Summer 2013 Built for Good Newsletter by Walbridge

Summer 2013

BUILT FOR GOOD

Time wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tell

Trash to energy

Technology

WE’D LIKE TO INTRODUCE THE NEXT GENERATION OUR SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM exposes students to the complexities of the construction industry and to our core values. Across the nation, interns learn something new every day about safety, communications, staying on schedule, developing winning proposals

and creating added value for customers. We attract top collegiate talent and nurture it. When students graduate, nearly 95

percent of those to whom we offer employment accept. And employee retention today is as high as it’s ever been.

WE ARE WALBRIDGE

AND WHAT WE BUILD STANDS FOR SOMETHING.

Chairman and CEO John Rakolta, Jr. (front row, third from left) stands with some of our summer 2013 interns.

walbridge.com 2 I Built For Good

BUILT FOR GOOD SM

builtforgood.com

10 12

This Issue

From our leadership

A little savings goes a long way

Time won’t tell

Trash to energy

Harnessing alternatives

Connecting jobsites, HQ, clients

What we’re building

Cover: Ornate limestone detail on the historic Lawyers Club at University of Michigan Law School Built For Good is a publication of the Walbridge Group, Inc. Forward any comments or questions to Mark Marymee at mmarymee@walbridge.com © 2013 SM

Built For Good I 3

From our

leadership

or this issue, I’ve been asked to share some thoughts on the topic of leadership. One question that intrigues me is this: Are leaders born or made? Does genetics really have anything to do with leadership? Or, do individuals develop leadership skills over time? Personally, I believe leadership is developed. But, it definitely starts at a very early age with life values that are instilled in a sharp, active mind. Common sense, a good work ethic, a strong sense of self and immutable values of integrity, honesty, and respect for others are critically important. They form a platform upon which an individual can operate successfully for the remainder of his or her life. We look for and find many of these qualities in evidence among the interns we recruit each year from colleges across the country. Our interns are given real-world, hands-on work experience in construction management, safety, accounting, information technology, and marketing. The work ignites in some of them a passion for our business. Some begin to see a career path in construction. It’s a perfect opportunity for them to apply knowledge they’ve gained inside a classroom. Continual learning is critical, but going the extra step to apply what you learn is a leadership fundamental. Top interns are then invited to join our team full-time upon graduation. Some of our highest-ranking leaders today started with us as interns. At Walbridge, we believe everyone has the opportunity to be a leader in their own way. Maybe that starts by leading a small team, learning how to relate to them and keeping them focused on achieving a specific outcome. Some individuals continue to evolve and at a point they choose to devote extra time and energy, and make the necessary sacrifices, required to become a positional leader. At this point we concentrate on providing these individuals with greater leadership opportunities. It’s similar to a sports concept where a football coach wants to accelerate a player’s development by increasing their “touches,” or the number of times they get the football. We want to expand a potential leader’s understanding of their role and how it fits into

4 I Built For Good

our system by increasing their exposure or “looks” into our company in the context of this very complex endeavor called construction. The next opportunity for leadership development is Emerging Leaders, or the “base level” of our program, which brings together a cross-functional group of employees, generally those with less than 10 years of work experience. We build their baseline understanding of the core fundamentals of our business. Further along the career journey, we gather a collection of managers, supervisors, estimators and accountants with experience ranging from 10 to 20 years into the Leaders Edge Program. They study higher level business and leadership concepts, and interact with each other to a greater degree. Typically, there is a thesis topic assigned for the team to develop together. This topic is usually a high-level leadership concern or challenge faced by Walbridge and the group works up a consensus solution. In one case, the thesis work from one team led to reconstitution of our quality program into a completely new innovation and leadership initiative. This Leaders Edge group begins to experience what differentiates a leader from a manager. There is a school of thought that describes management as coping with complexity to bring order and predictability to a situation. But today, that’s not enough. In order to succeed today, we have to quickly adapt to changing situations that can come from anywhere – the environment, systems, even people. This is the chaos in which leaders thrive. Leadership is about learning how to adapt to the chaos of our business, while you steadily articulate a clear vision and encourage, excite and draw from others the passion, confidence and purposedriven focus necessary to achieve a critical objective. We’re counting on these “evolving leaders” to lead Walbridge into its next 100 years and to position us as a perennial leader in a highly competitive construction marketplace. Richard J. Haller President and Chief Operating Officer Walbridge | Detroit, Michigan

A little savings goes a long way O

n some projects, half-a-million dollars in potential savings is a big deal. Such was the case at Southwest Georgia Regional Airport in Albany, where Walbridge’s Value Analysis/Value Engineering (VA/VE) allowed the client to put that much back into their new terminal. The project team broke ground on construction of a new two-gate Delta Airlines terminal for Southwest Georgia Regional Airport in March 2012. In addition to boasting high-end finishes and displays, the terminal also contains what’s expected: ticket counters, waiting areas, restrooms, passenger screening, baggage operations, a departure lounge with laptop stations, concessions, luggage carousels, a rental car counter and administrative areas. Squeezing all of that into 26,000 square feet made the project quite complex, and the use of various exterior finishes added to the challenge. But perhaps what’s most impressive is the VA/VE numbers. Walbridge identified $564,011 in potential savings to the client, which accepted 99 percent of the suggestions. The biggest savings was found in the use of an Arriscraft manufactured stone for the building’s façade in lieu of a natural limestone field with marble accents, a savings of roughly $370,000. With only a moderate redesign to

incorporate the panels, an extra boost was brought to the project budget, allowing the client to request various changes at no additional cost to the bottom line. With that, the project team also submitted 11 lessons learned to the Walbridge corporate data base – nine totaling a savings of more than $182,000. The variety of finishes on the building’s exterior included the stone veneer, which was locally sourced; a metal-wall panel system and extensive curtain walls. Eight different roofs were used for the building, including two drop-off canopies and two covered porches. Installing a variety of high-grade exterior finishes while ensuring a water-tight building proved challenging due to the terminal’s unique profile. Inside, eye-catching light fixtures and stainless-steel displays insert regional flavor, including exhibits from the local Audubon Society and U.S. Marine Corps. The new $10.8 million Southwest Georgia Regional Airport terminal reached substantial completion in August 2013. Project Sales Contact > Don Moore, Manager New Business, Walbridge Florida Group 813.635.1071 | dmoore@walbridge.com Covered exterior entrance

Waiting area inside terminal

Main corridor inside terminal Covered drop-off and pick up at Southwest Georgia Regional Airport

Built For Good I 5

Time wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tell Central archway at U-M Lawyers Club Munger Residences 6 I Built For Good

New dorm room

Each floor in the Lawyers Club residence halls now has its own Club Room

uilt between 1924 and 1931, the University of Michigan Law School’s Lawyers Club had only undergone one minor renovation before Walbridge was hired as construction manager-at-risk for a major overhaul and modernization of the school’s dormitories. Perhaps the most fascinating and challenging aspect of the student residence renovation was the installation of roughly 10 dozen modular bathroom units, which were prefabricated offsite, hauled to the jobsite and then carefully transported inside the gutted-out, historic buildings. This fall, for the first time, student residents at U-M Law School will have in-unit climate control and air conditioning, as well as their own private bathrooms. Lawyers Club houses all of Law School’s student living accommodations and consists of three separate buildings: The original Lawyers Club building, which contains a cafeteria, support staff facilities, a laundry room and 20room hotel; the Lawyers Club Dormitory, now called the Munger Residences (Munger); and the John P. Cook Building (Cook) residence hall. The 159,000-square-foot Lawyers Club renovation project included extensive renovations to both residence buildings and upgrading fire alarm and fire suppression systems inside the original Lawyers Club building. The team also connected Munger and Cook, even though there was a 2-foot difference in floor elevations between them. All three buildings are attached but never offered complete interior access to each other. The original Lawyers Club building was built in 1924; the three-story Munger Residences building was constructed in 1925; and the four-story John P. Cook Building was built in 1931. Because all three buildings were built at different times, their structural designs are slightly different, which caused challenges during design and construction.

Installed

125

modular bathrooms

more than

fireplaces removed

Differences in the building styles ranged from differently shaped washers to trusses running in different directions and even a 2-foot difference in floor elevations. The two residence buildings were built in townhouse fashion, containing a total of 15 units. Each townhouse unit had an entrance and consisted of 15-20 dorm rooms and one community bathroom for men and one for women. Prior to the recent renovation, Munger had eight townhouse unit entrances and a total of 130 rooms. Cook had seven townhouse unit entrances and a total of 145 rooms. Now the buildings feature a traditional dorm-room style layout, and there are just seven entrances among the two buildings: four in Munger and three in Cook. Munger still has 130 rooms of varying size and Cook has 94; every room now has its own bathroom. Renovations also brought Group Rooms to each floor of Munger and Cook to encourage student studying and gathering. Most of the Group Rooms are equipped with a small kitchenette. Walbridge removed eight entrances from the historic buildings and replaced them with custom windows that are identical to the original windows throughout the buildings. New limestone was cut and added to every new window in a way that exactly resembles the limestone trim of original windows and existing entrances. Additionally, the team removed 15 unit-specific staircases, which were located directly inside each townhouse unit entrance; six brand-new staircases that are double the size were built strategically throughout both residence buildings instead. Where there used to be unit-specific staircases, now there are dorm rooms. Renovations also brought three elevators to the two buildings: two are in Munger and one is in Cook. Continue reading >

replaced

entrances with custom period-style windows

removed

15 unit-specific staircases Built For Good I 7

Bathroom unit removed from truck

Unit being maneuvered inside

Walbridge opted to use modular construction for more than half of the new bathrooms. It proved to be a safe, efficient alternative to stick building each bathroom inside the individual units and shaved weeks from the original construction schedule. The modularization effort was driven exclusively by the Walbridge field team. The team used 5-foot-by-5-1/2-foot and 5-1/2-foot-by6-foot modular bathroom units for the job. On average, each measured roughly 7 feet in height. Of the 220 new bathrooms at the renovated Lawyers Club residences, 125 were produced modularly. Maneuvering units to the top floors of each building was not feasible, so dorm room bathrooms on the very top floors were stick-built. With the former townhouse entrances and staircases removed, Walbridge used the temporary holes in the exterior as entry points to bring in the prefabricated modular bathroom units. The team transformed former stairwells into lifting shafts by constructing a lifting platform attached to an “A” frame on the upper-most levels of each building, which safely transported bathroom units to the second floor of Munger and the second and third floors of Cook. Although both buildings were almost completely gutted at the time of the install, the locations of existing columns and concrete-encased steel beams required the team to zigzag the modular bathrooms through the buildings to their permanent locations. In some places, there was less than an inch of room between beams and the Installed modular bathroom unit tops of the bathroom units. Through the use of building information modeling (BIM), Walbridge was able to identify routes for getting each unit to its destination inside the historic structures. BIM was also used in designing and prepping all utility hookups. The exterior skin of the nearly 90-year-old Lawyers Club is a quilt of granite blocks whose hues range from red and burnt orange to light grey and yellowish-brown. The project team sourced granite from the same Massachusetts quarry

8 I Built For Good

Unit being hoisted into upper level

used for the original construction of the buildings to fill in spaces around the new windows where the old entrances used to be. In addition, salvaged granite from the removal of the former townhouse entrances was woven in with the new granite to aid in creating a timeless look. Today, thanks to the meticulous patchwork of the masons at Leidal & Hart, the exterior of the historic Lawyers Club residence buildings look as if nothing has been removed from or added to the original architecture. Part of the Lawyers Club project scope was replacing a nearly 90-year-old slate roof that covered all three Lawyers Club buildings. The project team carefully removed all of the original slate shingles, salvaging those that weren’t damaged. Using a 50/50 mix of new slate shingles and salvaged slate, the team wove in old shingles with new to create a new, properly functioning roof that retains the same period look. Another challenging component to the Lawyers Club residence renovations was removal of fireplaces from each unit. Sitting atop the two residence buildings are 14 sets of chimney stacks. Removing the fireplaces inside had to be done in a way that left the chimneys intact and unscathed – an aesthetic request made by the client. Fireplaces were located on every floor inside the 15 townhouse units. In total, the project team had to remove more than 50 fireplaces, each requiring a multi-step process. For their removal, every fireplace was temporarily shored up, steel columns were added, the fireplace components removed and, lastly, the shoring taken out. Walbridge broke ground at Lawyers Club in late May 2012 and the project was turned over the week of July 4, 2013. Students were set to move in at the end of August; however the new dormitories at Munger and Cook have been completely sold out since December 2012. Project Sales Contact > Adorno Piccinini, Asst. Vice President , Commercial Group 313.442.1298 | apiccinini@walbridge.com

Walbridge installed three elevators in the renovated Lawyers Club residence facilities, such s this one inside Cook

Building a Case

reating new spaces without compromising an institutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s celebrated architecture is a major part of the job when it comes to modernizing. Walbridge has anchored its legal institution experience with award-winning projects for the University of Michigan Law School. South Hall South Hall is a brand-new 100,000-square-foot, fourstory academic facility featuring state-of-the-art student accommodations and an exterior appearance to match its time-honored neighbors. It achieved LEED ÂŽ Gold certification in 2012.

Hutchins Hall and the Stacks The historic Hutchins Hall underwent updating that included a fire suppression system upgrade and construction of a new glass-enclosed skywalk to connect the building to the Cook Legal Research Library. The Stacks, a collections wing of the library, received a brand new limestone facade. Aikens Commons Along with constructing a new grand entrance, Walbridge transformed an unused courtyard into a two-level atriumcovered commons area for gathering at Hutchins Hall.

Built For Good I 9

One person’s trash is another’s energy source B

y harnessing biomethane gas released from landfills, California-based Clean Energy Renewable Fuels, LLC (CERF) takes an overlooked renewable energy resource and converts it into natural gas. It’s a fuel source that’s more than 85 percent cleaner in carbon emissions, nitrous oxide and particulate emissions than diesel. In a plan to expand, CERF created the subsidiary Canton Renewables, LLC, which hired Walbridge to design-build a new processing facility at the Sauk Trail Hills Landfill in southeast Michigan. At capacity, the new plant can produce the energy equivalent of 25,000 gallons of diesel per day.

In June 2013, Canton Renewables won a prestigious Alpha Award for Innovation from the Engineering Society of Detroit.

10 I Built For Good

Besides possibly revolutionizing how we fuel our vehicles, CERF’s business of converting landfill gas to natural gas is ultimately helping the planet. Prior to construction of the 9,380-square-foot processing facility in 2012, all the biogas produced at Sauk Trail Hills was being burned off into the atmosphere using a flare. With construction of the plant, Walbridge installed a 150-foot-long, 18-inch underground pipe that taps into the biomethane source and transports it directly into the new facility to be compressed and treated instead of burned.

Process equipment inside new Canton Renewables plant

The new facility is designed to treat raw landfill gas and remove impurities so it meets pipeline quality requirements to be sold as natural gas. Many owner-initiated changes were introduced during construction, which altered the original cost and scope. In response, Walbridge created an aggressive and highlydetailed schedule to achieve milestones required to support the client’s start-up and commissioning targets. The revised schedule included instituting two shifts for four of the six months it took to complete the project.

Operations monitoring room

The project scope included integrating new process equipment, including blowers, chillers, a scrubber, a regenerative thermal oxidizer and outdoor vessels (two measuring eight feet in diameter and 45-feet tall) that treat and refine compressed gas. At that stage, it’s sold to local utility companies and released into the natural gas energy grid. Other underground utilities included 1,500 feet of 8-inch water main – 600 feet of which was directionally bored. As a backup, Walbridge also installed one new flare stack to handle off-gas from the production stream and, as an emergency function, to prevent the release of raw landfill gas into the atmosphere.

At the time of construction, the new plant in Canton was the largest-scale plant of its kind and the only one in Michigan. However, it’s just a small part of a larger plan put forward by CERF, which is building biomethane plants across the United States to supply natural gas for its parent company, Clean Energy Fuels Corporation. Clean Energy plans to eventually build and supply natural gas fueling stations along major interstates across the county in an effort to get logistics companies on board with using renewable natural gas as a primary fueling source. Walbridge began construction on the Canton plant in April 2012. It was turned over to the client that September. Project Sales Contact > Dave Robson, Director of New Business Development, Walbridge Industrial Process 313.442.1283 | drobson@walbridge.com

Built For Good I 11

Harnessing responsible alternatives

Photovoltaic field at the new Concord Army Reserve Center

Exterior of new ARC

or this job, the Walbridge | Overaa Joint Venture built a 68,000-square-foot training and storage facility and a 9,500-square-foot organizational maintenance shop. It was the unique sustainability features the team installed at the complex, however, that made the project one of a kind. Probably the most extraordinary component of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ new Concord ARC is its 87,000-square-foot photovoltaic field, which generates about 465 kilowatts of electricity that’s directly tied into the new training and storage building’s electrical system. During the day when it’s generating power, the PV field will offset power being used at the building. Energy generated during the day that’s unused is pushed into the power grid, which generates energy points with the local electricity provider and lowers the USACE’s energy bills. The massive PV field is made up of 2,300 panels. In addition, Walbridge | Overaa installed a state-of-the-art rainwater storage system that’s used for the ARC’s vehicle washing. The system has a capacity of 120,000 gallons. The team also installed a grey water system that collects shower water, filters and treats it, and then reuses it to flush all the toilets and urinals inside the new training facility. A solar hot-water heating system for domestic water was also integrated into the new building. None of the existing utilities adjacent to the site were usable when the team arrived, primarily because the base had been shut down for some time. Storm drains were full of debris and had to be demolished. Walbridge | Overaa brought in new power utilities for the project, replaced

12 I Built For Good

existing waterlines, and installed a new sewer and tie-in as well. The new ARC features training areas, a library and learning center; through Walbridge’s Value Analysis/Value Engineering (VA/VE) efforts, roughly $100,000 in savings was brought to the client during construction.

“

This was a complex project, due to the unique site and all of the PV, rainwater collection, grey water reuse and other features; and the contractor managed the construction effectively.

USACE April 2013 Evaluation

The new ARC in Concord was constructed to achieve LEED® Gold certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The Walbridge | Overaa Joint Venture broke ground at the site in October 2011 and wrapped up in March 2013. In more than 147,000 hours logged at the site, the team recorded zero lost-time incidents. Project Sales Contact > Andrew Wasiniak, Asst. Vice President, Heavy-Civil Group 313.442.1269 | awasiniak@walbridge.com

Connecting jobsites to our headquarters and our clients T

hree years ago, Walbridge became the first large customer to adopt Microsoft’s Cloud offering of Office 365. Today, we’re one among thousands of large companies taking advantage of various innovative offerings provided through the Cloud. Cynthia Weaver, Assistant Vice President of Information Technology at Walbridge, was recently tapped for input in a Wall Street Journal/CIO Journal report on cloud computing and in-memory database technology. With more than 20 years of industry experience, we wanted to capture her insights on IT as they relate to the construction industry and keeping our teams and clients connected.

What are the benefits to a company like Walbridge having an in-house IT department?

The primary benefit is that we understand the critical nature of the jobs we’re hired to do and intimately understand company process and procedures. We’ve explored outsourcing. The challenge there would be our teams and clients having to call a help number and speaking with someone who not only lacks that same level of intimate knowledge, but also someone who doesn’t have a Walbridge career to care about. We currently have an IT staff of more than 20 full-time professionals, most of which have multiple functions.

What are some trends you see positively affecting the construction industry in the coming years?

The cloud is the big equalizer, giving small companies the ability to bring a product to market quickly and serve it in a global manner. It also pushes existing providers, like Microsoft and IBM, to make offerings that are more affordable. Not to mention, storage in the cloud is far less expensive than traditional storage because you’re essentially renting space instead of buying it. Considering the connectability and storage options provided through Office 365 alone, which is hosted through the cloud, it’s been a surprisingly big game changer for us as one of the country’s largest construction firms.

Is the cloud changing how construction firms handle their information?

It’s giving us so many choices for being out in the field while still having access to files, including large 3D modeling images and animations. What used to be a five-step process that took weeks to complete is now done at the click of a button. Collaboration is happening in real time, allowing faster responses to customer changes and requests. At the same time, the cloud has made things more complicated because it’s created so many choices. With solid coordination, however, the benefits far outweigh the risks.

Cynthia Weaver, Walbridge Assistant Vice President for Information Technology

We started using the Cloud three years ago; within the next five years, we hope to be 100 percent in the cloud.

Why is Walbridge’s IT infrastructure a value to clients?

Its nimbleness. We created our IT infrastructure with flexibility in mind. It’s also our ability to quickly set up jobsites, create custom systems and software, and allow customers to get in and see their project’s progress. Because of this, our project teams don’t have to worry about IT infrastructure and staying connected. We have a separate team of professionals to handle that. So our construction teams can give 100 percent focus to building buildings and meeting client needs.

How do we stay connected with our international teams, like those in Brazil and the Middle East? Another benefit to the cloud is its amazing offerings around languages, which helps to remove barriers. Multi-language capability is something that’s now part of our systems. In addition, tools like Lync and Blue Beam are allowing our teams to have virtual meetings through their computers. Collaboration on drawings can happen from multiple companies and countries in real time.

For international projects, it all starts with having a good partner. It’s extremely important to create solid relationships with joint venture IT departments. This helps us manage our biggest challenge, which is connection reliability. Many countries have different practices for internet connection and cellular service, and having a partner that’s familiar with a region’s IT landscape is invaluable in keeping our employees comfortable and our clients connected. Built For Good I 13

What we’re building Recently Awarded

Getting Started

Underway

Wrapping up

Orange County Elementary Schools Replacement

Kellogg Community College Capital Improvements

NAVFAC Water Tank Replacement Project

BMW Manufacturing Co. New Paint Shop

Walbridge’s Florida Group was recently awarded two school replacement projects for Orange County Public Schools. John Young Elementary School and Shingle Creek Elementary School, originally built in 1989 and 1992, respectively, will be rebuilt into new facilities that include classrooms; a multipurpose cafeteria; administration space; art, music and computer labs; separate parent and bus drop-off loops; and outdoor activity areas with covered play space. The new schools will be two-story, 83,150-square-foot tilt-up structures that are identical in appearance.

The Walbridge | Schweitzer Joint Venture is starting on an addition to the Eastern Academic Building at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Mich. The addition is part of several projects the JV is managing for the college, including bringing an addition and renovations to the Binda Performing Arts Center, set to start in January 2014. Other projects the JV is managing for the Kellogg Capital Improvements Program include a 15-year facilities management study, as well as addition and renovation work at the Davidson Visual and Performing Arts Academic Building and the Miller Physical Education Building.

For a NAVFAC water tank replacement project at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Walbridge is demolishing eight elevated water tanks and building seven new tanks ranging in size from 100,000 gallons to 750,000 gallons, as well as modifying the structure of an existing tank to increase its elevation, and installing new water mains and water pumps. Concrete structures are complete on two of the new tanks with steel portions averaging about 60 percent complete. The project is intended to improve water quality at the base and is roughly one-third of the way complete.

The Walbridge | Daniele Joint Venture is wrapping up construction of a new, multiple-level paint shop for BMW in Greer, S.C. The project scope included foundations, siding, roofing, slabs, electrical systems and equipment, mechanical systems and conducting interior fit-out for the 640,000-squarefoot facility, which also contains a four-floor office and locker room area. In July, the team achieved its process equipment movein milestone, bringing the project to roughly 85 percent complete. The team broke ground on the new paint shop in November 2012. Substantial completion is expected in September.

People W

e take pride in the accomplishments of our employees, the people who make us Built for Good.

Walbridge Engineering Coordinator Alexander Jakstys and BIM Coordinator Jacob Markut both earned CM-BIM designation from the Associated General Contractors of America. A Certificate of Management for Building Information Modeling (CM-BIM) is an assessment-based credential that denotes a person’s knowledge and understanding of concepts related to BIM adoption, practice and process transformation. Walbridge Project Engineer Nicholas Nicita recently earned a LEED® Accredited Professional designation through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design exam program. A LEED-AP credential

14 I Built For Good

affirms a person’s advanced knowledge in green building and expertise in the LEED rating system. Walbridge now employs 42 LEED-APs and 21 LEED Green Associates. Walbridge Chairman and CEO John Rakolta, Jr. received the inaugural “John Rakolta, Jr. Leadership in Race Relations Award” at the New Detroit Coalition Closing the Gap Awards in June. In subsequent years, New Detroit will present this award to a young leader in the community who demonstrates the type of leadership in race relations Rakolta, Jr. has exhibited for more than a decade.

A piece of our history

t was in 1973 when Walbridge produced its very first company sales brochure.

A pair of long-haired, heavily-mustached estimators had recently come on board and recognized a need for fresh sales materials. Marketing was shifting from word-of-mouth promotion, and Walbridge had just landed one of its first major commercial projects in more than a decade: The AAA Building in Dearborn, Mich. The young estimators – who moved on to become the company’s chief executive officer and executive vice president – commissioned a local producer of marketing materials and came up with a cover concept reminiscent of a project from beginning to completion. Inside was a brief

history of the company. Among the following pages were large images and descriptions of a handful of Walbridge’s recently completed projects. General Motors’ Wastewater Treatment Plant in Warren, Mich., and Ford Motor Company’s Louisville Truck Plant in Kentucky were among them. Today Walbridge has in-house marketing professionals dedicated to producing sales presentations, proposals and various corporate marketing materials. This newsletter, which took second place in the external newsletter category at the National Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Marketing Communications Awards, is another addition to Walbridge’s nearly 100-year timeline.

Connect with us:

Randy Abdallah, Executive Vice President 866.331.6585 | rabdallah@walbridge.com

Built For Good I 15