This Month’s Featured Stories:
BUILD SMART.
CONNECTION
Tom’s Corner - Joe Herr Howdy from Texas Upcoming Events Spotlight Employee - Todd Showers New Projects March 2013 Issue
Mark your calendars for these Upcoming Events
Though it doesn’t quite look like it yet in Wisconsin, spring is finally here. We’ve made it through the thick of winter (fingers crossed!), and soon the trees will be blossoming with new growth. With any luck, as vibrant spring flowers begin to brighten up the landscape, more construction projects will be popping up as well. Speaking of luck and spring, this time of year is always particularly special for Tri-North as we have our very own leprechaun in our midst, spreading around cheer and smiles. For the past ten years, Senior Project Manager Joe Herr has spent the month leading up to St. Patrick’s Day as his alter ego, “Shawn Patrick,” a compassionate and funny little leprechaun. For those of you who don’t know, the idea began as a Halloween costume years ago. Ever the philanthropist, when Joe saw the happiness he could spread while dressed in his little green costume, he decided to seize the opportunity to use Shawn Patrick as a catalyst to brighten the lives of those who could really use a good smile, and a little bit of magic. Every March since then, Joe has spent countless hours visiting local schools, hospitals, and community events dressed as Shawn Patrick with the intent to spread joy and make people laugh and smile. I’d like to take the opportunity this month to recognize Joe, both as the endlessly dependable and consistently high-performing project manager and as the cheerful, kindhearted leprechaun.
Kudos, Joe, on all of your hard work, and thank you for making us all smile!
April 9th
American Red Cross Blood Drive held at TNB Madison from 11:00AM – 4:00PM. Contact Robert Thayer (rthayer@tri-north.com) to set up an appointment.
April 10th
Bond Financing Seminar & Webinar at TNB Madison from 3:30PM – 5:00PM. Contact Anna Stern (astern@tri-north.com) to RSVP.
April 16-18
GlobalShop Expo at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
By: Wessel Lubbe
Hi y’all and a hearty “Yeehaw” from the land of the Longhorns, tumbling weed, mesquite, and rapid weather changes. They say if you don’t like the weather in Texas, just wait a couple of minutes because it’s bound to change. Having resided here for the past 4 years, I have learned to have several sets of clothing in the car, as I am bound to need at least one item for every season on a daily basis. I joined the Tri-North team in Texas during the latter part of 2012, and was pleasantly surprised by the helpfulness and accessibility of the personnel across all Tri-North locations. I was acutely aware of the challenges that a new position away from the corporate office can bring, but my concerns were soon relieved by a very capable and effective support system. Jackie Harrison and Danielle Shaw have been my support and constant companions in this extremely competitive and often stressful environment called retail construction. We are conveniently located at the intersection of Interstate 35W and the 820 Loop, about 10 minutes directly north of downtown Fort Worth. The spacious office has an attached storage space and, like the California office, we were able to accept several deliveries last year from our clients. Having a small warehouse available for emergency storage situations is indeed a great value added offer to our clients and a great convenience for security and monitoring purposes.
As a professional construction company in the current extremely competitive market, our office aims to stay in tune with the expectations of our current and potential clients. We take pride in recognizing current trends in retail design and construction products. We also try to anticipate
what our clients are looking for in new areas, and try to offer choices that fit each business’ unique needs. We always insist on sustaining the highest quality, remaining on schedule and within budgets, and adequately servicing our work and the components we use to build new projects. To achieve all these goals, we are particular about the subcontractors we work with in order to ensure a sustained high-quality end product. In Tri-North’s Commercial Division, we are serving as liaison and the first point of contact for the Madison office on a 4-story medical office building shell in downtown Fort Worth. We are currently also working on securing the build-out scope of work for the rest of the building as well.
We devoted the first couple of months of 2013 to tying up loose ends on several Petco renovations, an Office Depot ground-up development, and assisting the California office with a new Victoria’s Secret flagship store at the Northpark Mall in Dallas. New project bidding has been fast and furious, and we are happy to report that we just started a Bath and Body Works and a Lucky Brand Jeans this month. Dallas is host to the 49th annual SPECS (store planning, equipment, construction and facilities services) event currently wrapping up. We enjoyed having a contingency of Tri-North personnel from several different offices join us locally for this great event. We realized that a significant volume of economic activity was postponed in 2012 due to elevated political and global economic uncertainty. In (continued on the back)
Todd Showers Superintendent
Years with TNB: 25 Years in the industry: 26 Main job responsibilities:
Manage and maintain subcontractors and schedules. Perform work as needed to complete the job.
What do you enjoy doing in your leisure time? Leisure time? What’s that? My wife thinks that when I am not working on a Tri-North job, I spend all of my remaining time out in the garage building things like trucks. I call it my “decompression chamber.” I will admit that I do waste a lot of time out there. My hobby is retrofitting old Ford trucks. I am a member of the Badgerland F-100 Truck Club. The club hosts a truck show every year where members usually bring the projects they’ve worked on throughout the year. My latest truck is a 1952 F-3 milk truck (chopped 28 inches, flipped front, 390, automatic). I also just picked up a 1948 F-6 Ford cab-over.
Describe your favorite Tri-North project or memory. My favorite project was Matt Kenseth’s personal garage in Mooresville, NC. I have to give a special thanks to my wife for allowing me to be gone for this project, as we had a one year old daughter at the time. As far as memories, all the jobs have memories, but the most memorable job for me was Discovery World. Most of the work we did was so unique, and I may never experience that type of work again. From assisting on building fish aquariums, to building exhibits like the hive and the Les Paul exhibit, the projects were all fun and interesting. I was asked if I would like to meet Les Paul in person, but I declined.
What do you like most about working at Tri-North? Tri-North Builders gave me a chance to start my career in construction. What I like most is the ability to work independently and closely with the clients. (“Howdy from Texas” continued from the front)
spite of this, Texas’ economy continues to be a high-flyer in a nation largely characterized by mediocre performance. Between October 2011 and October 2012, the Lone Star State added 2.6% to U.S. job totals, ranking us third in the nation in percentage of job growth and second in absolute job growth (California ranked first). An article in Texas Construction News confirms that the construction industry has participated largely in the employment expansion of the past year, noting that Texas’ construction industry supports 46,900 more jobs than it did a year ago. Much of Texas extraordinary economic performance is attributable to the performance of several large and rapidly expanding metropolitan areas, most notably Houston and Dallas. Among the 12 most populous metropolitan areas in the country, these two communities comprised nearly 60% of Texas’ absolute job growth during 2012. Economists tell us that if the nation is able to resolve its fiscal issues, if news from Europe improves or at least stops deteriorating, and if construction materials prices are well-behaved, the latter half of 2013 could be associated with a meaningful acceleration in construction starts both in and out of Texas. This is what is getting us excited down here in cowboy country and has us looking forward to some major expansion. The tremendous opportunity for growth in the Southwestern United States, not just in retail, but also in the hospitality and commercial markets, has us chomping at the bit. We would like to expand and build upon Tri-North’s maintained success in the Midwest, helping us to truly become not just a multi-state, but a multi-national entity and a force to be reckoned with.
Describe your home life. My wife Shari and I have been married for 12 years. We have 2 children: Sydney (9), and Nicholas (6). Our dog Cooper is 10 months old. Life can be very hectic at times. My favorite activity, after the kids go to bed, is when Shari and I can enjoy the peace and quiet. Actually, we have a travel trailer, and spend summer days camping (when I am not in the garage).
What websites do you frequently visit? When I have extra time, you will find me on my iPad, searching the internet for truck parts. I am amazed at the information at the tips of my fingers.
What is something most people do not know about you? What most people don’t know about me is that I usher at church and play chimes with my daughter.
If you could meet anyone, who would it be? The answer to this question came true when I was in North Carolina. I had the luxury of being in the NASCAR pits at Bristol race. Walking through the trailers, being on pit road prior to the race, seeing all the drivers leaning on their cars, and talking to some of them was a dream come true.
Welcome To Tri-North!
A warm welcome to the following new hires to the Madison office!
Dennis Limmex
Senior Project Manager
Randy Danielson
President, Retail Construction
Projects Started LAST MONTH Retail
White House | Black Market Eddie Bauer Kay Jewelers Kay Jewelers Nike Victoria’s Secret Victoria’s Secret Pink Bath & Body Works
Wisconsin Dells, WI Auburn Hills, MI Madison, WI Grand Forks, ND San Diego, CA San Jose, CA Baltimore, MD Broomfield, CO
Commercial
Pfister Club Point Theatre Renovation Potawanimi Casio General Construction Package NLRB Office Buildout Alliant Energy Office Buildout SmithGroupJJR Office Buildout American Family Childern’s Hospital - Carpentry Package Gurnee Theatre Renovation Miller Time Pub Renovation Hilton Hotel Cornhusker Hotel - HVAC Upgrades
Milwaukee, WI Madison, WI Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee, WI Madison, WI Madison, WI Madison, WI Gurnee, IL Milwaukee, WI Lincoln, NE
March
March
3/3 David Lawson 3/8 Kevin Bush 3/12 Katie Miller 3/14 David Simpson Kirk Schwartz 3/16 Robert Thayer 3/18 Dan Biersdorf 3/18 Mark Krueger 3/19 Amanda Zimmerman Holley 3/20 Doug Wenzel 3/22 Al Zingler Eric Holt 3/25 Brandon Jensen 3/30 Gary Berkley
1987 Jodi Herbig 1994 Bruce Kopf 1995 John Millar 1998 Gary Tollefson 2001 Russell Leistiko 2002 Luke Ledvina 2006 Doug Lang 2009 Richard Swart 2010 Anna Stern 2011 Morgan Emden Matthew Garlington
Birthdays
Anniversaries