San Antonio Construction News January 2020

Covering the Industry’s News

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www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 23 H Number 1 H JANUARY 2020

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30 years celebrated

A sapphire year

L-R: Jerry, Eddie and Jimmy McDuff

Central Electric leadership L-R: Chris Martinez, Ernie Martinez and Ernie Mora.

he heating and air conditioning industry has changed a lot over the years. There have been changes in technology such as conducting business with a fax machine to now, conducting business through computers, emails and text messages. Going from refrigerant that was destroying the ozone, R22 to 410A. Even the sheet metal aspect of the industry changed going from building sheet metal by hand to automating shops with machinery to build the metal forms for you.

“You used to be able to turn the dial on a thermostat and it came on. Now you do that from your phone. The air conditioning equipment is a lot more complicated. There’s just so many things that have changed in 30 years. 7SEER efficien-

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fter 37 years in business, Design Materials Inc. has new owners.

Alan Petlin and Jim Ecrette became the proud new owners of Design Materials at the beginning of 2019.

With new owners came a new vision.

The vision was to take this highly successful tile, marble and stone company to the next level targeting discerning customers in search of unique things.

“The majority of our business is designer driven. Most of our customers come in with a designer. Our target is the more discerning customer that is, often times, well-traveled and looking for something unique. We try to have those things and meet their needs,” says Ecrette. “It’s all about helping people choose the right product; one that meets their design inspiration. We will ensure that it is suitable for the intended environment. We have beautiful products for all areas of the home… inside and out.”

cy, I think 30 years ago, was pretty common. Now you can get 21 and 24 SEERS. You can’t get anything less than 14 now.

It’s changing for the better, but it is getting to where even our service techs carry computers around to diagnose some of these units,” says Jimmy McDuff owner of Flo-Aire Service Inc. Back 30 years ago, there was a FloAire Inc. and a Flo-Aire Service. McDuff was part of Flo-Aire Inc. “We broke out the service department and created another company, Flo-Aire Service. When the economy bottomed out, I bought Flo-Aire Service and went out on my own. I ran service for the longest time. The person that owned Flo-Aire Inc. kept that company.

Then Flo-Aire Inc. closed down and the continued on Page 21

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here’s an uplifting vibe felt at the offices of Central Electric. The year 2020 marks a major milestone for the company. The company turns 45.

“It’s pretty exciting to start 45 years.

There’s great things going on. First, we recently received several local and national awards. We are also really excited about the Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) recognition we received through Associated Builders & Contractors,” says Central Electric’s president Chris Martinez, Jr. Central Electric was founded by Fred Martinez in 1975. He entrusted his experienced and dedicated sons to head Central Electric upon his retirement in 2010. Under the leadership of the second generation, Chris Martinez and brother Ernie carry on his father’s vision.

“Looking at 45 years, I think our team is pretty excited to see our team grow year after year. The company has been very fortunate. We’ve never laid anybody off. Nobody is laying anybody off right now, but when times are tough, that’s a pretty big statement,” adds Martinez.

In the early 80s and 90s, most of the company’s business was military work and even with the closing of Kelly AFB, the company maintained their workforce. They shifted gears and refocused their efforts. Today, the majority of the company’s work is in design build/assist contracts, schools, private work and other governmental entities.

“We were very fortunate that our dad never pushed the company on us. I went continued on Page 21

Showroom rebirth

Design Materials Inc. team members L-R: Cecilia Holden, Alan Petlin, Daisy Montes-Hill, Kelly Byrd, Jesse Ramos, Maggie Doyle, Christie Appleby, Joe Sillas and Jim Ecrette.

Petlin and Ecrette have 70 years combined experience in the tile, marble, stone and flooring industry. If the name Petlin sounds familiar to you, it is because he is also the owner of Alan Petlin Gourmet Floors in downtown San Antonio, a full-service flooring company specializing in high-end carpets, woods and LVP vinyls. Ecrette himself was a franchise owner and manager of a Tulsa ProSource in Oklahoma for 17 years before retiring and starting another company.

“We are not going to compete with Home Décor, Home Depot or Lowes. That is a different category of product. We are showcasing more style driven items that you don’t necessarily see there.

“The industry is going to larger profile tiles. We are all familiar with 12x12. Then came the 12x24 and now it is 24x48. In our showroom we are getting ready to add 4ft. x 8ft. individual tiles.

Trying to separate themselves in an continued on Page 21

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nce again, it was truly evident that no one forgot what “Construct A Kid’s Christmas” is all about. The 19th annual Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala held on Dec. 5 at the Freeman Expo Hall was another huge success with over 1,100 people attending.

The evening included the great sounds from the Texas Unlimited Band, a full buffet complete with a fabulous display of holiday desserts catered by Heavenly Gourmet, beer, wine, dancing and chances to win spectacular prizes at

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

Candy cane lane the ever-popular casino games.

Silent and live auctions were huge successes and will definitely make a brighter and happier Christmas for so many of the children in the Bexar County foster and Child Protective Services programs.

“I am awestruck at the generosity of the San Antonio construction industry.

The final hard hat of the night went for a record breaking $31,550,” says Construct A Kid’s Co-Chair, Sandee Morgan. “This event would not happen anywhere else but San Antonio. For nineteen years

attendees have shown what huge hearts they have by making sure all Bexar County foster care children have a toy at Christmas.”

As a result of the construction community’s generosity and desire to donate items for the live, silent and grand raffle, the gala committee was able to present a check in the amount of $45,000 to the Friends of the Bexar County Child Welfare Board at the toy drive the following morning.

Thank you, Allen & Allen Co., for sup-

plying a truck at the gala to collect the toys and delivering the toys from the gala to the toy drive the next morning.

“Next year is the 20th Annual Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala…plans are already underway to make this an event you won’t want to miss! Mark your calendars for Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020…it is going to be an AMAZING evening!” Photos courtesy of Mary C. Haskin Photography.

-cmw continued on Page 17

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

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Avenue for used

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dward Craner, SVP of Strategy & Marketing for HOLT says, “Like many areas of business, the pace of buying and selling used equipment is moving faster each day. To meet this increased pace, we needed a way for customers to easily search our available used equipment inventory while also giving our sales team better tools to find and share information about machines with our customers.

“HOLT CAT is known for its quality used equipment, a lot of which comes from our rental fleet,” continued Craner.

“The iconic Caterpillar brand combined with the incredible reputation of HOLT’s technicians who maintain the fleet creates value for customers who need reliable and competitively priced used equipment.”

The result? The recently launched used equipment online marketplace, HoltUsed.com. The site launched a few months ago under-the-radar so HOLT

HOLT Used Mobile app

could test the custom website. But recently, HOLT has begun to market the site more heavily as they add used equipment listings.

“When we launched, we started with just a few dozen machines,” said J.K. Baxter, SVP of Machine Sales for HOLT. “But

HOLT Used logged in

since then we’ve added hundreds of machines and expect to have our full used equipment inventory online shortly.”

To help customers find what they are looking for on the site, HOLT allows customers to filter listings with search queries and also allows users to set highs and lows for the price, meter, year, and distance. Once potential customers find machines of interest, they can download machine listing PDFs, ask to be contacted about the machine, and even compare machines side-by-side.

“But the real magic is what happens behind the scenes for our salespeople,” said Baxter.

HOLT salespeople have special logins that allow them to create sell sheets with special offers for customers, create listing catalogs for particular groupings of machines, share info on machines that are about to hit the market, and even assist customers who need equipment that

isn’t in stock.

“We don’t want to replace the human-to-human connection between our customers and salespeople,” said Baxter.

“We want it to be easier, faster and smoother for everyone so people can spend less time finding the used equipment that fits their needs.”

Automation has been key for HOLT. They have used a combination of their internal IT team and an outside agency to build the custom website that automatically pushes machine info from their internal systems out to the website — making sure all pricing and meter information is current. The automation also pulls photos from HOLT’s inspection applications so customers can see photos more quickly.

“There wasn’t anything off-the-shelf that met our needs for both our customers and our salespeople,” said Craner. “So we enlisted the help of our partners to collaborate on a solution.”

After one of their agencies, Estate Four, showed HOLT a special e-commerce website the agency did for a partnership between The Home Depot and Exide Batteries, HOLT enlisted Estate Four to help map out a unique desktop and mobile web application to solve their needs.

“Luckily we have scale with hundreds of used machines,” Craner continued, “so we were able to invest for the long term and create a custom online marketplace that takes a lot of the frustration out of buying and selling used equipment.”

You can check out the new site for yourself at HoltUsed.com.

HOLT is a supplier of heavy equipment.

-cmw

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San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

A mason Christmas

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n the midst of all the mad rushes to find that perfect gift, members of the San Antonio Masonry Contractors Association (SAMCA) gathered together to enjoy the holiday season. The SAMCA membership held their annual holiday party at Pedrotti’s North Wind Ranch on Dec. 12. Guests enjoyed a fabulous buffet dinner, desserts a plenty and even tried their luck with the casino games. -cmw

Mentoring youth

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ince 2006, the ACE Mentoring Program of Greater San Antonio has been helping educate high school students learn more about potential careers in architecture, engineering and construction.

On Dec. 13 and 14, F.A. Nunnelly General Contractors, E-Z Bel Construction and United Rentals joined forces sponsoring high school students, allowing them the opportunity to handle heavy equipment used on construction jobsites. -cmw

Giving back

In the spirit of giving, Sundt Foundation awarded $13,200 in grants to San Antonio area charities supporting disadvantaged children and families. The Northside Education Foundation, The University of Texas Foundation, San Antonio Pets Alive and TEAMability were this year’s recipients. -cmw

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Page 5

Christmas open house

f you didn’t know what was going on, you would have to wonder why a shuttle bus and then another and then another would be pulling into an electrical contractor’s office. But it wouldn’t take long to figure it out as once again, Alterman Inc. hosted one of the biggest holiday parties in town, or in this case, the Alterman Inc.

Annual Christmas Open House.

The employee-owned company hosted the event on Dec. 4 just in time for their toy drive push for the industry’s annual Construct A Kids Christmas Gala.

Guests enjoyed wonderful food, drinks and lots of laughter. Photos courtesy of Mary C. Haskin Photography. –cmw

The Alterman Inc. family.

Page 6

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

Captive Insurance

Opportunity Zone: Could it be Too Good to be True?

Sarita Akin, Tax Director Ridout Barrett San Antonio, TX

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t’s almost been two years since this piece of tax reform legislation was announced and I finally feel that I have a handle on it and all the moving parts are morphing as one that make sense to me. I am convinced that the Opportunity Zone incentive is probably one of the best changes that came out of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2018. To convince you as well, we need to start from the beginning ….. As part of the TCJA, Congress enacted provisions designed to encourage investment and economic growth in certain lowincome communities. In April 2019, a second set of proposed regulations were released to provide clarity to the first set of regulations and to answer additional questions on issues not previously addressed.

Below is the nuts and bolts of how the Opportunity Zone Incentive works: • Taxpayer realizes gain taxed as capital gain and the taxpayer must reinvest the gain within 180-days into a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) to defer the gain for the year of sale. Taxpayer will not report gain on the tax return and the basis in the QOF will be zero.

• After holding the interest in the QOF for five years, the taxpayer permanently excludes 10% of the original deferred gain and the basis of the investment is increased by 10%. After an additional two years, another 5% of the original deferred gain is excluded and basis is increased by an additional 5% for a total of 15%.

The seven year basis increase has created a sense of urgency for investing in opportunity zones. For investments made in 2020, it will be impossible to achieve the seven-year holding period prior to the deferred gain being automatically triggered on December 31, 2026, the magic date the seven year holding period sunsets. Thus to maximize the tax benefits available, taxpayers who will have been able to benefit from the seven year holding period will need to have reinvested deferred gain into a QOF before December 31, 2019.

• The remaining 85% (five and seven year) or 90% (5 year only) deferred gain is recognized on December 31, 2026 in the tax return.

• After holding the interest in the QOF for a total of ten years, the taxpayer may sell the investment in the QOF any time before 2048 and the taxpayer may exclude the gain resulting from the sale. In other words, the taxpayer will receive a step-up in basis equal to the FMV of the investment.

Any taxpayer that realizes eligible gain for federal tax purposes may elect to defer that gain. These taxpayers include individuals, C corporations, partnerships, S corporations, and trusts and estates. If a partnership or an S corporation realizes eligible gain, it has a choice: It may elect to defer that gain at the entity level, or it may pass the gain through to its owners, who are then free to make their own decision on deferral. Timing is key! A taxpayer that wishes to defer eligible gain must reinvest the gain into a QOF within 180-days from the date of the sale or exchange that gives rise to the gain. In the case of a partnership or S corporation that realizes eligible gain but does not elect to defer that gain, choosing instead to allocate the gain to its owners, the 180-day period with respect to the owners’ eligible gains generally does not begin on the date of sale. Instead, it begins on the last day of the individual’s tax year.

A taxpayer is not required to reinvest the entire proceeds from the sale or exchange giving rise to the eligible gain, just the gain portion.

While the initial regulations were certainly helpful, they created additional

questions which the second proposed regulations answered.

• Section 1231 gains must be netted against future gains or losses, therefore, it is not possible to invest your 1231 gains immediately. The 180-days reinvestment period begins on the last day of the year.

• When land and building are purchased together, the land cannot possibly satisfy the original use test, therefore, the land does not need to be substantially improved.

• It was unclear whether leased property would satisfy the original use test or if it was possible to substantially improve a lease. New regulations make it possible for a QOF to invest in a leased property as long as the lease is entered after December 31, 2017 and the terms of the lease are conducted in arms-length. Leases do not need to be substantially improved.

• Deferred gain must be recognized any time a taxpayer either reduces their direct equity investment in the QOF or “cashes out” a portion of their investment in the QOF by receiving a distribution of property with a FMV in excess of the taxpayer’s basis in the QOF. • Property must satisfy the original use test or be substantially improved with the taxpayer spending almost as much to improve it as the purchase price.

New regulations provide that the “original use” of tangible property begins when any person first places the property in service for purposes of depreciation, or if they could have depreciated the property had they been the owner for tax purposes. Thus a QOF could purchase a partially finished business, complete the construction and place it in service for depreciation, and the building will satisfy the original use test because it has never before been depreciated with the QOZ. There is so much more to know about this particular incentive and I know I have probably peaked additional questions from you. The above should provide a good foundation for you to build on and hopefully has convinced you that this is a pretty good deal for you to consider. As always, please call Ridout Barrett so we can assist you with this complex opportunity.

Sarita Akin, Tax Director Ridout Barrett 922 Isom Road, #100 San Antonio, Tx 78216 (210) 829-1793 www.ridoutbarrett.com Email: sakin@ridoutbarrett.com

Kevin McCarthy, Vice Pres. Property & Casualty IBTX San Antonio/Dallas, TX

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ou’ve probably heard about captive insurance but may not know what it is or if it’s right for you. There are different types of captive insurance, but today we will be discussing group captive insurance for the property and casualty insurance industry in particular. Consider this article a primer on group captives, meant to give you a working knowledge of the subject rather than the comprehensive explanation you would need should you decide to the explore a captive option.

Group captive insurance is a group of companies or “members” that come together to self-insure themselves and other members of the group captive. You become the insurance company. The captive can provide coverage for automobile liability, general liability, and worker’s compensation. Captives can either be homogenous (e.g. all members are utility contractors) or heterogeneous (i.e. an array of industries represented by members and not only construction).

There is a captive manager that oversees the day-to-day operations of the captive, which includes; accounting, billing, regulatory filings, purchasing reinsurance, TPA (Third Party Administrator) for claims handling, etc. The captive partners with a fronting company. The fronting company is a large, financially stable, insurance company that issues a policy on behalf of the captive. The captive reinsures the fronting company for all liabilities. The captive then determines how much risk they want to retain (decided by the members) and purchases reinsurance for the remaining portion

Let’s talk about premium. In the simplest terms, when you purchase a standard “guaranteed cost” insurance policy, actuaries determine base rates from the risk characteristics of your business. An underwriter then modifies those rates based on the individual characteristics of your business, i.e. controls to manage risk and historical loss experience. Captive insurance is no different at the start. You will be charged an estimated “premium” up front based on the same characteristics. What makes a captive different is this is merely a starting point for the cost of captive insurance, not the end. Captives are a “loss sensitive” insurance program, which means that your actual out of pocket expense for insurance coverage is based on your loss experience. Based on your loss experience, you will either receive dividends (if actual losses are less than expected losses) or be assessed additional premium payments (if actual losses are great than expected losses).

We now have to factor in the other members of the captive. With a group captive, you not only take on your own risk, but the other captive members risk.

Why? Tax purposes. For insurance premiums to be tax deductible there needs to be an element of risk sharing. Standard insurance companies take care of this for you by insuring thousands of other policyholders. However, you are the insurance company. Due to risk sharing you will inevitably pay some amount for other captive members. Likewise, at some point, other captive members will contribute to pay some of your claims.

Next, we have to understand the risk vs. reward. Based on your estimated premium there will be minimum and maximum premium paid in any one-policy year. Depending on the captive, the minimum premium (which covers the cost of administration, fees, filings, taxes, reinsurance) is typically around 35% of standard premium and the worst-case scenario maximum premium paid is typically around 165% of standard premium.

What makes a good candidate for captive insurance? Companies with a strong culture of internal risk management with excellent controls in place, favorable historical loss experience, strong

financials, an appetite to take on financial risk, and pay premium in excess of $150K annually for auto, general liability, and worker’s compensation combined.

So knowing all this, you think a group captive might be a good fit. What’s next?

You go through a rigorous underwriting process, which is a good thing. You are sharing and assuming risk with other members. You want to be selective with who you allow in your captive, as the group will collectively be paying a portion of large claims for an individual member. Assuming underwriting goes well and you want to join the captive, you must buy into the captive with the purchase of a preferred share. The preferred share cost varies by captive but is typically around $40K. You will also need to put up collateral (cash or LOC), which is typically 2 years of your estimated premium. The collateral can typically be put up over a 3-year period. Premium and claims paid to the captive will go into an investment fund to be managed. If your actual loss experience is less than your estimate, these funds begin to come back to you with investment income typically starting around year 3. There is a lot of nuance here and it will vary by captive.

One common question; will anyone know you are in a captive? No. Your agent will issue certificates of insurance just as they always have. The fronting company will be listed as the insurance company on your certificate.

Tips to make the right decision • Work with an agent that understands captive insurance. Joining a captive is a multi-year commitment. It is imperative you work with an expert that can clearly outline the pros and cons.

• Take your time. This is a completely different way of buying insurance and taking time to understand all aspects of the program is critical. Additionally, captives have a common expiration date for all members and you can join mid-term.

Therefore, you do not have to join a captive on your renewal date. You can go through this process “off cycle” from your renewal and evaluate the option without the pressure of a deadline.

• Perform a historical cost analysis. Look back over the past 5 years and determine what you actual cost would have been in a group captive.

• Make sure you are working with a reputable captive manager and captive. Meet with them in person multiple times and get to know them. Review the financial stability of the captive. They will have an annual report similar to a publicly traded insurance company.

Captive insurance provides a great opportunity to turn insurance expense into a source of revenue, meet like-minded business owners in an exclusive peer group, and network to grow your business. However, it’s not a fit for everyone.

The work put in up front with your agent will ensure that whatever decision you make is the right one for your business.

As a Rick Advisor, Kevin works with companies to assess and reduce their overall total cost of risk by providing holistic risk management solutions.

He can be contacted at (469) 858-1841 kmcarthy@ib-tx.com Member ASA (SA and North Texas) and ABC - Gov’t Affairs Committee

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

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Legislative Update: New Law Changes the Game on Public Claims

Construction Ergonomics

Callie D. Crispin, Attorney Allensworth & Porter Austin, TX

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he Texas Legislature recently enacted a number of major changes affecting the construction industry, many of which represent victories for contractors and design professionals. Perhaps the most noteworthy is H.B. No. 1999. This law imposes major new requirements on governmental entities asserting construction defect claims over public projects. Importantly, the new law requires notice of a purported defect to be sent to contractors and design professionals and requires the right to cure before a lawsuit or arbitration is initiated.

Under H.B. 1999 (now part of the Texas Government Code), governmental entities must, prior to being able to bring a claim, provide each contracting party a written report that clearly identifies the specific claimed defect, describes the project’s present physical condition, and describes the modification, maintenance, or repairs needed. In addition to this notice of an alleged defect, contractors and design professionals have the right to return to the project to inspect the condition and correct it prior to the governmental entity bringing a formal claim. If the entity fails to send a report or fails to allow a reasonable opportunity to inspect and cure before filing suit, the claim must be dismissed.

The obligations under this law are not solely placed on governmental entities.

Rather, it also imposes proactive steps that the must take after receiving such a notice from an entity. After receiving a notice, the contractor has to provide a copy of the report to each subcontractor and supplier whose work or materials are involved. It would be wise for a contractor who receives a notice to be overinclusive and send the notice to every subcontractor and supplier whose work or materials could conceivably be implicated, as this is too short a period for a thorough evaluation. Contractors should strongly consider copying the governmental entity on all notices to subcontractors and suppliers to alert the entity to potential parties, as section 2272.004 requires the claimant to allow subcontractors and suppliers to inspect the project, regardless of the entity’s lack of contractual privity. Additionally, within 30 days from the governmental entity sending the report, the contractor must inspect the alleged defect. Further, within 120 days after the inspection, the contractor must either correct the defect or enter into a separate agreement with the governmental entity to correct the defect.

This law is a victory for contractors and design professionals because it provides an opportunity to cure defects before an arbitration proceeding or lawsuit, likely saving time and expense. Further, governmental entities will now be largely precluded from filing suit near the end of limitations or repose periods without first giving the appropriate parties notice and an opportunity to cure.

While this law clearly benefits construction industry members who work on public projects, there are a few caveats worth mentioning: • First, the law does not apply to all public projects, as it excludes those relating to roads and civil works.

• Second, the law has several exceptions that relieve governmental entities of the right to cure obligation. Specifically, a public entity is not required to give a contractor the right to cure if the contrac-

tor is unable to provide a bond to cover the work. The owner is also not obliged to allow the right to cure if the party cannot provide liability insurance or workers’ compensation insurance or if the party has been convicted of a felony. Additionally, the statutory process does not apply if the governmental entity has previously terminated that party for cause or if the party previously made the issue worse in a prior repair attempt. Questions of whether a party was properly terminated for cause or whether a party previously made the issue worse will likely produce litigation, as these issues will often be complicated and deeply project-specific.

Since termination for cause is usually governed by the parties’ contract, builders and designers should pay close attention to contractual termination for cause provisions, as they may exert serious influence over a party’s rights under this new law. For example, if a contract provides that a party may be terminated for cause for a non-material breach, the governmental entity may terminate the contract accordingly, thereby eliminating the application of this law altogether.

• Third, while this law requires a governmental entity to provide a report and outlines several elements that must be included in it, the law does not explicitly require the report to be authored by a third-party nor by an individual with any design or construction expertise. In contrast, the bill, as introduced in the Legislature, require the governmental owner to obtain an inspection and report from an independent third-party licensed professional engineer. As enacted, however, it appears that the public entity itself may simply provide a write-up on the required elements, regardless of the entity’s construction knowledge.

H.B. 1999 is a positive step for contractors and design professionals. The notice and opportunity to cure construction defects in the public realm should help industry members avoid expensive lawsuits and arbitrations. At the same time, however, builders and designers must pay careful attention to their own requirements under this new law, as obligations flow both directions.

Callie Crispin is a construction attorney at Allensworth & Porter where she helps clients across the commercial construction industry resolve disputes including contract and payment disputes and construction and design defect claims. To reach Callie, please contact cdc@aaplaw.com or visit aaplaw.com.

Joann Natarajan Compliance Assistance Specialist OSHA Austin, TX onstruction work is hard work, and construction workers feel the results. In one survey, seven out ten construction workers from 13 trades reported back pain, and nearly a third went to the doctor for it.

Back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, rotator cuff syndrome, sprains, and strains are types of musculoskeletal disorders. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are caused by construction tasks. WMSDs can become long-term, disabling health problems that keep you from working and enjoying life. Not only do these injuries hurt your body, but they can reduce your earnings.

You have an increased risk of these injuries if you often:

Carry heavy loads

Work on your knees

Twist your hands or wrists

Stretch to work overhead

Use certain types of tools

On top of that, tight deadlines mean a fast pace. Pushing the pace increases your risk even more.

Ergonomics tries to come up with solutions to make sure workers stay safe, comfortable, and productive.

Excavation work exposes equipment operators to whole body vibration from earthmoving equipment and ergonomic problems from poor seat and cab design.

Workers must often work in awkward postures, e.g. in trenches. Soil tampers produce high levels of hand arm vibration when compacting soil.

Masonry work requires a lot of heavy lifting and carrying of masonry blocks and grout and constant stooping to pick up materials.

Concrete formwork presents a risk of back injury from the use of heavy saws

that are poorly balanced, digging of ditches and footers, driving stakes with sledge hammers, use of saw horses that are too tall or short, and carrying, setting and stripping of forms. Power tools may also present a risk of injury from vibration

Structural steel work requires many awkward postures (e.g., welding), repetitive motions (e.g., welding), and use of pneumatic tools (for bolting). Crane operators are also exposed to whole body vibration.

Concrete floor work requires a lot of bending to work at floor level which is harmful to the back. Workers must bend to tie steel rebar together. Back injuries may occur while pumping concrete with an elephant trunk hose, raking it into place and smoothing it with a straight edge (which requires work in a bent over posture). Trowelling the edges has to be done bent over. Vibrating the concrete into walls and edges exposes workers to hand arm vibration. Mechanical finishing of the floor may pose a vibration hazard and can require great force at times.

A number of free resources exist that demonstrate tools and engineering controls for construction tasks that reduce stress on the body. These free resources are available at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2007122/pdfs/2007-122.pdf https://www.cpwr.com/a-z-index/E http://elcosh.org/video/1308/a000033/ ergonomics-in-construction.html natarajan.joann@dol.gov 512-374-0271 x232

New in town

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L-R: John Borden, Katie Borden and Donna Erickson

artners Katie and John Borden and Donna Erickson are the proud new owners of redbox+, a franchise with a unique product.

New to the San Antonio market, redbox+ offers portable toilet and roll-off dumpster service all in one. The one-of-akind exclusively patented portable toilet and roll-off box combination are fabricated to provide the utmost in durability.

“We will be serving the greater San Antonio area. Not only do we have a new good product, we want to have the best customer service. We are smaller so unlike larger companies, we can take care of our customers right away, within 24 hours and pick it up when they need it,” says Partner Katie Borden.

Each roll-off container comes with two portable toilets. Toilets are serviced in between roll-off pickups and also at the time of pickup. Partner Donna Erickson adds,

“Units never travel with any waste in them.

Water is added at the jobsite and before it leaves, the drive pumps it and cleans it.

Waste goes into a container on the truck.

The trucks are specially designed with a vacuum pump system right on the trucks, so toilets are serviced at the same time they are dropped off or picked up.”

The trio has been working on their new endeavor since June. They researched various franchise opportunities before deciding on redbox+. “This is a new franchise offering a unique service.

It’s new to San Antonio and getting ready to boom,” says Erickson.

Borden continues by saying, “We really liked this product and the focus on customer service and want to give San Antonio contractors another option.”

redbox+ is a supplier and service provider of portable toilets/roll-offs in San Antonio. -cmw

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San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

When did it move to San Antonio?

My father moved the business in 1994.

How did you and Bryce meet?

We met through my cousin. We went on our first date to a monster truck rally and we have gone to one every year since.

How long have you been married?

We have been together 19 years, married 16 years.

Amy & Bryce Ronek

Owners A&B Automatic Doors of Texas San Antonio, TX

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rowing up in West Texas, Amy & Bryce Ronek found each other and their path in construction. This path would eventually bring them to San Antonio and present the opportunity to become entrepreneurs.

Tell me a little bit about your background, where did you grow up?

Amy: I grew up in Amarillo, TX

Do you have children? How many children do you have?

We have two daughters, 19 and 21.

We have a new grandson. He turned a month old on Dec. 12.

When did you and your husband start A&B Automatic Doors of Texas?

When my father was ready to retire, he sold the business. It was after that Bryce and I decided we wanted our own company.

What were the challenges you faced starting the company?

Honestly, there really weren’t any. I had already been doing this for 15 years.

We just had to get out and about visiting

customers and making ourselves known.

It was wonderful. We just moved along and started to grow. We have been blessed. We work hard. We are just a small family business with a big desire to serve.

All the employees we have now worked with me at my dad’s company.

My assistant there is still my assistant here. The team we had before is still a team now.

You’ve been in business two years now, what were they like?

I thought it was going to be slow the first few years. We had our first couple of big jobs and the work just kept coming.

The phone kept ringing. Service work kept coming in. It was so much more than I ever dreamed it could be. It was much more the first couple of months than I ever dreamed it could be. Trying to get our name and there to bring in the customers that we had done business with in the past, it was just amazing to see the turnover back to us.

What was it like growing up in Amarillo?

Amarillo is nice. The people are nice.

It’s a pretty simple town. You pretty much know everybody even though there are multiple schools. It has a small town feel about it. It’s a nice place to live.

Growing up, I did a lot of fishing, hunting, spending a lot of time at the beach, spending time in mountains stream fishing. I played every sport you could play – basketball, volleyball and softball.

What did your parents do?

Back in the ‘70s, my great grandmother owned a company called Door Closure Service. My parents ran the company there in Amarillo.

Did you work in the family business?

I started working there after the business moved to San Antonio. I started there around 1996 for a couple of years.

Amy & Bryce Ronek (center) with Executive Assistant Elaine Zamora and Lindsay Kiolbassa.

Amy & Bryce’s new grandson, Levi.

Do you think it is a result of your reputation in the industry from your days with your father’s business?

Absolutely. My husband has done a wonderful job in the field for years and years. As for myself, taking care of people for years on the inside with sales, service, tech support and installation; we just work as a team. We were well known to-

www.constructionnews.net publishing the industry’s news

gether and to walk in the doors of businesses together as A&B, it just confirmed to them a committed team.

What is like working together as owners of your own company?

We worked together before so it’s not that different. We still pull very well together. He handles project managing and I handle the inside just like before.

Sometimes we go out together. We work jobs together, measure job together, bid jobs together and do jobsite walks. We’re a team!

It’s so cool to get to work with your best friend. It’s not all peaches and cream where we have lunch together every day, but we do have lunch together every now and again. It’s nice to build our team and our success together.

We worked together before, before my dad moved his business to San Antonio.

Share about your family and what you enjoy doing in your free time?

We like to go fishing, to the beach, the lake. We just like family time seeing our nieces and nephews, but we spend a lot of time on the water.

Tell me about your new grandbaby.

He is just awesome. His name is Levi.

He was born Nov. 12 and weighed 10 lbs.

At one month, he is already rolling over and has already visited Santa. -cmw

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Celebrating the holidays

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he holiday season is upon us and the members of Associated General Contractors (AGC) celebrated with friends and members of the association with a holiday party.

The festive event was held on Dec. 10 at the AGC offices. -cmw

The Q-Safety team L-R: Cynthia, Juan, Angie, Jessica, Luis, Jet, Miguel and Jason

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Tony Gonzales takes time from campaigning to celebrate with AGC members.

Industry FOLKS Anjan Reddy Pailla Estimator

Clearfield Construction San Antonio, TX

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ounded in 1591, Hyderabad is one of the historic old cities ruled by Qutb Shahi and Nizams, and is the capital city of Telangana, India and Pailla’s birthplace.

Pailla’s upbringing was in the small city of Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) in the northern part of India from 19941998. After that, his family moved to their native home town, Hyderabad (southern India). He watched the city’s population grow rapidly due to IT companies and industries moving in. It now has an approximate population of 9,000,000, making it the fourth largest city in India.

“Most of my friends and I grew up in very good homes with a strong local economy. My life there was pretty simple with a happy family. My cousins and I used to hangout and travel a lot around different states to learn about their cultures and see all the tourist attractions.

“My school life was one of the best memorable times in my life. I still have a lot of good connections with all my childhood friends.” Pailla attended St. Aloysius High School, primary through the 10th grade, and Sri Chaitanya Junior Kalasala, his 11th and 12th grades. He completed his undergrad studies at CMR Group of Institutions studying civil engineering.

In 2016, Pailla came to the United States to get a higher education. He received his Master’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University Kingsville. “It was an amazing journey during my university period. I used to explore the USA with my friends whenever we got holidays. The education system

in USA was completely different from India and it took me some extra time to get used to it. I graduated in May 2018 and achieved what I came for.

“I was lured into civil engineering by my late father and I cannot thank him enough for doing so. I always wanted to be an interior designer and then as a teenager, I didn’t have capacity to make a decision. Finally it was my parents call.

“During my undergrad studies, I got to know the value of civil engineering in society and the challenges they face every day to be a major part of growing the infrastructure.”

Pailla has been with Clearfield Construction as an estimator for almost a year. He assists his team with finding new projects to bid, as well as reviews plans and specifications for each project.

“I love my job because everyone shares the same vision and is dedicated to the mission. This truly creates a family environment where everybody is there for each other. My team cares about me as a person and about my professional growth which I like the most. This is a creative organization where everyone on the team truly gets along and pitches in to get the job done.

In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, listening to music, getting together with his friends, playing games and watching scary movies. He also loves to drive the latest cars and bikes and would like to do some track car racing. -cmw

hen Luis Quintanar started working in the construction industry, he had no idea he would someday be a connoisseur of safety. There must have been an aura about him. So much that the company he worked for asked him to take on the safety role for their company.

Taking his new role seriously, Luis could not get enough safety knowledge.

Being fluent in Spanish didn’t hurt either.

He started traveling as other companies were in need of someone who could train their people in Spanish, and the rest, as they say, is history.

It wasn’t long before another door opened. This time it gave him the opportunity to work with a major on-line safety company developing safety programs.

Suddenly, he became so busy that he and his wife, Jessica Quintanar, had to make a decision to move forward on their own or keep doing what they were doing.

You guessed it. In 2008, in McAllen, TX, the two started Q-Safety, a womanowned, HUB, ESBE and SBE certified company. With Jessica overseeing the ins and

outs of the business, Luis was able to continue focusing on keeping companies and their employees safe.

In 2011, Jessica and Luis moved their company to San Antonio expanding their services from just on-site training to online training and safety supplies and equipment nationwide. The company has grown from a two-man operation, Luis and Jessica, to eight and is still growing as the company services the construction industry, oil and gas industry and the transportation industry.

Q-Safety has programs specific for subcontractors to help them get in with the bigger general contractors by developing programs and procedures required by the bigger general contractors.

As Luis continues to expand his company, so does his need for knowledge.

The company is EM385 Fall Protection certified by the Corps of Engineers allowing Q-Safety to service those who need to work on government installations.

Q-Safety is a safety training service provider and supplier of safety products and equipment in San Antonio. -cmw

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San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

W hat’s Trending in Global Navigation Annette Mollere Phoenix Geosystems Survey Supply

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s a new decade emerges; so have trends in Global Navigation Satellite Systems, (GNSS) equipment.

We find most trends focus on leveraging smarter technology solutions and better practices to facilitate a more efficient job site workflow. Innovations in GNSS hardware and software align and integrate new 4IR technologies of data sharing and communication methods producing an accurate and simplified job site process.

Say goodbye to an obsolete propriety WinCE platform and hello to open

source software developed on Windows 10 or Android. Tablets, phones or a variety of hand held devices collect data and function as a remote on site laptop with access to email, dropbox, one drive, or Goggle drive, which allows for quick file management and inter office communications with the site. The access to and sharing of digital information between the office and the jobsite promotes long term gains in efficiency and productivity.

Beyond the benefits of a lower price, open source platform embraces software

customization for job site accessibility and connectivity.

Interconnection of the digital jobsite also stretches globally. With the successful launch of the Chinese BeiDou satellites. The global GNSS constellation systems currently include; GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (Europe) and BeiDou (China). Expect faster positioning and increased accuracy since most GPS receivers are now equipped with five satellite systems instead of two.

We also see jobsite accuracy and productivity increases when a GPS receiver is combined with a Robotic Total Station. The hybrid system integrates the best of both; total station and GNSS technology providing accurate measurement on crowed jobsites, behind buildings, or under tree canopy with advance prism search. By switching back and forth while collecting data or staking out, two sources of data integrate in one software program.

Impressive progress has been made with GNSS hardware technologies. Internal base and rover radios are now capable of receiving or transmitting data for a ten mile radius. The durability of hardware has evolved with increased IP ratings, and working conditions are extended. WiFi and Bluetooth connections make expensive cables a thing of the past. Increased GNSS technology innovations have resulted in increases in accuracy, reliability and productivity. GNSS technologies continue to evolve and stay an affordable and accessible technology that facilitates and make possible an improved workflow on the jobsite.

Phoenix Geosystems Survey Supply 12746 Cimarron Path #117 San Antonio, Tx 78249 (210) 451-5749 www.phoenixgeosystems.com

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he folks at Allen & Allen Co. won’t use the word retirement when referring to Buzz Miller and Coddy Pena. But as their roles within the company are transitioning, they wanted to show Buzz and Coddy their gratitude for a wonderful and respected career.

On Dec. 11, the Allen & Allen team invited family, friends and customers of the Millers and Penas to the Allen & Allen Co. facilities to celebrate a new beginning.

“Today is a celebration for the Miller and Pena families, the people who have owned us for 40 years,” says Director of Marketing, Christina Martin. “It’s pretty cheesy, but how do you thank someone has been a big piece of (pizza of course) your history, but with a giant pizza. We found this great group out of Hondo, TX to make this giant pizza. They are called Dirt Road Cookers and they did this custom for us. It’s just a fun chance to celebrate the families that have led us, built on our legacy and have positioned us to do well in the future.”

Over 100 family, friends, employees and long-time customers were in attendance to celebrate with the Miller and Pena families. -cmw

Coddy Pena and Buzz Miller pose with their 8ft. pizza.

A cheezy celebration

Coddy Pena slices the 8ft. celebration pizza as Buzz Miller looks on.

Kurt Oefinger and Drew Kamer with Dirt Road Cookers prepare the 8ft. supreme pizza as guests watch on.

Family, friends and long-time customers help remove the pizza from its oven.

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

Page 11

periodically – and slow it way down. Let a few seconds pass between each movement. It will allow slow moving fish the opportunity to catch up with the bait. Another popular bait this time of year is the Corky lure and the Soft Dine lure from the Paul Brown collection made by MirrOlure. These lures require some serious patience, but once you figure out how to fish them, they will produce some big trout throughout the year.

Now it’s time to get your gear out and ready for the new season. Get those reels serviced and have new fishing line on them before your first trip. Breakout the wading gear and check for leaks in your waders. Replace them if necessary with quality products by Simms. They are simply the best out there. Replace hooks on your lures and check rods for damage guides and tips.

This winter, don’t give cabin fever the opportunity to set in. With the right location, bait, and presentation, there’s nothing stopping you from experiencing some good fishing all year round.

My 2020 fishing calendar is open and I have already started booking for the new season, so don’t hesitate. To schedule your next bay fishing trip or hunting trip, give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716 or e-mail him at SteveSchultzOutdoors@gmail.com. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Good luck and Good Fishing.

Cold Weather Fishing Strategies

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

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appy New Year everyone! I can’t help but be excited for this upcoming year. Fishing forecast looks very promising as of now with the mild winter we are having.

As I finish up my hunting season, I’m already preparing for some early January fishing. I’ve been getting some good reports from fellow guides that have already been scouting the bays for trophy trout season. As always, things can change at the spur of the moment, so let’s hope weather patterns stay the same and water temperatures don’t get too cold to move our fish from this area.

In the Spring, Summer, and Fall, most fishermen prefer to fish relatively shallow structures. Fish tend to hold there in warmer parts of the year because the structure provides shelter and easy access to potential food sources. As it gets colder, though, fish tend to migrate in schools to deeper water. As the depth increases, temperature stabilizes and it’s easier for them to do their version of light hibernation. Deep drop-offs with underwater structures are the most popular spots for winter fishermen to hit. As an added bonus, fish of most spe-

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Recent scouting trips are producing some solid trout on artificial lures. This trout went 27 in. and was just shy of 7 lbs when I released her. Book your trips now with Steve Schultz Outdoors.

cies typically hold in tighter groups when the waters are cold. So if you get a bite in a specific spot, you can expect that there are more fish to be caught nearby.

So you’re in the right spot and using the right bait – you still won’t catch too many fish without proper presentation. While you might be used to burning a surface plug across the water or spoon to get a reaction bite, cold water fish will pay no mind to this technique. Instead, take the method you use for soft plastic fishing – dragging the bait along the bottom and popping it up

What a beauty!

very year, Quality Fence & Welding enjoy an invitation from Catto & Catto LLP to hunt down in Marathon, TX at the 200K-acre ranch, Catto Gage Ranch. This year, Craig Noto, CEO of Quality Fence & Welding, was lucky enough, on the very last hunt, to go out with Jamie Hayne, CEO of Catto & Catto, whose grandfather acquired the ranch in the early 1900’s.

After spotting a couple of elk and a few mule deer, the duo snuck up to get a closer look and saw Noto’s would be trophy. “Jamie gave me the okay, so we got all set up. My heart started pounding after I took the shot. It was all high-fives from there on.

“This is one of the best mule deer hunts I’ve ever been on. We have been hunting down on this ranch for the past six years. Catto & Catto has been handling all of our insurance and benefits for years. They are the best in the industry.” -cmw

Craig Noto is all smiles after shooting this 12-point beauty on the last day of his hunt at the Catto Gage Ranch in Marathon, TX.

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San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

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

Happy New Year!

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hope you and yours had a fine Holiday Season!

It always feels nice to settle back into the old usual routine after the holiday hustle and bustle is past. It seems to be real nice …for about two weeks, and then thoughts of spring fishing start to creep in! Time to get back on the water!

So far, winter has been pretty good to us. It has been cool enough for the lake to start to cycle into winter. Colder water makes the stripers and hybrids and white bass start to school up and feed hard on bait fish to get ready for spring spawning. It also spurs them into their upstream migration which makes it easier to find them and get in on some good fishing action.

This year we have had plenty of time for our Highland Lakes to settle down into their normal patterns. Last year was not an easy fishing year because the heavy flooding from the previous fall seriously disturbed the equilibrium of the lakes and rivers.

Normally lakes develop their own fish population ratios that become uniquely their own and are somewhat self-correcting. By fishing we learn to expect to find fish in certain areas and to have a good idea for what type of

Jeff Denton Construction, Alpha Paving and D.K.C. Construction

Local area fisherman

bait they will be wanting. A flood literally washes all that out the flood gates and leaves things all mixed up and confused for a few months. It takes a while for the fish to sort themselves out, get to places they want to be and for the bait population to start to stabilize again. This year all the little fishy players are back on the stage, on their marks, just waiting on the curtain to go up!

I think it’s going to be a good spring!

You can use these cold, windy days to round up your fishing gear and take inventory. Reels need cleaning and oiling and respooling with new line so equipment failure won’t cost you a good fish. It’s a good time to replace what’s broken or found its way to the bottom of the lake and get your tackle box restocked. This time of year you want to be able to grab your fishing things and get out the door while the weather is nice. You don’t want to spend a pretty day looking for your sunscreen or trying to remember it that was your favorite lure a fish made off with or did you misplace it.

Don’t forget to check your boat and motor over too. Winter can be hard on equipment and you don’t want to be sitting on the boat ramp out of commission when you could be fishing. It’s a lot easier to get your rig into your favorite shop this time of year for a check-up than in the spring for a repair!

Of course, if you are awful busy and don’t have time to get ready, you can always just give us a call and let us get you on the water and on the fish! You don’t even have to drag a boat to the lake!

Either way, hope to see you soon

on the water!

Good morning to me!

Jason Schnautz, Dausin Electric started his morning off to a great start.

He shot this nice 8-point buck the morning of Nov. 16. -cmw

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

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Harvesting friendships

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udi Rodriguez, Rancho Colorado del Norte owner and EPI Electrical Enclosures & Engineering CEO invited EPI Weld Master Rogelio Salinas and son, Daniel Salinas, to his ranch for some quality father-son time and camaraderie with a valued employee.

This is the third year the Rogelios received an invitation to the ranch to enjoy a good time and help manage the deer population. -cmw

Rogelio and Daniel Salinas pose for a photo with these nice white-tail bucks harvested on Nov. 30 at Rancho Colorado del Norte.

A kids’ hunt

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lint Williams, A-1 Fire & Safety enjoys spending time with his kids, Colton and Klaire. On a recent hunt, Colton and Klaire proved they are able to put meat on the table as well as dad. -cmw

Klaire Williams poses with her harvested doe.

Colton Williams poses with the doe and hog he harvested.

Happy New Year !

Rogelio Salinas is very proud of his trophy buck. He harvested this nice eight-point buck on Rancho Colorado del Norte on Nov. 30.

Rudi Rodriguez, CEO EPI Enclosures & Engineering harvested this nice eight-point white-tail on his Rancho Colorado del Norte in Medina County, Nov. 26.

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SAWS Phase II ESOC

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n 1998, Allied Fire Protection was established in Pearland, TX by Shannon Payne and John Hubbard. By 2010, Allied Fire Protection had expanded to six office locations across Texas, including San Antonio, McAllen, Dallas, Austin and Laredo. In 2005, Troy Davenport, Partner and Central Texas Area Director, joined the Allied team and now oversees

Sprinkler installation

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an Antonio area full-service construction firm, Santex Painting and Construction LLC was recently involved in the renovation of a beautiful house in Terrell Hills. In collaboration with Jamie Denton, vice president of construction for Hendry Investments, who managed the project and Shelby Ames of Shelby Ames Interiors LLC, who helped develop many of the design elements of the project, the team worked together with the homeowners to realize the potential of their new home.

operations along the IH 35 corridor.

Throughout the last 20 years, Allied Fire Protection has built a foundation which provides a full scope of services including pre-construction, design, installation, underground, inspection, service, fire alarm, and monitoring.

Currently, the Allied Fire Protection team out of San Antonio is nearing completion of the installation of the new fire sprinkler and fire alarm systems at the SAWS Phase II ESOC project, in collaboration with Teal Construction Company, out of Garden Ridge, TX. The project is located at 3930 East Houston and has three buildings including the Supply Building, the Administration Building and the Fleet Building. Allied Fire Protection designed and installed the fire sprinkler and alarm systems for a combined total of 62,500sf.

The new construction project included the design, fabrication, and installation of the wet pipe fire sprinkler systems with control valves, sprinkler heads, pipe, fittings and a new fire line backflow preventor. Allied Fire Protection also installed a new dry system to protect the Supply Building, including the covered loading and receiving canopy.

In addition to the fire sprinkler systems, AFP Alarm & Detection, a division of Allied Fire Protection, installed three new complete Notifier fire alarm systems and is providing the monitoring. Allied Fire Protection is also in collaboration with Teal Construction Company on another project, the SAWS Phase II NWOC in San Antonio.

ESOC Supply Building

L-R: Allied Fire Alarm Manager Wayne Burson, Teal Construction Superintendent Louie Baeza and Allied Construction Manager Richard Mireles.

Home for the holidays

“Allied Fire Protection has performed several projects with both fire sprinkler and alarm installation and renovation needs, making them a ‘one stop shop’ for general contractors,” says Odette Castillo, Allied Fire Protection Marketing/Business Development Manager. The San Antonio office has a team of multilicensed inspectors, service technicians and installation crews ready to perform any new construction or interior finish out project.

Allied Fire Protection is a full-service fire sprinkler contractor and service provider.

-cmw SAWS Phase II ESOC Allied Fire Protection San Antonio, TX

get creative and come up with a solution that turned out great and our client is very satisfied with the end result.”

Additional renovations included a redesign of the kitchen and study, expansion of the dining room area as well as adding many new exterior features including stucco columns and iron fencing.

Over a period of several months, the team worked together to turn their client’s new house into a warm and welcoming home, just in time for the holidays.

Santex Painting and Construction LLC is a commercial and high-end residential contractor operating in San Antonio and the surrounding communities. -cmw

Living and dining rooms’ refinished cedar beams.

Front door

One of the more involved aspects of the project was the relocation of the fireplace and chimney stack to a more commanding location in the center wall of the living space. Along with expanding the cased opening from the kitchen to living areas, they were able to improve the natural flow of the house.

“By matching the custom wall texture, you’d never know we moved the fireplace,” says Santex President Jay Elizalde. “We found a great local metal

fabricator that was able to replicate the existing copper chimney cap’s intricate design to fit the new stack and it really tied the whole thing together.”

Another favorite feature of the renovation are the large cedar beams located in the living and dining room areas. Previously stained a solid dark brown, the owners wanted to lighten them up. “It was definitely a challenge taking the beams from a very dark stain to where they are now,” adds Elizalde. “Our team was able to

Replicated copper chimney caps

Home for the holidays Santex Painting and Construction LLC San Antonio, TX

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Raising the dome

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f you travel highway 281 north frequently, you have seen the landscape along 281 change dramatically. Buildings were demolished to make way for 281’s much needed highway expansion making way for additional travel lanes.

The Mission Park Life Center was just one of the buildings torn down to make way for the highway expansion. But the beautiful building would not stay down.

The owners would raise it again to offer families a place to celebrate every milestone of their lives from baptism to birthdays, weddings to anniversaries, luncheons and even final life tribute.

Setien Group which has been in the forefront of structural design and steel fabrication since 1978 did the drawings of

the facility.

As the work got under way, the owner could see that things were not going according to plan. The contractor constructed the main focal point of the facility, a 30,000-plus lb. dome, on the ground. It seemed to be a great idea at the time, but it needed to be on top of the building, not the ground.

Once again, the owner reached out to Domingo Setien, owner of Setien Group, a collaboration of Setien & Associates, structural design and engineering; Setien Properties, real estate acquisitions and land development; S&I Welding & Erection; S&I Transport and Setien Investments and asked him to come to work for him on the project. With years of

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ounded in 1985 for the specific purpose of selfstorage construction, CAPCO Steel Inc. dba Capco General Contracting has exceeded the needs of their self-storage customers and have taken that business model and success to other types of commercial construction.

experience in steel erection and concrete wall construction, Setien agreed.

“We designed the dome. Somebody else constructed it on the ground. Our intent was for the construction of it to be done up in the air,” says Setien.

Setien took into consideration every inch of the already constructed dome. “I lasered out and developed what looked like a spiderweb, so we called it the spider design. I added extra bracing to support the legs so that when we lifted the dome, it would not spring in breaking all the insulation, all the work that had been done and all the studs that were there in place.”

Through Setien’s engineering, his team laid 1/4 inch stud pegs sticking up at eight points atop the walls of the dome’s

seat. On the frame bottom they set the “spider brace”. From there they took a 5-ton and also a 2 1/2 -ton tire jack at 14 points and started cranking them up to level the octagon shaped dome. With the spider brace in place, structurally the dome would not shift. Once the dome structure was level, Setien’s team drilled holes to match the pegs placed at the eight points of the dome’s final resting place.

Before raising the dome, Setien shaved the pegs on opposite sides to 2 inches and 1-1/2 inches. “We had two men in baskets, one on each side to guide.

When they lifted the dome, they dropped the holes that I made on the frame into the male end sticking up. As the base of the dome hit the two inch pegs on opposite sides, they guided the frame to line up the holes to fall into the shorter pegs.

“One shot, one deal, one try, and it could not have gone any better. It was a proud moment for everyone. We had to bring a crane in from out of state to lift the dome. 32,600 lbs. and we nailed it. It looked like a piece of art,” recalls Setien.

“Nothing like this has really happened since the moving of the Fairmont Hotel in downtown San Antonio. So once again we are creating history,” says Robert Tips, owner of Mission Park Life Center.

Setien Group is a full-service structural design, engineering, steel fabrication and erection construction firm in Schertz, TX. -cmw

Raising the dome Setien Group San Antonio, TX

Community connection

In mid-October, Capco took a day out of the office to volunteer at a local Habitat for Humanity property.

Half of the team spent the day painting houses and finishing the final paint touchups of five houses. The other half of the team focused on setting fence posts for the backyards of the same five houses, digging holes, mix-

ing concrete, placing the posts and completing the full foundation for the fence.

The Capco team eagerly worked together to help progress the final stages of the five homes.

Capco General Contractors is a full-service general contractor in San Antonio. -cmw

Capco team members.

Community connection Capco General Contractors San Antonio, TX

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San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

What is your New Year’s Resolution?

A Christmas celebration

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elebrating 30 successful years, the Uhrlich family and Central Builders Inc. decided to bring in the holidays with a Christmas party marked with history at the Witte Museum on Dec. 13. Team members were recognized for their years of service in addition to enjoying a good time with great people. -cmw

My resolution is to have more grace, lose 22 lbs. and to curtail my use of the notorious, fabulous “F” word. It could be fun, fat, just the “F” word.

Mary Haskin, Mary C. Haskin Photography

we transfer our wisdom and experience, we will continue to have a great construction industry.

Albert Gutierrez, Guido Construction

To make a lot of great beer and sell it to all my friends in the construction business.

Mike Sierno, Baker Triangle

My resolution is to practice more mindfulness and be more kind to myself.

Natasha Kay, Turner Construction

My New Year’s resolution is to work less and have more fun.

Craig Noto, Quality Fence & Welding

I would buy an apartment in Paris, France.

Aline Yoldi, Architects

To keep being successful.

Ryan Allbright, Cokinos | Young

The Uhrlich family poses with a clock presented to them in recognition of their 30 years in business.

To travel the world again. We are going to travel to different places in 2020. We are going to start out in Mexico City. Then we will travel to Scotland. My nephew is getting married and of all places, they want to play golf in Scotland. My nieces have children now so it will be a big family reunion. Then we will go to Germany.

Ramiro “R.C.” Contreras, Galaxy Builders Ltd. Be healthy.

Bill Huber, Joeris General Contractors

To be better.

Art Serna, Caliper Contracting Services

Our 2020 vision is to excel. As a new company, this is the year we are going to elevate and take off. This is our year!

Don Watson, Core Electrical Group To break into the private sector and form great relationships with everyone that’s there.

Dawn Vernon, D.L. Bandy Constructors My New Year’s resolution is to continue to transfer wisdom and experience to our youth in construction. I think that is really important these days. And to be a great mentor to our people and create that culture. There’s a lot of us older guys that are getting close to retirement and we have a slight gap in our generation to generation here in our industry, but as long as

To be more intentional in the decisions I make in the things I do and how I spend my free time.

Christina Martin, Allen & Allen Co. To come up with a New Year resolution for 2021.

John Hoot, Quality Fence & Welding My New Year resolution is to make 2010 better than 2019. Make more money.

Marty Grajeda, Skanska USA Honestly, I never make them! But I am endeavoring to not put on quite so much weight during the holiday season this year. I love anything chocolate and aim to continue going to gym through the holidays. However, I will take a few days off for Christmas Eve/Day and the following day which is a holiday in England – Boxing Day, Dec, 26.

Linda Ibarra, Bartlett Cocke General Contractors

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

continued from Page 2 — Candy cane lane

Page 17

T

New year, new leader

he Hispanic Contractors Association de San Antonio (HCAdeSA) is kicking 2020 off under the leadership of their new Executive Director Victoria Rodriguez. While she officially began just before Thanksgiving, followed by the hustle and bustle of the holidays, she is ready to fully take on the reins of her new position with the start of the new year.

Rodriguez is a San Antonio native.

She attended and graduated from an allgirls school, Ursuline Academy before attending St. Mary’s University.

Rodriguez earned a bachelor’s degree in Business with a focus on Human Resources from St. Mary’s University in 1994. During her time at St. Mary’s, Rodriguez worked for USAA where she moved up the ranks as an auto claims adjuster.

Finding it hard to find work in the HR field at USAA, Rodriguez was given the opportunity as a manager working for Target.

But her HR experience would not stop there. After getting married, Rodriguez moved to Wisconsin where her new husband was attending law school. She spent two years working for the Madison Independent School District in Madison, WI in their HR department.

“That was just a special time. My husband passed his bar there, but we did end up having a child, so we moved back home to be close to family.”

Meanwhile, while raising their family, she worked for a doctor’s office from home. She was an office manager/insurance specialist for ten years when she was given the opportunity to work with a real estate developer for the past three and half years.

It was a small operation, but she oversaw the bookkeeping and ended up managing the office as well as some property management.

Rodriguez had begun looking at nonprofits as the private sector no longer inspired her. “I was looking at different nonprofits. HCAdeSA marries a little of my

HCAdeSA Executive Director Victoria Rodriguez

experience with vendors and property management. I had always felt compelled to help vendors, especially a lot of minority owned, small businesses with their bookkeeping. I definitely, in seeing them first hand, felt this was a group of people that I was drawn to. They did the work, they’re on the front line and I was responsible for paying their invoices. So when this opportunity to came up, I jumped at it. I just thought it would be a great transition for me out of the private sector.”

Rodriguez has been diligently getting office procedures and the different programs organized and updated since starting with HCAdeSA and plans to tweak the association’s website. “I think upgrading the website is something that could just help the organization become even more successful,” says Rodriguez.

Rodriguez’s goals for HCAdeSA is to become highly accessible through mobile devices, focus on budgeting and pursuing new avenues for fundraising so HCAdeSA can continue with scholarships and safety training, all of which the association has done so well in its 20 years. -cmw

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San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

The best decision

Industry FOLKS Linda Ibarra

Project Coordinator

Bartlett Cocke General Contractors San Antonio, TX

B

orn in York, England, Linda Ibarra didn’t appreciate the history in her hometown of York until she moved to San Antonio in Dec. 1992.

York was established by the Romans in 71AD and there are still Roman remains to be seen there. Even tough San Antonio has an impressive history of its own. Ibarra still enjoys walking around the city of York on return visits.

“We just went back this summer for my sister’s wedding. Some of my English friends didn’t believe I could actually go to the Alamo.

“It’s cold in the winter there. I don’t miss British weather at all. I love the sun here in San Antonio. I am a bit of a wimp now regarding cold weather. I do miss walking everywhere though. I did not learn to drive until I moved to USA 27 years ago.

“I have only lived in San Antonio after to coming to the US and really like it.”

Ibarra attended Queen Anne Grammar School for Girls in York, England and was in her second year of a 3-year English/History degree in York, England when she moved to San Antonio. She never had the chance to go back to school with a busy family life, two young children and full time work.

She landed her first office job in San Antonio in a construction office as a receptionist position with MJ Boyle General Contractors that was advertised in the paper. Having enjoyed working in the industry, she stayed and continues to enjoy it.

Now working for Bartlett Cocke General Contractors as a project coordinator/accountant, she assists the project managers with project set up, contracts

and billing, tracking subcontractors paperwork (certified payroll, safety reports, etc.) and assists the subcontractors with billing and document compliance. Additionally, she does some project accountant work on her projects and enjoys the variety her position offers.

“I have been here 11 years now and hope to last another 10 years until I can retire! I am currently working at the main office on two different projects, KISD Hal Peterson Middle School in Kerrville and School of Science and Technology, a charter school in San Antonio.

“I like the interaction with the project team members out on the jobsite and also the relationships that develop with subcontractors, though more and more of these are “virtual” relationships.”

Pamela Scribner, Linda’s office manager from many years ago, was a great mentor to her. “She helped me to prioritize my work duties, was very professional and hard-working but had a good sense of humor, which helps everything in life I believe.”

Ibarra enjoys going to boot camp classes and Zumba at her local gym and reading. She also enjoys traveling when the opportunity presents itself.

Additionally, although it has been a gradual change, Ibarra says she is encouraged to see a few more women in the construction industry over recent years, both in the field and in project management and hopes to see these numbers grow. -cmw

A

Nick Yuker

senior in high school has to make many decisions. What is my next move? Do I go to college? Do I get a job? Do I join the military? What do I do?

Nick Yuker faced the same dilemma.

He thought he might want to be a pilot and join the military or air force. When that didn’t pan out, he got a temporary job at Southwest Research as a lab assistant and thought he would go to school.

After two years of school, he realized college was not for him. That is when his dad, Wade Yuker, and master electrician suggested he try out the electrical trade.

And so he did.

In 2012, Yuker enrolled as an apprentice in the JTAC apprentice program making $12.50 per hour. “That was a fortune to me back then,” says Yuker.

Yuker spent the next five years learning the trade and graduated as the 2017 JTAC Apprentice of the Year. A year later, Yuker went for his master electrician’s license and opened Yuker Electric in 2018.

Having his first year behind him, Yuker is extremely glad he took his father’s

Morphing a company

advice. “This is the best decision I’ve ever made for myself besides marrying my wife. It’s very freeing. I take a lot of pride in my work, but when you have your own company and this is your baby, it’s just expediential.”

As owner/operator, he is the project manager, estimator, service tech and purchaser. His first year’s goal was to get one full-time employee and met that goal on the company’s one year mark. The next goal for the company is another fulltime service tech and a fulltime helper.

For now the company’s main focus is residential with some light commercial work such as maintenance, repairs and small additions. Later down the road Yuker hopes to get into more commercial additions.

With no regrets and he says, “If you apply yourself and do the best you can, you will always have a job. In our modern society like today, in all the trades, you’ll always have a job. “

Yuker Electric is an electrical contractor in Spring Branch. -cmw

Closing the gender gap

W

omen in Architecture (WIA) invited leaders of local progressive-minded design firms to discuss their offices’ strategies and policies to purposely attract, retain and promote women into leadership positions. This two-part event was held on Nov. 12 at the CBI Showroom. -cmw

O

The San Antonio team of Choate USA

ver 30 years ago, Mark “Putt” Choate founded Choate USA. With himself and a couple of helpers, he began installing residential irrigation systems in the Dallas area. The young company grew in the residential arena through the late 2000s performing 90 percent residential install.

When the housing boom fell in the late 2000s, Choate entered the commercial world as an irrigation contractor. Since then, the company has evolved from simple irrigation install to irrigation and landscaping. As many of Choate’s clients were landscape designers, it only made sense to branch into landscape work as well.

In the early stages of the landscaping transition, the company focused on planting, grass and dirt work in addition to its irrigation installs. Since then the company has morphed into an even broader realm offering full exterior packages from irrigation to planting, pavers to site furnishings, synthetic turf to retaining walls.

From its humble beginnings, Choate USA has expanded into six markets in

both Texas and Louisiana to include Austin, Houston, Midland/Odessa, San Antonio and Baton Rouge, LA. It entered the San Antonio market in 2002.

The San Antonio team offers over 50 combined years of experience. San Antonio Division Manager Steve Wade began his career in irrigation at the age of 15 working for a friend of his father’s.

Daniel Wilson, Regional Manager for San Antonio and Austin, started in the industry right out of high school working for the City Public Works Dept. in Fort Worth fixing sprinkler systems before joining the Choate team a few short years later. Senior Estimator/Project Manager Landscape Construction Jon Weiss followed his father’s footsteps who had been in the irrigation systems business for 40 years. Jacquelyne Mehl and Teri Shelton make up Choate USA ‘s sales team in San Antonio.

“No matter the size or complexity, we do a great job and have a really awesome team,” says the Choate team.

Choate USA is an irrigation and landscape company. - cmw

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

Page 19

Heading up the list

Clays & barbeque

I

t was a great time, despite the cold, damp weather for members of Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) South Texas Chapter at their sporting clay shoot and barbeque cook-off. The funfilled event was held on Nov. 7 at the National Shooting Complex. 16 teams completed in the cook-off while 170 shooters participated in the clay shoot. -cmw

3rd Place Brisket: Beck Companies 1st Place Ribs: T & D Moravits 2nd Place Ribs: Vaquero Group 3rd Place Ribs: Sunstate Equipment Co. LLC

Red Course Sporting Clay Winners: 2nd Place Team: Joeris General Contractors, Ltd. 3rd Place Team: B.G. Metals, Inc. Yellow Course Sporting Clay Winners: 2nd Place Team: Zurich North America Contract Surety 3rd Place Team: Robles 1, LLC BBQ Cook – Off Winners: 1st Place Chicken: Bartlett Cocke General Contractors LLC 2nd Place Chicken: TDIndustries, Inc. 3rd Place Chicken: Sunstate Equipment Co. LLC 1st Place Brisket: Mission City Electric Co. Inc. 2nd Place Brisket: Sunstate Equipment Co. LLC

F

1st Place Individual Shooter: Stephen Etheridge, Beck Companies

The Lake|Flato team.

ounded in 1984 by Ted Flato, AIA and David Lake, AIA, Lake|Flato have built a reputation for creating designs that connect people to the natural environment, employing unique designs, sustainability and good business sense.

Architect Magazine, which is the official journal of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has been ranking architectural firms since 2009. They solicit information from firms throughout the United States. The Top 50 list “attempts to answer the question: Who had the best year?”

Using a third party research firm, the firm compiled and analyzed self-reported data from roughly 182 firms for the 2019 list. Architectural firms were graded on three categories of design, sustainability and business, all of which are incredibly important to architectural companies.

Lake|Flato has made the list for the past five years. Four of those five years in the top 20. This year, they received the number on seat. “The information gath-

ered and compared is based on the last year of business and in this case, 2019. To be listed No. 1 is incredible,” says Flato.

Employing 115 people between the firm’s San Antonio and Austin offices, it is relatively small in comparison to many firms globally. But its size doesn’t hamper their ability. The firm size allows its designers flexibility in what kind of projects they take on.

Lake|Flato’s work is not limited to just Texas. They have done projects in Mississippi for the University of Southern Mississippi Marine Education Center and the Naples Botanical Garden Visitor Center in Florida.

Internationally, Lake|Flato designed the Top of the Hill girls school in Kenya.

Although there is no award to be presented, being prominently listed in the industry’s magazine, it is well celebrated within the architectural community.

Lake|Flato is an architectural firm with offices in Austin and San Antonio. -cmw

Taking care of business 1st Place Team: Vaquero Group

1st Place Team: Ancira Commercial

Breaking ground

Skanska USA celebrated the groundbreaking of the new 11,200sf oncology unit at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital, Medical Center on Dec. 4. The new facility will include 19 private patient rooms, nursing stations, an infusion room, medical team support space and a family waiting area. When complete, the facility will serve as the first inpatient medical care unit for oncology in San Antonio. -cmw

Nucor Vulcraft Group team members pose for a photo on Christmas Eve while taking care of customers before the Christmas holiday. Front Row L-R: Amy Castillo, Erin Berrey, Jodi Day. Back Row L-R: Alex Stimpson and Kevin Houser. -cmw

Page 20

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

M

erry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. May you all have a very blessed Christmas and a prosperous new year. Thank you for your continued support of Construction News. -cmw

Christmas San Antonio

Wilborn Steel

A-1 Fire & Safety

Rocky Hill Equipment

Buyers Barricades

Lonestar Electric Supply

Howell Crane & Rigging

CAPCO General Contracting River City Bolt & Screw

HCA de SA

Timms Trucking & Excavation

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

Page 21

continued from Page 1 — Flo-Aire Service Inc.

Association Calendar

Content submitted by Associations to Construction News ABC

Associated Builders & Contractors

Jan. 8: ABC Breakfast Club, Alamo Café, 14250 San Pedro, 7:00am. $20 Members, $35 Non-members.

Jan. 23: Happy Hour, Stone Werks at The Vineyard, 1201 N. Loop 1604 W, 4:30pm.

For more info, contact Alissa Miller at alissa@abcsouthtexas.org or 210-342-1994 AGC

Flo-Aire Service Inc. 30th anniversary group photo at the Flo-Aire Service Inc. company Christmas party.

people started calling me to either do jobs or finish up jobs that Flo-Aire Inc. was doing. I ended up going into the construction side of the business. It turned out well. We have a lot of friends that are general contractors, home builders and then our regular service customers,” recalls McDuff.

“When we first started out, I was running strictly service. We had six employees at the time. I would go out and do service work. I enjoy customers. They are a lot of fun. If you do a good job, they treat you well.”

Today the company is 70 employees strong. Amongst those 70 are McDuff’s two sons, Eddie and Jerry who have been with the company over 10 years.

Both of which are heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.

Both are Texas A&M graduates and diehard Aggie fans.

McDuff says the company’s 30th an-

niversary snuck up on them as the construction industry is so busy. As a result they did not have a celebration but will acknowledge their 30th but plan to at the company Christmas party.

As the company steps forward towards its next milestone, McDuff says “The future is another 30 years, hopefully. But that will be without me. I would just like everybody to know and understand that because my sons have been here for 10 and 12 years, nothing is going to change. They are the reason we are doing as well as we are doing right now.

“If I retire, things will operate the way they have always operated. They are great kids. They jumped in with both feet and just took the bull by the horns as they say,” says McDuff.

Flo-Aire Service Inc. is a full-service air conditioning and heating company in San Antonio. -cmw

ASA

American Subcontractors Assn.

Jan. 24-25: Bash at the BBQ, Rodeo Fairgrounds Jan. 28: General Meeting, The Petroleum Club, 8620 N. New Braunfels Ave. #700.

11:30am.

Jan. 31: Subs on Ice, AT&T Center, “Caliente Zone” Side Suite, 1 AT&T Center Pkwy., 7:30pm. For more info, call Jennifer Swinney at 210-349-2105 ASSP

American Society of Safety Professionals

Jan. 20: Chapter Meeting, Southwest Research Institute Cafeteria, 11am-1pm.

For info, go to www.southtexasasse.org CFMA

Jan. 28: Sales Tax Update, TBD. For more info, email cfmasatx.gmail.com volved in something that is part of the industry, advancing the vision, I feel real strongly as everybody else does, that this is a career. It is a great career path. The days of teachers saying, “You keep that up and you’re going to be digging a ditch” are over. You know what, there is always going to be a need for somebody to dig a ditch, but you don’t need to stay there. There is career advancement for you to move up and that is extremely exciting,” Martinez adds.

“I think the days of when my dad started, just run the pipe and pull the wire, is a thing of the past. You have to know what you are building and why you are building it. So when the lights turn on the pride is there. Know what you’re doing has a purpose, which brings about passion. That’s what it is all about.”

While the company won’t officially hit 45 years until later in the year, everyone at Central Electric is over the top to be a part of this milestone.

“We have a great team and that’s what it is all about. Everybody in this office makes us a successful company and we couldn’t have made 45 years without each one of them,” adds Vice President Ernie Martinez.

Central Electric is a full-service electrical contractor in San Antonio. -cmw

continued from Page 1 — Design Materials Inc. area of town where a lot of business in the construction industry call home such as suppliers of flooring, lighting, equipment and others, the new Design Material team hopes to separate themselves as a design showroom and not a warehouse.

“We are redoing every square inch of our 8,000-plus square foot showroom.

We have about 80 plus floors down now and we joke, none of which you can buy because they are discontinued so we are redoing the entire showroom. We are going to have 15 floors that are bigger and lighter in color, and way more fun! We’re reshaping, repainting and will have all new sampling methodologies. We also have a complete, new lighting set up. It’s a complete rebirth from top to bottom,“ says Ecrette.

The dynamic duo have invested in new computers and new software for the company as well. They are going through and systematically making changes with

Jan. 13: General Membership & Installation of Directors Luncheon, Sunset Station, 1174 E. Commerce St.,12-1:30pm.

For info, call Kelly Wilson at 210-349-4921

Construction Financial Management Assn.

continued from Page 1 — Central Electric to Central Catholic. We all went to Central Catholic. I think my brother always knew he wanted to be an electrical engineer. He has the electrical engineering license registered with the State of Texas. He always knew he wanted to do that.

“I have the master’s license, but I started out going to law school at St. Mary’s University. I had wanted to be a lawyer.” While attending St. Mary’s, Martinez worked at the company reviewing contracts. “I jokingly say that I went to St. Mary’s to be a lawyer and ended up coming out an electrician.”

Martinez goes on to say “The workforce of today is nothing like that of yesterday. The engagement, the community, team element just drives everything we do.

We are more focused on our core values.

When we are stuck on a tough decision, we pull out our core values and discuss how it lines up with which individual core value.”

Through the years, the company has become highly involved with associations recognizing the value they bring.

“I’ll be the ABC Chair in 2020. My uncle, Ernie Mora who is our Chief Financial Officer, is committee chair of ABC’s spring and fall golf classics,” continues Martinez.

“We have folks on the Safety and Workforce Development Committee as well as the IEC executive committee.”

“It seems like everybody is heavily in-

Associated General Contractors

a new website and a new search engine.

“We are trying to make ourselves relevant to today’s buyer that does everything in their hand with either their iPad or iPhone,” continues Ecrette.

Additionally, the company has begun hosting continuing education courses and recently held a class geared to designers who work with architects that specify commercial projects. Some classes will focus on residential projects, while others may focus on multi-family and hospitality.

While the company has new owners, the employees are not. Petlin and Ecrette agree they were blessed that every employee stayed with them. Their sales staff of three ladies all have design backgrounds and can take any project from start to finish.

Design Materials Inc. is a supplier of stone, tile, marble and flooring materials in San Antonio. - cmw

GSABA

Greater San Antonio Builders Assn.

Jan. 9: Housing Forecast, Omni Hotel at the Colonnade, 9821 Colonnade Blvd., 8-11am., $75 Ind. Ticket (max. 9 individual tickets can be purchased), $800 Reserved Table.

Jan. 31: 2020 Chili Cook-0ff & Washer Tournament, Raymond Russell Park Pavilion 2; 20644 I-10 Frontage Rd., Chili Booths $500 per team; $25, $50 Washer Team of 2. For info, email ssmith@sabuilders.com or go to www.sabuilders.com HCA de SA

Hispanic Contractors Assn. de San Antonio

Jan. 16: Board Installation, The Quarry

s

Golf Course, 444 E. Basse, 6-8pm.

Jan. 24-25: SA BBQ Rodeo BBQ Cook-offPrivate Party, 1723 Creekview, $45 Friday Ind. Wristband, $45 Ind. Saturday Wristband. For more info, call Victoria Rodriguez at 210-444-1100 or go to www. hcadesa.org IEC

Independent Electrical Contractors

Jan. 8: January Luncheon 2020 NEC Code Update, IEC Training Center, 5511 Ingram Rd., $30 Member, $40 Non-member. For more info, contact Julie Tucker at 210-431-9861 or email jtucker@iecsanantonio.com MCA-SMACNA INC

Mechanical Contractors Assn.

Sheet Metal & A/C Nat’l Assn.

Jan. 22: Joint Industry Fund Meeting, MCA-SMACNA office, 12500 Network Blvd., #410, 11:30am. For more info, call Sandee Morgan at 210-822-3763 NAWIC

National Assn. of Women in Construction

Jan. 8: General Meeting, The Petroleum Club, 8620 N. New Braunfels. For more info, contact Eloina Benavides at 210267-8800 or email tonecustomsigns@ gmail.com PHCC

Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors

Jan. 9: PHCC Monthly Membership Meeting, The Petroleum Club, 8620 N. New Braunfels, 7th Flr., 11am.

Jan. 15: Member Training, PHCC Office, 10103 Broadway St.,11am-1pm. For more info, call Heidi Trimble at 210-824-7422 or go to www.phcc-sanantonio.org SAMCA

San Antonio Masonry Contractors Assn.

Jan. 29: 1st Quarter General Meeting, Old San Francisco Steak House, 10223 Sahara Dr., 12pm. For more info, contact Debi at 210-347-2423 TACCA

Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Assn.

Jan. 22: TACCA HVAC Expo 2020, Alzafar Shrine Temple, 901 N Loop 1604 W. For more info, call Dawn Thompson at 210901-4222

Submitted to Construction News

Round-Up

Yantis Company is pleased to announce Francisco Sandoval has been promoted to Project Manager. After 14 years of progressively advancing in more responsible positions both in the field and in operations, Sandoval’s tenacity and drive have propelled his career at Yantis. -cmw

Chris Trevino, PE, CCM, has been named Freese and Nichols Inc.’s Group Manager for transportation design projects in Central Texas. His 15 years of experience in design, program management and construction will help clients complete major roadway and bridge projects.

He holds a MBA from The University of Texas at San Antonio and a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. -cmw

Page 22

S

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

Here comes Santa Claus Of course none of this would be possible without the overflowing support from the construction industry. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who donated time and effort to help bring Christmas cheer and happiness to the many children in the Bexar County foster care system including Urban Concrete Contractors for providing the truck and driver to deliver the toys from the toy drive to Child Protective Services; and CBS Rentals for providing the scissor lifts that hung the toy drive banner outside the Construction News office. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. –cmw Photo courtesy of Mary C. Haskin

ometimes Santa needs a little help. The construction industry understands this whole-heartedly, and that’s why kindhearted members of the construction industry brought boxes upon boxes of unwrapped toys to the Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive Dec. 6 to the Construction News office.

Construction companies and associations throughout the city, in addition to the many toys collected at the CAKC gala the night before and the Alterman Open House toy drive brought this year’s collection total to 2,931toys. Total gifts and toys collected since the very first Construct A Kid’s Christmas toy drive 19 years ago is 29,552.

Allen & Allen Company

Primo Plumbing Inc

Alterman Inc.

United Tools & Fasteners

San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020

Page 23

Resource Guide

Associations and Construction Education General Contractors Associations and Construction Education

Service Providers

Subcontractors

Suppliers Truck & Equip Dealers

Service Providers

Subcontractors

Suppliers

General Contractors

List your Company for Reference For Info Contact: Dana Calonge Dana@ ConstructionNews.net Buddy Doebbler Buddy@ ConstructionNews.net

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San Antonio Construction News • JAN 2020