that are parading around. I’ll never know how the bucks can be so bold this time of year, out showing off their nice new horns, only to disappear when deer season opens. Deer are a lot smarter than we think. Acorns are beginning to drop off the oak trees and the deer and turkeys will be happy to find them.

Fishing is changing seasons too. The bit of nice fresh water from the rain brings in mud and nutrients that stir up the hot summer layers of water. Algae blooms energize the whole food chain of the lake and everybody gets plenty to eat so they can grow and get ready for spawning next spring.

Stripers suffer in our Texas heat and lose their appetite, so this cooler water turns them into eating machines making up for lost meals that will often give us some real nice top-water fishing in the upcoming weeks. Catfish can be found along humps in river channels. Crappie will be holding on deep structure. White bass will be found on humps, with large-

mouth bass ranging up the warmer creeks. Fishing is pleasant this time of year and the catching can be some of the best of the year.

I’m looking forward to campfires and s’mores and watching the big old harvest moon rise over the lake. I love the comradery of the deer camp and all the tall

tales that go with it.

It doesn’t matter if you head for the pasture or the lake, maybe take off for a gridiron road trip, or just head out to some of the local Fall festivals, it’s time to get back outside and remember all the things we love about Texas!

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

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Page 15

Of all things to sea

he outdoors is an escape from our concrete jungles. Travel can take you out of your comfort zone. Words can hardly express what was experienced in Mexico. All I can say is there is so much to indulge in, not just comida y tequila.

We embraced the Caribbean Sea waves while taking a sailboat to the wellknown Isla de Mujeres, a Mexican island in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Cancun. There we discovered the aquatic life while snorkeling. We swam with schools of fish! The Caribbean Sea is more than a clear blue ocean; it is a breath taking view of underwater life.

Xoximilco, Xoximilco! That chant will never be forgotten, nor will the food.

Crickets along with a taste of traditional cuisines of Mexico were on the menu

during our gondola dinner tour into the canals of Xoximilco. The Aztecs are known to have built the canals.

The Xel-ha Park is an aquatic theme park. You can explore the Mayan covered cenote (cave) with snuba, a snorkel and scuba activity that takes you 30 ft. below the water. The beauty beneath the ocean is remarkable and the history of these attractions is enlightening.

Cancun is full of life, entertainment and culture. Not only did I visit the country, I discovered the purpose of visiting.

The Spanish language will bring out your true Mayan.

When was the last time the outdoors took you out of your comfort zone? Where was your last outdoor adventure? What activity did you participate in? Share it. –lv

Right: Lexie Velasquez smiling and snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea.

Lexie inside the Xel-ha Mayan cave.

Submitted to Construction News

Wow-eye

Steve White, co-founder AmeriCRANE Rentals LP caught this 33-in. walleye while fishing in Lake Erie, PA Aug. 12. -cmw

Family and new friends enjoying dinner, music and drinks on the Xoximilco gondola tour.

Lexie 30 feet below to view the underwater caves.

Page 16

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Be yourself

From NY to SA

Chester Bull, co-owner of Air Authority.

C AC American Air Owner Victor Pozos

T

his story started in Mexico City with father Victor Pozos and his son Manuel Pozos.

Victor started to study engineering while living in Mexico. That gave him an outlook on general engineering and how things worked. When they moved to the U.S., Victor didn’t speak English. He found work as a maintenance worker for apartment complexes. After that he worked for bigger companies where he learned more about the air conditioning trade. He also learned the English language.

Victor decided to start his own company when he became a master AC technician. Today he is the owner of AC American Air based in San Antonio. The company started in 2011.

Victor and Manuel have been in the U.S. for 22 years. “I myself was in school for two years and [now] I am back in school studying mechanical engineering. I sold cars for about two years and after that I joined my dad. I realized I can help with the business side of things,” explained Manuel.

Manuel is the general manager for American Air. Indeed, the company is family-owned and operated. They are as well licensed and insured. Their services include both commercial and residential.

American Air has been serving the San Antonio area for seven years and will work as far as Rockport, Austin, Corpus Christi and Dallas.

Manuel explains what type of company they are and what they prefer to do.

“We are the type of company that diagnoses everything. Victor will say, ‘Hey, we need to replace this wire.’ We like to repair before we replace. We save people

thousands of dollars all the time from false diagnostics.”

Manuel has learned his work ethic from his father. He explains that his father is someone you can have confidence in when working on your project. “Everything he does is from caring about our customers and caring about the AC industry,” said Manuel.

You may not see advertising from American Air, except through their Facebook page, but their main referral is through word of mouth. “We have a referral program where we give out a twenty-five dollar gift card to HEB, Wal-Mart or Target for every referral that someone sends us and we service,” said Manuel.

Manuel explains that they like to give back because those are the kind of people they are.

American Air has five AC technicians and four office employees. At the end of the year, Victor and Manuel enjoy taking their employees out to thank them for what they’ve done throughout the year.

When it comes to the community, Manuel says they have a tradition that involves young students. As a young parent himself, Manuel acknowledges that it can be difficult to provide all the needed school supplies for children. “So, we get about 10 backpacks full of school supplies and we give them to students we know need help.”

Victor, Manuel and the American Air staff love what they do and are here to keep on doing it.

AC American Air is a heating and air conditioning subcontractor in San Antonio, TX. –lv

hester Bull’s company is named Air Authority. That’s a good name because Bull really is an authority on air. Especially cold air.

Bull hails from Troy, New York. It gets cold up there. Very cold. Bull remembers schools cancelling due to -30 degree wind chills. “The inside of your nose freezes because it’s so cold outside,” he recalled.

Since “it seems like everything I like to do was something you needed nice weather for,” Bull sought to move south.

He worked for a Carrier distributor, then got transferred to New Orleans. The first day in which he was supposed to work was the day Hurricane Katrina hit. Once he came back from evacuation, Bull eventually landed in nice, much warmer San Antonio.

Knowing he was going to go into business for himself some day, Bull got his business degree at UTSA and his contractor’s license. With partner Robert Langton, he opened up Air Authority in 2013.

Bull said of the early days that they didn’t have a shop and only one truck. “In the beginning, there were some long, lonely days.” While Bull is more of the office guy and Langton, who got his HVAC experience while in the Air Force, was the field guy, in the early days each did was needed to get the job done. “We all wore whatever hat we needed to wear,” he said.

Air Authority hired its first employees about six months later. Bull and Langton got some good leads after attending a home and garden show, acquiring maintenance contracts.

They eventually moved into a tiny office space that was nothing but a minioffice. Bull laughs when he recalls that the place didn’t even have a dumpster.

They had to rent a separate storage facility in which to house equipment and trash. They had to make runs to the dump

every two weeks.

With them gaining new customers, and Bull’s marketing strategies, Air Authority got firmly established. “San Antonio is a huge market with a lot of houses, so there’s always work to be had out there.”

Air Authority did primarily residential in the early days, but has included more commercial in recent years. The residential to commercial split is about 70-30.

Since Bull’s background is with Carrier, that’s the model in which they specialize. Having a good supply chain with good support is important, and there are several Carrier warehouses in San Antonio.

The number one problem Bull sees in the HVAC world is related to proper airflow. This includes items such as having too much shrubbery blocking the outside unit, to blocking air returns inside and not changing the filter. “These things lead to premature failure,” he said.

Bull said there is “definitely a seasonality in this business.” Since the heating part of HVAC isn’t as critical in San Antonio as it is in upstate New York, Air Authority uses the milder months to do much of the routine service checks and tune-ups. They “run pretty hard April through September,” he said.

Air Authority is always looking for good talent, seeking to grow. “We always anticipate that we’re going to have more business,” Bull said. “Our most important asset isn’t a truck or tools, but the guys we put in front of the homeowner or business.”

Just as heat is important in upstate New York in the wintertime, air conditioning is in San Antonio in the summertime. It’s good to have an authority on both ready to help us.

Air Authority is an HVAC contractor in San Antonio. -dsz

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 17

Page 18

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

In memoriam

A

dolph Frank Hoffman of NWB Foundation passed away Aug. 30 at 95 years old. Hoffman went to work for his father-in-law at NWB Foundation after marrying the love of his life, Patricia Ruth Nelson, in 1956. He worked for NWB Foundation for 43 years.

His work in the pier foundation included projects such as the Hemisfair Tower of Americas, the Air Force Academy and many other structures across Texas, New Mexico and Kansas.

He was a 1940 graduate of Somerset High School where he excelled in football and track and field, as well as pole-vaulting with a 12 ft. bamboo pole, competing in the state meet his junior and senior years. In 1943, he joined the U.S. Navy serving as a Quarter Master during WWII on the USS Alabama. He also served as a deacon and taught Sunday school at Somerset Baptist Church where he and his family worshiped.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Somerset Baptist Church, PO Box 99, Somerset, TX 78069; San Antonio Men’s Baseball, PO Box 690093, San Antonio, TX 78269; and Texas Senior Games, 12500 NW Military Hwy, #275, San Antonio, TX 78231. -cmw

Call us for a Company Profile (210) 308-5800

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 19

Dependable care

Industry FOLKS

John Thunert, owner of Above All Air

Lead Estimator and Project Manager

Cory Smith

H

e may have stumbled into the air conditioning and heating trade by accident, but the tool belt fit just

right.

John Thunert is the owner of Above All Air in San Antonio. This year he will be completing his third year of business. The company does general AC and heating for commercial and residential customers. They install, maintenance and repair.

Before he became an owner, Thunert was a helper and said he stumbled into the trade by accident. As he grew in the trade, he received all his certifications and training. “It took me 15 years to get my license because I didn’t want to take the test. I’m not a test taker,” he admits. Nonetheless, Thunert took the test and conquered it.

All Above Air has seven employees, two of whom are technicians and they have three service trucks. Thunert has built a trustworthy team. “I built this company from of word of mouth and my reputation.

We carry a five star review on Yelp, so the last thing I want to do is put a technician or

an employee out there that is going to go and ruin what we’ve already built.”

Thunert wants to keep his service area in San Antonio. He and his team just finished a real estate office and have been installing AC units in automotive shops.

Another thing Thunert is proud of is the Above All Air logo that he helped create. Of course, the logo incorporates fire and ice. The top of the logo has flames and the bottom is half of a snowflake.

Texas weather can be unpredictable, but so can life. One day on the local news station Thunert saw a homeowner who had lost his house in a fire and had no insurance. “At that time I contacted the news and let them know that I was willing to install a system and donate it all. It was two weeks before Christmas [when it happened] and it broke my heart. This was the little part that I could do to help.”

In the future Thunert wants to keep growing, but not too fast.

Above All Air is an HVAC subcontractor in San Antonio. –lv

Clearly his calling

L-R: Tommy Gass and Max Langenberg

M

ax Langenberg was just 20 years old when his destiny in land clearing became clear to him. He had just purchased a hydraulic sheer to help take out his new ranch’s cedar trees when that destiny kept calling his cell phone.

“The next thing I know, there are people calling me all of the time to clear their lots and houses,” Langenberg remembers. “It just blew up from there. I got my DBA for Langenberg Specialty Services in January 2005.”

Work hasn’t slowed down much for Langenberg in the past 13 years, and the lessons have come just as fast.

“You’re married to this job and you’re not going to get rich for at least the first seven years,” he says. “It makes you grow up fast. You pay attention to everything, how much things cost and see what your parents did to give you an education. Now I’m living it; I have three kids. It takes dedication; I work at least six days a week.”

Fortunately, Langenberg has a good team in place to keep him up to speed.

“It was just me in the beginning and now I have four full-time employees. I can

barely sit in that stool; I work with my guys and I’m there with my guys. I don’t just leech off the job and leave; I’m still an active part of our working. It keeps the quality at the highest level if I’m there. If they see me working hard, they’ll work just as hard or harder.”

Langenberg says San Antonio’s building boom means he hasn’t needed to expand his service area, nor has he felt an itch to grow the company.

“I don’t want to get much bigger because then I will start losing my personal connection to it,” he says. “In the grand scheme of things, I would make more money but it would be more headaches. I kind of enjoy being small.”

While he has taken on more commercial work, including clearing for an ER clinic on 1604, he still can’t resist those wide-open spaces.

“I enjoy seeing the big ranches and open spaces other people don’t get to see. I get to go behind the closed gates on people’s property,” he says. “I enjoy that aspect of getting to see Texas.”

Langenberg Specialty Services is a land clearing subcontractor in Bergheim. –mjm

Circle “C” Millwork San Antonio, TX

H

e is a son, husband and now father. Before Cory Smith was a lead estimator and project manager, he was a student at La Vernia High School and graduated with the class of 2007.

Cory was born in San Antonio and also raised in La Vernia. His childhood memories from living in a small town were of him being a typical teenager running around town and going to school. “Once we got into high school I got into a work program and started to work with Circle “C” at a young age.” Cory wasn’t involved in any high school sports, but instead focused on the work program.

Cory, as a young man, got a feel for the business. He had to start by sweeping the shop floor. As he began to move up in the company he met others in construction industry.

“I know a lot of people that are in the construction world and it has been very fruitful for us and for me.”

What he enjoys most about his job is witnessing something go up and being a part of that project. He said all around construction is fun.

Sometimes that means you have to travel for a big project, “We’ve gotten to work on bigger projects in town and in Austin. We get to do a lot of high-end work and the end result always comes out really nice. It is fun to be a part of that.”

Cory has known a majority of the guys who work in the company for a long time. In fact, one co-worker, an engineer is his best friend. “We haven’t had a lot of people leave or quit on us. Our family keeps growing.”

Speaking of family. Cory has started his own. It began when he met his wife Jenny at a friend’s lake house in Marble Falls. Today they live in La Vernia and have been together for six years and married for two.

Then in September, Cory and Jenny said hello to their first-born, a lovely baby girl. Congratulations!

Cory admits he has a full house because they have three dogs too.

A couple of his favorite restaurants are on the south side of San Antonio, such as 2M Smokehouse and Mr. and Mrs. G’s. Cory said when Jenny was pregnant, every Thursday they would go eat at Mr. and Mrs. G’s.

Can you blame them? That place is soul food perfection.

As for free time Cory has had a busy year with back-to-back projects and their newborn baby. Yet, everyone has a getaway spot. Cory’s is at their lake house on lake LBJ, where they spend time on the water and fixing things where needed.

Cory is a hard worker and loving family man. He recognizes that it is going to be a busy next few years, but all in all life is good. –lv

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Page 20

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

One happy place

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continued from Page 1 — Galaxy Builders dents, including a modern fitness facility, business area, game room and expansive pool.

Time and available manpower challenged the Galaxy team. Under the leadership of Lead Superintendent Eulalio “Lalo” Lopez, that proved to be nothing more than a minor hiccup. Lopez was able to effectively coordinate and communicate with all trades to accomplish this project in budget and ahead of schedule. “Galaxy is proud to have Lalo

on board as a team leader,” says Galaxy President Neilesh Verma.

“Galaxy Builders and the Dalian Monterrey Village team have had the distinct pleasure of working closely with the owners, architects and engineers. When visiting the property, it is clear that the team effort and collaboration among trades made this project a success,” adds Project Manager Ron Bennett.

Galaxy Builders is a full-service general contractor in San Antonio. -cmw

Justin Mill and Dan Mills

his year Mills Brothers Masonry celebrated their 10-year anniversary as a reputable commercial masonry contractor in and around the San Antonio area. The owners are Dan Mills and Justin Mills. Together they started the company in 2008 and have watched it grow into a family oriented work place.

The mood is happy and the work is keeping everyone busy. Today the company has grown to an average of 175 employees. Their project managers are efficient from start to finish.

This year the company completed the Kerr County Jail and Schreiner University in Kerrville. They also completed Travis Middle School in Port Lavaca. The farthest the company has gone is Port Lavaca, but have also worked in San Marcos, Kerrville and the Seguin area.

Peggy Charles is the controller and likes to say, “Teamwork makes the dream work.” In fact, a couple of months ago that is exactly what happened. There was

an issue with the payroll company who dropped the ball and Mills Brothers Masonry had to issue checks in house.

Charles told Dan, “Teamwork makes the dream work,” and so it did.

Dan shared, “It’s been 10 years! We’re still here, we’re still going, we still have our team, we still have our family and we still have our faith.”

We asked if there were any future plans for the company and learned they are happy where they are. “We don’t want to be too big, we like our team and the family we’ve become,” said Charles.

Mills Brothers Masonry is a third generation contracting company. Aside from celebrating their 10-year mark, they also share the news that it is possible they may become a fourth generation company because Justin and his wife Jessica just had their newborn son, Clinton Daniel Mills. Congratulations!

Mills Brothers Masonry is a masonry subcontractor located in San Antonio, TX. –lv

IEC happy hour

Dalian Monterrey Village clubhouse

Aerial view of Dalian Monterrey village

Dalian Monterrey lobby

Construction News ON LOCATION

WINning smiles

It was happy hour time for the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) members on Aug. 28 at the IEC Training Center. L-R: Amos Edgett, The Levy Company; Jorge Pinon, Good Electric and Shannon Cadena, People Ready. -cmw

L-R: Justin Flores and Kevin Munk of Winsupply of San Antonio were all smiles when Construction News paid a visit. -cmw

Construction News ON LOCATION

MDs of smiles

Office manager Paige Dunken, MD Air Conditioning & Heating Inc. takes time to pose for a photo for Construction News. -cmw

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 21

Who is the most famous person you’ve met?

When and where?

I was working at the Tower of the Americas one time and the guy from Criminal Minds, his name in the show is “Hotch” [Aaron Hotchner], he was eating there, so it was pretty quick.

Manuel Pozos, AC American Air Cumbia singer Aniceto Molina. My dad did his house here in San Antonio.

Jacob Fernandez, Fernandez Ceramic Tile I met Sylvia Earle on Earth Day in Dallas.

She is somebody that I would love for people to know and to take time to learn about her and be inspired by all the work that she is doing.

Patrick Attwater, One80 Solar Senator Ted Cruz, at his tailgate party before an A & M/Auburn football game last year. He had the Ted Cruz bus there.

Kevin Cribley, Cribley Enterprises I met General Colin Powell in 1996 when I was a part of my high school’s Army JROTC at Theodore Roosevelt High School, Bronx, NY Nadia Noel-Anglade, Beldon Roofing David Robinson and I were on the same flight the year they signed Tim Duncan. I remember because they were all on the same flight both Tim and David. We were on our way to Disney World. We said hello and my daughter got an autograph and picture.

Peggy Charles, Mills Brothers Masonry Muhammed Ali. I actually performed for him when I was a child. He was making a visit to the Rio Grande Valley and they had festivities planned and part of the festivities was a Mexican folklore dance performance. I was 6-years-old at the time. He was a very kind gentleman.

Elizabeth Yetman Chavez, Garren Construction The most famous person I met was George “The Iceman” Gervin 3 years ago at a Carrier dealer meeting.

Chester Bull, Air Authority

I met Mark Hamill from Star Wars. I took my daughter, her best friend and my wife to Florida for the Star Wars 50-year celebration last year. We were able to meet and talk to Mark Hammil for a little bit and, wow, what a great guy he is. I never thought I would ever meet him. I remember seeing Star Wars when it came out and I was just a 10-year-old kid. To actually meet and shake his hand was pretty incredible.

Steve Driskill, KCA Services

Tailgate party!

I

t’s football season and what better way to kickoff the season with a tailgate party.

A.J. Monier & Co. prepared fajitas with all the trimmings for one of their customers and the 300- plus tenants of the One Thousand Oaks Building on Sept. 6. Everyone enjoyed great food, cold drinks and music provided by Claudia Hays with Full Flavor Party & Sound. –cmw

Roger Staubach.

Larry Gray, Gray Painting I met Hulk Hogan a long time ago up in Florida. It must have been 10 or 12 years ago. We went out there for a motorcycle deal and we ended up running into him.

He was the coolest guy I ever met. He was down to earth, shook our hands and invited us to come hang out and drink beers at a bar that he hung out at.

John Thunert, Above All Air

A.J. Monier’s team ready and waiting to serve the tailgating crowd.

The most famous person I’ve ever met is Gene Simmons from the rock group KISS. We went to the Riverwalk to have dinner and he was eating dinner at the Ostra. As we walked by my husband said, “hey look, Gene Simmons.” He waved us over to say hello. He had just done a concert so he couldn’t talk after performing, but he nodded as we spoke to him.

Betty Drennan, AceCo Who would you like to hear about? I’ve had the pleasure to meet Former President George Bush Sr., Martina McBride, Clint Black, Lyle Lovett, Mark Chestnut, Steve Warner, Rodney Carrington, Houston Astro’s Roger Clemens, Oakland A’s Jose Canseco, Jerry Jeff Walker, Rich Little, Johnnie Rodriguez, John Michael Montgomery, Moe Bandy, Gene Watson, T.G. Shepherd, David Allen Coe, Houston Oiler’s Dan Pastorini, Houston Oiler’s Greg Bingham, Houston Oiler’s John Shulmacher, Houston Oiler’s Earl Campbell, NBA Star Robert Horry, David Ball, Gary P. Nunn, Larry Gatlin, Kinky Friedman, Houston Rocket’s Robert Reed. And if you give me a few minutes, there’s a few more. Oh, Reesa and Buddy Doebbler!

Stan Rothman, Blueline Rental

2018-2019 NAWIC leadership

The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) installed their new leadership for 2018-2019 Sept. 5. L-R: Lisa Garza, Workplace Resource; Polyanne Johnson, NEISD; Theresa Hernandez, Bluebonnet Ford; Eloina Benavides, One Day Signs; Angela Hines, G.W. Mitchell Construction; Lisa Good, Ridout Barrett; Heather Osborn, MEMCO; Terri Pasley, Sundt Construction; Stefanie Shanahan, Alterman; and Becky Rodriguez, Turner Construction. -cmw

L

In memoriam

ong-time friend and icon of the construction industry, Harold “Bubba” H. Kunz, Jr. went to meet his heavenly father on Aug. 24. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Lois Lundschen Kunz.

Kunz was a consummate entrepreneur. By the age of 8, he helped his father level houses, and install doors and windows. He trapped and skinned possums and raccoons then delivered them to local neighbors on his bicycle with the meat wrapped in wax paper.

He also raised rabbits and sold them to the then new Brooke aerospace for testing purposes.

He loved sports and was an incredible athlete playing varsity baseball and football for Central Catholic High School, where he graduated in 1952. He continued playing baseball on scholarship at St. Mary’s University, and then semi-pro baseball. His passion for the game continued as he coached his daughters’ softball and baseball teams.

In 1962, after spending eight years as a bricklayer, he went into business with his father to form Kunz Construction Company. Some of his well known construction projects in San Antonio are Renovation of the Municipal Auditorium in 1984, Hemisphere Park, many UT and UTSA projects, SWTSU football stadium, many NEISD and NISD schools and Main Plaza. He was a well-known and respected businessman in the construction industry for 50 years. His

word was his bond. He was a member of Associated General Contractors (AGC) and served as their president in 1988 and 1989. The Municipal Auditorium project won the AGC Outstanding Project of the Year in 1985. The Main Plaza project won the same Outstanding Project of the Year in 2008.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Bubba’s honor to: Notre Dame Catholic School, Our Lady of the Hills Catholic High School, St. Vincent de Paul or any other charity of your choice.

Rest in peace Bubba, your inspiration will live on for years to come. -cmw

Page 22

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

THIS TH MON Jan: Construction Forecast Mar: Construction Education May: Concrete Industry July: Electrical Industry Feb: Construction Safety Apr: Women in Construction Jun: HVAC & Plumbing Aug: Service Providers

SPECIALTY CONTRACTORS Sep: Green Building Nov: Architecture & Engineering Oct: Specialty Contractors Dec: Construction Equipment

Painting, a strong industry

we’re seeing increased workloads across the board.

Jay Elizalde, Vice President Santex Painting & Drywall Inc.

What are the major changes in the industry in recent years relating to the type of work you do?

There are updated OSHO requirements regarding crystalline silica exposure in the workplace that we are keeping a close watch on. According to the sources we track, the current tested respirable levels of silica related to sanding joint compound are low enough not to require us to use engineering controls or respirators. However, these new challenges could be on the horizon.

San Antonio, TX

F

ounded in 1977 by Gerardo Elizalde, Santex Painting & Drywall Inc. has been family owned and operated since the beginning. “I like to think of our company as being in the customer service business, specializing in construction. The satisfaction of our clients is our number one priority, and we hope to service them successfully for another 40 plus years.”

Having been around the family business since he was a small child, Jay eventually found his way back after graduating from UTSA and working in the commercial real estate market. “Being a part of our family business is just a natural fit. I love what we do.”

How would you describe the state of the construction industry in general terms?

The current state of the construction industry is strong. Locally, the opportunities for quality specialty contractors have been steady for several years now. Recently we have noticed an increase in residential remodels coming online, which we view as a great indication of continued overall consumer confidence.

How has this increase affected your company and how you conduct business?

We are constantly looking for ways to service our clients more effectively.

This includes expanding our team with valuable new members to keep up with the needs of our clients here and in surrounding markets.

What are the “hot button” issues in your industry?

Quality labor is a big one. Most people outside our industry probably wouldn’t put much weight on the difficulty of painting, taping and floating. However, those who have tried it for themselves understand that it takes a special level of skills to do a quality job. The pool of those skilled laborers can be shallow at times like these where

New technology in demolition Timothy Ramon, President JR RAMON Demolition San Antonio, TX

J

R RAMON Demolition has provided house demolition and commercial demolition services to Central Texas and South Texas for over 50 years, specializing in building demolition, bridge demolition, concrete removal, roll-off dumpster service, concrete saw-cutting, asbestos abatement, site preparation/site restoration services, disaster emergency response, and provider of recycled concrete aggregate. “We have earned our excellent reputation as the on-call demolition service provider for City of San Antonio, City of New Braunfels, and Texas Department of Transportation,” Ramon. The company also offers debris removal reduction and final disposition resulting from natural disasters.

What types of demolition work do you perform?

JR RAMON Demolition performs demolition projects of all sizes. We demolish bridges, water towers, school buildings, hotels, apartment complexes, airtraffic control towers, grain silos, hospitals, warehouses, office buildings, and anything else that needs to be removed.

We demolish about 500 houses per year.

We have worked on school districts in the Central/South Texas area, every military base in Texas, and in just about every zip

code in the San Antonio and Austin areas.

We have even demolished quite a few aircrafts, defunct military or commercial airliners that get recycled for their valuable aluminum construction. A good portion of our work is in Selective Demolition, the interior gutting or partial removal of components of structures to accommodate renovations and additions to existing structures.

Are there any new demolition equipment or products that have made a

What is the most significant challenge your industry faces? Labor shortages?

Cost increases? Other?

The most significant challenge the painting and drywall industry faces, like every other trade, is a shortage of qualified tradesmen.

What are the cost increases relating to your industry?

Material and labor costs only increase.

Metal studs, sheetrock, paint, even plastic sheathing and tape see increases year to year.

How are you dealing with these challenges?

We are charged with the responsibil-

significant difference in your production?

We’ve made a significant capital investment in robust technology to enhance capabilities of our large demolition excavators on mass structural demolition projects.

We’ve replaced old-style, mechanical couplers with a new automated hydraulic system that is like going from dialup to broadband. We now have 5 excavators adapted to use up to 15 different attachments for various projects. The attachments are interchangeable and all integrated within one automated, hydraulic system provided by OilQuick®.

How has this new technology changed your production?

In the past, demolition excavators’ tasks like breaking concrete and loading concrete would each require a different attachment that could take hours to swap out. The OilQuick system is designed and built for demolition applications and enables us to change from one attachment to another in seconds versus hours.

How is your business impacted?

The OilQuick system increases our efficiency by increasing the versatility of

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ity of educating our clients on these cost increases and rely heavily on our suppliers to assist with this. They do a wonderful job of providing access to information when needed.

What is on the horizon for your industry? Changes in technology, codes, ordinances, laws, other?

A lot of research and development goes into making paint products safer, more effective and more accessible to both contractors and the general consumer. Staying up to date with the new products and their methods of application presents its own set of challenges as it relates to educating our workforce as well as our clients.

What are the rewards of the industry?

The rewards are enormous. Nothing makes us happier than knowing we’ve exceeded our client’s expectations. It’s all about the call back.

What are keys to being successful in your industry?

Do what you say you’re going to do and know your limitations. These go hand in hand.

Santex Painting & Drywall is a painting and drywall contractor in San Antonio, TX. -cmw

a single machine on a job site. One machine now performs tasks that in the past required 2 to 3 machines. Now we send one machine with 3 different attachments to accomplish the same work in the course of a day that in the past would have taken 2 to 3 machines to do. It’s like turning a pocket knife into a Swiss Army knife. Operations are safer because what once required hours of physical labor is now completely automated.

What does this mean for your customers?

It means we get their jobs done safer and more efficiently. Less man hours and less mobilization of heavy equipment results in less time on the job, which translates to lower overall cost to our customers.

Is this technology unique to your company?

JR RAMON is the only demolition company in the state of Texas currently operating an OilQuick system. For the last two decades the product and technology was in the European market and was only recently brought to the U.S. We are the first company in Texas to utilize their technology in the demolition industry. -cmw

Texas Style

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San Antonio Austin Dallas/Fort Worth Houston

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 23

THIS TH MON

SPECIALTY CONTRACTORS

To represent your company in an upcoming FOCUS, contact SAeditor@ConstructionNews.net (210) 308-5800

NEXT MONTH (October 2018) ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING

Misclassified labor Randy Bradshaw, Executive Vice President, MIINC, LP and President, Mechanical Contractors Associations of Texas Dallas, TX

Glenn Rex, ➤ Executive Vice President Mechanical Contractors Associations of Texas Houston, TX

R

andy Bradshaw has 46 years’ experience in the mechanical/industrial contracting field, beginning his career as an apprentice in 1972 in the United Association.

Working his way through the craft positions, he began his management career in 1980 and was included in the formation of Miinc LP.

How would you describe the state of the construction industry in general terms?

Generally healthy, although in need of qualified additions to our existing skilled labor forces to meet the demand for our services in various parts of the State.

appeals to many companies because of the business friendly attitudes of the State.

Our population has grown consistently for more than 25 years. With growth comes the need for roads and bridges, houses and schools, and hospitals and healthcare related facilities. Population growth drives the demand for construction. On the Industrial side, the oil and gas industry has added opportunities for expansion on several fronts.

Has your company experienced an increase or a slowdown in business? What is driving this increase/slowdown?

Our commercial mechanical construction and service industry is cyclical.

The North and Central Texas areas are quite busy with projects. The Houston and Southeast Texas area is slowing down after several years of strong growth. Texas

As a mechanical contractor, what is your biggest challenge and how are you dealing with it?

Misclassified labor is a big issue in our industry. There is a growing practice of contractors who are really nothing more than labor brokers employing “independent contractors”. In theory, an independent contractor is truly indepen-

Glenn Rex has served the Mechanical Contractors Association of Texas as executive vice president since 1977.

The future of roofing Jody C. Delino, Chief Financial Officer Texas Fifth Wall Systems Inc. Austin, TX

J

ody C. Delino graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Lamar University. He has been part of the Fifth Wall family since 2007.

What is on the horizon for the roofing industry?

Industry leaders are continually exploring ways to better manage the construction process through easier, more efficient construction and project management methodologies. For example, using technology to communicate more efficiently, drones to explore existing structures and infrared cameras to inspect hidden substructures for water intrusion have marked benefits to productivity, safety management, and customer satisfaction.

In addition, the roofing industry is

developing the means to minimize the environmental impact by extending the life of roofing systems through asset management programs, recycling of waste materials, developing the use of energy efficient/low impact products such as zero VOC products, new cutting edge roof coatings to defer roof replacement for a time, and achieving higher energy efficient ratings using high tech insulation products. The industry is also focused on devoting resources to better position us in the labor market by improving our professional image through certified education programs and better

dent and sets his own schedule, and is responsible for his continuing education, safety, payroll taxes and benefits. In practice, in our industry, there are more and more contractors who misclassify their employees to be independent contractors so as to avoid the responsibility for payroll taxes, workers compensation insurance and the like, while still directing them like employees. This creates quite an un-level playing field for the mechanical contractor who cares about his or her employees.

How has the recent steel tariffs affected your industry? As a business owner, how are you dealing with these effects?

Today, material cost escalations are a big challenge. Most all of our member contractors are shortening the time period that their project estimates are good for, due to the concern of locking in material prices only to see the material costs increase repeatedly. While a bid price may have been good for thirty days in the past, today the price is quoted for seven days or less, so as to not be caught up in a material price increase. The mechanical contractor has no control over these price escalations.

What is the most rewarding aspect of the type of work you do?

There has always been a sense of pride in the construction industry, for the craftsman to say “I built that” or for the company, which has a resume of projects that generates the sense of identity of the company. That is certainly present today. That said there are many external pressures on mechanical contractors, as

communicating roofing career opportunities. For example, the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) offers professional development opportunities to help advance executives’ and career minded individuals’ roles as leaders, managers and skilled workers.

With the construction industry’s big push on sustainability, where is the roofing industry headed?

Roofing system manufacturers and providers of building products are offering a wider selection of energy-saving options that are LEED® compliant, Energy Star® certified, and Cool Roof Rating Council listed. A few examples of the roofing industry’s effort to optimize sustainability include highly reflective roofing membranes that reduce air condi-

well as all of the specialty craft contractors today. In certain markets, the low bid process is the predominant method of allocating work. Almost always the lowest price comes at a cost to the quality of the construction. And this can make it hard to be proud of the work performed.

What has been your key to success?

Our member contractors are known for employing the highest skilled plumbers, pipe fitters, welders and sheet metal workers in the commercial construction and service industry in Texas. Too, we are known for our ability to deliver projects with professional project management, within the project schedule. When quality of construction counts, our mechanical contractor members are the preferred contractors of Texas’ construction users.

Please feel free to add information relating to this industry that we would not think to ask.

Prefabrication is a growing practice in construction. Our member mechanical contractors are on the leading edge of developing prefabrication. Coupled with Building Information Modeling (BIM), mechanical contractors are leaders in applying prefabrication and advancing the technology employed by the construction industry for the sake of gains in productivity.

Miinc LP is a full-service provider of HVAC, commercial plumbing and mechanical solutions in Dallas, TX. Mechanical Contractors Associations of Texas is a non-profit mechanical trade association. -cmw

tioning costs; skylight and day lighting products to optimize overall energy costs; roof garden systems with inherent environmental benefits while also aiding in storm water management; and life cycle management tools and processes to extend the roofing system lifespan.

In response to the increasing use of sustainable energy sources, roofing system manufacturers have developed solar ready roofing systems to accommodate the structural requirements, wind uplift ratings, and additional foot traffic needs of rooftop solar systems. Energy efficiency goals are also driving the need for a tighter building envelope, which likely amplifies the design and installation complexities of the roofing system. However, energy efficiency gains could be continued on Page 24

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San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Association Calendar

continued

Content submitted by Associations to Construction News costly as such designs can lead to greater risks for realizing, as an example, the unintended consequence of trapping moisture within the building envelope.

Have there been any changes in regulations/codes affecting the roofing industry and what are they? How have they affected your company and the way you do business?

There is a regular cycle of building code updates that occur in the roofing industry. We are accustomed to dealing with such changes. A couple of the more significant changes scheduled to hit Texas soon are revisions to the Hail Storm Map and the Roof Wind Uplift Ratings.

The result of which will be slightly more costly yet more robust roofing system designs to reduce catastrophic failures under certain weather conditions. As well prepared as we are to deal with code changes, we feel like we are challenged to navigate the ever-changing regulatory landscape. Our commitment to ensuring our business practices comply with the increasingly complex and often times poorly constructed or conflicting federal, state and local regulations is a constant

distraction for our leadership. Most recently, the City’s efforts to deploy ordinances such as Ban the Box and City of Austin Sick Time Ordinance are examples of well-intended policy that increases business complexity. This can be very costly, interfere with our ability to meet the needs of our customers and forces us to choose winners and losers amongst our employee base.

Overreaching actions taken by one governing body that is eventually overridden by another further compounds the issue. Many times the risk of noncompliance built into such ordinances or actions are sufficiently significant that we are required to devote time and effort to revise policies and procedures anticipating compliance for rules or regulations that are ambiguous or never come to bear. Our preference would be that these various governing bodies are held to the same standard as those in private industry: operate within the confines of existing laws and regulations while working to influence desired and worthy change using established procedures offered by the responsible institution. -cmw

ABC

Associated Builders & Contractors Inc.

Oct. 12-13: Fishing Tournament, Drifter’s Resort, 401 TX-35 BUS, Rockport, TX. For more info, contact Alissa Miller at alissa@ abcsouthtexas.org or 210-342-1994

Oct. 12: Deadline for 2019 Board nominations.

Oct. 17: Networking Mixer, Quarry Golf Club, 444 E. Basse Rd., 6-8pm. For more info, call Dave Sanchez at 210-444-1100 or go to www.hcadesa.org

AGC

Associated General Contractors

Oct. 6: 25th Annual Safety Fair and BBQ Cook-off, Helotes Fair Grounds, 12210 Leslie Rd., 10am-4pm.

Oct. 25: CLC View From The Top, UIW Student Engagement Center, 4301 Broadway, 5:30-7pm. For more info, call 210349-4921 AIA

IEC

Independent Electrical Contractors

Oct. 13: 18th Annual IEC Golf Tournament, Olympia Hills Golf Course, 12900 Mt. Olypmus, Universal City, TX. For more info, contact Julie Howard at 210-4319861 or email jhoward@iecsanantonio. com Oct.25-26: IEC of Texas Meeting, Houston

American Institute of Architects

Oct. 11: Bruce King Lecture, San Antonio College McCreless Auditorium, 5:307:30pm.

Oct. 13: 21st Annual AIA San Antonio Home Tour, Self Guided Tour Oct. 23: Women in Architecture Fall Panel Discussion, Casa Hernan, 411 E. Cevallos St., 6-8:30pm. For more info, call 210-226-4979 ASA

MCA-SMACNA INC

Mechanical Contractors Assn.

Sheet Metal & A/C Nat’l Assn.

Oct. 10: Regular & Associates Meeting, The Petroleum Club, 8620 N. New Braunfels, 7th Flr., 11:30am.

Oct. 24: 41st Annual Hunters Symposium, Bexar Community Shooting Range, 1539 Bexar Bowling, Marion, TX,1pm. For more info, call Sandee Morgan at 210822-3763

American Subcontractors Assn.

Oct. 4: 3rd Annual Safety Summit, Alamo Colleges Workforce Center of Excellence,800 Quintana Rd. Oct. 9: Special General Meeting, Petroleum Club, 8620 N. New Braunfels, 6-8pm.

Oct. 23: Fall Golf Tournament, TPC Canyons Course, 23808 Resort Pkwy. For more info, call Jennifer Swinney at 210349-2105 or email Jennifer@asasanantonio.org

Construction News ON LOCATION

Electric vibes

ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers Oct. 8: General Branch Meeting, 10:30am1pm. For more info, go to www.saasce. org ASSE American Society of Safety Engineers Oct. 15: Regular Meeting, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Rd. 11am1pm. For more info, go to www.southtexas.asse.org

L-R: Denzil Gray, Nancy Pena, Gardenia Stricklin and Victor Martinez with Mid-Coast Electric Supply Inc. give off good vibes while visiting with Construction News. -cmw

HCAdeSA Hispanic Contractors Assn. de San Antonio Oct. 12: Golf Tournament, The Republic Golf Club, 4226 S.E. Military Dr.

www.constructionnews.net publishing the industry’s news

Networking expressions

On Aug. 23 Expressions Home Gallery hosted The Greater San Antonio Builders Association’s (GSABA) membership mixer at their location on Broadway.

Expressions Home Gallery staff L-R: Shellie Phillips, Shelly Schaefer, Emery Rocha, Jennifer Cooper and Jessie Christians. –lv

NAWIC

National Assn. of Women in Construction

Oct. 3: General Meeting, The Petroleum Club, 8620 N. New Braunfels. For more info, call Rebecca Rodriguez at 210-6392489 or email rebecca.rodriguez@zachrycorp.com PHCC

Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors

Oct. 25: Evening Mixer, Los Barrios, 4223 Blanco Rd., 6pm. For more info, call Heidi Trimble at 210-824-7422 or go to www. phcc-sanantonio.org SAMCA San Antonio Masonry Contractors Assn.

Oct. 31: Membership Meeting, Pappadeaux Restaurant, 76 NE Loop 410, 12pm. For more info, contact Debi Solis at 210-347-2423 TACCA

Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Assn.

Greater San Antonio

Oct. 18: Member Mixer, Location TBD. For more info, call Dawn Thompson at 210-901-4222

Texas Style

H H H H

San Antonio Austin Dallas/Fort Worth Houston

Construction News ON LOCATION

A bolting group

The Alamo Bolt & Screw’s Randy Duerr, Allan Dittmore, Joan Ortega, Ray Duerr, Sabrina Caldwell and Tony Cortez are one big happy family. -cmw

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 25

Going orange for hunger

T

en teams representing the San Antonio chapter of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) and the Society for Design Administration participated in the 13th Annual CANstruction design/build competition. The event was hosted by North Star Mall and is one of the San Antonio Food Bank’s “SA Goes Orange for Hunger” campaign to raise awareness and funds for hunger relief. -cmw

Structural Ingenuity: Luna Middleman Architects, “El Luchador Mask (It’s Rumbling Time)” – 5,003 cans

Best Meal: Merrick & Company, “Ate-Bit Donkey Kong” – 2,983 cans

CAN-Bridge the Hunger Gap: San Antonio College – 2,200 cans Best Original Design: Alamo Architects, “The Ban of Hunger (Bullfighter)” – 2,416 cans

Year of the Slinky Dog: PBK and Kimley-Horn – 1,400 cans

Piñata de Cumpleanos: University of Texas – San Antonio (AIAS) 900 cans

Don’t forget to send us your company Halloween photos Email to SAeditor@ ConstructionNews.net Send photo and caption

Best Use of Orange: Lopez Salas Architects and Intelligent Engineering Services (IES), “Food Fight” – 1,600 cans

Best Use of Labels: Marmon Mok Architecture, Metro, James Carter and Datum Engineering, “Walk Around CAN Antonio” – 5,389 cans

Scary Cans: Joeris General Contractors and LPA Inc. – 3,100 cans

Most Cans: RVK Architects with Lundy Franke Engineering and F.A. Nunnelly, “ForkKnife - Battle Hunger” – 6,400 cans

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San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Full power

D

Nascar comes to town

eWalt gave United Tool & Fastener customers an up-close and personal look at DeWalt’s Nascar racecar. The Toyota Camry stock car was featured at United Tool & Fasteners’ customer appreciation luncheon held on Sept 20 at the United Tool & Fastener Jones-Maltsberger location.

Customers were given the opportunity to take photos with the stock car, enjoy seafood gumbo, demo and become familiar with the new silica products DeWalt has to offer, in addition take advantage of DeWalt’s one-day tool special. –cmw

A couple of One80 crewmembers installing solar panels on a commercial job.

H

e has been in the solar industry for 10 years. “It may not be that long, but in the solar industry it kind of makes me a grandpa,” says One80 Solar founder and CEO Patrick Attwater.

Clean energy is a powerful resource that provides someone the opportunity to own his or her own power plant and receive free power from the sun.

One80 Solar was established in San Antonio in 2014 to focus on the commercial market. One80 does it all from start to finish. They develop, finance, design, engineer and construct commercial and industrial scale solar power plants. “We have a team that I call One80 Care, that operates and maintains those projects into the future,” said Attwater.

One of the things that helped Attwater and Co-founder/VP of Client Services, Sage Warren, decide on San Antonio over other markets was CPS Energy.

Attwater and Warren have been working together for nine years. They both saw the global energy commitment the city of San Antonio and CPS Energy had. In addition, Texas has some of the best resources in the country.

When it came to choosing a team, they followed up with people who were sent by word of mouth. Today One80 has 15 people in the office and will continue to grow. Attwater says they’ve built their team to not only have conversations with clients about global energy, but to help clients in the development process of a project, including things on the construction side.

This is why they focus on the commercial industry because, “it is a part of the market that we needed the company to focus on,” said Attwater. Due to their start to finish involvement, One80 has a strong relationship with general contractors. Attwater explained, “Because the work that we are doing is unique to new construction projects, we usually work alongside the general contractors and

we work very closely with them.”

One80 handles projects involving flat, pitched and metal roofs to name a few. One particular project that had everyone excited was with the Alamo Beer Company. The project was among the first to take solar panels and design them into a shape. The shape was of the Alamo and in the middle a big Texas star was added, recreating their company logo.

One80 has proven to be innovative within the solar industry. And so has their name. Attwater told us about one of his favorite documentaries called, 180 South.

Then one day at the time of testing out names for the company, Attwater noticed the documentary logo on his computer desktop. “I looked at it and said…180…180.

That’s pretty good.” He knew solar panels needed to face 180 degrees south, “which is the ideal exposure for solar panels.” He also knew 180 was a turnaround and a different way to think about things. “With a turnaround in the solar industry and 180 degrees south as the ideal direction to face solar panels, we decided to spell it like you say it,” informed Attwater.

One80 Solar has already built relationships with clients in such a way that gave Attwater and his brother Tom an idea. Tom Attwater is a filmmaker. Together the two brothers came up with the Power Your Passion film series that tells the stories of those One80 clients in different lines of work, such as a coffee roaster or a brew master. Attwater explained, “It isn’t about us or about what we do, but it is more about the experiences we are lucky enough to have with our clients who happen to be the best at what they do.”

Everything One80 Solar has accomplished will continue right here. “We all just want clean energy and to see our clients happy,” said Attwater.

One80 Solar is a full service solar panel contractor located in San Antonio, TX. –lv

The roar of the engine attracted neighboring businesses, like Hope Urbanek and Chris Taylor of Alamo Interiors as they headed out for lunch.

United Tool & Fastener customers look at the products United has to offer while enjoy gumbo.

L-R: DeWalt’s Patrick Pulliam and Matt Rapata

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018

Page 27

Celebrity pays a visit

Entertainer Brian Black and Construction News’ co-owner Reesa Doebbler enjoy a visit at the Construction News office and catch up on old times. -cmw

Construction News ON LOCATION

Reviewing plans

Matt Hubbell, Byrne Metals takes a moment to visit with Construction News while reviewing plans. -cmw

Time for Planning

W

hy put off for tomorrow what you can do today? With the holiday season knocking at our doors, it’s time to start planning for those holiday parties, specifically those Christmas parties. Well, here is an idea for you to consider. Why not plan your company holiday party around the Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala?

Just think about it…there is no food decisions, no cleanup services needed, no work required from you and your staff to put a party together. It’s already done for you.

The 2018 Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala is the perfect answer.

Amazing food selections have already been put in place to appeal to everyone’s taste. Wine and beer are provided and spirits are available at the cash bar. There will be live and silent auctions a plenty to entice those not-so-sure gifters trying to find that perfect gift. There are gaming tables for the gamblers at heart and live music to kick up your heels. And let us not forget to mention the Grand Gala Raffle.

The Grand Gala Raffle is a WINNER TAKES ALL. Just imagine winning fishing trips, hunting trips, get-a-way trips, utility vehicles, jew-

elry, guns, etc. all on one ticket. You could complete your holiday shopping with the cost of one raffle ticket. Of course, the more tickets sold means the more donations Construct A Kid’s Christmas can give to the foster kids in Bexar County so they too can have a merrier Christmas.

The raffle winner will be drawn during the evening and the winner does not need to be present to win. For a more complete listing of prizes, see the ad on page 28 of this issue of Construction News.

If you’re not familiar with the Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala, ask anyone in the construction industry. The Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala is an industry-wide effort to raise money and gifts to benefit the Friends of Bexar County Child Welfare Board and Child Protective Services, which distribute unwrapped toys to the Bexar County foster children. In addition, the gala is now able to provide an additional financial donation to CASA (Child Advocates of San Antonio). For 40 years, CASA has provided court-appointed volunteer advocates for abused and neglected children and youth advocating for services and placement in safe and permanent homes. -cmw

Page 28

San Antonio Construction News • OCT 2018