San Antonio Construction News December 2021

Covering the Industry’s News

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CONSTRUCTION NEWS

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www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 24 H Number 12 H DECEMBER 2021

Functional art

Looking for someone

L-R: Jared and Mary Morris, owners of Infinite Concrete Designs, Canyon Lake, TX

Casteel Manufacturing Inc. team members L-R: Prisciliano (Jose) De La Garza, Alex Castillo, Frances Zamora, Suzanne Walker, Adolfo Fernandez and Christian Fernandez.

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ooking at Jared Morris, you might think “this guy looks like he could be a coach or an athlete of some sort.” He actually was. Morris began his career as a teacher and coach after graduating from college. During summer breaks, Morris flipped houses.

Soon after getting a call from his uncle, Morris invested in a franchise remodeling garages. “After my uncle retired from Southwest Airlines as a pilot,” says Morris, “he got into a franchise called Garage Experts. It was basically a garage remodeling franchise with cabinets and coatings. He knew I was trying to find something other than teaching and coaching.

“I decided to try it out. After two years, I dropped the franchise and went

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fter working for a few local contractors as a commercial/ industrial electrician, Palmer Johnson aspired to build an electrical business with his wife, Jerry Johnson.

Together, they started Big State Electric in 1966. A second business partner was involved when forming the company and was bought out during the early years of the business.

The Johnsons ran the business from 1966-2004 and had built relationships with Southwestern Bell/AT&T, Lone Star Brewery, Southwest Research Institute, and a few other small general contractors. They managed the business for many years with an office team of five and approximately 25 field personnel.

During that time the business consisted of only electrical construction and service.

In 2004, the owners approached Vince Real about buying out their shares of the company. After sleeping on it, he did just that.

independent. I really did not enjoy the cabinetry part of it, but I really enjoyed all the epoxies and coatings. When I dropped the franchise, I decided to basically focus on all types of decorative concrete.”

In 2014, Morris started Infinite Concrete Designs (ICD). “Our business was created out of a need to create ‘curb appeal’ for our home flipping business.

Once we realized there was a need for decorative concrete and through our passion for creating functional floors, we came up with the Infinite Concrete Designs brand,” adds Morris.

While functioning under the franchise, Morris took a couple of classes learning all garage remodels and coatcontinued on Page 18

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rank Castillo honorably served his country in the United States Air Force where he learned the meaning of discipline and responsibility.

Those lessons were a guiding force that stayed with him throughout his lifetime.

After serving his country, Frank worked hard to provide for his family, never letting obstacles get in his way, to include being laid-off from back-to-back companies because there just wasn’t enough work to keep the ambitious Castillo on the payroll.

Upon being released from the second company within a year’s time, Castillo went home to his wife, Maria, and told her he was ready to go out on his own. “I’m tired of relying on other people bringing the business and I think I can do

better on my own,” recalls Frank’s son, Alex Castillo.

“My mom, who had worked at HEB for a really long time and had great benefits, told my dad, ‘I’ve got a steady job, a full-time job. Go for it.’ And he did.”

In 1984, Frank officially opened the doors to Casteel Manufacturing Inc. specializing in light structural steel and custom sheet metal, and pipe/tube fabrication. He had one employee, himself, or as he liked to say, according to Alex, two employees – himself and an assistant, and he was the assistant.

About nine months in, Frank was outside cutting angle sheet when a gentleman walked up to him asking for work. Frank’s initial response was, “I’m continued on Page 18

Just a dream

Big State Electric management team members L-R: Vince Real, President/CEO; Kevin Moses, Vice President Pre-Construction and Forrest Wilson, Vice President Field Operations

Real came to work at Big State in the spring of 1982 as a truck driver after leaving his rigger position for an oil company just before the oil slump. After about eight months, an interest in the electrical trade began to develop in Real, and knowing what electricians were earning on the job at the time helped spark that interest. With the approval of both the owner and the manager of Big State, Real applied to the local JATC (Joint Apprenticeship Training Center) and in the spring of ’83, Real was accepted into a class of 10 apprentices.

“The apprenticeship training director was responsible for making appointments to signatory contractors and I was directed to report to Fred Clark Electric on St. Mary’s Street where I worked for 4 years,” recalls Real. “After four years and three months of service at Fred Clark, the company was sold. The day I turned out from the apprentice school I received a continued on Page 18

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San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Tech wars of 2021

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Kelly Hebert

or the fifth year, HOLT CAT technicians went head-to-head in HOLT CAT’s Tech Wars, a friendly competition to showcase the talent and expertise of technicians across the state in troubleshooting and repairing equipment.

Contestants faced off with other HOLT technicians to troubleshoot, diagnose and repair equipment. The event was held Nov. 2–4 at the HOLT CAT San Antonio campus.

Bill Bordelon, Vice President Service at HOLT CAT, and Shaun Manning, Director of Training for ProTech, were in attendance while 22 HOLT CAT technicians were scored based on the success of their troubleshooting and repairs. The two technicians with the highest scores in each category advance to the multi-dealer finals in May 2022. -cmw

Tech Wars Machine Division: 1st Place: Grady Trainor (Georgetown) 2nd Place: Jeremy Kaal (Cleburne) Tech Wars PSD EPG Division: 1st Place: John Leslie (Pflugerville) 2nd Place: Kelly Hebert (San Antonio) Tech Wars Holt Truck Centers: 1st Place: Randy Porter (Longview) 2nd Place: Justin Bramlet (Longview) Tech Wars PSD Engine Division: 1st Place: Joshua Poe (Cleburne) 2nd Place: Hortencio Avalos (Victoria)

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Committed to service

ack in the day, when Ernie Gonzales was a student at Harlandale High School, he took electrical trades as one of his course of studies.

Throughout his junior and senior years, he began laying his path for success in the electrical trade.

Straight out of high school, Gonzales went to work for Beacon Electric doing residential work. A year later, he went to work for Lloyd Electric and joined the IEC (Independent Electrical Contractors) apprenticeship program. Faithful to learning the trade, Ernie Gonzales, owner of Alamo Lighting & Electric Gonzales completed the program in 1982 and earned his journey- Alamo Lighting & Electric with one man license. truck, performing electrical service work.

For the next four years, while Within a year, Alamo Lighting & Electric working at Lloyd Electric, Gonzales was hired their first employee. Today, the part of Lloyd Electric’s team working a company currently employs eight fullmajor expansion of a 750,000-sf refriger- time employees. ated warehouse for Fleming Foods. He No longer just focusing on service earned his Master license in 1993 and work, Alamo Lighting & Electric specializwent onto become Fleming Foods’ head es in new construction from ground up, electrician for their new 750,000-sf ware- tenant electrical finish-out, service call house. “They had 2½ miles of mechanical work, interior and exterior retrofit, and conveyor systems, electric code readers, LED lighting. scanners and such,” recalls Gonzales. “I “We’re here for the customer,” says worked there until they closed in ’99.”

Gonzales. “We are committed to provid Gonzales went on to become the ing good service. We would like to thank branch manager for WT Lighting where our employees that have contributed he stayed until 2005 with a short stint at towards our success. We appreciate all Montemayor Electric before deciding to the business that comes our way.” go out on his own.

Alamo Lighting & Electric services the In 2006, Gonzales and his wife of San Antonio metropolitan area. -cmw now 43 years, Grace Gonzales, started

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

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n 1981, Bob Guinee, Sr. had a vision to provide safety services to the construction industry. You see, back in the early ‘80s, safety - as sad as it is to say - wasn’t a concern in the construction industry and ESC Engineering Safety Consultants Inc. was born.

You could say, Guinee Sr. had the foresight of things to come. As time went on, safety became more of an issue as the insurance industry started getting involved, making it more expensive for the general contractor or subcontractor to get insurance if they had a lot of accidents or heaven forbid, fatalities and people started paying more attention to safety.

Bob’s son, Bob Guinee, Jr., joined ESC in 1985 and began spearheading the company’s efforts for providing safety services in the form of jobsite safety inspections. As the early ‘90s came into play, safety became more important to contractors and ESC’s business started developing.

ESC’s first big client was an insurance co-op. ESC started providing their safety services to all the co-op members. As the ‘90s progressed, ESC became more involved with other general contractors and subcontractors. And by the late ‘90s, ESC expanded into the Houston area.

Today, ESC has training centers in Houston, Richardson and San Antonio.

“We have employees in almost every major city of Texas excluding Lubbock, Midland and Amarillo. We used to have a presence out there, but it just didn’t work for us,” says ESC Vice President Ted Dunnam.

“We focus on Dallas, Waco, Austin, Houston, Corpus, San Antonio, Laredo, Brownsville and El Paso,” he continues.

“We have employees in all those cities which allows us to service just about anywhere in Texas. That’s a big selling point for ESC. Chances are, where you

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Their only concern have your work, my clients, we are already there to assist you with your safety inspections.”

In the early ‘90s, ESC had only four employees. Today they have over 50 employees across the state. “We have fully-staffed offices in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. San Antonio being our corporate office,” adds Dunnam.

Dunnam joined the ESC family in 1991 and celebrates 30 years this month.

“I’m one of the old men in the industry,” he says. “There are a few of us out there that are still hanging around. We enjoy what we do, and we feel we are making a difference. And while I can only speak for San Antonio, in the last OSHA calendar year, San Antonio had 10 fatalities. Of those, four were COVID related so actually six were construction related fatalities.

Any fatality is horrible, but with the amount of work going on in the San Antonio area, six is a very low number.

Other cities in Texas are in the double digits, and that keeps the drive in us to keep doing what we do.”

ESC started out providing safety jobsite inspections and safety training with all documentation on carbonbacked paper. “Now we are paperless with our own in-house computer safety program, Safety Management Systems, which allows our clients to view their audits, training history, accident reports, etc. We offer training to all of our clients and to the different associations that we are involved with. Training is a big part of our service now,” he adds. “We’ve come from an industry focused only on production to realizing production and safety go hand in hand. They are married together, and it has to be that way.”

For 40 years, ESC has stayed true to their motto, “Safety is our business and your safety is our ONLY concern.” That pretty much sums it up. “We wants to help people stay safe because that’s our

L-R: Bobby Howell, Richard Frank, Paul McNamara, Jake McNamara, Sue McNamara, Murri Main and Ted Dunnam

business; but in our hearts, the safety of the employee is our concern. Our ONLY concern,” Dunnam boasts.

“From the insurance issues of the ‘90s to the established relationships with our local OSHA offices, we have managed to decrease the construction fatality numbers from those of the early 2000’s

to present.” ESC gives credit for their longevity to their employees, the general contractors, subcontractors and their employees for taking a stance to promote a safer work environment. “We all want the same thing. We all want the employees to wake up, go to work, come home to be with their families.” -cmw

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he Texas Air Conditioning Cooling Contractors Association (TACCA) San Antonio Chapter hosted their 32 Annual Golf Tournament on Nov. 1 at The Club at Sonterra. Winners included 2nd Place team Damiani’s Comfort Design; Longest Drive: Travis Edlund, Texas Air Products; Ladies’ Longest Drive: Andrea Waltisperger, Americrane; and Closet-to-thePin: Lucus O’Brien, Frost 1st Place: Carrier Enterprise - Braden Barry, Jeffery Jendrezy, Clint Doege and Zach McManus (not pictured). Bank. -cmw

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San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Pivoting for success

aving gone through some structural changes for a multitude of reasons, HMI Utilities LLC has an interesting history.

The original parent company, The Henkels & McCoy Group, was established in 1923 as a landscape company, Henkels and McCoy, with the Henkels family still independently owning the company. The McCoy part of Henkels and McCoy, is in name only as the McCoy shares have long since been bought out.

Over the years, the company evolved from landscaping and pivoted into utilities, communications, infrastructure, gas and water, and have serviced utility, commercial, industrial and government customers for nearly 100 years. When HMI Utilities was established five years ago in San Antonio, it wasn’t utilities. It was services. The name changed as the company diversified. “This office started out doing communications,” says Branch Manager Bryan Cardwell. “Then a couple of years back, when CPS was looking to add a contractor to do gas work, it provided an opportunity for us because the company has experience in gas work. It was a logical pivot that expanded into some other avenues, and that’s how we ended up doing gas work here locally.

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“The different avenues, under the umbrella to this day, are all things communications such as antiquated copper facilities for old phone lines to utilities to coatings to pipelines. We have contracts with some of the larger providers in Texas and in some other states to do their maintenance and construction.”

Along with utilities, under the utilities umbrella, is HMI Technical Solutions, a construction firm geared towards engineering and designs. On the pipeline and distribution gas side is pipeline mitigation, testing, performance, coatings, integrity management for new or old pipelines to detect any integrity faults within pipelines whether it is before the pipe is laid underground or through anomaly digs for pipeline defects in pipelines laid years ago.

“Some of the processes used many, many years ago were not as detailed before the pipelines went into the ground. If you find the problem, you can expose it. Then you can fix it, coat it and increase the lifespan of that pipeline. All of the pipeline companies, especially the gas companies are all having to bring them up to federal code for safety purposes,” adds Cardwell.

HMI, as much as possible, prefers to self-perform the work they do. The once

HMI Utilities LLC team members L-R: Andy Bores, John Garcia and Shane Hopkins

one-man office is now an office of 23, the bulk of which, came with the gas work HMI has been contracted to perform. It now has the ability to run six crews for pipeline work.

HMI designs, builds and maintains critical infrastructure required to help their customers build connections with their customers – you and me. Through their proven engineering, planning, construction, and system integration services, they facilitate technology inte-

gration to address evolving infrastructure needs.

HMI provides services in gas distribution, transmission, corrosion control, meter and regulator stations, gathering line systems and various engineering services. Headquartered in Lewisville, TX, HMI Utilities LLC has primary offices, including 3 in Texas along with Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and then multiple satellite offices to support all their customer’s needs. -cmw

Clays & doves

n Oct. 9, Howell Crane & Rigging Inc. hosted their 27th Annual Dove Hunt at the Howell Ranch in Olmos, TX. With a great turn out of almost 300 people, the Howell team treated their guests to skeet shooting, a grilled and fried fish dinner and, of course, the opportunity for harvesting doves.

“We are so thankful for all of our customers and those who were able to make it out,” says Audie Howell, owner of Howell Crane & Rigging Inc. “We’re looking forward to next year’s dove hunt.”

Howell Crane & Rigging Inc. provides crane rental and rigging services to San Antonio and South Texas. -cmw Customers and employees lined up for the skeet shoot contest

Men’s belt buckle winner: Brad Davis, L-R: Charles Mikolajczyk, Brad and Kelsey Davis

Women’s belt buckle winner: Toriee Terrill

Women’s skeet shoot contest

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

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Grand opening success

obcat of Marble Falls celebrated its official opening in this hill country town on Friday, October 29 inviting guests for lunch and tour of the location.

The turnout was great, and folks had a chance to see some of the latest equipment and ask questions of Bobcat representatives.

“We are proud to be a part of the Marble Falls community,’ said Justin Harper, Regional Manager for Compact Construction Equipment, the company that owns Bobcat of Marble Falls. ‘It’s our 12th location.’ This is a community we are very proud to be a part of.

“In the larger markets we tend to cater to the commercial customer but out here, we have a lot of homeowners who have acreage. We order machines that are specific to their needs. Give a little more to comfort, enclosed cab with A/C, all those types of items. It’s just really comfortable to come in to get a machine.”

The facility has been open since June 2 and Branch Operations Manager Brandon Moore was really pleased with opening events.

“We have lots of people showing up to visit and see what we have to offer. It’s a very good gathering and we have many people from Bobcat here.

“We are growing every month and getting bigger and bigger. Parts are going to play a big part in our growth.

Customers won’t have to travel far to get parts anymore.”

The Marble Falls branch will service a 100-mile radius and provide sales, rental, service, and parts. -bd

Ribbon with guests and dignitaries

Rep from Virnig Attachments discussing his products with a guest

Lunch is served

Plenty to eat and see for attendees

Lots of interest in the product lines

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San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

INSURANCE

ACCOUNTING

The Importance of a Quality Assurance Programs / Screening Downstream

Employee Benefit Plan Audits: Why they are important to You and Your Company

Douglas J. Lynch Senior Vice President Brookstone Insurance Group Addison, TX

Phillip Smith Audit Senior Manager Ridout Barrett San Antonio TX

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his value of coverage is customarily a critical issue driving subcontractor pricing at the same juncture as alternative risk transfer schemes-consisting of consolidated coverage packages have grown in reputation, the typical upstream/downstream structure wherein owners and general contractors contractually require downstream entities to purchase insurance remains a commonplace approach. Smaller, less sophisticated brokerage companies or agencies, on the other hand, may not always be cognizant of changes in the coverage environment, which might include everything from identifying latent coverage concerns to particular support for the establishment of incipient legal precedent that will have an influence on policy wording construction. Meanwhile, insurers will frequently integrate a plethora of excluding endorsements to a policy.

The subcontractor’s program must The cost of defending and indemnibe followed regardless of the subcontrac- fying the third-party claim, in addition to the cost of filing a claim. tor’s risk profile or knowledge.

It’s very uncommon for the GC to And, pursuing the subcontractor for discover the following questionable breach of contract, all of which adds to endorsements throughout the subcon- the project’s delay and cost. However, like tractor’s CGL policy. with other risk management fees, the

• Height exclusions barring coverage cost reductions realized by moving risk for liability arising from work above three downstream will outweigh the costs of stories. managing a subcontractor.

• Additional insured endorsements For Owners and general contractors with privity language limiting coverage may face time and financial restrictions to the entity in direct contractual privity when it comes to insurance vetting. with the subcontractor, which is typically Consider using this approach solely the construction manager or general in the case of contracts worth more than contractor, rather than the owner other a certain amount of money. upstream parties listed in the contract.

For example, if a signage subcontrac • Liabilities arising from construction tor is working under schedule and budget projects are excluded from coverage. constraints.

Keeping Track of Compliance. A The scope of work may be another breadth of work that was not expected consideration in deciding whether to might also be a factor. submit that subcontractor to the Collect He’s a subcontractor. When the ing complete policies from subcontracintended risk transfer fails (i.e., a general tors is, however, a time-consuming contractor or owner is unable to obtain process. The vetting procedure should, at additional insured coverage in the face of the very least, necessitate the submission a third-party liability claim), upstream of (1) policy statements and schedules of parties are left to bear the cost of litiga- forms for all liability policies, (2) copies of tion and indemnifying the third-party extra insured endorsements and primary claim, on top of the cost of bringing the and secondary insurance policies, and (3) claim. copies of primary and secondary insur All of this adds to the project’s delay ance policies noncontributory endorseand cost by pursuing the subcontractor ments for the principal CGL insurance, as for breach of contract. well as (3) complete copies of excess poli Depending on the jurisdiction in cies which are usually written but much which the GC or owner resides, the shorter than major policy Possessing.

COMPANY is based in New York, for The downstream entity has a vested example, the state’s labor laws, along interest in ensuring its insurance program with the state’s proclivity for high JURY meets the insurance requirements it has judgments, might result in a hefty JURY contracted to procure. Engaging in this verdict. type of exhaustive review also helps the Recent decisions have emphasized downstream entity in the long term, as the need of subcontractor insurance. many common modifications will

While it may appear that the subcon- improve risk transfer for other projects. tractor should be responsible for ensur- The vetting process should improve the ing that contractual insurance require- performance of the subcontractor’s ments are met, in reality, this is a duty insurance. With appropriate preparation, that must be shared by all parties because a rigorous and efficient subcontractor failure to get enough insurance can insurance vetting program may assist generate major problems for upstream achieve desired risk transfer while having parties. little to no impact on project timing.

Because the expected risk transfer Implementing vetting procedures has fails (for example, when a GC or owner the ability to influence the standard unable to take on the risk),problem is quality of subcontractor insurance plans worsened Upstream parties are saddled over time. with the expense of coverage in the case Brookstone Ins Group is an independent of a third-party liability claim because the agency specializing in home builder / expected risk transfer fails (for example, Construction insurance. We provide free, no when a GC or owner is unable to get addi- obligation insurance reviews. tional insurance).

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mployee Benefit Plan audits, like financial statement or IRS audits, have always been an annoyance for Companies but are required for most large companies. Many Companies and Plan Administrators alike, don’t always understand the importance of having the audit of the plan performed. In this article, I will provide some information that will hopefully help you understand their importance to you as a participant and to the Company as a Plan Sponsor.

First, a brief history. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for mostly voluntarily established retirement and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans. ERISA requires plan administrators to 1) provide information to participants related to plan features such as investment offerings, vesting, benefit accrual, contribution limits, minimum standards for participation and 2) provide fiduciary responsibilities for those who manage and control plan assets.

What this means for a commercial, non-governmental entity, is that once the decision has been made by management to provide this benefit to its employees, the Company has certain obligations to those participants. They have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the plan operates in a manner that is most advantageous to the participants.

Determining the type of plan to offer (a defined contribution or defined benefit plan), investments to offer, contribution limits, company match (which can be discretionary or non-discretionary), safe harbor matches, and profit sharing contributions are all areas that require deep thought on the part of management. These discussions can be done internally or with an outside investment advisor (which is recommended). Once the plan has been established, the Company has to decide which third party organization it wants to partner with to provide certain recordkeeping and/or trustee/custodial services. This is important to discuss and each firm provides varying array of services and platforms. Each Company should tailor their platform that best meets their needs. Once all these details have been established, it’s time to inform your employees regarding the plan and establish processes to properly account for these participant deferrals and company matches.

Once the plan has been established, the Department of Labor (DOL) requires that the plan submit Form 5500 each year for their review. There are two types of the Form 5500, the short form and the long form. The short form is required for plans that have less than 100 but no more than 120 eligible participants at the beginning of the plan year. This form is less informative than the long form and does not require an audit from an external auditor. If the plan exceeds the 120 eligible participant threshold as of the beginning of the plan year, the DOL requires the plan to have an audit performed by an external auditor.

Now, why is this information important to you as a Plan Sponsor and as a participant? Smaller plans are still required to provide its participants with yearly information regarding the plan, such as changes made to vesting requirements, investment offerings, etc.

However, since small plans don’t require

an audit, it is really up to the Plan Sponsor (i.e. the Company) to ensure the plan is operating in accordance with the original plan documents. This can be done with periodic reviews of plan financials provided by the trustee/custodian or record-keeper. Management should always monitor the activity of the plan.

As for larger plans that have an audit requirement, the same rules apply as small plans, except the Plan Sponsor must hire an external auditor to perform either a full-scope or limited scope audit and provide an audit report to be included with the Form 5500 submission.

Determining the scope of the audit is determined by the determining if the holder of the assets (trustee/custodian) can certify that the investment transactions are complete and accurate. If that can be done, then a limited scope audit can be performed. Otherwise, a full scope audit must be performed.

For Plan Sponsors, the audit requirements are very important to adhere to.

The DOL can impose severe penalties on Plans that do not comply with these requirements. The deadline for benefit st plan audits is July 31 with and extension th to October 15 available. Should the Company fail to file the appropriate form timely, the Company can be subject to penalties up to $250,000 and jeopardize the tax status of the plan. Particularly noting, Companies should monitor the status of their plans as the Companies grow to ensure that you comply with the regulations should the plan trigger the audit requirement. It should be noted, are some exemptions to the rules for newly created plans that exceed the participant threshold.

Ultimately it is the Plan Administrator and Company management’s responsibility that the plan requirements are met and that any issues that may arise from the audits are rectified immediately to ensure that the participants are receiving the benefits they are entitled to under the plan.

For more information regarding benefit plan requirements please visit www.dol.org or you can reach out to me directly at Ridout Barrett.

Phillip Smith, CPA has over 15 years of experience in public accounting servicing companies with audit and attestation services, including over 10 years specifically working on Employee Benefit Plans. Visit www.ridoutbarrett.com for additional information about Ridout Barrett & Co., P.C., and the services we offer.

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

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OSHA

LEGAL

Proper Use of Extension and Flexible Cords

Legislative Changes to Texas Mechanic’s and Materialman’s Lien Procedures: Part Two West W. Winter, Attorney/Managing Member The Winter Law Firm, PLLC San Antonio, TX

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uring the 2021 Regular Legislative Session, more than 6,900 bills were filed and over 1,000 were enacted into law. Among these new laws, the 87th Texas Legislative Session implemented significant changes to Chapter 53 of the Texas Property Code dealing with mechanic’s and materialman’s liens. This article is part two of two discussing some important changes to Chapter 53. To recap, the changes made

by HB 2237 apply only to an original contract entered into on or after the effective date of the Act, January 1, 2022. Be aware that an original contract entered into before January 1, 2022, is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of the Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

Notice for Retainage Claims In part one of this article, we discussed the welcome change to Property Code Section 53.056 relating to pre-lien notices that must be given for the lien to be valid. For all unpaid labor or materials provided on commercial projects, the claimant, other than an original contractor, must send a notice of claim to the owner or reputed owner and the original contractor. The notice, in the new statutorily mandated form, must be sent no later than the 15th day of the third month after the month during which (A) the labor or materials were provided, or (B) the undelivered specially fabricated materials would normally have been delivered.

To the extent that a claim for unpaid retainage is not included in a notice provided under Property Code Section 53.056, a claimant other than an original contractor whose contract provides for retainage must give notice under Section 53.057 for a lien for unpaid retainage to be valid. Per new subsection (a-1), the claimant must send the notice of claim for unpaid retainage to the owner or reputed owner and the original contractor not later than the earlier of: (1) the 30th day after the date the claimant’s contract is completed, terminated, or abandoned; or (2) the 30th day after the date the original contract is terminated or abandoned.

The notice of claim for unpaid retainage must be in a form substantially similar to that contained within the new notice language mandated in Section 53.057(a2). If a claimant gives this notice and files an affidavit claiming a lien not later than the 15th day of the third month after the month in which the original contract under which the claimant performed was completed, terminated, or abandoned (or otherwise complies with Chapter 53, Subchapter E) and gives the notice of filed affidavit as required by Section 53.055, then the claimant has a lien on, and the owner is personally liable to the claimant for reserved funds under Subchapter E. Deadlines for Recording Lien Affidavits It’s not enough however to simply send a notice letter. Perfection of a mechanic’s and materialman’s lien also requires that a lien affidavit be recorded with the county clerk where the improvements are located. For an original contractor on commercial projects, the lien affidavit must be recorded by the 15th day of the fourth month after the month of completion, termination or abandonment. For residential projects, the lien affidavit must be recorded by the 15th day of the third month after the month of completion, termination or

abandonment. For commercial lien claimants other than an original contractor, the lien affidavit must be recorded by the 15th day of the fourth month after the later of (1) the month the claimant last provided labor or materials; or (2) the month the claimant would normally have been required to deliver the last of specially fabricated materials that have not been actually delivered. For residential lien claimants other than an original contractor, the lien affidavit must be recorded by the 15th day of the third month after the later of (1) the month the claimant last provided labor or materials; or (2) the month the claimant would normally have been required to deliver the last of specially fabricated materials that have not been actually delivered.

And notice of the recorded lien affidavit must still be sent to the owner and original contractor within five days as required

by Section 53.055.

Removal of Notarization Requirement for Lien Waivers

Section 53.281(b) of the Texas Property Code has been amended to delete the requirement that statutorily prescribed lien waiver and release forms be notarized. Accordingly, notarization of statutory lien waivers is no longer required for the lien waivers to be effective. All other requirements for lien waivers remain in effect.

Consult Your Construction LawAttorney This article is not a comprehensive review of all the changes which have been instituted by HB 2237 and is not meant to be legal advice. As Texas lien law remains complex, please consult with your construction law attorney if you have any questions about the changes implemented by HB 2237 or the best way in which to incorporate them into your collection practices and procedures. To see the text of HB 2237 or to learn more about this legislation, please visit www.capitol.texas.gov.

West W. Winter is the founder and managing member of The Winter Law Firm, PLLC. West is the immediate past-chair of the Construction Law Section of the San Antonio Bar Association, and he has been repeatedly listed as one of the Best Lawyers in San Antonio for Construction Litigation.

The Winter Law Firm represents owners, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers in all phases of the construction process, from contract formation through dispute resolution, litigation, and collection. West can be reached via email: west@ thewinterlawfirm.com.

Joann Natarajan Compliance Assistance Specialist OSHA Austin, TX

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he normal wear and tear on extension and flexible cords at your site can loosen or expose wires, creating hazardous conditions. Cords that are not 3-wire type, not designed for hard-usage, or that have been modified, increase your risk of contacting electrical current.

How Do I Avoid Hazards?

• Use factory-assembled cord sets.

• Use only extension cords that are 3-wire type.

• Use only extension cords that are marked with a designation code for hard or extra-hard usage.

• Use only cords, connection devices, and fittings that are equipped with strain relief.

• Remove cords from receptacles by pulling on the plugs, not the cords.

• Continually audit cords on-site. Any cords found not to be marked for hard or extra-hard use, or which have been modified, must be taken out of service immediately.

To reduce hazards, flexible cords must connect to devices and to fittings in ways that prevent tension at joints and terminal screws. Flexible cords are finely stranded for flexibility, so straining a cord can cause the strands of one conductor to loosen from under terminal screws and touch another conductor.

A flexible cord may be damaged by door or window edges, by staples and fastenings, by abrasion from adjacent materials, or simply by aging. If the electrical conductors become exposed, there is a danger of shocks, burns, or fire.

The OSHA construction standard requires flexible cords to be rated for hard or extra-hard usage. These ratings

San Antonio

are derived from the National Electrical Code, and are required to be indelibly marked approximately every foot along the length of the cord. Examples of these codes are: S, ST, SO, and STO for hard service, and SJ, SJO, SJT, and SJTO for junior hard service.

Extension cords must be 3-wire type so they may be grounded, and to permit grounding of any tools or equipment connected to them. When a cord connector is wet, electric current can leak to the equipment grounding conductor, and to humans who pick up that connector if they provide a path to ground. Such leakage can occur not just on the face of the connector, but at any wetted portion.

Limit exposure of connectors and tools to excessive moisture by using watertight or sealable connectors.

A ground-fault occurs when there is a break in the low-resistance grounding path from a tool or electrical system.

The electrical current may then take an alternative path to the ground through the user, resulting in serious injuries or death. The ground-fault circuit interrupter, or GFCI, is a fast-acting circuit breaker designed to shut off electric power in the event of a ground-fault within as little as 1/40 of a second. natarajan.joann@dol.gov 512-374-0271 x232

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Page 8

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

construction running in the blood too as he and my father also built a number of the homes in Cibolo.

Do you carry on a lot of those same interests with your own family now?

We do. We spend most of our time at the lake. We wish it were summer yearround. We spend every weekend at Canyon Lake on the Sea-Doos, boating, swimming and having fun on the water.

Trey Wiederstein

President/Owner SCS Superior Construction Service San Antonio, TX

T

rey Wiederstein didn’t set out for a career in construction, but when fate opened the door, he knew he had found his calling.

Where did you grow up?

I actually grew up here in San Antonio. My family is from the Cibolo and Seguin areas. My parents moved to San Antonio in the ‘60s right before I was born. I lived in San Antonio and graduated from MacArthur High School. My parents still live in the house I grew up in.

What did your parents do for a living?

My dad was in the paint and industrial coatings business. He worked for Negley Paint, which was a big San Antonio company, and grew that company. He spent his entire career with Negley. He worked there nearly 50 years.

My mom was a stay-at-home mom.

She raised me, my brother and sister, and saw to all of our needs. She was and still is the greatest mom. You couldn’t ask for a better mom.

What was your family life like growing up?

I spent a lot of time with my grandparents who lived in Cibolo who were some of the original residents of Cibolo.

My grandfather owned the lumber company there in Cibolo.

My grandmother very frequently took me fishing. We spent a lot of time at the lake. I had a great childhood with lots of fantastic memories. With cousins and everybody living in the area, we were very family oriented. Every Sunday was spent together in Cibolo. I certainly enjoyed that time growing up.

Wiederstein Road, is that named after your family?

They’re all related. There’s the road, an elementary school, O.G. Wiederstein Elementary and my grandparents lived on Wiederstein Street just off of Main Street in Cibolo. My grandfather owned Cibolo Lumber Company on Main as the city was developing so he definitely played a role in the development of Cibolo. You might say there is a little

Tell me about your wife. When did you meet? How did you meet?

My wife’s name is Jordan. We’ve been married 12 years. We met in 2006 at a concert. She was actually here finishing her master’s degree at UTSA. I convinced her not to move back to The Woodlands.

How many children do you have?

We have three boys. They are 10, 8 and 5 years old. Trace is our oldest. Ty is our middle boy, and Talon is our youngest. We spend a lot of time running around doing sports – basketball, baseball and of course, all the summer activities. We are usually at the ballpark four to five nights a week. It’s like a full-time job, but it’s definitely fun watching them grow.

I recently introduced them all into riding off-road motorcycles. That was one of my big hobbies early in life. I bought a couple of motorcycles for them and now Trace, Ty and myself, Talon isn’t quite ready yet, go riding together.

Everybody seems to be thoroughly enjoying that time together.

What were your other interests growing up?

I played all the sports. Water skiing was a big hobby. I was a really good slalom skier and really liked getting out and hitting the water hard. Baseball was my best sport. I did really well with baseball playing first base. Education was a full-time focus for me, getting through school to move on with life.

What was your introduction into the construction industry?

Dating back to the ‘90s, I was working for a restaurant developer out of Chicago. That was my first exposure to construction - building restaurants for them across the country.

How did you get from San Antonio, TX to Chicago, IL? There was a recruiting convention that was going on here in San Antonio and they were basically looking for people to grow their restaurant group. I just happened to throw my name in the hat looking for a job as a Controller. I initially received a polite decline letter.

About three months later, the phone rang. They had a change up in their staffing and decided to offer me the position.

I ended up spending a few months up in Chicago learning about the restaurant group and immediately hit the road building and opening new restaurants.

The Wiedersteins – Jordan, Talon, Ty, Trace and Trey

Did you jump into construction right out of high school?

No. I started working for Morton’s of Chicago Steakhouse in an accounting controller role. After becoming the onsite controller for their new projects, working on the road, I was working alongside a superintendent and at one point they decided there was no need to have two bodies managing construction. Since it wasn’t possible to train the job superintendent to do the financial side of the business, they asked me if I would be willing to fully manage the projects. I literally jumped in with both feet and realized I really enjoyed the construction side of it as much as I did the financial side. I continued to do that role and built an additional six locations around the country for them.

How did you come to starting your own company?

After a couple of lengthy stints with two different developers, then a local general contractor, I saw the opportunity there for me to develop my own business. After 10 years working with the general contractor, I started SCS Superior.

What made you decide to venture out to do your own thing?

I played the role of business development and project management with the local contractor. I developed a lot of relationships with subcontractors and owners. I knew my growth potential was limited there because it was a family business. That was really the starting point of my thinking I needed to own my own business to set my own path moving forward and working towards retirement.

When did you start SCS?

I started in February of 2014.

Where did you start SCS?

I started SCS here in San Antonio.

Was it difficult to get started?

It wasn’t and mainly because of the strong relationships I had developed working in the San Antonio and Central Texas area for more than 20 years in construction. As my clients found out

that I moved on and started my own company, the phone started ringing.

Things really took off fast. So fast, at one point, I had to scale the business back. I just couldn’t say no to anybody, but at one point the business became a bit overwhelming. After about three years of operations I scaled it back and became more selective.

Do you think you would ever go into the restaurant business again?

I probably would not. If there is a challenging business to be in, the restaurant business is it. I still build a lot of restaurants and I hear all the woes of the restaurant operators and the challenges they have been facing over the last two years particularly. From a staffing standpoint and obviously, the recent impact from COVID and all the other things that have hit that industry lately, it’s just not for me.

What are your interests and hobbies?

Family time and taking care of them is my main hobby. I still enjoy doing all of the water sports. I used to be a very avid water skier. I don’t water ski as much anymore, but given the opportunity, I’ll still get out there. We have some Sea-Doos and I like riding them with my family. I also love taking long drives. I have a sports car that I take out on the road and hit the local eateries and wineries along the way with my wife.

What does successful mean to you?

Success to me is being in a position that allows me to take care of my family and my parents who are getting up in years. To be stable in what has turned into a strange and disorganized, to some degree, world.

What would you like me to tell our readers about Trey Wiederstein?

I’m homegrown from San Antonio and the surrounding area with a German heritage that burns strong in my family.

I’m very family oriented. I love San Antonio and haven’t strayed far from it even though I have had opportunities to do so. San Antonio is just a great place.

It’s a large city with a small-town appeal that I just can’t get away from. -cmw

Fun in the water - Trey Wiederstein with his boys L-R Front: Trace, Talon and Ty

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

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Page 9

Veterans & dove

couple of years ago, Associated Builders & Contractors’ (ABC) Safety Committee got together and created an opportunity to raise money for safety training. “It kind of took on a life of its own,” says Chapter President Tamara Klehn. “We decided we wanted to incorporate veterans into that training. There are so many veterans out there who are a perfect fit for this industry that are lacking just one or two skills when they come to us. We want to fill that skills gap.”

On Oct. 15, ABC hosted a dove hunt at the Howell Crane Ranch. Over 120

members and their guests along with 20 veterans participated in the day-long event. Participants took part in a clay shoot competition, cornhole tournament, a fantastic barbeque dinner prepared by TDIndustries and, of course, a dove hunt.

“The money raised at this event,” adds Klaehn, “will be used to create classes for veterans coming into our industry to make sure that they not only come in and feel welcomed, but they can hit the ground running with the training they need to be successful.” -cmw

T

Six times on top

ypically, the Ridout Barrett team hosts their team building event in August or September, but this year there was just too much work to be done, especially with all the government extensions, so they opted for Oct. 29.

In the meantime, Ridout Barrett team members once again took the time to feel out the survey for San Antonio’s Top Places to Work and excitedly received word that for the sixth year in a row, Ridout Barrett won San Antonio’s Top Places to Work award.

“This is our sixth year in a row to win and this is our third year doing a big party like this,” says Rhonda Chadwick. “Our

employees won it for us by doing the survey. It’s just appropriate that they get to celebrate.”

“It’s been a long couple of years with COVID and snow-vid, and it is just awesome to be outside and ’play’ together on such a beautiful day,” adds Managing Shareholder Melanie Geist. “I am proud of everybody for hanging in there.

It really has been tough. We’ve had a lot of extended deadlines and you never know what is coming next. I am very proud. It feels very good to be out here today and watch everybody having a good time.” -cmw

1st Place Cornhole Trophy Bracket: Moore Supply - Charles Keith and Bradley VanDamme

Egg toss

1st Place Cornhole Late Arrival Bracket: Moore Supply - Tyler VanDamme and Ellis Van Sickle

IBTX

Brandon Shaw

Clay Shoot winners: 1st Place Individual: Brandon Shaw, 20/20 2nd Place Individual: Tom Quintero, IBTX 3rd Place Individual: Drew A, Waterman Construction 1st Place Team: IBTX, 69/80 2nd Place Team: Waterman Construction, 66/80 3rd Place Team: Equipment Share, 63/80

Tug of war

Moonbounce jousting

Musical chairs

Three-legged race

Page 10

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

A day of appreciation

O

n Oct. 28, the folks at Gajeske Inc. hosted a customer appreciation barbeque luncheon at their San Antonio facility.

Over 100 customers and guests were expected to attend the day-long event.

“We are having this event to show our appreciation to our customers and clientele, and enjoy the beautiful day we have here today,” says Gajeske, owner and president, Bob Gajeske. “It gives us a chance to show our customers around our facility, but most importantly, just show them our appreciation.” -cmw

The team of Gajeske Inc.

Sharing tales

L-R: Mike Corcoran and Bob Gajeske

Lunch is served

Guests enjoy a barbecue lunch

The Resource Guide Associations and Construction Education

General Contractor

Service Providers

Suppliers

For Information on the Resource Guide Contact Buddy Doebbler buddy@ConstructionNews.net 210-308-5800

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Page 11

Hunting South Texas Brush Country

by Capt. Steve Schultz

O

ne of my favorite pastimes as a child is growing up hunting in South Texas. It was a hobby that we enjoyed as a family and was our way of taking advantage of the outdoors and spending time together. Today, I still enjoy the outdoors, working as a fishing guide from February thru October and run guided hunts from November through January.

I’ve had the good fortune to hunt South Texas on numerous well-known large ranches. The mesquite brush, ranching heritage, and ghost-like whitetails make it a destination to remember. I also enjoy the balmy temperatures and have relished in the challenge of hunting deer that rarely give you a second look when you jump them. If you hunted in South Texas, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Only one state holds the title for the birth of modern whitetail hunting – Texas. Texas whitetail deer hunting is

Trevor Boatright had a great hut with Steve Schultz Outdoors harvesting this beautiful buck which scored 164”

synonymous with deer management.

Whitetail management, food plot innovations, hunting products, and calling strategies all can be traced back to the Lone Star State. Have you had luck rattling in whitetails? Give some credit to innovative Texas hunters. Does your food plot attract a nightly herd of whitetails?

Thank a Texan. It’s also the birthplace of quality deer management and a hunting destination you should enjoy at least once during your hunting career. There’s nothing like Texas whitetail deer hunting!

These days hunting leases can be very costly and unpredictable. Much time and money must be spent building a herd of deer to be qualified as trophies.

The alternative is purchasing a package hunt from a reputable outfitter. I offer various whitetail hunting packages for deer ranging from 130-in. to over 200-in.

Before closing, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I would also like to thank all my clients who have fished with me in the years past. Another shout out is to all my sponsors that help make my job better throughout the year. If you are searching for the perfect gift for the outdoors person in your family, I offer gift certificates for your convenience. Give me a call and I can set one up on a moment’s notice.

Cary Hughes came down to one of our South Texas ranches and shot this heavy long tine 8-point buck which scored 150”

I have already started to fill the calendar for the upcoming 2022 season. Don’t wait ‘till all the good dates are gone! To schedule your next bay fishing or hunting trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716 or e-mail him at: SteveSchult zOutdoors@gmail.com.

Good luck and Good Fishing.

Sponsored by Waypoint Marine/Waypoint Customs, Shoalwater Boats, Mercury Marine, 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

Merry Christmas from Construction News

Page 12

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

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

Deer Camp Christmas!

I

know we are all looking forward to a more normal Christmas this year after what we have all been through the last several months. So many of our holiday traditions had to be canceled and changed during the worst of the pandemic. I hope we all get to have a much safer and happier holiday season this year!

I know in my family over the years we would follow our holiday traditions year after year with very little variation. It was Grandpa’s job to head out in the jeep, usually with kids to go cut down a big cedar tree to act as our Christmas tree. When we got back to the house, we almost always had to cut off three or four feet of it to get it in the living room. Then it was Grandma’s job to supervise the decoration of the ree. Put the star on top, wind the colored light strings around it and stand back an let the kids decorate.

The old timey special things went on the tree last under Grandma’s watchful eye.

No matter what that tree looked like to begin with, it was always beautiful in our eyes. By Christmas morning, since there were so many of us, there would be a mountain of gifts piled beneath its branches, and I’ll never forget those days.

One particular year though, we did things different. I’m not sure why things changed because I was too young to know why adults did anything. That year we had Christmas at the Deer Camp!

Looking back, I wonder if this was about

the time we lost Grandpa, and we just couldn’t get into the spirit.

Long story short, we all met at the Deer Camp for Christmas. Someone cut down a thorny little mesquite tree and that became our Christmas tree. The thorns worked great to spear colorful gum drops on. We strung popcorn garlands for the tree in our little fallen oak fort outside, happy to know the birds would pick up the crumbs. We made paper chains and snowflakes and tinfoil ornaments and covered the twiggy little tree. That year we had an old timey Christmas in our old dirt floor deer cabin.

There was of course all the good holiday favorite foods and loud football games on the radio, and we kids had plenty of room to play with our gifts without running over anybody.

I have enjoyed many Christmas celebrations, and they kind of blur together as I look back, but that one Deer Camp Christmas is one that I’ll never forget! I hope that whatever hardships and changes you may have been through since the pandemic hit, you will keep the traditions you can and forge new ones too.

Merry Christmas!

Now, back to fishing! Here on Lake Buchanan, we are seeing the stripers and hybrids finally start to feed well again.

Their bite will just get better the colder it gets. Catfish are going strong on rod and reel and jug lines and trotlines. The white bass are biting, and the crappie are picking up as well. Winter fishing is picking up so the fish can be ready to spawn in the spring.

If you want to add a family fishing trip to your holiday traditions, just give us a call!

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Opening weekend

Page 13

Unfortunate circumstance

D

eWalt Power Tools’ Kyle Anderson didn’t get an elk this year when he went on a public land hunt up in the Douglas Pass area, one hour north of Grand Junction, CO when he went elk hunting with eight buddies. He and several of his buds have been going to the same spot of over 20 years. This year, they experienced two snow storms, ice, mud, stuck trucks and trailers. “Would do it all over again,” says Anderson, “once I recover from this year.” -cmw

Craig Noto, owner and CEO of Quality Fence & Welding, shot this South Texas buck opening weekend at his deer lease in Cotulla, TX. For the past 15 years, Noto has enjoyed hunting on the 12,000-acre ranch which is split into three sections.

“We have a great group of guys that have been on the lease for years,” says Noto. “And, we have a great management program using cottonseed for protein.” -cmw

Limit reached Kyle Anderson, elk hunting at Douglas Pass, CO.

Ginger Roofing Company co-owners Tyler Landry (front) and Jason Cox (back) each got their 15-dove limit when they went dove hunting in Corpus Christi, TX. -cmw

Kyle Anderson’s trophy from his 2020 elk hunting trip.

Page 14

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

The Red Berry Mansion Renovation

S

ituated on 80 acres, The Red Berry Estate is a historic and legendary site with a fascinating backstory. It is said former Texas Politician Virgil Edward “Red” Berry won this coveted piece of land in a game of ‘pitch,’ Red’s favorite card game. Constructed in 1951, the Mansion quickly became known for its lavish parties and underground gambling operations.

The Red Berry Mansion has had many owners since the passing of Red in 1969. However, it was not until the visionary, The RK Group, purchased the property in 2019 that they would begin to see the transformation of The Red Berry Mansion. Fully renovated to code with modern updates and luscious grounds, the gates of the iconic Red Berry Estate have reopened for private events of all occasions.

The Red Berry Mansion sits on 7.89 acres within the 80-acre estate. This renovation project included the installation of irrigation, a pond pump, landscape synthetic turf and landscape lighting.

Choate USA utilized years of experience, combined with innovative programs and techniques to successfully complete a project that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. Choate USA’s scope in its entirety was performed in-house with Choate USA managers, purchasers, equipment operators and skilled laborers.

The synthetic turf application was undoubtedly the highlight of their install.

Choate USA installed 20,000sf of synthetic turf, giving the site a luscious, emerald-evergreen appearance, regardless of the weather conditions. The synthetic

The Red Berry Mansion

Aerial view of the 20,000sf of synthetic turf at The Red Berry Mansion

Red Berry Mansion front lawn

turf application at Red Berry Mansion is truly one-of-akind.

Safety is, and always has been, a high priority within Choate USA. Prior to arriving on site, Choate USA created a site-specific safety plan to address potential concerns.

This safety plan analyzed site and project specific conditions. Daily toolbox talks were given by Choate USA project managers to discuss changing conditions and concerns.

With safety in mind, Choate USA quickly responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing specific

protocols including daily temperature checks, supply of masks, portable hand sanitizer and daily health screenings.

With these measures, the Choate team was able to maintain a healthy staff, reduce sick days that could have delayed their completion and to successfully complete their install with ZERO incidents.

Choate USA San Antonio Division Manager Steve Wade said, “Choate USA is honored to have been a part of the Red Berry Mansion project team. We look forward to watching, and participating in San Antonio’s continued growth and revitalization for years to come.” -cmw Choate USA San Antonio, TX

Bowden Campus Center

O

ver the past 13 years, Skanska has completed or is in the process of completing 12 projects on St. Philip’s College Campus while being an integral part of the local community. Opening soon, the 24,800sf Bowden Campus Center contains new classroom and office space that is designed specifically for St. Philip’s two-year cybersecurity program, which is designated by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Two-Year Education. The Bowden Campus Center will help the college remain competitive in what they can offer cybersecurity students.

“The San Antonio Economic Foundation has listed cybersecurity as a target market sector due to our proximity to military installations and intelligence assets. The new Bowden Campus Center will offer students local career opportunities upon graduation, ultimately supporting our San Antonio economy,” said Ryan Aalsma, executive vice president and general manager for Skanska’s building operations in San Antonio. “To keep the project moving forward and our employees safe, I’m proud that our team worked

Aerial view of the Bowden Campus Center at St. Philip’s College

quickly to deploy technology such as SEEK thermal body temperature scanning, drones and 360-degree cameras for site capture, StructionSite, and Autodesk Navisworks for BIM coordination.”

Traditionally, equipment and support

Topping out of Bowden Campus Center

systems are hidden away in ceilings and closets, but in these classrooms, the telecommunications cabling, cable tray and ladder racks are visible. The IT closets will also contain windows so students can see the intricacy of the wiring systems.

Front entrance of the Bowden Campus Center

The lobby of the building features a video wall made up of six separate interconnected monitors in a mosaic pattern that will act as one large video system to display student announcements and campus advertising. The Bowden Campus Center will also benefit the surrounding community by housing the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Individuals and families who earn up to $60,000 annually can visit the Bowden Campus Center and receive free asset and wealth-building education services.

The original Bowden building was built around the 1940s or 1950s, before cybersecurity was ever an issue. “This new facility is being built to suit their current and future needs, and to give students a top-notch education in cybersecurity,” explained Tom Hull, senior project manager at Skanska.

To date, Skanska has completed 12 projects for St. Philip’s College, including the Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts (THCA) Center, the Norris Technical Building and the Turbon Student Center. -cmw Skanska San Antonio, TX

Side and front view

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Page 15

Clayborne-Frakes, San Antonio, TX and The Uplands, Austin, TX

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stablished in March 1987, Carpet Management has been installing quality commercial flooring for some of the most recognized companies in San Antonio, Austin and South Texas.

They furnish and install carpet, V.C.T., L.V.T. sheet vinyl, wood, ceramic tile, granite, cork and rubber commercial flooring. Through the years, they have had the privilege of furnishing and installing The Alamo Dome, AT&T Center and many more ground up hotels and tenant renovations.

By 1989, Carpet Management expanded into Austin at the request of Charter Management, whom they had been doing business with in San Antonio.

Overnight, Carpet Management was handling 27 commercial buildings.

Carpet Management was honored to have been awarded the flooring for The Uplands project in Austin, TX this past year.

The Uplands is a 124,081sf ground up project. Carpet Management installed Stone Source Courtaud Gris 12-inch by 24-inch limestone on the lobby floors and stairs. They were also tasked with installing Stone Source Noveldo Crème 24-inch by 24-inch limestone on the two-story accent wall front, side and back. Restroom accent walls in 12 restrooms were tiled with Alkusari Stone Triangle 8x8x1/2-in tile. The Uplands project was completed in 12 weeks.

Claybourne-Frakes was a tenant improvement project in San Antonio for the Carpet Management team. With no obstacles to overcome, the Carpet Management completed their scope of work in five days.

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Clayborne-Frakes conference room

Granite flooring, Clayborne-Frakes lobby

Carpet Management had Travertine slab customized into a 15” X 21” X 1” S-Ripple design and installed as an accent wall.

This stone was custom made which took approximately three weeks to have made. Emser Silver Cream Versaille unfilled 18-inch by 18-inch Travertine was installed in all of the offices,

while installing granite on the lobby floor and as a border in the conference room with Nova Comprido Cherry 12-inch by 36-inch cork flooring as an insert.

“We look forward to many more upcoming years of projects to come,” says Carpet Management President Steven Goltzman,” -cmw

The Uplands lobby

Clayborne-Frakes, San Antonio, TX and The Uplands, Austin, TX

Hal Peterson Middle School

rchitectural Division 8 (AD8) was proud to be a part of the new Hal Peterson Middle School project for Kerrville ISD with one of our best construction partners Bartlett Cocke General Contractors. It took all our capabilities and services to see this project to the finish line. What was achieved by AD8 would have taken three to five (or more) different companies to complete the scope of work AD8 accomplished.

AD8’s scope of work included YKK storefront, curtainwall & monumental entrance door systems; sliding glass door systems; secure entry vestibules including bullet resistant products; sound control door assemblies by Kreiger; mahogany interior wood doors by VT Industries; metal doors and frames by CECO; heavy duty security door hardware by the following list of manufacturers ASSA ABLOY, Allegion, NGP, ABH and Trimco. All of these products were installed by team AD8. “While the anticipated scope is always performed, there are those unforeseen issues that require AD8’s expertise and problem-solving capabilities that make these

projects special,” says Architectural Division 8 Vice President Chris Tiemann.

“For example, AD8 used curtain wall components to conceal wiring in a beautifully finished wire chase. We utilized our waterjet to create custom parts to interface framing and wall systems together.

As always, there were some on site damages. Let’s just say if it wasn’t for AD8’s custom fabrication capabilities, we would still be waiting for parts from the factory and would not be complete with our scope of work.

“The Hal Peterson Middle School in Kerrville, TX might be the most beautiful school building in the state. With over the top finishes, awesome architectural details and breathtaking views from the reading balcony off the library, it is second to none. Let’s not forget the best architectural openings and doorways done by Architectural Division 8,” adds Tiemann - cmw

Reading Balcony – It has a spectacular view.

Library entrance off the hallway

Hal Peterson Middle School, Kerrville, TX

Architectural Division 8 (AD8) San Antonio, TX

Study Room off the library

Page 16

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Southern hospitality roofing

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Ginger Roofing Company co-owners L-R: Tyler Landry and Ryan Hegler

or Tyler Landry and Ryan Hegler, owning their own business was something they always individually dreamt about. While both young men were making names for themselves in and around the roofing industry, the two entrepreneurial-seeking young men crossed paths while working together for a large roofing contractor.

In July of this year, Landry and Hegler decided to make their dream of owning their own roofing company come true and started Ginger Roofing Company, named for the red hair the two owners have in common.

Together, Landry and Hegler have over 18 years of roofing experience between them. Both have worked for two of the largest roofing contractors in the state and are experienced in everything from laying roofs to estimating and sales to production.

“I think after I turned 30 and Ryan turned 36,” says Landry. “I finally said, if we don’t do it now, we’re never going to do it. Now that I’m in it, I would have highly regretted not going out on our own.”

Focusing on negotiated re-roofs and

repairs at present, Ginger Roofing will be expanding into new construction as the company becomes more established and will be providing roofing services from Austin down to the Valley.

“This company is our baby. It’s mine and Ryan’s reputations on the line,” adds Landry. “We’re not selling roofs, we’re selling ourselves. Our customers will be dealing directly with the owners. We’re accountable. We’re bringing back that southern hospitality handshake kind of feel so our customers don’t feel like another number. We want to provide a quality product with quality customer service.”

“We’re not in this to become millionaires. We’re in it because we love what we do. We love interacting with people and the satisfaction of knowing that at the end of the day, we stood behind our word, provided a quality product to the satisfaction our customers who we hope will become life-long friends,” adds Hegler.

Ginger Roofing Company is a commercial and residential roofing contractor in Schertz, TX. -cmw

Life-time relationships

Richard Almaguer, Star State Plumbing

A

t the age of 17, Richard Almaguer, started working in the plumbing trade as a helper. Through the years he worked his way up before starting his own company, Star State Plumbing, in 2014.

Almaguer had been in the trade for 20 years when he decided to make the move. “I went from helper to apprentice, apprentice to journeyman, journeyman to master plumber,” says Almaguer. “I had gone as far up the ladder as I could go working for others. I achieved every milestone there was to achieve.”

Almaguer and his wife, Cheryl, started the company. Cheryl oversaw the books, while Almaguer tended to finding and performing the work.

“It took time to get things going and gain the trust in people. It’s hard to say, but there are some bad eggs among the industry, so earning someone’s trust takes time. We don’t want one-time customers. We want life-time customers.

“I don’t advertise. Our business comes from word of mouth. To be busy five days a week and continuously be busy, says something. It’s showing up

when you say you are and doing the job right,” he states.

After one year in business, Almaguer was ready to hire his first employee.

Today the company runs three service vans. “We have three service guys, two apprentices and two office staff in addition to myself,” adds Almaguer.

Family-owned and operated, Star State Pluming prides themselves in being honest, professional, hard-working and taking pride in their workmanship. “We try to treat people the way we would like to be treated,” he adds.

Star State Plumbing provides residential and commercial services for general service repair, foundation leak repair, water heater install and repair, tank less water heaters, water softeners, water line repair and replacement, drain line repair and replacement, water pressure issues, leaking pipes, faucet repair and replacement, gas piping, drain cleaning, reverse osmosis installation, and kitchen and bath renovations in Spring Branch, Bulverde, Boerne, New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, Blanco and San Antonio. -cmw

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

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Page 17

Casino fun and awards

embers of the San Antonio Chapter of Associated General Contractors (AGC) celebrated members of the construction industry Nov. 14 for their outstanding service at AGC’s Casino Night & Industry Awards presentation.

Specialty Contractor of the Year: Alterman Inc.

Supplier of the Year: Architectural Division 8

General Contractor of the Year: Joeris General Contractors Ltd.

Ace Tinch Service Provider of the Year: ESC Safety Consultants

Held at The Club at Sonterra, members and their guests enjoyed a fantastic Italian buffet dinner and an evening of casino games from five-card stud to blackjack, craps to roulette after celebrating the evening’s award winners. -cmw

Page 18

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

What is your ideal Christmas gift to yourself?

More time with my family. During the holidays, everyone is rushing around trying to fit everything in during those few days. To have unlimited time during the holidays would be my ideal gift to myself.

T.J. Pinales, D. Wilson Construction Co. My ideal Christmas gift to myself would be to spend time with wife and what family I have. Ideally, I wish my father was here. He passed in 2018 and if I could, it would be to spend time with him.

Bob Gajeske, Gajeske Inc. Something that would be a memory with my kids like a trip or something like that, something that I will always remember.

Bryan Cardwell, HMI Utilities More hours in the day and more opportunities to enjoy the small things in life that you always say, “I wish I had time for this, or I wish I had time for that.”

Trey Wiederstein, SCS Superior Construction Services It wouldn’t be for myself. It would be for my dad and his employees to make sure they are taken care of. I don’t need anything else.

Alex Castillo, Casteel Manufacturing Inc. More time with my fiancée. Everything after 5pm is just too little.

Frank Hernandez, D. Wilson Construction Co. I usually don’t think about what I want for myself. There seems to be a trend for taking epoxy coatings and making wood tables by gluing the wood planks together with unique designs for tables which I’ve been dabbling in. I think I would like a good wood plank planer. I’d like to make some cutting boards for Christmas so I guess I need that before Christmas.

Jared Morris, Infinite Concrete Designs A fishing trip with my son in Alaska would be my ideal Christmas gift to myself.

Ted Dunnam, ESC Engineering Safety Consultants Inc.

A gift to myself? That’s a good question.

I’m just happy being alive with a good family. I really don’t need anything. As long as my family is happy and healthy, that’s all I could ever want.

Ernie Gonzales, Alamo Lighting & Electric The gift of time and “being present.”

Oftentimes in this industry, we make sacrifices on weekends/holidays to ensure that things are running smoothly.

I always look forward to the Christmas holiday because it seems to be the only time of year that most everything slows down for a bit and you can really focus on the things that truly matter.

Greg Crawford, RC Page Construction The most precious thing in this life is family. If I could have one thing for Christmas, a gift to myself, it would be more precious time with my family.

Stan Rothman, Texas First Rentals Good health and a fresh body, and good health for everyone especially during this day and age. I’m not a materialistic kind of guy. If it helps me work better, then I’m all for it.

Richard Almaguer, Star State Plumbing My ideal Christmas gift would be to have more time on earth to accomplish all the things I want to accomplish.

Mike McGinnis, Allen & Allen Co. Because you are asking me on Friday, at the end of the day…my ideal Christmas gift to myself would be peace and quiet with a side of rest.

Chris Martinez, Central Electric To be number one in the number two business.

Justin Thyme, Squatter’s Right Services The arrival of my first grandchild, Harper Emory Langston. I can’t think of anything better than that. This is going to be the best Christmas we have had in a long time.

Rick Smith, Keller-Martin Construction

continued from Page 1 — Infinite Concrete Designs ings. “Stamped concrete is very similar to what we do, but we actually do all of our work by hand or trowel so you don’t have a repeated pattern,” Morris adds. “I had to take a class to figure it out. Of course, in the class you learn how to do small sample boards. It’s a little bit different when you work on big patios.

“When I started doing patios about four years ago, I started doing micro-topping. Micro-topping is the word used in the industry, but the pictures sell themselves. Since then, things have just taken off.”

ICD performs all types of decorative concrete work including making concrete look like wood planks, rock, staining, and of course all types of epoxies. “Coatings is basically like paint, there’s just a little bit different prep work involved,” says Morris. “The decorative part – making things look like wood or rock – that defi-

nitely took a little more trial and error to get it right, but the results are amazing.”

“Here at IDC, we are a one-stop-shop in the sense that we will help clients design what they want. We do pour concrete – flatwork like sidewalks, patio extensions. We’ll design it, provide any ideas or direction to help the client achieve their end result. We really enjoy figuring out what the client wants taking what they have in their mind and bringing it to a functional art piece. We are pretty passionate about getting it right and making sure the client is more than happy with the end product.”

While performing work under the franchise, Morris primarily worked in Austin but since going independent, ICD performs work within a 100-mile radius of Canyon Lake from downtown Austin to down San Antonio, from Fredericksburg to Seguin.-cmw

continued from Page 1 — Casteel Manufacturing Inc. sorry, I can’t afford anyone.” Just moments later, Frank realized if he didn’t get somebody to do some of the work, he would never find the time to bring in the work, so he immediately stopped what he was doing and tracked the man down. Once he found him, he asked if knew how to use a saw. When the man said he did, Frank hired his first employee.

By 1990, Casteel Manufacturing employed 34 employees, running two shifts – a day shift and a night shift. “I was going to a junior college during the day and ran the night shift from 5pm to 3am as a supervisor while doing my homework,” says Alex.

Since then, the company has continued to thrive with projects such as San Antonio’s underground flood tunnel which was a three-year project for the company, school projects and multiple projects at USAA. Unfortunately, COVID had a negative effect on the company as schools started home learning and USAA, Casteel’s second largest client, allowed employees to work from home. Regard-

less, the company is pushing back and is growing again.

Sadly, Frank Castillo passed away in 2016 and his legacy continues on through the hard work of his loyal, hardworking employees. General Manager Suzanne Walker, who has been with Frank and Casteel Manufacturing for over 35 years, continues to oversee the day-to-day operations of the company.

“If my dad were here today,” says Alex, “he would say ‘thank you’ for the continued business which supports Casteel and, more importantly, knowing that support is taking care of his employees. Dad always put his customers and his employees first.”

The Castillo family still owns the company and is hoping that someone out there is looking to purchase a custom sheet metal and light structural steel company - someone who will keep the Casteel family intact and continue to care for Casteel’s clients and employees as Frank Castillo, himself, always had. -cmw

continued from Page 1 — Big State Electric call from Big State asking me to work for them as a foreman. The Big State family had made an impression on me during the short time I was previously there and it felt like the natural thing to do to return for new opportunities.”

Real ran projects for Big State as a foreman until 1997 when he was given the opportunity to work in the office as part of the management team. “To this day, I remain grateful for that opportunity. I worked in the office as a project manager/estimator for two years before being promoted to vice president in 1999. Sometimes it seems like just a big dream. I have surrounded myself with great people and am blessed they have continued to work here and wear the Big State brand.”

The company expanded in 2008, opening an office in Austin. In 2015, it expanded again, opening its third location in Houston and in 2019, it expanded south, opening its fourth location in Corpus Christi. “We now have the privilege of working with a team of over 960 employees that have a hand in 180 million in sales revenue,” says Real.

Over the years, Big State has added prefabrication, excavation, electrical engineering, BIM, detailing, Tele/Data, and a security division to their portfolio of services. The company office warehouse started on Euclid Street in 1967 near the old Pearl Brewery and then moved to St Mary’s Street in 2000. Ironically, that was the old Fred Clark office location where Vince Real started working in the trade. By the spring of 2015, they outgrew the location and relocated to their current property at 8923 Aero Street near the airport. “This property was carefully selected as it has enough space and allowance for future growth,” he adds.

As Big State Electric celebrates its 55 years in business, Big State will continue to focus on growth in special systems and low voltage. They are also entertaining the idea of opening a fifth office in Texas. “Growth is healthy for a company and creates opportunities.”

Big State’s biggest focus continues to try and instill a culture with their company family to overserve customers - never provide the minimum and always do what is right. “We believe following these values daily in everything we do will pay dividends and ensure long lasting relationships,” Real states. “Big State has a handful of clients we have worked with for over 30 years and are very proud of those connections. We want to do everything we can to make people successful. We read a book a few years ago by Jim Collins called Good to Great. In the book he writes a metaphor about having the right people on your bus and making sure they are in the right seat. If they do not fit in any of the seats or into the culture, then get them off the bus quickly. This has stuck with me since reading it and run the company with many of his philosophies. The book is a great read and I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to sustain the many obstacles that must be dealt with year after year in a company. Lastly, we try to have a little fun and create a supportive family environment. While Big State continues to grow it has been a continuing goal of ours to run the company with a small business feel. Every employee has feelings, emotions, and a family outside the workplace. We are blessed and God is good!” -cmw

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Page 19

Association Calendar

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

Dec. 2: Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 W, 5:30-11pm.

Dec. 3: Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, Construction News Office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd., 10am-2pm. For more info, contact Leah Villarreal at 210-3421994 or email leah@abcsouthtexas.org AGC Associated General Contractors

Dec. 2: Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 W, 5:30-11pm.

Dec. 3: Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, Construction News Office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd., 10am-2pm.

Dec. 9: Holiday Open House, AGC Offices, 10806 Gulfdale, 4-6pm. For more info, call Kelly Wilson at 210-349-4921

NAWIC National Assn. of Women in Construction

Dec. 2: Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 W, 5:30-11pm.

Dec. 3: Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, Construction News Office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd., 10am-2pm.

Dec. 8: General Membership Meeting & White Elephant Gift Exchange, The Petroleum Club, 8620 N. New Braunfels 7th Flr., 6pm. For more info, contact Heather Osborn at 210-216-9676 or email heather@memcostaffing.com MCA-SMACNA of San Antonio Mechanical and Sheet Metal Contractors Assn.

Dec. 9: Tinsel & Tini’s, AIA Center for Architecture, 6-8pm. For more info, call 210-226-4979

Dec. 2: Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 W, 5:30-11pm.

Dec. 3: Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, Construction News Office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd., 10am-2pm.

Dec. 15: MCA-SMACNA Christmas Party, Alzafar Shrine Temple, 901 N. Loop 1604.

For more info, contact Sandee Morgan at 210-822-3763 or email sandee@ mca-smacna.org

ASA American Subcontractors Assn.

PHCC Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors

AIA American Institute of Architects

Dec. 2: Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 W, 5:30-11pm.

Dec. 3: Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, Construction News Office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd., 10am-2pm. For more info, contact Jennifer Swinney at 210-349-2105 or email jennifer@ asasanantonio.org ASSP American Society of Safety Professionals

Dec. 6: Holiday Christmas Party, Chicken N Pickle, 5215 UTSA Blvd., 6pm. $25 Per Person, Guests & Children welcomed.

For more info, go to www.southtexas. assp.org CLC Construction Leadership Council

Dec. 9: Holiday Open House, AGC Offices, 10806 Gulfdale, 4-6pm. For more info, call Kelly Wilson at 210-349-4921 GSABA Greater San Antonio Builders Association

Dec. 9: Holiday Gala & Installation. For more info, email info@SABuilders.com HCA de SA Hispanic Contractors Assn. de San Antonio

Dec. 2: Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 W, 5:30-11pm.

Dec. 3: Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, Construction News Office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd., 10am-2pm. For more information, contact Victoria Rodriguez at 210-444-1100 or email vrodriguez@ hcadesa.org IEC Independent Electrical Contractors

Dec. 3: Membership Appreciation Casino Night, IEC Offices, 6-11pm. For more info, contact Julie Tucker at 210-431-9861 or email jtucker@iecsanantonio.com

Dec. 2: Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 W, 5:30-11pm.

Dec. 3: Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, Construction News Office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd., 10am-2pm. For more info, call Heidi Trimble at 210-824-7422 or go to www.phcc-sanantonio.org SAMCA San Antonio Masonry Contractors Assn.

Dec. 2: Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 W, 5:30-11pm.

Dec. 3: Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, Construction News Office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd., 10am-2pm.

Dec. 9: SAMCA Holiday Party, Ajuua Mexican Grill, 11703 Huebner Rd., For more info, contact Debi Solis at 210-3472423 or email thesamca@gmail.com TACCA Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Assn.

Dec. 1: Registration begins HVAC Expo 2022 scheduled for Feb. 9.

Dec. 2: Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Alzafar Shrine Auditorium, 901 N. Loop 1604 W, 5:30-11pm.

Dec. 3: Construct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, Construction News Office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd., 10am-2pm. For more info, call Dawn Thompson at 210-9014222 or visit taccagreatersanantonio.org USGBC U.S. Green Building Council

Dec. 9: USGBC Texas Holiday Networking and Strategic Outlook, DBR Engineering, 9601 McAllister Fwy. #410, 5:30-7pm, Registration + Donation $15. For more info, contact chapter@usgbctexas.org or call 214-571-9244

Golfing masons

The San Antonio Masonry Contractors Association (SAMCA) held their annual golf tournament at SilverHorn Golf Club on Oct. 28 with beautiful weather and a great turn out. The AHI Supply team of Jacob Emery, Mike Malay, Ike McGill and Reno Malay took home the first place trophy. -cmw

Industry FOLKS Kyle Anderson Regional Manager,

DeWalt Power Tools, San Antonio, TX

B

orn and raised in Lubbock, TX, Kyle Anderson didn’t realize just how small a town Lubbock was until he moved away. He worked his way through college where he attended and graduated from Texas Tech University - Go Raiders!

While at Texas Tech, Kyle met his wife of 22 years, Kelly. “My parents, both sisters, wife and her sister all went to Tech.”

He earned his undergrad in business marketing. “I thought I wanted to be a buyer, but everyone told me I should go into sales. Apparently I like to talk, so I gave it a try and DeWalt hired me straight out of college in 1997 when they were recruiting at Texas Tech.

“A couple guys from DeWalt who had graduated several years before had come back to see if they could hire entry level sales. Once I interviewed, DeWalt was pretty much the only company I wanted to work for. I started in Phoenix in 1997 and moved six times – Phoenix, Austin, Houston, St Louis, Houston and then to San Antonio in 2005.

Kyle leads DeWalt’s field team who work with contractors, engineers, safety managers and distributor sales reps to bring solutions on the jobsite.

He covers most of Texas so some weeks he sees a lot of windshield time.

“We are the only American-based tool company left. Everyone else’s corporate headquarters are based overseas. We produce more domestic products than any other tool company.

I enjoy talking about what our team s

can do to help make contractors safer and more productive. Our team is focused on contractors and their needs. We also work with several organizations that help get veterans into the construction industry.”

Kyle’s wife is a therapist and says she has yet to fix him. She primarily works with women dealing with anxiety, depression and life events.

They have two daughters, 16-year-old Maggie and 14-year-old Molly. Both are involved in volleyball, church and animals. “People cringe at having two teenage girls but mine are exceptional. We are very blessed.”

Kyle has a Boston Terrier, Bostons, that he grew up with. His wife and daughters have two cats and are adamant that the cats are not his. They also have eight chickens and a duck.

“I’m not sure I would call those pets though. I’ve been told we can’t eat them because my daughters named them, but the eggs are great.”

Kyle hunts, and hunts a lot. He is about to leave for Colorado where he will spend nine days in a tent. “It’s mostly about spending time with some good friends.” He also enjoys reading, homebrew, bourbon and the occasional cigar. Additionally, he and his family are very active in their church and community. “I think that every day I am vertical to be a blessing.

You only get one more day, how will you spend it?” -cmw

Submitted to Construction News

Round-Up

Catamount Constructors Inc. is pleased to announce the addition and promotion of James Benning and Tom Seaman as Co-Chief Executive Officers.

Benning’s strengths Seaman joined the and passion throughCatamount family in out his career has been 2003. Since then he the development of has held positions people, improving including Vice Presiteam dynamics, develdent of Operations, oping a shared vision Senior Vice President, and culture, and and most recently understanding performance drivers. He Chief Operating Officer leveraging his brings with him over 23 years of experience experience in all facets of construction in the construction industry. His rich experi- management to guide operational excelence in operations and focus on being a lence across Catamount. Seaman’s focus people-focused leader will enable him to will continue to be on strategic initiatives, support the future success of Catamount for applying his unique combination of technithe benefit of all employee-owners. -cmw cal knowledge and management expertise. -cmw Sundt Construction Inc. is pleased to announce the promotion of Danny Gumm to Concrete Division Manager. During his 28-year career with Sundt, he has been a field engineer, estimator, concrete superintendent, project manager, pre-construction project manager and most recently, concrete division operations manager. In his new role, he will oversee Sundt’s concrete division which annually performs millions of hours of structural, architectural and industrial concrete work for Sundt’s wide-ranging projects. -cmw

Skansksa USA Building Inc. is pleased to announce the promotion of Keith Sitzman to Vice President of Operations.

After joining the Skanska family in 2002, Sitzman has primarily been involved with the construction management of healthcare and education projects including multiple projects. In his new role, Sitzman will continue overseeing multiple projects including St. Philip’s College Campus and Christus Santa Rosa which he has previous construction management relationships. -cmw

Gensler is pleased to announce the addition of Hugh Daville to the Gensler family as the new Regional Co-Leader of Government & Defense Practice Area. Darville served as Deputy Commander at the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center in Huntsville, AL, where he managed the Department of Defense and Veteran’s Administration medical facility design, and Army and Air Force facility restoration and modernization efforts. His many years of experience will help foster business development and overall engagement with companies involved in federal projects. -cmw

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San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Golfoberfest

t was a sold-out event for the Hispanic Contractors Association de San Antonio (HCAdeSA) as their members hit the greens for a great day of golf. The association’s annual golf tournament was held Oct. 15 at The Golf Club of Texas.

Golfers enjoyed a beautiful day of sunshine and great camaraderie throughout the day. -cmw 1st Place Gross: Pro Landscape Solutions

– Fernando Keller, Bryan Harris, Ted Martinez and Chris Serna 1st Place Net: Equipment Share – Zac Patrick, Dean Sims, Robert Contreras and David Ross 2nd Place Net: Billd – Justin Corwin, Gabe Lopez, Memo Sanchez and Guillermo Siller 3rd Place Net: Billd – Zach Lilly, Fernando Flores, Rick Ledesma and Atanacio Carrisal Photos by Mary C. Haskin Photography

Pro Landscape Solutions

Equipment Share

Dead Last: Turner Construction – John Rocha, Diego Arroyo, Andrew Alvarado and Ryan Cruz

Industry FOLKS Greg Crawford, Vice President

RC Page Construction, San Antonio, TX

G

reg Crawford grew up in the very small Texas town of Falls City with a very tight knit community. The population when he was in high school was 478. Today, its population 611. He graduated high school with 26 people, 20 of which he had started Kindergarten with.

“I enjoyed living in a small community where I knew everyone and everyone knew me. I was very lucky to grow up there. We were probably the last generation that could go ride their bikes with your friends so long as you were home before dark. My wife and I moved back to Falls City a couple of years ago to raise our family there.”

Greg attended Texas A&M University where he earned his degree in Agricultural Systems Management with a minor in Business. “I remember my first class was an economics class which had 400 students in the classroom, basically equivalent to the population of Falls City. It was a little overwhelming but overall it was a good experience.

“Honestly I wasn’t always proud of my ‘Ag’ degree, but over time, I came to the realization that folks in the agricultural industry are some of the hardest working people around. That begun to resonate in me and now take pride in having my Ag degree.”

Greg and his wife, Chelsea, have been married for nine and half years.

They met at Floore’s Country Store at a Reckless Kelly concert. “I came home after our first date and told my then roommate I was done for. We were

engaged nine months after we first met.

I wasn’t going to let her get away!”

They have their hands full with three kids – 6-year-old Blaire, 5-year-old Isla and 2-year-old Reid. “I wouldn’t change a thing other than wishing time would slow down a bit so we can soak it all in.”

Greg joined the construction industry while working for a small general contractor during high school/college winter and summer breaks. Initially he had just wanted to learn a skill that would come in handy around the house as his dad, according to Greg, could fix or do anything with engines and home repairs; and thought that would help him to be more like him. He then completed an internship with a general contractor in Houston as a junior at A&M who offered him a job the summer before he had graduated.

As vice president, Greg’s responsibilities include preconstruction, design assist services, estimating, contract negotiations, project management, strategic planning and his favorite, being the website guy. “I’m not very tech savvy, so I get a kick out of being the ‘website guy.’

He loves the relationships he has established in the construction industry over the years and credits his dad and grandpa as his life mentors. He enjoys spending time with his family and fishing. -cmw

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Page 21

Employee ownership

JOB SIGHTS

Rusty Fisher, Baird Foundation Repair, arrives to perform a follow-up inspection in Saint Hedwig, TX. -cmw

John Gonzalez, Burditt Tile & Stone, installs wall tile at the new School of Science & Technology for NEISD. Bartlett Cocke General Contractors is the general contractor for the project. -cmw

Fernando Reyes, Fuller Construction, operates a skid steer at the new HTeaO project at the corner of O’Connor & Nacogdoches.

Malitz Construction Inc. is the general contractor on the project. -cmw

Heath Weaver, Malitz Construction Inc., reviews plans at the HTeaO project site. -cmw

I

NTS trench shields

n September, National Trench Safety (NTS), a trench safety solutions provider and a Tailwind Capital owned business, announced that it is implementing an Employee Equity Participation Program.

NTS will award up to $8,000,000 of equity participation units to full-time and permanent employees annually. The Employee Equity Participation Program is designed to align the company’s mission to recognize valued employees and to deliver outstanding customer service with incentivized employees. In an effort to rise above a fiercely competitive labor market in the industry, NTS believes the Employee Equity Participation Program will do just that.

Commitment to be an “employer of choice” is one of NTS’s core values. This Equity Participation Program and NTS’s overall employee reward philosophy is aligned with this commitment. “Employee ownership interests in specialty rental businesses are always tightly held, usually in the hands of a few executives,” says NTS President and CEO Phil Mason.

“Now with this progressive and all-inclusive Employee Equity Participation Program, every NTS employee will benefit from their hard work in building this great company. This is one more great benefits provided to our NTS employee community where we already provide full medical, dental and vision plans, paid time off, 4 percent 401K matching, tuition assistance, tuition repayment assistance, child care benefits, etc.” Mason goes on to add, “better still there is no qualifying or probationary period to wait out, the participation awards are provided immediately to all new hires in accordance with the program’s terms”.

National Trench Safety is based in Houston, TX and a leading independent national provider of trench safety and traffic control solutions in the US and the UK. From complex specifically engineered trench safety solutions to simple trench plate rentals, NTS serves customers across 42 states from its 65 branches in the US and all across the UK from its Leeds, UK location. -cmw

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San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

Halloween, construction style San Antonio was plagued with ghosts and gobblins looking for a little fun, and it was apparent that even the construction industry could not run from the fun-loving spooks. -cmw

ASA’s board of directors (social media icons)

Alterman – Jones Maltsberger

BakerTriangle

Benchmark Plumbing

Quality Fence & Welding

Alterman – Schertz

E-Z Bel Construction Inc.

Cram Roofing

V.K. Knowlton

Allied Fire Protection

MAREK

George

RidoutBarrett

San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021

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Page 23

Safety summit 2021

ver 270 construction industry employees from laborers to supervisors participated in the 2021 Safety Summit held on Oct. 26. This is the fifth annual safety summit hosted by an individual committee of safety professionals in and around the San Antonio construction industry.

This year’s event had the largest record of attendance to-date and offered a great open discussion with OSHA representatives. Clint Swindall captivated the audience as he spoke on employee

engagement and the importance of a safety culture on every level. Additionally, Lee Shelby, who took a shortcut on the jobsite at the age of 28 and lost both of his hands, discussed what his shortcut cost him. It was an eye-opening and heartbreaking tale to tell, but he discussed that his shortcut was a selfish decision and explained its ripple effect and how many people were affected by his injury. Photos courtesy of Mary C. Haskin Photography. -cmw

T

Get the net!

he South Texas Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors headed to the coast with their members in toll for the association’s Annual Fishing Tournment. The event was held Oct. 8-9 at Paws & Taws in Rockport, TX. -cmw

Joeris General Contractors

Clint Swindall addresses the 2021 Safety Summit attendees on the consequences of occupational injuries – workplace safety is not optional!

T

Lee Shelby captivated the 2021 Safety Summit attendees with an eye-opening experience on how a shortcut on the job cost him the loss of his hands.

Mixin’ it with golf

he Construction Leadership Council (CLC) hosted their CLC Golf & Mixer event on Oct. 28. The event was held at San Pedro Golf where everyone had a wonderful time. -cmw CLC Golf winners: 2nd Place: Apostolos Pavlioglou and Rafael Andres

3rd Place: Cody Brooks and Kyle Brooks Closest to the Pin: Antonio Diaz and Garrett Goodson 1st Place: Mike Blake and Dave Barrington

D. Wilson Construction

1st Place Calcutta: Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc. 2nd Place Calcutta: Pesado Construction Company 3rd Place Calcutta: MAREK Team 3 1st Place Redfish: D. Wilson Construction Team 1 2nd Place Redfish: TDIndustries, Inc. Team 1 3rd Place Redfish: Joeris General Contractors, Ltd. 4th Place Redfish: Robles 1, LLC Team 1 5th Place Redfish: Ridout, Barrett & Co. 1st Place Trout: Joeris General Contractors, Ltd. 2nd Place Trout: Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc. 3rd Place Trout:

Satterfield & Pontikes Construction Inc.

MAREK Team 2 4th Place Trout: Terracon Consultants, Inc. 5th Place Trout: TDIndustries, Inc. Team

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San Antonio Construction News • DEC 2021