Covering the Industry’s News
Texas Style
P.O. Box 791290 San Antonio, Texas 78279-1290
PRSRT. STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT #1451
Change Service Requested
San Antonio H Austin Dallas/Fort Worth H Houston
Dallas/Fort Worth
CONSTRUCTION
™
The Industry’s Newspaper Action Construction
www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 16 H Number 11 H NOVEMBER 2018
The electric flourish
Stilt to last
Front row sitting down L-R: Greg Jarchow – CFO, Robin Shearer – Office manager/mom, Randy Leveen – VP service department and Robert Scott – President/Owner
Charlie Richardson, owner of ChasCo Interiors, Inc.
H
e joined Petri Electric Inc. as Vice President of Construction with a handshake “buy-out” deal with Chuck Petri. Robert Scott was intrigued by what Mr. Petri had established. Petri Electric was originally founded in 1980. Scott’s opportunity came about in 2005 after he resigned with a well-known electrical contractor. He was a vice president in the company and had been with them for 20 years. “When Chuck Petri called me there was a project manager that Petri found through a search firm and he had listed me as a former supervisor,” said Scott. “As I proceeded to give Chuck a reference, I became interested in what he was offering. I set up a meeting with Chuck, we became friends and be-
I
fore you knew it, I was onto a new adventure with Petri Electric.” Upon his arrival he was “very impressed with the culture.” He said, “There was a great culture, so I felt the best thing for me to do is to become part of the Petri culture.” Scott came from a $150 million dollar company and at the time of joining Petri Electric, the company was a $4 million dollar company. Nonetheless, after Scott became part of the culture he began to instill his management concepts, and sales. Scott shared that now the company does about $22 million dollars worth of work a year. “Roughly $5 million of that is commercial service work and $17 million of that is major construction, which includes major remodel jobs.” continued on Page 16
C
harlie Richardson still remembers his “first steps.” He was 16 and tottering on stilts on a job site, helping his dad install suspended acoustical ceilings. “It was Bambi on ice,” Richardson says, laughing at the memory. “But I was pretty good at it right away. It didn’t take me long at all, maybe 10 minutes.” Richardson actually took to all aspects of the industry right away. “I grew up cutting my teeth on it because all my dad did was suspended acoustical ceilings for a company in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s,” Richardson says. “He worked for large drywall companies and was in charge of ceilings. We did malls and hospitals, including Harris Hospital,
Cooks Children’s Hospital and All Saints. As a kid in the summers, I was out there helping; that’s how I learned. I liked it for some reason. I feel like God gave me a talent. By the time I was 18, I was pretty fast and good at it. I knew my calling and knew I wanted my own company. I knew it when I was 18 years old.” Richardson worked under his father’s tutelage for the next 12 years. When his dad retired in 1990, Richardson took over the position. “I continued working for that company for a few years, but I wanted to do more,” Richardson says. “I was making a contacts with people and I started doing other drywall jobs on the side. Before you continued on Page 16
Drive-thru construction
n 2017, Kevin McKibben founded MAC Construction & Development Services to fulfill his personal vision for excellence in construction. Through strong strategic planning and analytical skills, MAC Construction specializes in full service execution of commercial real estate development performing general contracting and construction management for owners and developers. Under their management platform, MAC provides clients with expert construction and development services from project inception through completion. As a general contractor, they work as an extension of their client’s team, from initial design coordination through bid packaging, handling the management and coordination of subcontractors and vendors from project start to construction completion. Celebrating their first year, MAC Construction has been successful in the com-
mercial construction arena in ground ups, remodels and tenant finish outs for QSRs, restaurants, retail, office medical, and automotive and fuel sectors of the construction industry for both private and public clients. MAC began construction of the Starbucks Shell for Christon Company in the spring of this year. The project took 60 days to complete. The construction of the Starbucks shell cost approximately $565,000 to complete. The new construction shell of the Starbucks building’s exterior was constructed primarily of stucco and thin brick. Project Manager and Superintendent Jake Scott communicated with Rogue Architects to ensure the project’s details were performed to the owner’s highest expectations. The MAC team experienced no complications and delivStarbucks, 5527 E R L Thornton Fwy., Dallas, TX.
continued on Page 16
Page 2
F
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Growth spurt
Action seeker
Charles Myers, president and CEO of MYCON General Contractors, and his team.
J.R. McColm paved a different path for himself, and it keeps him busier than ever.
rom his first office in his garage at the house in 1987, to a new 50,000sq facility on the Dallas Tollway in 2017, Charles Myers has seen plenty of growth for his company, MYCON General Contractors. The latest growth spurt happened earlier this year when MYCON acquired Pavlovich Construction Services. While Myers is always on the lookout for new business ideas, he wasn’t expecting this new move. “Initially, we weren’t thinking about this as an opportunity,” he said. But opportunity did knock when Roger Pavlovich approached MYCON about working on a venture together. Then, another, larger project came up for the two companies to work on. Myers began to think that Pavlovich could be a new, good business unit for MYCON. Discussions began with all parties, and terms were agreed upon. Myers brought on three principles from Pavlovich Construction: Pavlovich himself, Justin Swain and Bob Robinson. Pavlovich still has a few projects that it needs to finish up under the Pavlovich
name. Once these are done, everything will be done under the MYCON banner. Myers laughs when he looks back on it all. “A lot of it has to do with sticking around this long,” he said. A big project for Myers is MYCON U an education and training program that prepares MYCON employees with the skills they need to advance and grow in their careers. “It’s growing people as well as growing a business,” Myers said. Within five years of graduating from college, Myers explained, that person can be qualified to be project managers on any one of MYCON’s many jobs. Sometimes they may have 40 at any given time. “The industrial market is on fire,” Myers said. The same could be said of the retail world, where it’s changing rapidly with Internet shopping and curbside services. Bottom line: it looks like there will be plenty of growth spurts to keep everyone busy for quite a spell. MYCON General Contractors, Inc., is located in Dallas. -dsz
J
.R. McColm was born busy. He spent much of his youth helping out his family in their business, which focused on excavation and, at times, concrete. As a teen, he started a power washing business to clean parking lots. Even with two jobs, McColm still had too much time on his hands and decided to establish another business, Action Construction in Dallas, in 2008. McColm was only 17 years old. His young age wasn’t the only impressive part. While his family focused on excavation, McColm tried something different, grabbing a couple of friends he knew from his childhood and teaching them how to help him do concrete and asphalt parking lots. Most admirable was that McColm created and sustained the business during the recession and even grew it. “It was rocky trying to arrange the funding involved, getting customers lined up and staying busy,” he admits. “Fortunately, I’ve been in it my whole life. I started to make money, meet customers
and clients and it took off from there.” McColm now has 10 employees who have helped him build Action Construction into a multi-million dollar company. “We’re steadily growing,” he says. “We’re purchasing new equipment every year. We recently completed the Keller Hospital parking lot, and we’ve done some work at Children’s Hospital in Dallas for Hunt Construction. Last year we redid the Bass Pro Shop’s parking lot in Grapevine. We do large-scale parking lots right now, and one day I hope we’ll do some city or highway work where it’s just long, straight runs.” Now that Action Construction has hit the 10-year mark, McColm has no intention of slowing down, and wants to make sure those around him don’t slow down either. “We’re just trying to keep growing and see what happens,” he adds. “Staying steady and keeping all of the employees busy is our main goal.” Concrete and asphalt subcontractor Action Construction is located in Dallas. – mjm
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Page 3
Cutting to cooling
B
Full of attention
J.D. Webb (far left), owner of Webb Air Conditioning, and the team.
etween haircuts, Fort Worth barber H.B. Webb would peruse one of his many magazines and read about topics that had nothing to do with hair. It was in an issue of Popular Mechanics that H.B. read an article about evaporative cooling. Intrigued by the idea, H.B. built an evaporative cooler for his barbershop in 1941. “Barbershops were places where people congregated even if they didn’t need a haircut,” H.B.’s grandson J. D. Webb explains. “My grandfather would leave the space’s front door open so that when people walked by, they could feel that cold air and they would come in and ask about it. He and his son started building these things in their spare time and selling them to people, and they called them “Webb Coolers.” That’s how our family got their start in the business.” Eight years later, H.B.’s side business became the first Carrier authorized dealer in the territory, and he branched out in to refrigeration sales. As the demand for his cooling contraptions rose during the hot Texas summers, H.B. decided to close his barbershop and run Webb Air Conditioning full-time. All of H.B.’s children worked in the business, including J.D.’s father Jerry Webb; Jerry focused on the company’s commercial side after serving in the Army and studying engineering at Texas Tech. Jerry’s sons J.D. and his brother Kevin Webb, the third generation of the family to work at Webb Air Conditioning, started their path with installations and service. “In 1979, I graduated high school and went to college, but I took a different direction [from my dad] and got a business degree,” J.D. says. “My dad was the commercial guru around here, so when I came to work here in 1984, we were really a commercial air conditioning company. We did residential but it wasn’t really a focus, so I decided that would be an area that I would work on so we could grow the business in a different area.” “I really didn’t grow up thinking this
Dallas H Fort Worth
CONSTRUCTION NEWS
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 Jesse Abercrombie
is what I was going to do,” J.D. continues. “The reason why I did the business part was that the nuts and bolts of air conditioning is not what called me, but I did want to be a part of a business that we could grow. I saw it as an opportunity to work with my dad in a family business and grow and build something together.” Together, the Webbs built a 22-employee company that serves the Metroplex. The company is one of only 32 HVAC contractors who have received the Carrier Manufacturing Hall of Fame Award. Sadly, J.D.’s grandfather and father did not live to celebrate the milestone (Jerry Webb passed in February at the age of 84), but both men’s emphasis on honesty, integrity and resourcefulness in business is something J.D. and Kevin, who serve as owner and general man-ager, respectively, honor through their work. After 77 years, J.D. says business continues to heat up and cool plans are being made. “I am presently working on purchasing the outstanding shares of the company so that I will be the sole owner at this point in time,” J.D. says. “We’re working with a management company that’s helping us to become less of a repair shop and more of a retail operation; that’s something that has to happen right now because there are a lot of really polished companies out there. Our specific goal is growth in the residential service area, service agreements, maintenance agreements and replacement.” One thing that won’t change is the Webbs’ enthusiasm for creating new solutions. “The best feeling is when we’re able to help people,” J.D. says. “I enjoy when our customers have needs; sometimes the solutions are not right out of the box, but we do our homework and figure out solutions and we get happy customers. That’s honestly where I get my biggest enjoyment.” Webb Air Conditioning is an HVAC subcontractor in Fort Worth. –mjm
Ann Keil
DFW Area Counties Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties. Add’l Counties for Digital Subscriptions: only Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker & Rockwall. Construction News Ltd. Home Office P.O. Box 791290 • San Antonio, Tx 78279 210-308-5800 Fax 210-308-5960 www.ConstructionNews.net
AustinEditor@ConstructionNews.net HoustonEditor@ConstructionNews.net
Visit our Website to sign up for a free monthly Digital Subscription www.ConstructionNews.net The Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News (ISSN 1547-7657) is published monthly by Construction News Ltd., dba Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News, and distributed by mail to construction related companies in the Dallas/ Fort Worth metropolitan area. All submissions should be mailed to our editorial offices. We reserve the right to edit any materials submitted. No fees for materials, copy or photographs submitted will be due unless agreed upon in advance in writing. Submissions will be published at our discretion on a space-available basis. Construction News, Ltd., dba Dallas ★ Fort Worth 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.
DFWeditor@ConstructionNews.net SAeditor@ConstructionNews.net
T
Gabriel Cruz on the jobsite of the Bishop North Apartments in Dallas.
hey have been in the Dallas area for over two decades providing reinforcing steel as a rebar and post tension installer. Gabriel Cruz titles himself as operations manager for Gabriel Steel LLC. The company was incorporated in 1993. Before Cruz and the Cruz family established the company, Cruz found himself in the construction industry after graduating high school. He worked for Austin Commercial at the time. After getting a taste and then some, “We decided to do our own thing and started by getting small jobs and here we are,” said Cruz. The majority of work they do is commercial and because of that they’ve been recognized throughout the years. One victory for the company was in 2002, when they received the Quoin Award, (pronounced “coin”) for doing an outstanding job. Cruz says they are members of the Better Business Bureau and the Minority Business Enterprise (MBE). Gabriel Steel has remained located in Dallas. They’ve worked all throughout Texas and continue to satisfy their clients.
“We’ve been doing most of the high profile jobs here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.” A couple of their biggest projects are the American Airlines Center and Terminal D at the DFW International Airport. As of today, they are working on commercial parking garages and condominiums. Cruz is proud of what they’ve accomplished and continue to accomplish. He says Gabriel Steel is in a “master contract” with Henry Building, Inc. In fact, they’ve started a new project called Bishop North in the Oak Cliff area. “That is going to be a parking garage and a podium with apartments on top of it,” explained Cruz. The future looks busy for Gabriel Steel and it is because of their high-end reputation. Cruz says they don’t even bid on jobs right now because they come to him. “We’ve been around for a long time and everybody knows me. I’ve been working with major general contractors who call me and offer me jobs.” And his response to the work is if he can, he’ll take them. Gabriel Steel LLC is a rebar and post tension subcontractor in Dallas, TX. –lv
Page 4
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
office work as well as high end tenant finish. The majority of us have worked together for 15 to 20 years prior to GCATS. We have a great customer base and a great group of people. 95 percent of our business is repeat business. Five percent is referral and we don’t really do any advertising.
David Whitmire Owner GCATS Telecom and Critical Power Services Dallas, Tx
G
CATS Telecom & Critical Power Services is a turnkey electrical, telecommunications, and critical power company specializing in providing creative and unique solutions. So David where were you born? I was born in Robbinsdale Minnesota and moved to Texas at the age of 7. My parents were from Texas. My dad moved the family there for work. The only thing I remember about Minnesota is that it was very cold! Do you remember much about your upbringing? We moved from a town to a farm outside of Caddo Mills Texas, which is between Greenville and Rockwall. How did you get your start in construction? My dad was a sheetrock contractor so when I was 12, I started nailing sheetrock. My grandfather was an electrical contractor as well as my uncles, cousins and others in the family. In 1981 when I graduated high school, my uncle encouraged me to join an apprenticeship program through the IBEW. What year did you start GCATS and how did you come up with the name? I started GCATS in 2005. I joined IEC at the same time. GCATS was more of a legal name that we agreed on. We go by GCATS Telecom and Critical Power Services. It sticks with people. It’s something our attorney came up with. What were the first few years like for you? We were pretty fortunate. We’ve always concentrated on data centers and central
Are you focused more on Dallas or do you venture outside of the city? We also have a presence in Austin due to our data center business. We’ve been invited to come up and do some work in Virginia because we are licensed there. We usually do this at the customer’s request. We’ve done telecom work in Lincoln Nebraska, Minneapolis Minnesota Kansas City, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Our out of town work is primarily inside plant or central office Installations. Are you the primary owner of GCATS or are there other partners? I am the founder, but I also have a partner in the business by the name of Jerrel Kutil. How did you guys meet? He actually worked for me as an apprentice back in the’ 90s. We were doing local exchange carriers and telephone work for groups like AT&T and MCI. Many of those companies aren’t around anymore. He came to work for me and I immediately made him a project manager because he was a really smart guy and we’ve been working together ever since. You mentioned telecom earlier. I know how that industry was in the early 2000s which was a rough time to be in that business. How did you guys survive that period? In 2001, the wheels fell off. In the ‘90s, the government deregulated the phone companies so many mom and pop local exchange carriers popped up and we were doing a lot of that work. I was working for Guild Electric, which was a union contractor, and the owner had me start Guild Technologies to pursue those markets. We got up to 363 guys with 95 trucks. When the wheels fell off towards the end of 2000, most of our customers filed bankruptcy and went out of business. Right after that we had 911 which affected our commercial guys. Suddenly we were a 40-man shop with five trucks. I think downsizing is much harder than growing. We survived it though. What advice would you give someone entering the construction industry? The first thing is that if you can get into an apprenticeship program, like the IEC’s program, that would be a great start. We’re branching out to the high schools to allow students to get their first
David Whitmire
year of studies completed. Apply yourself and you will graduate in four years and probably will have a higher income than your friends that went to college and you will have zero college debt. From there the sky’s the limit. You have to spend some time as an electrician and journeyman but you can work your way up to foreman, superintendent, project manager and eventually own your own company. Any of the specialized trades are the best secret! You just have to find an area that fits you. I was in a two-year vocational program and a lot of my friends went on to college. When we all graduated they all had more debt and made less money than me so joining the apprenticeship program certainly paid off. How many total employees do you have? Right now we’re at 117. We average about 120 and we’ve had as many as 168. Twenty-seven of those employees are in the apprenticeship program right now. We actually reimburse tuition and books at 100 percent for an A and 75 percent for a B. What type of company activities do you have a GCATS? We have a quarterly newsletter where we recognize our employees. We will also have an IDEAL barbeque in October. We had a wire off competition and with great socializing and fellowship. We try to have those quarterly and, of course, we will have a holiday party. We try to do the best we can with our employees. We have employee surveys and make sure that they know to spend their benefit dollars. We pay 100 percent of our employees health coverage. Because of this we have very low turnover. What’s changed the most at GCATS over the last 12 years? We’ve learned the importance of having quarterly reviews and setting
goals. We brought in an HR consultant that has really helped with our younger employees. The regulatory environment has changed over the years but we’ve made proper adjustments needed. Technology has increased our estimating by 400 percent and made us much more efficient. Our estimates are automatically loaded into other systems and allow us to track our budgets daily. That wasn’t here 12 years ago! Is there a single individual that was your mentor or someone you really admired? That’s a tough one. I’ve worked with many good people so it would be hard to single one out. I was rotated around as an apprentice and met a lot of good people. My uncle gave me that push and encouragement when I first started. What are your hobbies? I have so many hobbies and so little time. We have a place in northeast Oklahoma where we hunt on about 720 acres with a cabin. We work with the parks and wildlife. We capture the bears during the spring and summer months. We then put GPS collars on the females so that they can track them. It’s a joint program with the Oklahoma Parks and Wildlife and OSU. In February and March, they invite us back and we get to play with the babies. We enjoy the lake as well. Our house in Arkansas is on the lake so we take the kids there for watersports and fishing. How long have you been married? Debbie and I have been married since 1982. Our anniversary is October 15th. We have two kids whom we love dearly. My son and daughter both went to the University of Arkansas. The family all lives in Arkansas so I fly my own plane back and forth between GCATS and Arkansas each week.
Damage control
F
rom the college textbooks straight to the rooftops, Josh Wilson settled right into the construction industry. Wilson started his company named Bedrock Contracting in 2002. They specialize in commercial and residential roofing applications, as well as storm damage restoration. Located in Fort Worth, Wilson has succeeded as a business owner. His 16-yearold company is a debt free company and continues to be customer service driven. In fact, about 90 percent of the work they do comes from people who have suffered loss through hail damage. M i c h a e l King has been the vice president of the company since buying into the company this past April. He said, Jessica Van Osdell
Michael King, vice president and Josh Wilson, president
“We work with commercial real estate brokers, insurance agents and have three certified independent adjusters. We are very versed when it comes to handling the insurance process and claim process with the adjusters. We like to take that off
of the plate of the insured and facilitate the entire process.” Bedrock Contracting services Texas and Oklahoma. King says they are in the licensing process for Colorado, Arkansas and Louisiana because they are looking
to grow to multiple states. The reasons they want to have a greater coverage area are because the demand is there, especially with the niche they carry. “It gives us the ability to create more opportunities for our employees to go and assist people in need,” added King. King shared that his background is in commercial. He and Wilson teamed up to push the company in that direction. They like to thank Wilson’s sister Jessica Van Osdell, operations manager because, “She is the glue that keeps everything going,” said King. Today the company has gone through a new logo change and new changes to their website, to bring the commercial side to the forefront of the company. “We’ve always offered the commercial applications, but now it is going to be the driving factor of the business mix that we are going to have moving forward,” said King. Bedrock Contracting is a residential and commercial roofing contractor located in Fort Worth, TX. –lv
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Page 5
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT & WHY? Javier’s—it is gourmet Mexican food (not tex-mex), and I love the atmosphere. Dim lighting keeps it intimate for those on a date; however, it is still a great place for large gatherings and celebrations. Javier is a hunter, so he has all of his animal mounts showcased throughout the restaurant. The tortilla soup is the best I have ever had and my favorite entrée is the Filete Azteca. Also, our family and company have a long history with Javier. When he moved here from Mexico, he bought my dad’s townhouse in Dallas and every year we work on the floors in the cigar room at his restaurant and we have also do work on his personal home. If you haven’t been there, you need to go! Alicia Reid, Trinity Floor Company Ten50 BBQ because of the environment and it is close to my office. You walk through the smoke to get to the food. Robert Scott, Petri Electric Inc. It would be 369 Barbecue and it’s a Chinese restaurant that is very authentic. It is the best authentic Chinese food that you can get in town. It is in Plano on the corner of Legacy and Coit Road. It is by far one of my favorite restaurants. Michael King, Bedrock Contracting I think this year my favorite restaurant is Texas de Brazil because I like meat. Todd Rodriguez, Endur Contractors I like Pluckers and as a matter of fact we need to build one here in the Oak Cliff area. I like the wings and the sauces and on the weekends I like the margaritas. Gabriel Cruz, Gabriel Steel LLC Babe’s Chicken Dinner House in Garland.
It’s just like mom’s old home cooking without any mess to clean up. Tom Crabtree, Water Heaters Only
Fishing roofers
T
he North Texas Roofing Contractors Association (NTRCA) held their annual fishing tournament Oct. 4-5 at Lake Texoma with a record breaking turn out. –cmw
My favorite restaurant is Al Biernat’s. What makes it extra good is that we built the North location! Brian Pace, ChaseCo Interiors I’d say Pappas Bros. Steakhouse because they have great steaks and a great ambience. Donna Pilant, Cre8stone My favorite restaurant in the area is called Don Taco off of Heritage Trace Parkway. I like it because they are very friendly and they serve really good food, best nachos I’ve had in a long time. It is pretty authentic food. Miguel Barragan, All American Concrete Polishing
1st Place: Southern Shingles – Holly Green and Blake Brown (not pictured: David Swayne and Jeff VanZee)
I like Saltgrass Steak House because I love steaks. That is my favorite food. Brandon Hull, B.H. Fabrication Aboca’s Italian Grill in Richardson, TX. It is a good Italian food restaurant that we stumbled upon looking for something in the area and we’ve been going back there ever since. Larry Arnold, DAICO Supply Aspen Creek Grill in Irving, TX. They have a very good atmosphere and food and you can watch your favorite sporting event while you eat no matter what sporting event it is. Also the management and all of the waitresses/waiters are very kind and friendly. Fernando King, Rocky Duron & Associates, Inc.
Dicey weather, no problem
The Texas DFW Council Painting Decorating Contractors of America (PDCA) hosted the 7th Annual Destin Fishing Trip from Sept. 27-30 in Destin, FL. Several PDCA’s contractor and associate members attended the event, and everyone had a great time. Despite the dicey weather, plenty of fish were still caught and cooked over the long weekend! L-R: Robert Little, Sherwin Williams; Justin Jense; Sherwin Williams; Jeff Sullivan, Wallcovering; Rodney Harrison, M. Danny Harrison; Benny Hernandez, James House Commercial; John Meyers, Sherwin Williams; James House, James House Commercial and Michael Dodson James House Commercial.-cmw
1st Place: James Saunders, Gulf Eagle Supply and Larry Brown, Stray Dry Roofing (not pictured: Josh Brown, Stay Dry Roofing)
L-R: Smallest Fish: Max Judge and Largest Fish: Ray Choate, 13.4
Page 6
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Enduring performance
Bro chance
The RAM Concrete & Asphalt team. L-R: Jose Meza, Mariela Tejada, Yessi Membreno, Jackelin Romero, Carmen Ventura and Francisco Meza
B
L-R: Logan Hall, Todd Rodriguez, Chuck Nolte, Jeff Labrum and Greg Wagner
y pulling their strongest skill sets together the team at Endur Contractors have become a full service mechanical contractor. This includes mechanical, HVAC and plumbing, plus all types of welding is done in-house. President of the company, Todd Rodriguez, says he and some of the core group of people he has chosen to form the team come from the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries. “We look for technical types of projects that require some technical expertise because it puts us in a better competition level and it also puts us in a better place to serve our clients,” he said. Even though they are a small company with around 40 employees, they can handle “some very technical work.” For instance, Rodriguez says right now he is filling out a technical service agreement for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in Carrollton. “We finished the job in September,” said Rodriguez. Endur Contactors has an open mind with their service area. As they are headquartered in Fort Worth, Rodriguez says they service the DFW area and Austin. In fact, Rodriguez has a history in the Austin market because he worked for the Porter Company before establishing his own. Endur Contractors was established in Aug. 2016. “The first year during our first three months we did about a million dollars. The second year we did about four and a half million dollars. Now in our third year through the month of August we have already done six million. We are probably going to end this year at about eight million dollars of gross revenue.” The company runs through three
segments: the process group, the commercial group, service process group and the work done at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth. Greg Wagner, a partner with the company oversees the industrial process group. “Lockheed Martin is a standalone, we have one man there, Chuck Nolte, who handles that segment of our business,” said Rodriguez. Logan Hall is also a partner with the company who oversees those segments as well. Soon after coming into business in the fall of 2016, the company received their Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) certification. “We just applied for the MBE, that we plan to utilize,” Rodriguez mentioned. Rodriguez acknowledges the tremendous amount of productivity the company has accomplished due to the fact that they are experienced in the pharmaceutical field. Endur Contractors is finishing up a job with Weldon Mechanical and Jacobs. “We found a strategic alliance with Weldon. They were able to get us involved in a pharmaceutical job, but we managed the whole project and self performed the high purity process. Weldon did the carbon steel plumbing and our two fabrications did the duck work,” added Rodriguez. Rodriguez is in a position to continue the growth of the company and the workflow. And before this year ends he will start a company tradition with their first ever company fishing trip this month. The entire team will be staying overnight at Lake Texoma. Now let’s see who will catch the biggest striped bass! You may just see it in our outdoor section. Endur Contractors is a full service mechanical subcontractor in Fort Worth, TX. –lv
B
rothers Jose Meza and Frank Meza were so close growing up that it had always been their dream to run a business together. The siblings got their chance in 2008 when Frank, who was freshly unemployed after 14 years, joined Jose, who was in charge of payroll at a concrete company. With Frank managing crews as a foreman, it wasn’t long before the brothers decided they didn’t like the company owners reliance on contract labor. They wanted to bid projects directly on behalf of the company, and registered RAM Concrete & Asphalt LLC to accomplish that. “Three months into opening RAM as a business in conjunction with this gentleman, it did not work out between us for several reasons,” Frank explains. “So we parted ways and ended up with a company without the person knowing that company skill. That’s when Jose and I teamed up by ourselves with the company.” With only two employees, the duo got down to work. “We started chasing leads we got from places that sell leads and started knocking on doors,” Frank says. “We started doing little jobs including driveways, sidewalks, residential projects, with just two guys working for us and ourselves. Throughout the years we’ve been doing much better. We added on employees and now we have 30 to 40 people. Now we don’t do residential; we’re into the commercial side. We mainly work for bigger subcontractors and universities – all commercial work, basically.” RAM’s notable concrete work includes monuments at the University of Texas at Arlington and University of North Texas at Denton, the wind tunnel at the University of Texas in Dallas and police stations, courthouses and school
districts throughout North Texas. The company’s largest project to date is the addition to Southwestern Adventist University in Keene. The qualities Jose and Frank each brought to the table in 2008 are the same characteristics that make them the perfect business partnership today. Jose is a whiz with anything paperwork- or computer-related, and Frank is at ease outside overseeing the employees and interacting with customers. “This arrangement has worked out very well for us,” Jose says. “A lot of small business owners that start out usually have one or the other; they don’t have both like we do because it’s very hard to do both in a small business.” The brothers are pleased with what their hard work has accomplished and hope for more of the same. “Our goal is to maintain everything since we started back in 2008,” Frank says. “It’s been a great year and we want to continue this. We want to continue to take care of our employees and our customers and see where we go. We’re going to have to expand as work continues to come in. It’s getting harder to get help in with the industry’s shortage of qualified workers, but we’re still pushing and hopefully we’re still here for a long time.” Jose and Frank may be getting some help soon by way of family. “We are doing this as far as we can go, but behind us we each have a son and a daughter,” Frank says. “Our sons are preparing themselves. Jose’s son is all brains; he would be able to handle the inside with no problem. My son is also in the field outside. He is a surveyor working for a big construction company, working on high-level construction. In the future, he will be able to come over. Both of them can come over, if they want to.” “We’re going to go as far as we can,” Jose adds. “We’re also working on trying to delegate our responsibilities to key personnel in the company so that they are the ones running the day-to-day operations of the company and we just get to the point where we just supervise the results. We’re in the process of trying to work ourselves out of a job.” Concrete and asphalt subcontractor RAM Concrete & Asphalt LLC is in Lewisville. –mjm
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Page 7
Litigious personal injury (PI) attorney-driven climate on commercial auto – Must address directly with your driver group
Part II: What are the accounting methods for long-term contracts? Scott Allen, CPA, Tax Partner Cornwell Jackson Plano, TX
Wes Pitts, Sr. V.P. and Southwest Regional Construction Practice Leader for USI Southwest USI Southwest Austin, TX
A
re you compliant? There are nuances to this area of the federal tax code. To prepare for the changes in 2018, each company should review accounting methods for long-term contracts with a CPA knowledgeable in this area of the federal tax code.
The following are the primary accounting methods for long-term contracts, explained briefly, for smaller and larger contractors. Smaller Contractors - Ave. Gross Receipts < $10 million (or < $25 million starting in 2018) Completed Contract Method • No revenue is reported or costs deducted until the contract is complete: • Generally considered complete when 95% of expected costs have been incurred • Aggressive billing and collections do not impact income • Biggest tax deferral opportunity The disadvantages of this method occur when several contracts finish in the same year, causing a spike in income and a spike in the tax rate. Contractors also cannot deduct losses on a contract until the job is complete. Note that home contracts are exempt from Section 460 and that the completed contract method is generally used by home builders. Cash Method • Revenue reported when collected • Costs deducted when paid • Large deferral opportunities by managing billings and acceleration of payment of costs The disadvantages of the cash accounting method with long-term contracts is that contractors must spend cash to claim deductions and delay receipts to defer income, which is counter to smart business planning. Aggressive billing may result in acceleration of income. Also, a declining economy could mean large tax bills in down years due to the inevitable reversal of income deferrals. Accrual Method • Revenue reported when billed • Costs deducted when incurred The disadvantages to the accrual accounting method are that aggressive billing generally results in acceleration of revenue, accrued losses on contracts are not deductible until the job is complete and tax planning techniques may be counter to business planning. Percentage of Completion Method • Ongoing recognition of revenue and income, computed by the stage of project completion when compared to total costs to complete the project • Based on estimated future costs The disadvantages to the percentage of completion accounting method are that accrued losses on contracts are not deductible and income can be accelerated due to things like uninstalled materials charged to jobs, overbillings by subcontractors or underestimated total costs to complete a job. The accuracy of the meth-
od is dependent upon the accuracy of estimates. Inaccurate estimates could result in inaccurate reporting of tax. A Note About Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) For C-corporations, AMT was repealed for 2018 forward. The 2018 tax law increased the AMT exemptions for individuals, however AMT continues to apply. Percentage of completion is required for AMT purposes. Thus the difference in income between percentage of completion and the income under the taxpayer’s method of accounting for long-term contracts is an adjustment for AMT purposes. If the contractor is organized as a partnership, Scorporation, or sole proprietorship, the owners should evaluate the effect of AMT when selecting their accounting method. Home builders, as an exception, are permitted to use the completed contract method for AMT. Larger Contractors Ave. Gross Receipts > $10 million (or > $25 million starting in 2018). Larger contractors are required to use the Percentage of Completion method under Code Section 460. To offset the potential for accelerated income, companies may elect a 10% method, which defers recognition of revenue or costs until a job is at least 10% complete. This method is also allowable under AMT. It may be useful in instances when a contract commences toward the end of a tax year. Larger companies are also required to use a look-back approach once a job is complete. Income in prior years is recalculated using actual costs, which may result in a change in gross profit for the prior year. Tax is recalculated and compared to tax actually paid for the year. Interest is calculated on the resulting over or under payment. Code Section 460 also requires companies to allocate certain overhead costs to contracts. This may provide a deferral opportunity if the contractor is diligent in estimating overhead costs that may be allocated to the contract in future years. For more information on Tax Law Changes and how they will affect your company, read December’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
H
ave you seen your Auto rates steadily increasing over the last several years? You are not alone, it’s happening on all commercial insurance accounts across the board regardless of your own individual account’s auto experience – an 8% bump, 10% bump, even 15% or more are becoming more and more common! Commercial Auto (the Business Auto Policy line) is at the top of all underwriter’s radar screens right now. Why? The Personal Injury attorneys are having a field day on Auto, and you can’t avoid seeing their advertising in just about every kind of media outlet today. Just think for a minute how often daily you hear or see, “Have you been hurt by a company truck, call us know, we can get you the money you deserve, we’re standing by, etc., etc.” These attorneys have become experts at leveraging all aspects of how you the employer were negligent in the case of your driver’s accident on behalf of your company – how you hired the driver, how you vetted your driver (MVR program), experience and training, negligent entrustment, your written policies for safe driving including distracted driving acknowledged by all drivers, written documentation of maintenance of the vehicle, etc. (think of these as defenses). For all we know many of your employees may have the misconception that these PI firms are their friends and allies out there looking out for the employee’s best interests. In fact, these PI firms are costing employers millions of dollars in increased auto rates, which at the end of the day can and will affect employer’s bottom lines, and that could mean impacts to salaries, raises, bonuses, etc., and this is what the employees don’t realize. As an agent in this marketplace dealing with ever increasing auto rates daily and working diligently with underwriters trying to demonstrate the we have best-in-class insureds that are doing everything right, there’s a big picture strategy that we feel strikes into the heart of this problem better than anything else. We have to get out and talk directly to our insured’s drivers! Insureds today should expect their agent to be coming out and holding sessions with their driver groups to address and explain the big picture problem, key them in on why this is important to them, what is fueling the poor performing line (not only the PI’s, but also growth in fleet
size, higher vehicle values and repair costs, our ever-increasing traffic problem – all a perfect storm homed in on the Auto line! The session should address how underwriting has a keen eye on them as drivers, what is a loss ratio, how they/their employer are performing, what their frequency and trends are on Auto, what their goals should be, and what their costs are now and more importantly what their costs could be. Goals should be set with the drivers and demonstrate to them what are considered the best, good to average, higher, and the highest auto rates on a typical light class service truck, and show them where they don’t want to be going on that spectrum. Then after they understand all that, is when we begin to go into safe and defensive driving strategies with the drivers, almost like a refresher course on basic concepts of safe and defensive driving. The session should be interactive and encourage participation and involvement from the driver group. The presentation should show statistics, and have imbedded videos that show accidents and the pains of losses that can occur because of their driving decisions. A lot of time should be spent on the fastest up and coming crash cause, distracted driving with the use of cell phones and similar devices. You take a look at your Auto line and you see the last 5 years’ experience shows three to five claims a year, but several have large reserves when your driver and investigation showed you the people were up and about just fine at the accident scene – this is the issue, a week later these people (claimants) hire the PI and now all of the sudden they have all kinds of problems and your carrier puts up a $25,000. reserve on the Auto BI-Liability. One light truck on average moderately generates about $1,500 a year in full coverage premium, you see the issue? Rates are moving up because of this, but getting out in front of the drivers and discussing this whole situation is an excellent big picture step, and we’re confident that getting their buy-in will make a significant difference for your company over the long haul with this issue. Wes Pitts is a Sr. Vice President and Southwest Regional Construction Practice Leader for USI Southwest - Austin, TX. 512-651-4107, or Wesley.pitts@usi.com
Page 8
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Design defects threaten Texas contractors
Is 911 your confined space rescue plan?
Shelly Masters, Principal Cokinos | Young Austin, TX
Joann Natarajan Compliance Assistance Specialist OSHA Austin, TX
M
any Texas contractors wrongly assume they have no responsibility for errors or omissions in plans and specifications. To the contrary, Texas courts have held contractors – not owners – bear the risk and liability of deficient plans when the contract is silent on the issue. Unlike most states, Texas contractors remain largely unprotected for the errors and omissions of architects. Texas courts have refused to follow what is known nationwide as the “Spearin Doctrine” – a federal court ruling that an owner of a construction project has an implied duty to provide the contractor with accurate plans and specifications. If a contractor builds according to the owner’s plans and specifications, the contractor will not be responsible for the consequences of any defects in those documents. Thus, the contractor is relieved of liability to the owner if its work is defective due to following the design documents provided by the owner. Instead, Texas follows the holding by the Texas Supreme Court in the Lonergan case wherein the court stated: There is no more reason why the [owner] should be held responsible for the alleged defects in the specifications that it did not discover for want of skill and knowledge of the business of an architect, than there is for holding [the contractor] to be bound by their acceptance of the defective plans which they understood as well as the [owner] did, and in all probability much better. The fact that [the contractor] contracted to construct the building according to the specifications furnished implied that they understood the plans. ... If there be any obligation resting upon the [owner], as guarantor of the sufficiency of the specifications, it must be found expressed in the language of the contract, or there must be found in that contract such language as would justify the court in concluding that the parties intended that the [owner] should guarantee the sufficiency of the specifications to [the contractor]. Because Texas law does not follow the Spearin doctrine, contractors must bear the risk of design deficiencies in the absence of contract provisions otherwise allocating this risk. Further, contractors have no direct claim for negligence against architects for damages incurred as a result of design errors or omissions.
As a result, a contractor’s primary tool for limiting risk and liability is by agreement. Contractors must carefully review and revise construction contract language to reduce or eliminate such risk. Texas courts have upheld such contract provisions. Avoid entering into contracts with language meant to shift the risk of loss from design errors or omissions onto the contractor through the use of specific disclaimers making the contractor the guarantor of the adequacy of the plans and specifications. Limitations should also be placed on language requiring the contractor to thoroughly inspect the site and design documents and otherwise assume responsibility for any errors therein. Beware – the more specific and detailed the clause, the more likely it will be enforced. Contractors should aggressively negotiate very specific provisions negating liability for design errors based on the scope of work of the project. For example, contractors have successfully shifted the risk back to the owner with contract language expressly stating that the contractor shall be entitled to rely on the accuracy of information furnished by the owner; the contractor shall not be liable to the owner or architect for damage resulting from errors or omissions in the contract documents; and, the contractor’s review of plans and specifications are made in the contractor’s capacity as a contractor and not as a licensed design professional. Shelly Masters is a Principal in the Austin office of Cokinos | Young, a firm specializing in the representation of those in the construction industry for almost 30 years. She represents clients in the areas of construction, labor and employment, commercial, and products liability law. Her firm also has offices in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. She can be reached by e-mail at smasters@cokinoslaw.com or by phone at (512) 615-1139.
P
ermit-required confined spaces can present conditions that are immediately dangerous to workers’ lives or health if not properly identified, evaluated, test-
ed and controlled. OSHA has developed a standard for Confined Spaces in Construction (29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA) for any space that meets all of the following criteria: • Is large enough for a worker to enter; • Has limited means of entry or exit; and • Is not designed for continuous occupancy. One provision of the standard requires employers to develop and implement procedures for summoning rescue or emergency services in permit-required confined spaces. An employer who relies on local emergency services for assistance is required to meet the requirements of §1926.1211 — Rescue and emergency services. OSHA recognizes that not all rescue services or emergency responders are trained and equipped to conduct confined space rescues. When employers identify an off-site rescue service, it is critical that the rescuers can protect their employees. The emergency services should be familiar with the exact site location, types of permit-required confined spaces and the necessary rescue equipment. Calling emergency responders to provide rescue services can be a suitable way of providing for rescues in a permitrequired confined space. Preplanning will ensure that the emergency service is capable, available and prepared. Prior to the start of the rescue work operation, employers must evaluate prospective emergency responders and select one that has adequate equipment for rescues, such as atmospheric moni-
tors, fall protection, extraction equipment, and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) for the particular permitrequired confined spaces. The emergency responder must have the ability to respond and conduct a rescue in a timely manner based on the site conditions and is capable of conducting a rescue if faced with potential hazards specific to the space. Such hazards may include atmospheric hazards (e.g., flammable vapors, low oxygen), electrocution (e.g., unprotected, energized wires), flooding or engulfment potential, poor lighting, fall hazards and chemical hazards. Agreed to notify the employer in the event that the rescue team becomes unavailable. Employers must also inform the emergency responders of potential hazards when they are called to perform a rescue at the worksite; and provide emergency responders with access to all permit-required confined spaces. Emergency responders must be provided with information on access routes, gates or landmarks, a project site plan if necessary, and GPS coordinates if in a remote location. Employers should ensure that the most efficient means to contact emergency responders is available, any changes to the project site conditions are communicated to the rescue service, and emergency responders are willing to visit the site and conduct a joint training exercise with the employer. natarajan.joann@dol.gov 512-374-0271 x232
Steady industry
W
ith plenty of new faces moving into the DFW area, Brandon Hull, owner of B.H. Fabrication, said the construction industry is doing pretty good. For 18 years his clients have been hearing about his services and work through word of mouth. Hull runs a family owned and operated metal fabrication company. He’s been running it since he was 25-years-old. He started in the year 2000. “My grandfather had been in the steel business his whole life. Right after high school, I started working for him and a few other people. Eventually, I started my own business when I was 25,” said Hull. Today his business does metal buildings, awnings and all sorts of custom welding: titanium, aluminum and steel. Kennedale, TX is home to Hull and so that is where his company is located. Their service Photo of the RV drive-thru car wash in Alvarado, TX. area is the Dallas/Fort Worth area and the company mainly does commer- and replace the roof and whatever else cial work, although if needed they will do needs to be done. We also do new buildresidential work too. The family operated ings from the ground up; we use standard business has Hull’s sister working inside structures. We have them shipped and we the office and his brothers work with him install them from the concrete up.” too. He has a couple more employees who One project Hull and his team are are with them as well. Hull doesn’t plan on proud of was done a couple of years ago growing the company toward a large when they built one of the first RV drivenumber of employees because he likes thru car washes in Alvarado, TX. “It was the size that they are today. 25-ft. wide, 200-ft. long and 25-ft. tall. It They happen to do a lot of insurance took us about four months,” said Hull. work with people who claim insurance on B.H. Fabrication is a fabrication contheir buildings or a new roof. “We’ll go in tractor in Kennedale, TX. –lv
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Page 9
Preparing for winter fishing 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
E
very November, sportsman are faced with the decision on whether to go hunting or fishing on their days off from work. It’s really is a tough choice to make after cold fronts start arriving here along the coast, because you know there is an opportunity to see a big buck standing at your feeder and there’s also a chance to catch a giant gator trout on your next cast with your favorite corky lure. I can recall many days at the ranch when the weather turns out to be so perfect and I look at the guys and say, “We should be fishing!” Well, all I can say is either of the two is ok with me. Fall/winter fishing has been getting so popular in the last several years because there is less pressure on the bay system. Anglers are able to get to their favorite fishing hole without worrying if someone will be there or if it’s already been fished out. This is the time of the
Mike Rodriguez of San Antonio wrestled this 32-inch redfish last month while on an outing with Steve Schultz Outdoors.
year where you take your time getting to the ramp, perhaps stopping for a taco and coffee before you hit the water. Plan your day on the water according to the major and minor feeding times to optimize your time on the water. Use the sun to your advantage, keeping in mind that shallow water warms up quicker than deeper water. Take advantage of the whole day by sticking it out when the bite is off. You have already invested the time and money to get on the water, so
This 27.5-inch, 7.3 lb. redfish was just heavy enough to land Robert Meyers a third place trophy in the San Antonio Pipeliners Tournament.
don’t blow the day off when you don’t catch them in the morning. Winter fishing can be very rewarding if you are willing to be patient and put in the effort it takes to grind through the day with just a few bites. This type of fishing isn’t for everyone. Most seasoned anglers who have spent many hours on the water know what I’m talking about. These trips are not for a newcomer that expects lots of action like we have during the summer. As you get older you understand what I’m talking about. Can’t tell you how many times a young boy, heck even my boys, have asked, “Why are we not catching any fish or seeing any bucks as we sit in a deer blind?” All of these questions are answered with time spent on the water and in the brush and make success very gratifying. For the remainder of the season and the start of 2019, I will be concentrating my efforts wading for trophy trout in Baffin Bay and Port Mansfield. Wade fishing and throwing artificial lures will be the main techniques. I will also be spending lots of time in the South Texas brush searching for someone’s next trophy whitetail. If you are interested in pursuing either of these adventures, don’t hesitate in giving me a call. 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 e-mail me at SteveSchultzOutdoors@gmail. com. Good Luck and Good Fishing.
Page 10
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 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
Y
Patterns
esterday it was 90 degrees with hellish humidity so bad you couldn’t go outside without sweat droplets chasing each other down your back. Today it is 40 degrees with a 25 mph wind driving heavy rain into you at a 45 degree angle. Welcome to Texas. A lot of us natives really don’t feel the need to travel and experience new things because if you just sit still all the weather will eventually come to you! We are creatures of habit. It’s nice to just roll out of bed and dress like yesterday and go and do usual stuff without having to think about it. That doesn’t work with this climate! We go from having to try and stay cool to trying to get warm with not much just right in between. At least we can influence the environment that we inhabit to get comfortable. The wild things we share this world with are not as lucky. If you hunt or fish and learn about the creatures you seek, you understand that they are largely influenced by things like temperature and daylight hours. These are the cues that tell animals (and plants too) what they should be doing in their life cycle on a biological level. Everything revolves around spawning and rutting and creating the next generation and raising them to independence. It tells natural things when to seek shelter and wait and when to surge ahead to feed and succeed. Is it any wonder that hunting and fishing are such a challenge? Yesterday was just another lazy summer day to be endured. Stripers have been in that end of summer shut down mode for weeks now. They don’t like the kind of temperatures our Texas waters get up to. The shorter days have cooled them a little and they have been trying to find enough cool water to spur them into action, but it
just hasn’t been enough to get them going and keep them at it. I bet they will get the message after this cold spell. This is the weather they have been waiting for! Now they will get the clear message that it’s time to school up, chase shad and eat everything they can catch to they can be strong and healthy to spawn in the spring. Striper and Hybrid fishing is about to take off! It’s time to be thinking about booking those holiday fishing trips now! If you hunt, you know how deer need to get some cold weather to spark them into their rutting season. That’s when hunting gets the best. A good fisherman learns how to adapt his bait and presentation for each kind of day. A real hunter can feel the weather and know if the deer or birds will be moving and foraging for food or laying up waiting for better weather. A lucky hunter or fisherman is one who gets a few days in a row that allow him to find and use a pattern of attack that has brought success before! The more time you spend outdoors, the more patterns you learn to respond to. The more you go, the more you know! And don’t forget to bring the kids because they need to learn too!
Half or Full Day Fishing Trips All Bait, Tackle & Equipment Furnished Your catch Filleted and Bagged for You Furnish your TPWD Fishing License & Refreshments, and WE DO THE REST!
Ken Milam Guide Service (325) 379-2051 www.striperfever.com
Submitted to Construction News
Trophy pronghorn
Thursday, November 22
Don Weempe, P.E. of Master Construction & Engineering, shot this pronghorn antelope in Sprinter, NM. He shot his prize trophy at 300 yards with a 6.5 Creedmoor in September. -cmw
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
E
Page 11
What kind of outdoor are you?
ver since we began our first Construction News paper in October 1998 for the San Antonio area, the center of the paper has always been devoted to outdoor. Each paper after that in Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston has followed the same path. The folks in our industry work hard and play hard and The Great Outdoors
section is a place to show your peers just how much fun YOU are having and making them a little jealous is okay too. Hunting, fishing and other types of outdoor adventures are always welcome. Don’t be shy and there is never a cost. So contact your Construction News editor and be a part of the Great Outdoors. -bd
Send us your photos and stories and outdoor activities. Fishing • Hunting Biking • Racing Hobbies • Crafts • Entertainment
Send to DFW@ConstructionNews.net or call 210-308-5800
Page 12
T
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Ruffolution
he National Association of Women in Construction’s (NAWIC) Fort Worth Chapter had 121 registered participants for their 1st Annual Ruffolution Dog Walk. Almost all participants had dog with them. Proceeds benefit the NAWIC Fort Worth Chapter 1 Foundation and Stray dog, a no-kill shelter in Texas. –cmw
NAWIC members pose with their “best friends”
Izzy rather ride than walk.
Participants check in.
Lily anxiously waits for the walk to begin.
Walking the walk
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Page 13
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
Embracing staffing & technology challenges Patrick Kunz, President Halff Associates Inc. Richardson, TX
I
t’s a good time to be in construction and engineering/ architectural design in Texas.
The state’s population growth continues to soar, and the private and public sectors are building the infrastructure necessary to support that growth—everything from office buildings and retail to commercial spaces, industrial developments and public infrastructure. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Dallas/Fort Worth gained 146,000 new residents in 2017. Meanwhile, six of the top 10 fastest-growing counties in the United States reside in Texas. Despite a healthy business increase in recent years, there are a few challenges we, at Halff Associates, wrestle with today: staffing and quickly changing technology. Many Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) are now at retirement
age, and the smaller Generation X population (1965–1980) can’t fill that void completely. The real key is getting Millennials (1981–1996)—which the U.S. Census Bureau predicts will outnumber Baby Boomers in 2019 with more than 73 million people—the necessary experience to succeed. What it really means is we need the people on the fringe or the upper end of the Millennial generation to get experience fast because there are a lot of opportunities for them to fill positions. Specifically, it’s difficult to find quality midlevel managers—people with 10 to 15 years of experience or maybe even up to 20 years. Much has been made about Millennial thinking in society and the work-
Bringing the public into spaces Antonio Giovanni Naylor, President Reliance Architecture Austin, TX
A
ntonio Naylor is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Environmental Design and owns Reliance Architecture with a partner.
How would you describe the state of the construction industry in general terms? For people looking to build, there has been an increase in costs. Contractors have seen a recent rise in material costs, while labor costs have increased over the past six years. The number of new projects has remained steady, until this past summer. This summer showed an uptick in the construction industry with more projects kicking off design towards the end of the year. I would say we have been bullish since 2012. How has sustainability affected your industry? Education of the public has initiated clients to request buildings that are more energy efficient, have less water consumption and provide more comfort for the occupants inside. Sustainability urges us to construct a better habitat. Architects have championed most of the sustainability practices for decades. We educate ourselves on the advancement in technology and how we can further reduce the carbon footprint. Sustainable buildings increase costs, but the value to the client and to the environment is worth it. What are the new trends in architecture/engineering? There’s an emergence of green building products at lower price points closer to standard products. The research and technology have improved building
performance, contributed to less consumption of water and electricity and decreased carbon footprint. Architecture has better tools to immerse not only the client but also the contractor and others into visualizing the project. We can construct our designs in a 3D model. We can use the Building Information Model (BIM) to show how the environment will look, present options AND step through detailed information. This gives architects the ability to virtually build designs before construction begins. We have more in-depth conversations with our clients and contractors to proactively work through issues early. Bringing the public into spaces we design has been a focus. We have done more outreach to incorporate functions and expectations of communities more. We design spaces that are inclusive of their communities, provide amenities and services to enrich the community. We have seen more partnering that encompasses large groups with diverse interests. It is rewarding as we see the buyin take place by all parties. What are the rewards of architecture/ engineering? Delivering on a challenge for our clients is extremely rewarding. Collaborating so that clients can realize their dream and vision within their budget is great. It may seem at times we are under appreciated, but I would challenge my peers to revisit a finished building a year later. Go back, stand around and observe the oc-
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING
Sept: Green Building Nov: Architecture & Engineering Oct: Specialty Contractors Dec: Construction Equipment
place, but Halff plans to embrace it. You hear things such as they don’t want to work and don’t have a work ethic. I don’t buy that at all. They want to do meaningful work. They want to know that somebody appreciates the work they are doing, and the market is such that they can demand that. I don’t believe that this younger generation is much different than my generation was. The only difference is today, companies are embracing that and giving this generation attention. They are helping them understand how doing even a small task fits into the bigger picture and why that is meaningful work—and how that is going to help them in their career growth. The firms that are doing that and showing a genuine interest in people moving up in their careers are the ones that are going to be successful. Halff is conducting more development training courses to help young professionals grow as quickly as possible and remain engaged in their work. We are also focused on improved communications, so employees know what is happening and what career opportunities exist. Technology is another hurdle in the sense that it has a significant impact to the firm’s overall cost to operate. As software improves, you’ve got to
hold on to the legacy software. Those IT costs are continuing to grow as technology progresses. We do embrace it, and we’re bringing it into our designs. On one hand, it’s helping our designs, processes and implementation be more efficient and effective. But on the flip side, there is a significant cost associated with continuous investment in future and new technology. Digital delivery of plans and specs— moving away from hardcopy plans in the field—is another change that has occurred within construction administration and management. Digital technology will only continue to grow. 3D design is here in architecture; MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) engineering; structural—as well as starting to come into civil. The larger building construction contractors are walking around with an iPad and have a 3D model of the building to see where there are conflicts during the construction process. That’s real. Keeping up with those day-to-day challenges and solving our clients’ problems is our ultimate reward. Everything we do touches and affects people’s lives.
cupants use the spaces. Very rewarding. To do this job well, to be an outstanding architect, we must love people, have a passion for problem solving and be astute listeners. Those are key ingredients to what we chose to do and what we love to do.
mentation have grown. This makes the management of projects more complicated and requires everyone involved to slow down so as not to rush towards mistakes. The huge challenge is to carry over some wisdom from the past. Even with our more advanced tools, we must practice the art of measuring twice and cutting once.
What is the most significant challenge your industry is facing? Managing expectations of all parties involved--the pieces and parts involved from conception of a design to imple-
Halff Associates Inc. is a full-service professional firm in Richardson, TX. -cmw
Reliance Architecture is a full-service architecture and planning firm, focused on educational and public architecture. -cmw
Golfing at Waterchase
T
he Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) Fort Worth Chapter held their 19th Annual Golf Tournament at Waterchase Golf Course. The event was held on Oct. 11 with 130 golfers in attendance. –cmw 1st Place: Opie Auten, Eco Staff Inc.; Bo
Durham, Eco Staff Inc.; Corey Boothe, FSG Electric and Kevin Terry, FSG Electric 2nd Place: Ati Suarez, Premier Electrical Staffing and Firetrol’s Josh Frier, Corey Schafer and Jason Mueller 3rd Place: Humphrey & Associates’ Jeff Wolfla, Marc TaylorJeremy Kirkland and Dave Schlapkohl
L-R: Lance Brown, Hi-Tech Electric; Robert Kisner, Hi-Tech Electric; Chris Trevino, Outsource and Rocky Montoney, Outsource
Page 14
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
THIS TH MON
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING
To represent your company in an upcoming FOCUS, contact DFWeditor@ConstructionNews.net (210) 308-5800
NEXT MONTH (DECEMBER) CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT
Growing with growth Jason E. Puchot, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, LEED AP Principal & AIA San Antonio 2018 Chapter President RVK Architects San Antonio
J
ason Puchot holds a degree in Evidence Based Design from Texas A&M University. He is a Board Certified Healthcare Architect and has specialized in healthcare design since 2002.
How would you describe the state of the construction industry in general terms? The growth in our region has transferred to our design and construction industry keeping us all continually busy. Have you experienced an increase in business? Slowdown? There has been increase in business with the influx of new residents moving into the area from all over the country. Along with that, come new business opportunities for designing new projects in wide range of areas.
What factors are driving this increase/ slowdown? As mentioned in the previous question, city growth is the driving force behind this increase. How has this increase/slowdown affected your company and how you conduct business? Business remains strong and between servicing new clients as well as existing clients means a bigger focus on balancing project schedules. What are the major changes in the in-
dustry in recent years relating to the type of work you do? Continual changes to codes in relation to energy conservation are the major changes we have experienced. What is the most significant challenge your industry faces? Labor shortages? Cost increases? Other? The biggest challenge is balancing a continual increase in expectations from our owners while staying competitive with professional service fees. How are you dealing with these challenges? We try to work with contractors early to help secure material pricing. What are the cost increases relating to your industry? Staying in tune to rising costs of materials due to tariffs in order to maintain the owner’s budgets during the design phase. What is on the horizon for your industry? Changes in technology, codes, or-
s
Pookie cup
C
hamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing hosted their 2018 Pookie Cup Tournament Oct. 11-13. The event is held annually at Port Mansfield. -cmw
Winning the 2018 Pookie Cup with 57.6 lbs of fish (L-R) San Antonio Roof Maintenance and Leak Repair Superintendent Ronnie Waldrop, President John Kafka, Houston Waterproofing and Caulking Assistant Project Manager Roland Cardenas, Fishing Guide Todd Grubert, Executive Vice President Art Canales and Houston Waterproofing and Caulking Project Manager Dustin Murphy.
dinances, laws, other? Codes and ordinances are always on the horizon and technology continues to be a focus. From 3D modeling of our designs to Virtual Reality, design firms continue to look for other ways of communicating their design to their clients. What are keys to being successful in your industry? Communication clearly is the biggest key to success and at the core for designers as service providers to its clients. Clear communication with consultants, vendors, general contractors and our owners will always serve as a focus for continual success. RVK is a commercial architecture, interior design and landscape architecture firm. They have celebrated 47 years of service in San Antonio. Specializing in 12 different commercial market sectors, RVK continues their brand through quality design as well as taking care of its employees recently celebrating seven years in a row as an Express News awarded Best Place to Work. -cmw
Submitted to Construction News
Round-Up
Pape-Dawson Engineers welcomes: Zubin Sukheswalla, P.E. as new Senior Project Manager of Water Resources in the Dallas office. He will serve as a key leader in the North Texas area helping to promote the firm’s water resources services. Sukheswalla has 15 years’ experience in public works planning and quality management. He has a B.S. in Civil Engineering degree from the Univ. of Mumbai and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M Univ. He is a registered P.E. and a Certified Floodplain Manager in the State of Texas.
Matt B. Garcia as Vice President of the firm’s Dallas office. He will lead business strategy and business development efforts for the firm’s water resource team in the North Texas area. Garcia holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management degree from McMurry Univ. and is an active member of the Texas Water Conservation Association, Water Environment Association of Texas Water Environment Federation and American Wastewater Association.
Kevin Gass joined the Cadence McShane Construction team as Vice President of Operations. With over 30 years experience of construction management, Gass manages the Dallas business unit construction operations by providing general oversight and guidance to the project management team. Gass holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech.
McCarthy Building Companies Inc. has proudly promoted Nathan Kowallis to Vice President of Operations of the company’s Dallas Business Unit. Kowallis will lead management and operations on pro-ject sites, focusing on healthcare, aviation, education, commercial, and public and private markets. He holds a B.S. in Construction Management from Brigham Young University and is member of the American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE).
Gary Roden joins the TDIndustries family as Vice President of Dallas Business Development. Roden, a grad- uate of Texas A&M with a degree in mechanical engineering brings 35 years of experience in mechanical engineering, architecture, controls and automation, along with general contracting to the TDI family.
VLK Architects announces the appointment of Scott Milder as Principal-K12 Education Market Leader. Milder, a recognized K12 authority within the State of Texas, founded Friends of Texas Public Schools in 2004. He will lead the firm’s involvement in public education advocacy, enhance service strategies in school districts and lead facility planning efforts for K12 projects and clients.
Round-Up Submissions
Submit Info & Photo:
Brief company announcements of new or recently promoted personnel, free of charge, as space allows.
DFWeditor@ConstructionNews.net
(210) 308-5800
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Page 15
Construction hunger relief
T
he talents of American Institute of Architects (AIA) Fort Worth Chapter members once again met fighting hunger in Tarrant County using their artistic skills. The citywide competition took place at the NorthEast Mall. Participants began constructing the structures of food cans on Oct. 14, followed by an awards gala held on Oct. 19. All food items used to construct the structures in the CANstruction competition will be donated to the Tarrant area Food Bank. –cmw
Best Use of Labels: Tarrant County College-South Campus, “Kickin’ Hunger” – 3,000 cans
Most Cans: Huitt-Zollars, “The Power of & - 8,016 cans
Best Original Design: Jacobs, “Surf’s Up Pikachu! Fighting Hunger for 20 years” - 5,844 cans
People’s Choice: VLK Architects, ”Edna Mode and Guest” – 804 cans
Structural Ingenuity: Bennett Benner Partners, “Big Impact Bold Vision: Virtual Reality” – 3,250 cans
A growing family
Positive personalities
W
Best Meal: Rogue Architects, “Crushing Hunger into Extinction” – 3,140 cans
Hector Martinez on the job and ready to polish.
ith plans to be in a new building within a year, the company All American Concrete Polishing has grown to become a well-known concrete polishing company in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area. They don’t just shine your floors; they shine a smile toward their customers. They also do custom staining, joint filling and custom floor logos. “We always shoot to make our customers happy,” said the owner, Miguel Barragan. “Us being the professionals; we see things that customers don’t see. I won’t walk away from a job without not just the customer being happy with it, but I’ve got to be happy with it too.” Barragan had a background managing projects for a different local company that also did concrete polishing. Then in January of 2015, he started All American Concrete Polishing. They are located in Keller, TX, but service the DFW area and try to service nation wide. “The furthest we’ve gone so far is New Mexico,” added Barragan. He adds that 98 percent of their work is commercial. They have worked on a lot of well-known commercial
properties, such as Wal-Marts, Trader Joes and HEBs to name a few. The company has seven people that break off into two crews. “I have a strong crew and I am happy with them. Our office staff is great,” shared Barragan. In fact, Barragan says there is one gentleman who has been with him for 12 years, as they both worked for the company Barragan once managed projects for. There is also their sales manager Nick Walker who is another member that Barragan is happy to have on their team. The All American Concrete Polishing crew implements family oriented support. Barragan said they all do their own type of outside activity and support each other in what they do. Being team oriented or family oriented is important for any company and these folks sure know how to make memories together. For instance, on Halloween everybody got together and they carved and painted pumpkins. All American Concrete Polishing is a concrete polishing contractor in Keller, TX. –lv
L-R: Raba-Kistner Vice President & COO Tom Burr and Timber Creek Environmental Charles “Dude” Hall make the acquisition of TCE official.
A
t the beginning of October, the Raba-Kistner Inc. (RK) family grew with the acquisition of Timber Creek Environmental (TCE). Based in Conroe and with additional offices in San Antonio and Dallas, TCE will become part of the RK environmental division. Charles “Dude” Hall established Timber Creek with the core competencies of Environmental Compliance, Geosciences and Natural Resource Management in 2013. “TCE is well respected in the environmental field due to their experienced, committed staff, strong client relationships, and innovative project solutions that they have provided to their clients. Their growth in five years is nothing short of phenomenal,” said Tom Burr, Senior Vice President and COO of Raba Kistner’s environmental division. “They are a great cultural fit for Raba Kistner, as a result, and will support multiple components of Raba Kistner’s strategic growth plan.” Raba-Kistner wanted more ways to help their clients and provide solutions for their clients and Timber Creek pro-
vides a good range of services, particularly in the area of environmental compliance that will compliment the services already provided by the RK. “TCE’s background with the manufacturing/industrial sector and with major national clients strengthens our position in this sector,” said Joe Irizarry, CMO and Senior Vice President of Raba Kistner, Inc. “We have served industrial clients for almost 50 years. TCE expands our range of environmental services and gives us even more ways to provide solutions for our clients.” Over the next 90 days TCE will be transitioning their name into Raba-Kistner. “We are excited because we can help their clients in more ways with other services that we do, but we can extend the unique things Timber Creek brings to our clients to all the markets we serve. I think it is going to be very complimentary to all involved and especially to our clients,” adds Irizarry. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Raba Kistner Inc. is a full-service engineering firm. -cmw
Page 16
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Roofing & clays
T
he North Texas Roofing Contractors Association (NTRCA) held its 2018 Clay Shoot on Sept. 12 at Elm Fork Shooting Club. Competitive shooters Travis Mears and Clay Robertson were on hand as “sharp shooters.” –cmw Meadows Course winners: 1st place: Travis Roofing Supply - John Peña, Harrison Hughes, Nick Cope and Ryan Anders 2nd place: ABC Supply - Ryan Brawley, Ben Gromatzky, Anthony Holeman and Ken Higginbotham 3rd place: ABC Supply - Casandra Green-
well, Scott Ward, Bryan Nichols - Ward Construction and Chris Plumlee - GAF Commercial Coatings Woods Course winners: 1st place: Beacon Roofing Supply - Scott Shaeffer, Joe Henderson, Rick McLaughlin and Ryan Henderson 2nd place: ABC Supply - Brandon Kidd, Tommy Mullen, Tony Moore and Justin Alexander 3rd place: ABC Supply - Jordan Seewald, Austin Smith - Texas Independence, Ryan Sandberg and Jay Smith - Sandberg Construction
continued from Page 1 — Petri Electric One of their “most notable” projects completed was the interior remodel of the Reunion Tower in Dallas. The company has also done several major high profile church remodels, various complicated renovations and ground up construction projects. According to Scott, the reason for the success of Petri Electric is the people. Today’s employee number consists of “a little over a hundred.” Twenty of those work in the office within various management, estimating and accounting capacities. The remainders work in the field, in service or construction. Then there is Mike Hansberger, an estimator who has been with the company since the first year. Hansberger will be retiring this year, with a tenure of 38 years. Petri Electric has four parties a year. One for every season explained Scott. During the spring they host a beer, barbecue and live music party. Then during the hot Texas summers they have a summer pool party. “We rent a municipal pool for four hours and invite all the employees and their families,” added Scott. Of course, their most recent one was the FALL FEST in October, and then they will have their annual Christmas party to wrap up the year. One thing that Scott strongly believes in is, “Many people say when you are successful you will be happy. I believe
that when you are happy you will be successful. For Petri Electric to be successful, we have to find the right people for the right jobs, right temperaments and right skill sets for the right duties. When employees are “happy” with their work, they will thrive in it because they are doing something that they are naturally good at.” Scott praises God and said the company he now owns is a gift from God. While Scott was earning his degree in business from Texas Tech University, he was also working as an electrician. The two pieces of being a student and an electrician had created a strong desire for him to own his own business. The desire was put on hold when Scott felt conflicted by “trying to realize this dream,” and work faithfully for his employer. Then during a Christian men’s retreat he was given an opportunity to write his troubles on a piece of paper, nail it to a cross and give it to the Lord. So, Scott relinquished his dream to God that day to own a business. Ten years later, when the opportunity with Petri Electric happened, the dream came back to Scott. Since then, Scott and the Petri Electric team have had 14 years of growth and success and look forward to many more. Petri Electric is an electrical contractor located in Richardson, TX. –lv
Travis Roofing Supply, 1st Place Meadow Course
continued from Page 1 — ChasCo Interiors Inc.
Top Female Shooters L-R: Meadow Course – Casandra Greenwell, ABC Supply and Woods Course – Misty Rae, Beacon Roofing Supply
Top Male Shooters L-R: Craig Lott, Malarkey Roofing Supply and Austin Smith, Team ABC Supply
Beacon Roofing Supply, 1st Place Wood Course
know it, I was working for a variety of companies, and I started a business, R-MAC Contracting, in 1992. “ To better serve his customers, he opened his present company, ChasCo Interiors, Inc. in 2004. The business performs all phases of commercial interior finish out work, including metal stud framing for walls, sheetrock installation and wall blocking. A unique focus of the company is specialty ceilings. In ChasCo’s 26 years of operation, Richardson has grown the company to nearly 250 employees, which include his brother, senior estimator Cody Richardson, and son Ryan Richardson, who serves as the company’s vice-president. He also has opened two locations in Red Oak and Fort Worth and has created an in-house apprenticeship program. “I’m 53 years old. I’ve got some good years in me. I’m still hungry and motivated,” he says. “I’m also starting to think to the day when I want to go hunting and fishing every day. I have some guys in here that are my son’s age, and I teach them how to handle things.” Richardson is also teaching them the value of dreaming big. “One asked me if I ever envisioned this much [success], and my answer was, ‘Absolutely, I did.’ This is not a surprise to me. Back when I began, did I ever know that it would become a reality? There were times I wasn’t sure, but the dream,
the vision – that has always been there. “And I’m not finished; I have more plans,” he adds. “My next step is to build a bigger building. I own some properties here that I want to build on. We purchased a building in Fort Worth a few years ago that has a lot of upside and growth in it. We’re also very seriously considering opening an office in another city. I have pretty good contacts in Austin and have done some work in Austin this year, so that’s something I’m interested in.” Richardson says he has enjoyed “walking the walk” of his work. “I love the competitiveness. A lot of people want the same work we do, and I love that!” he says. “I love the relationships and friends that I’ve made over the years. A lot of contacts I have were people I knew in the field at one time and they got promoted, started their own business or changed jobs and they reached back out to me. It’s been pretty neat to look back over the years.” As for working in stilts, Richardson is proud to have trained employees in that finer art himself. He’s even prouder of wearing them as he won Armstrong Ceiling Solutions’ first two Prelude Challenges in the 1990s. “It’s a good little resume point,” he chuckles. Subcontractor ChasCo Interiors Inc. in Red Oak and Fort Worth offers drywall and acoustical construction. –mjm
continued from Page 1 — MAC Construction ered the project on time and with no major change orders. This was a unique project for MAC Construction because it is one of the new next-gen concepts for Starbucks, a drivethrough only Starbucks. This is part of Starbuck’s infill strategy for high-commuter-traffic routes with additional pe-
destrian traffic. MAC Construction experienced a positive and excellent working relationship with the owner and has contracted several projects for Christon Company. MAC Construction is a full-service general contractor in the Dallas, TX. –cmw
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Page 17
Association Calendar
Content submitted by Associations to Construction News American Institute of Architects Dallas Chapter
email Lori Donnell at lorid.nawic@gmail. com NTRCA
Assn. of Professional Women in Construction
Oct. 10-12: Texas Roofing Conference, Gaylord Texan Resort & Conference Center, 1501 Gaylord Trail, Grapevine, TX. For more info, call 817-734-8373 RBCA
AIA
Nov. 6: Firmly Feud, The Foundry, 2303 Pittman St., 6pm. For more info, call 214880-1508 or email sche@aiadallas.org APWC Nov. 14: Ladies Luncheon, Signature Millwork, 2861 Merrell Rd., 11:30am-1pm. For more info, call 214-924-0815 ASA American Subcontractors Assn.
Nov. 9: GC Night, Eddie Deen’s, 944 S. Lamar, 4-7pm. For more info, call Linda White, 817-640-8275 ICRI International Concrete Repair Institute North Texas Chapter
Nov. 7-9: ICRI Fall Convention, Omaha, NE. Nov. 15: Membership Meeting, Pappasito’s Cantina, 10433 Lmobardy Ln., 11am1pm. For more info, contact Steve Grelle at sgrelle@wje.com IEC Independent Electrical Contractors Fort Worth/Tarrant County
Nov. 7: Civilian Response to Active Shooter Course, IEC Chapter Facility, 5811 E. Berry St., 11:30am-1:30pm. For more info, call Jo Britt at 817-496-8422 NAWIC National Assn. of Women in Construction Dallas Chapter
Nov. 13: General Meeting, Wyndham Garden Dallas North, 2645 Lyndon B Johnson Frwy, 6-8pm. For more info, go to www.nawic-dallas.org NAWIC National Assn. of Women in Construction Forth Worth Chapter
Nov. 9-10: South Central Region Fall Conference, Wyndham Little Rock, Little Rock, AR. Nov. 15: November Business Meeting, Diamond Oaks Country Club, 5821 Diamond Oaks Dr. N, 5:50pm For more info,
North Texas Roofing Contractors Assn.
Jesse Points memorial golf
I
t was a beautiful 90-degree, sunny, breezy afternoon for the International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) North Texas Chapter’s 17th Annual Jesse Points Memorial Golf Classic. The event was held on Oct. 5 at the plush Waterchase Golf Club in east Fort Worth. –cmw
Winners: 2nd Place: Western Specialty Contractor – Bob Scheelar, Josh Rinn, Teddy Williams and Chris Blair 3rd Place: BASF A team – Patrick Jorski, Don Moore, Eli Babb and Shane Bryant
Regional Black Contractors Assn.
Nov. 9: Food Drive Donation Deadline. Nov. 15: Building Relationships in Construction, Dallas ISD Education Center, 9400 N. Central Expwy., 13th Flr, #1350. For more info, call 214-565-8946 RHCA Regional Hispanic Contractors Assn.
Nov. 2: RHCA 12th Annual Luna Awards Luncheon, The Fairmont Dallas. For more info, call Yolanda at 972-786-0909 SAM Subcontractors Assn. of the Metroplex
Nov. 15: November Business Meeting, Diamond Oaks Country Club, 4:505:50pm. he Star, Happy Hour: at City Works, 6:45pm. For more info, contact Carrie Edomm at 972-438-1110 TEXO
1st Place: Euclid Chemical – Jon Robbs, James Robbs, David Rupley and Nick Perry
The Construction Assn.
Nov. 1: 2018 Construction Safety Professionals’ Day, Omni Dallas Hotel Park West, 1590 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy., 7:30am4pm. Nov. 8: Women’s Forum, TEXO Dallas Conference Center, Collaboration Rms. 1 &2, 5:30-7:30pm. Nov. 13: AIA/TEXO Industry Roundtable, TEXO Conference Center, 11111 Stemmons Fwy., 11:30am-1pm. Nov. 17-18: TEXO YCC Tailgate, Lake Grapevine, Silver Lake Marina. For more info, call 972-647-0697 TSA Texas Society of Architects
Nov. 8-11: 2018 Design Expo, Fort Worth Convention Center. For more info, email aiafw@aiafortworth.org
Coming in with the most honest score of 77 and taking home the “Dead-Ass Last” trophy for the second year in a row - BASF B team: Bobby Sansonetti, Eddie DeHaro, Bill Daily and Tom Hart (not pictured).
Page 18
T
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
Hot water now if not sooner
Family union
Tom Crabtree, manager of the Dallas office of Water Heaters Only.
Sergeant Peter Scharff (pictured) is one of the many Holbrook employees that owner John G. Holbrook considers to be family.
he Ghostbusters team will come a’running if you come across an apparition. But when your hot water heater goes kaput, you call Water Heaters Only. Tom Crabtree runs the Dallas office of Water Heaters Only (WHO) from its northern California headquarters. WHO was founded in 1968 by Pat McGee, a plumber who kept getting so many calls for water heaters that he decided he could make a go of it doing just them. “The call volume that came in was enough [for McGee] to drop pulling toilets and snaking lines to just doing water heater replacement.” Crabtree explained. “When people want hot water, they want it today,” Crabtree said. A regular plumbing truck, for instance, is fitted with shelving and all sorts of parts and equipment. This doesn’t leave room for water heaters. This causes a delay in getting one installed if the plumber has to go back and get one. Hence, McGee revamped his trucks to carry hot water heaters all the time, thus able to instantly
solve the problem of no hot water. With offices in California, Texas and Arizona, Crabtree said that different models of hot water heaters work better in different areas of the country. “In the Texas area, we find that Rheem is the most reliable.” Crabtree’s background is in construction, but “construction does take its toll on a body, so this job just happened to come along; checked it out and I liked it and have been here 19 years.” WHO does about 30 percent repair and 70 percent replacement. A typical water heater lasts 10-15 years. If one’s heater is getting up in years, it’s simply not worth repairing it. “It’s like rotating bald tires on your car,” Crabtree said. Crabtree monitors the Dallas office remotely, using all the modern methods of staying connected. The folks in Dallas stay plenty busy either in the office or in the field. “Everyone’s on the job,” he proudly stated, and ready to give you hot water now, if not sooner. Water Heaters Only is located in California with a Dallas office. -dsz
F
or John G. Holbrook, employees have always been considered family. That may be why, when he left a previous excavation company as part owner, two-thirds of his employees followed him as he established The Holbrook Company Inc. in 2000. “I‘ve always been the employee advocate; that’s why so many followed me to here,” Holbrook says. “I think any of our 180 employees would not just say that they liked it but that they felt part of the company. We do a lot of things, like providing employee loans, to make sure employees really want to stay with us” Eighteen years later, much of Holbrook’s own family has joined the business. Chief estimator Gary Walters, truck driver Buddy Mollohan and director of safety Mike Conkwright are Holbrook’s brother-in-laws. Holbrook’s sister, Beth Conkwright, is a senior estimator; her son Michael Conkwright is CFO and Holbrook’s other nephew is engineering manager John Conkwright. Holbrook’s sons Stephen Holbrook and Kevin Holbrook serve as COO and estimator, respectively.
“The advantage to family is you know what you’re getting,” Holbrook says. “It’s been great for us.” He’s equally proud of his employee family. Sergeant Peter Scharff, an estimator for three years (including one year in Afghanistan), recently performed well in the Texas Military Dept. Best Warrior Competition and won a trip to the World War I Commemoration Tour in France. Knowing that his staff is made of high-caliber people makes him excited about the future. “At some point, my son Stephen will become the president and I will become the CEO,” Holbrook. “The company is still owned by my wife Sherri and me, but Stephen has taken over 75% of my duties. It’s given me time to be a high school soccer coach, a chairman of the board for a Catholic School, and to enjoy life a little more – Sherri and I just celebrated our 35th anniversary and our first grandchild three months ago.” Grand Prairie subcontractor The Holbrook Company Inc. offers excavation, demolition, lime and cement stabilization and soil remediation. –mjm
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • NOV 2018
F
Page 19
Change of command
Take a close look
RLG Consulting Engineering group
Donna Pilant, Cre8stone office manager
or 65 years, RLG Consulting Engineering has been providing civil, structural, forensic and surveying services for the Texas construction industry in both public and private sectors of the industry. Building and maintaining a talented and experience team has been its success. Keeping in line with the company’s management philosophy, RLG is changing its line of command. Stuart Markussen, PE, became the new President and Chief Executive Officer effective Oct. 1. Markussen will succeed current president and CEO, David Goodson, PE. Transitioning out of the two roles, Goodson will remain as the firm’s chairman. “Over his 22-year career with RLG, we have had the opportunity to assess Stuart’s ability, results and style to determine that he is RLG’s next great leader,” says Goodson. The transition has been in the works for several years. Markussen who joined the firm in 1996 as manager of the civil engineering and surveying departments and was promoted to senior vice presi-
dent just 10 short years later. As with all transitions within a company, other promotional moves are expected. Jared Bratz, PE will take over as the chief operating officer and senior vice president of the civil engineering and surveying departments once managed by Markussen. Andy Ayers, PE will assume the role of senior vice president of the firm’s structural engineering department, David Cumming, PE has accepted the position of senior vice president of the forensics department, while Michael McLaren will serve as senior vice president of RLG’s Peoria, IL office. Markussen is excited to take on his new role praising Goodson’s extraordinary leadership who has made the company stronger than ever. “I look forward to carrying on RLG’s legacy of engineering excellence,” says Markussen. RLG Consulting Engineers is a full-service engineering firm specializing in civil, structural, surveying and forensic engineering Dallas and Fort Worth, TX and Peoria, IL. -cmw
C
reativity alone is nothing without a proper business plan. The business model that Cre8stone has implemented has brought them success in residential and now commercial projects. The company started in 2011, with their main warehouse and showroom located in Carrollton. Cre8stone is a remodeling company that does not tear anything out. How? “We can apply our spray on limestone over anything vertical. Think of anything that you don’t walk on, including arches and ceilings,” explained office manager, Donna Pilant. “It is all hand carved and when we put the coloring in it we use a natural mineral pigment.” The product originally came from Europe, but the company improved on it. “Our product is our own proprietary ingredients,” said Pilant. The Cre8stone limestone is light and weighs only six lbs. per sq. ft. It can go over brick, wood, sheet rock and cinder block, or over metal, but would need to have some wood put down to stabilize
the metal. “A lot of people that are going with the Coronado stone find that we are less expensive and we are the real thing, we are real limestone,” shared Pilant. The company also focuses on flooring and counter tops. Their flooring is a crushed quartz that they can put both inside and outside. It does go over cement and tile. The counter tops are done with a “finer crushed quartz” that can go over any type of counter top. “With ours you never have to seal it again. It is very scratch and heat resistant.” The company has about five crews and they also sell distributorships. “We are starting to branch out all over,” said Pilant. They service the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and other parts of Texas. In fact, a recent “spectacular” job completed was with the airport hangar in Addison. “That has received a lot of attention. Everybody seems to fall in love with it once they see it,” said Pilant. Cre8stone is a remodeling company located in Carrollton, TX. –lv
Page 20
Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News â&#x20AC;¢ NOV 2018