austin construction news april 2016

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Contractor as client

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Needed: White horse Rebel Weirdness Skatepark

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David Dennis, owner of Dennis Steel in Leander, admits he has a soft spot for Open My World Ther-

apeutic Riding Center (OMW), also in Le-ander. But he didn’t know anything about the non-profit center until he answered a call for help. OMW offers therapeutic horse riding for individuals, primarily children, who have disabilities. Founder/director Don-na Roland says Dennis was a knight in shining armor. “During the past two years, OMW has been holding fundraisers and saving their funds to pay for a project to cover their arena,” Roland said. “The project has been done in phases and in Novem-

ber 2015 the final phase of construction was scheduled. The date was set. The day came and went. The contractor did not respond.” Roland says the center attempted to contact the contractor numerous times before looking for someone else to finish the project. “David took 20 minutes to come and see what our project looked like and without hesitation took on the chal-lenge,” she says. “He not only took on the task but agreed to supply a missing beam and roofing material for the additional length, for the same relatively small amount of the balance due on the origi-nal bid!”

The Dennis Steel crew gets to work righting a wrong for a Leander non-profit.

Rodeo BBQ, see page 15

It’s one thing for general contractors to build for clients – that’s something K-W Construction Inc. president

Elaine Thomas has done for more than three decades. But it’s another to construct a space for your own company, as well as any future tenants who may share it. The latter was a challenge Thomas recently met head-on when building her company’s new office at 35 Oaks Building 2 in San Marcos. Having constructed spaces for others, she had definite ideas about her new office’s appearance. However, the design needed flexibility to accommodate future tenants, and it was her company’s budget that would dictate the materials and finishes. Thomas worked closely with architect Robert Hooper, HADC, K-W vice-president and superintendent Ernesto Gonzalez and local subcontractors to achieve the desired

result – a high-ceilinged 32,690-sf Class A office/warehouse that balances what Thomas wanted and needed her company’s new office to be. “The building is a big, open warehouse that is considered flex space; it can be all offices – which is what we have in here – or it can be a combination office/warehouse. We don’t have overhead doors in the back, but because it’s tilt-wall construction, we can put them in if needed. But, we do have knock-out panels back there, ready if needed,” Thomas explains. “We took 6,400sf for ourselves, and I have another 4400sf of the building leased, so two-thirds of the building is still available. We can cut it up if somebody wants 10,000sf; we’ll put up a wall and finish it out for them. “ Despite the building’s part-warehouse classification, Thomas incorporated elements that gave the

K-W Construction Inc. recently became its own client when it builtits new office at 35 Oaks Building 2.

Houston has what is being called the largest skateboard park in North America – a situation that

must be remedied and soon, says Aus-tin’s Paul Marriott, owner of Resfloor Concrete Solutions, an industrial floor-ing firm. Houston’s skatepark, Spring Skate-park, has 78,000-sf of skate surface. Mar-riott is planning to be involved in the construction of a skatepark near Austin that includes some 300,000-sf of skate surface. “I love Austin and I just cannot let Houston have the honor of having the largest skatepark in Texas – never mind in North America,” Marriott, an avid skate-boarder, says. His company will take care

of the slip resistant concrete flooring on the course. Private donations from Austin-area “shredders” have already reached the $12 million mark Marriott estimates the proj-ect will cost. Marriott is keeping the location of the skateboard park a secret for now, but says the project will be built on 600 acres that include woods, lakes and a river. “What’s really amazing about this lo-cation is that we are going to be able to incorporate things into this skatepark that have never been seen in skate parks before,” Marriott said. Along with the usual fare of bowls, hips and quarterpipes, the tentatively

Avid skateboarder Paul Marriott is looking forward to building America’s largest skate park.

Austin Construction News • Apr 2016


WIC kicks!

For one week in March, women in the construction industry celebrate their many and varied contributions to

the construction industry. Women in Con-struction (WIC) Week is one of the Nation-al Association of Women in Construction’s (NAWIC) most anticipated events, and the Austin chapter planned plenty of events to highlight their time to shine. On Feb. 27, NAWIC Austin Chapter #7 kicked things off with the highly-antici-pated Introduce a Girl to Engineering event. The goal was for each girl or group to build a tower stable enough to support a golf ball – highest tower wins! The only materials the girls were able use were 10

sheets of newspaper and 3’ of tape! On Mar. 4, Hensel Phelps provided a tour of an active jobsite for Crockett High School - Construction Technology Stu-dents, with the help of the HP Staff at the University of Texas Engineering Educa-tion and Research Center (EERC). On Mar. 8, everybody gathered for a relaxing Yoga Happy Hour, hosted by As-sociated General Contractors (AGC) and sponsored by Edge Electric. To finish the week off, the women spent some time on a community event, packing meals at the Capital Area Food Bank on Mar. 10. –cw

On Mar. 4, everybody donned their hard hats and checked out a job site. The whole top row is the Crockett High School Construction Technology students; bottom row, L-R: Toni Osberry,

Nikki Guinn, Kelli Mitchell, Emily Coffman, Pilar Avalos and Taryn Ritchie.

Introduce a Girl to Engineering, L-R: Jamie Leonard, Abbie Leonard, Kelli Mitchell,Melissa Marwitz, Gala Burns, GeKai Halton and Avilez Chaiah.

The women got their yoga on courtesy of AGC and Edge Electric.

Community service to celebrate WIC Week finished everything off as the chapter packed

meals at the Capital Area Food Bank. Front row, L-R: Toni Osberry, Wren Fair and Kelli Mitchell; middle, l-r: Gala Burns, Summer Dougherty and Misti Schafer; back, L-R:

Jamie Denton, Cindy Richter, Amy Maresca, Sandra Johnson, Molly Drazic, Jamie

Leonard, Kimberly McDaniel and GeKai Halton.

Using only newspaper and tape, these girls were proud of their finished project at the

Introduce a Girl to Engineering event.


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10 things every construction company should do to control their E-ModTom Spencer, Construction Practice LeaderINSURICASan Antonio, TX

It is a beast that goes by many names: Experience Mod-ification Rating (EMR), Experience Modification Factor

(EMF), experience modifier, and many others. I call it the “e-mod.” Many people in the construction industry are judged by their e-mod, but most owners and operators think their rating is out of their control. Here are 10 tried and true ways anyone in the construction industry can take back control:

1. Understand how your e-mod is cal-culated. Understanding how your e-mod is calculated is the foundation for building a plan to control it. Once a basic under-standing is achieved, all efforts with loss control, claims control, and safety plan-ning can be specifically targeted to have the biggest impact on your bottom line. 2. Understand the financial impact of your claims. When you understand how individu-al claims affect your e-mod (and ulti-mately, your Workers’ Comp premium), it is easier to allocate resources where they can be most helpful. Claims trends can be analyzed to understand the impact of specific types of claims. This information can then be used to foresee problems before they get out of control. 3. Invest in your company’s safety cul-ture. Creating a strong safety culture is an investment in the future success of your operations. It is well documented that a strong safety culture has far-reaching benefits, including increasing employee retention, increasing employee morale, creating a team atmosphere, and drasti-cally reducing workplace injuries. 4. Make Return-to-Work work for you. Early Return-to-Work, or “light-duty,” programs have been shown to have tre-mendous benefits, when implemented correctly. While some employers have mixed feelings about Return-to-Work, nearly every best-in-class construction company has some form of a Return-to-Work program—and for good reasons. 5. Work with loss control and risk man-agement experts. Loss control and risk management ex-perts can do more than keep you in compli-ance with OSHA requirements. A skilled pro-fessional can assess your current operations and make recommendations based upon best-in-class status. Pro tip: check with your insurance carrier to see if they offer free loss control services to policyholders. 6. Help control the cost of claims. Controlling the cost of claims goes be-yond timely claim reporting. Develop a pro-cedure for injured employees to follow, and work with your insurance carrier to communi-cate with injured employees. Routine claims

reviews can keep you up-to-date on claims before they spiral out of control. Claims costs are directly related to how your e-mod is cal-culated, and the lower your claims costs are, the lower your e-mod will be. 7. Communicate with your insurance carrier. Develop relationships with the claims managers and adjusters at your in-surance carrier. Most carriers have a lim-ited number of claims people, so it is common to work with the same people over many years on multiple claims. Let them know you take your safety culture very seriously, and communicate with them about resources at your disposal, such as your Return-to-Work program. 8. Hire the right people. Construction is hard work. Ensuring that capable, skilled workers are being hired is one of the easiest ways to prevent fraudulent claims and control overall claims costs. Best-in-class companies uti-lize pre-employment screenings and physicals in order to avoid potentially problematic hires. Additional resources available include reference checks, mo-tor vehicle record checks, criminal back-ground checks, and integrity testing. 9. Create safety goals. Having employees buy in to your safe-ty culture is paramount for your success. Creating achievable short- and long-term goals is a way to engage employees and give them ownership in the safety process.10. Celebrate safety success. Adding to number nine, it is impor-tant to celebrate team safety successes. Many companies choose to do monthly catered lunches for loss-free months, while others provide things like new work boots to their employees to reward successes. Regardless of what your spe-cific incentive program consists of, it is important that the message is well-com-municated and all mid-level managers support all safety goals and celebrations. Tom Spencer is the Construction Prac-tice Leader for INSURICA’s Texas offices. His experience as a life-long construction insur-ance professional gives him a unique un-derstanding of managing the risks facing the construction industry. Tom can be con-tacted at [email protected] or by phone at 210.805.5901.

What you need to know about com-pilations, reviews and audits to ob-tain a loan or line of credit

Many business owners looking for their first loan or line of credit face

the daunting task of picking the right financial institution and subsequent credit agreement that best fits their current and future needs. Unfortunately, this can be a challenge for many owners who do not have experience in finance or accounting. Signing a loan that is not properly negotiated can cost tens of thousands of dollars per year, while choosing the incorrect loan can be an expensive mistake that cuts into your bottom line for years. Most loans or lines of credit come with different covenants, and many require the borrower to provide yearly financial statements. These range from internally prepared financial statements to compilations, reviews or audits. Many first-time borrowers don’t understand the differences or the costs of producing these reports. Financial statements prepared by a CPA firm assist with the assurance banks look for when they issue a loan. Typically, the larger the loan, the more assurance the bank will require. Some loans only require a compilation, which technically provides no assurance, while loans which appear riskier to the bank may require a financial statement audit.Compilation A compilation is a financial report put together by a CPA firm that follows AICPA guidelines to assure the financial statements are presented in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or other standards recognized by the AICPA. This is a relatively inexpensive report, compared a review or audit, but it also provides no assurance.Review A review is the next step up and provides limited assurance. This report must be done by a qualified CPA firm, but unlike a compilation, the firm must be independent; meaning, the firm has no financial interests in the business, relations with owners or elected members of management, or with the area of the business it reviews. A review is typically two or three times more expensive than a compilation, with an increase in the level of work for the review process, and the increased risk the accounting firm assesses in preparing the reports. Reviews are like compilations, in that they are the representation of

PKF TexasHouston, TX

Chris Hatten, CPA, Sam Razmandi, CPA

management and not the CPA firm, and follows standards set by the AICPA.Audit This is typically a much more involved process and provides reasonable assurance the financials are presented fairly, in all material respects, and are in accordance with the stated financial framework, such as U.S. GAAP or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Audit procedures include an examination, substantive analytics, confirmations, and for some companies, the testing of internal controls. Audits can be two or three times the cost of a review and can even get into the six figures, depending on the company, its size and the complexity of the transaction involved. There can be a major price difference between the procedures banks may require, so it is important to note, like other aspects of your loan, these requirements can be negotiated. As with interest rates, collateral and other important factors of a loan, the financial reporting requirements are just as substantial. At times, a bank may be asking for an audit when a review might suffice and be a better fit for your business needs. Yet, after obtaining a loan or line of credit, it can be a painful lesson to learn of the costs associated with preparing the required financial statements, and the subsequent charges incurred by the CPA firm. It takes proper planning to prepare for a compilation, review or audit, which adds to the costs incurred if the company is not ready for the process. Most business owners do not like surprises. Always read the fine print and make sure you understand all of the covenants and reporting requirements that come with a debt obligation. Discuss these items with your banker and CPA to ensure you understand and can meet them. In addition, find out if any of the three can be interchanged from one year to the next. For example, getting a review one year and an audit the next can save time and money and may still be able to satisfy the financial institution and allow the business owner to grow into the reporting process. Chris Hatten, CPA, and Sam Razmandi, CPA, at PKF Texas can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].


Assignment issues inconstruction contractsBen Wheatley , TitleMunsch Hardt Kopf & HarrAustin, TX

Stewards of a legacy

Representing the fifth generation of the HOLT CAT family tree, Corinna Holt Richter and Peter John Holt

have taken the next step in the succes-sion plan towards their ownership of the heavy equipment dealer. In her new role as executive vice president/chief administrative officer, Holt Richter will be responsible for the administrative divisions, including HR, safety, IT, organizational development, facilities management, continuous im-provement, environmental, legal, mar-keting and strategy, and transportation. In his new role as executive vice pres-ident/general manager, Holt will be re-sponsible for all enterprise operating di-visions, including HOLT CAT, HOLT Agri-Business, Texas First Rentals, HOLT Crane & Equipment and Sitech Tejas. Both of them joined the HOLT CAT team in 2011 and note that in those five years, they have learned a lot from their experience and ascension through the ranks. They also emphasize the signifi-cance of starting on the product support

side of the business, which Holt Richter says, “is really what we see as the heart of what a dealer does.” Holt, who bears the name of their fa-ther, Peter M. Holt, owner and CEO of HOLT CAT, says, “This is truly a formal step for my sister and I to move into being owners of the business and head opera-tors of the business in our partnership. So, this is a really important time in HOLT’s past, present and future in the fact that we’re moving into roles that we will stay in for our entire careers. So, it’s vitally important for us to build and grow our teams, and then use a balanced ap-proach to continue on our operations ex-cellence journey, but also to find areas for growth and diversification.” Holt Richter adds, “It’s really hum-bling to be a part of this legacy that my family’s built. We’ve outlined what our sibling partnership mission statement is, and it’s essentially to be a steward of that legacy and to grow the business. We’re really excited about the future.” –mh

Brother and sister team Peter John Holt and Corinna Holt Richter have stepped into new executive leadership roles at HOLT CAT, taking up the next phase of the succession plan in

their family’s company.

As construction, design and real estate professionals (and their lawyers) know, the following clause is

found in most standard AIA contracts: Neither Owner nor Architect [or Contractor] shall assign this Agreement as a

whole without the written consent of the other, except that Owner may assign this Agree-ment to an institutional lender providing financing for the Project.

Because the only explicit exception to the consent prerequisite in the AIA Contract is for institutional lenders, courts have questioned whether this pro-vision actually prevents the assignment of contract performance or related causes of action. For example, design and construction professionals want the right to choose who they work for. On the oth-er hand, a developer may have a difficult time selling a newly completed project if the design and construction teams can-not be held accountable for defects that are discovered after a sale. In addressing this question, courts generally interpret this provision to pro-hibit the assignment of contract perfor-mance, but not the assignment of a post-performance cause of action relating to that performance. The primary purpose of clauses prohibiting the assignment of contract rights without permission is to allow the party to select the persons with whom he [or she] deals. When a contract is performed prior to the assignment of a breach of contract claim arising there-from, assignment of the claim does not require consent because a general anti-assignment clause, one aimed at prohib-iting the assignment of a contractual per-formance, does not necessarily prohibit the assignment of a breach of contract cause of action. The legal distinction between the “right to assign performance under a contract and the right to receive damag-es for its breach” is the right to assign per-formance of the executory contract. There are two reasons for this distinction: First, is the general rule that causes of ac-tion are freely assignableSecond, references not only the distinc-tion between executory and non-execu-tory contracts, but between contracts pre- and post-breach Even though an executory contract may be non-assignable because of its personal nature, after an event that gives rise to a liability on a contract, the reason for the rule disappears and the cause of action arising under the contract is as-signable. Thus, claims for money due un-der a contract, which is non-assignable because of its personal nature, may be assigned to a third person and enforced by the assignee. Courts have traditionally made this distinction between an assignment of a right or thing before a loss or breach has occurred, and an assignment of a right or thing after a loss or breach has occurred. This is because pre-breach assignments involve the potential creation of new contractual relationships, which could materially increase the risk of the non-

consenting party, whereas the post-breach assignment is supported by the law concerning the free alienability of causes of action that do not materially in-crease the risk of the non-consenting party because, in theory, that risk has been fixed by the breach or loss. Last, when the anti-assignment clause prohib-its assignment “as a whole,” assignment of the right to sue only constitutes a par-tial assignment. The AIA language above will not pre-vent the assignment of a contract, even while executory. Rather, a party seeking to enforce the anti-assignment provision will simply have a breach of contract claim for damages arising from the breach. If a party wants to prevent as-signment while a contract is executory, it should include language in the clause noting that any assignment without con-sent is void and unenforceable. Finally, when reviewing a design or construction contract, which contains an anti-assignment provision, carefully con-sider the long term implications of such a clause, in the context of your project role as a designer, builder or owner. Each proj-ect constituent will have a different view on what it actually wants as a result of such a provision, and ensure that the lan-guage plainly states your ultimate goal. Ben Wheatley has more than 23 years of experience litigating complex construc-tion and environmental matters, negotiat-ing and drafting construction and design contracts, serving as in-house counsel for an international A/E firm, and working on issues concerning the practice of architec-ture, engineering, and project construction in all 50 states, Mexico and South America. In addition to construction law matters, Ben handles administrative matters related to the construction and design industry, as well as environmental and commercial liti-gation. [email protected] www.munsch.com


Karl CongerPresident and Owner

DKC Construction

Karl Conger thought he was going to coach college sports – but life had a different plan for him.

Once he came home for a summer break between undergrad and graduate school and took a job in construction, he was hooked. With strong support from several people throughout his life, Conger took the lessons he learned and made the jump to opening his own company, DKC Construction, in 2013.

Tell me about growing up. I was born and raised in Pasadena. I lived there until I left for college in Dav-enport, IA. I graduated from Sam Rayburn High School and I played football and baseball in high school. My main father figure was my moth-er’s boyfriend, Keith Williams. He was a superintendent in construction. My mom is Michelle Poe. She has been a dental assistant for more than 20 years. I have one older sister and when my mom remarried when I was 14, I got a stepbrother.

Where did you go to college? I went to St. Ambrose University where I got a Bachelor of Science in kine-siology. I was planning to be a college coach. I chose to go to that college be-cause I wanted to play football there. One of my high school coaches had ties to that school. I graduated in 2008 and came home for the summer. I was planning to either go back for my master’s degree or to take a job teaching here in Texas. Keith knew somebody at Structura and I got a job as an assistant to the as-sistant superintendent at Structura in Houston. I was there for the summer and they promoted me to assistant superinten-dent on a ground-up, tilt wall project. Shortly after that, I knew that was what I wanted to do for a living.

What was it about construction that made you change your life’s direction? The opportunities. Structura made it fun and it was very educational for me. The sky’s the limit in construction as long as you have a great work ethic and you build the relationships. I had a great mentor in Houston – Jarrod Coulter. He basically grabbed my hand and taught me almost as much as I could learn in the matter of the three years I was in Houston. After that, I wanted to do something more creative and challenging so Struc-tura transferred me to Austin in 2011. My bosses in Austin, Kevin Jones and Rusty Morgan, were great and helped me get to where I am today.

You said Keith Williams was a father fig-ure to you. What did you learn from him? He taught me that I always need to be able to focus on the things I can control and not to expend energy on what I cannot control. He taught me to not buy into the misery and drama that is outside of work. He always pushed sports, because in playing sports you learn how to face ad-

versity, you learn how to win and lose and you learn how to work as a team. It’s helped me so much in construc-tion, because I work with so many sub-contractors, all with different personali-ties. But we all have the same goal – try-ing to finish a project safely, on time and on budget. Keith is still in my life today.

What did your mom teach you? She was always supportive of any-thing I wanted to do. She hardly ever told me no when I was shooting for my life’s goals and dreams. She let me make my own mistakes, but she was always there to catch me when I was falling. She helped me get through college, as well.

When did you start DKC Construction? I started in October 2013. The folks at Structura were very supportive. I still talk to Kevin (Jones). It’s actually fun when we bid against each other. He always wishes me the best of luck. They wanted me to stay but I knew I would regret it if I did not take this op-portunity. Robert Juarez and I have been friends since seventh grade and he worked with me at Structura in Houston. I was already at Structura and Jarrod asked me if I knew anybody I could rec-ommend so I recommended Robert and he got the job. He transferred to Austin in 2011 as a project manager. He came with me when I started DKC and he is vice president. We have built this company together from the ground up. We now have seven salaried employ-ees and nine hourly employees. Jessica Burk, our office manager, also came from Structura. When I left she was pregnant and she didn’t know what her next step was going to be. I said, “Hey, if you want to work from home for the first year or so with the child until we get this thing going” … it was a win for everybody.

How do you get the most out of the people you work with? You always approach somebody with respect – no matter what. When I was working in Houston, I had two superintendents with two differ-ent personalities. One was the nice guy who seemed to get more out of people, the other had an attitude of “I’m the boss. Do what I say.” I watched both of them and learned the best way to approach people. I have always been good at recognizing the personality of the person I am dealing with right off the bat.

What is your philosophy about em-ployees? I’m very open and easy to talk to. I’m not the stern boss. Everybody that works with me has known me for at least seven years. You give them a long rope, give them the resources they need to be suc-

cessful. I talk to a majority of my employ-ees on the weekends to see how things are going. I’m on the job site every day. Robert has my back. He handles things at the of-fice so I can be here at the job. It’s been pretty powerful.

Do you like living and working in Austin? I love the city we live in, Georgetown, because it’s slower and more laid back. I can get away from working downtown all week. Austin is beautiful. Its been continu-ously growing since 2009. It’s such a big city, but small on the network circle. I’ve gained more relationships since moving here in 2011 than I did my whole life in Houston. If you provide a good product and build trust, your name gets around quickly. What kind of projects has DKC been doing? DKC is a general contractor doing com-mercial projects. We’ve done quite a few restaurants: Fukumoto on East 6th Street was a design build; Pete Terry’s off Lamar Blvd. was a ground up; Juniper on E. Cesar Chavez St. was a ground up, tilt wall project. We’ve also done corporate office finish outs. Currently, we are doing a design build, tilt wall warehouse for Sheldon Cove Park and we just wrapped up a mu-sic studio, Mandoo. We also just finished a big event center at 8th and Congress that used to be a Hickory Restaurant.

Tell me about your family. I met my wife while we both students at St. Ambrose. Her name is Molly Masher and we married in May 2009. She was from Iowa and she moved to Texas with me. We have three children: a daughter, Jordyn, 4; and two sons, Beckett, 2, and Jace, 6 months. Molly juggles all three of them. She has a degree in psychology and sociology. She always wins the fight no matter what! We had our honeymoon in Jamaica and we go to South Padre Island for a weekend now and then. We’ve been to Las Vegas.

What are your hobbies? My hobbies are my kids. I like to play sports with my daughter every day and we go to the parks and the zoo. If the kids are not around, I like to watch football and play golf, but I don’t get to that very often anymore! Molly is 100 percent kids, but she likes wine tastings.

Who would you buy a beer for? Warren Buffett. He’s so down to earth. He still lives in the same house he bought in 1958. He said in one of his books, the fast-est transaction is a handshake. Today’s world can be so cruel with constant law-suits and he can trust a man with a hand-shake. I believe he’s been very admirable throughout his life. –cw

The Conger family took a Christmas photo in 2015.Clockwise from front left, Jace, Karl, Molly, Beckett and Jordyn


Using the moon toyour advantage

by Capt. Steve Schultz

Sponsored by:Waypoint Marine, Majek Boats, Evinrude

Outboards, E-Z Bel Construction,Power Pole Shallow Water Anchor, Ag-gregate Haulers, ForEverlast Hunting and Fishing Products MirrOlure, and

Columbia Sportswear

Every fisherman knows that the best fishing times are when the fish are feeding. This tends to be during

dawn and dusk, but what often goes un-noticed are the two periods elsewhere in the day - moonrise and moonset. Be-cause the moon has an effect on a variety of factors surrounding the fish, these pe-riods, combined with the moon’s phase, are what trigger feeding. By understand-ing this, and choosing times when sun-

rise/sunset and moonrise/moonset coin-cide with new or full moon phases, you’ll increase you chance of a good fishing catch. Assuming there are fish in the area, of course.

Choosing The Best Fishing Times There really is nothing complicated about this at all; it’s just a matter of knowing ahead of time exactly when the sun and moon will rise and set. Fish are most active during 90-minute windows surrounding each of these four daily events; that’s 45 minutes before and after these four daily points.

Fishing during these four periods will help increase your fishing catch, but if you plan wisely so as to ensure you’re at the water’s edge on the days of new or full moon, you can use these ‘windows’ to reel in a catch like you’ve never done before. If you have to choose between sunrise/set and moonrise/set, always go with the moon as the moon is the stron-ger influence. Hunters have always known that fish and game are most active at dawn and dusk - sunrise and sunset - but their activ-ity surrounding moonrise and moonset is less noticeable because these events are

likely to occur without a ffecting any change in the perceived light. The rise and set of a new moon is invisible any-way, and overcast weather often hides the moon. Without prior knowledge of setting and rising times, two of the best fishing times will be missed every day! Other Considerations When planning your fishing by moon phase, there are certain other factors that should also be considered. Weather : Severe weather changes have an impact on the way fish feed. When a storm’s brewing, or just after one has passed, is a good time. If this happens while you’re in place, you’ll be in for a treat! However, if there’s a cold front approaching, the fish are likely to move deeper into the water and become inactive. Season: Most fish are more likely to bite willingly during seasonal transitions with the transition from winter to spring and summer to fall being the two best fishing times. Now that you know that moon phase fishing really works, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t utilize this knowledge to increase your own fishing catch by be-ing at the ready with your rod during the best fishing times available. It’s easy and it works! My summer schedule is filling quick. Don’t wait till all the good dates are gone! To schedule your next bay fishing trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716 or 361-334-3105 or e-mail him at SteveSchultzOutdoors @ gmail .com. Good luck and Good Fishing.

Got a chance to bring my son Carson on a charter with Mike Kaiman and his daughter Kelsey. Here are the kids with a couple of Baffin Bay redfish that were caught during the break.

Receiving formal training before picking up this new skill is a good idea.Pictured, L-R: Dana Calonge, and Sandy and Wes Barnett, owners of Ballistic Therapy LLC.

Guns have been a debated topic for as long as I can remember. It seems you are either for them or

against them and not much is in be-tween. The fastest growing group of handgun shooters appears to be females between 30 and 60 years old. We wanted to find the reason for this dramatic increase so we headed up to Ballistic Therapy LLC just outside of Boerne for some answers. Sandy and Wes Barnett opened the facility in August 2015, but are not new-comers to the industry. The facility in-cludes an indoor range, gun shop and a classroom for License to Carry and other training. “We first went through the process to receive our FFL (Federal Firearms Li-cense) and started selling firearms. La-dies would buy a firearm and didn’t know anything about it and that led to train-ing,” said Sandy. “About four to five years

Protect yourself but be safe

ago we started thinking about our own shop. I really enjoy training women. This range became vacant so we met up with a partner and took it over.” How did she get started shooting I asked. Her big smile and quick response was that daddy had no boys so he turned his three girls into tomboys. She is the oldest and started shooting at 9. I turned the focus of my questions to the driving force behind the increase in women learning to shoot and carry a fire-arm for protection. “In the last five years it has really gone up. I think it’s the world we live in now. That’s what I hear from a lot of la-dies. They don’t want to have to rely on their boyfriend or husband. They want to feel protected when they are in or out of their home. Forty percent of our busi-ness is women,” continued Sandy.

continued on Page 9


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Liquid Resurrection!

I just saw a sweet sight. Three genera-tions of my neighbors just slipped down to the boat dock to wet a hook

and see if they could catch a mess of crappie. Now you might think that would be a routine thing if you weren’t from around here. The amazing thing is that the kids of the group are just getting ac-quainted with the lake because it has been dry for most if not all their lives. It’s like that old West Texas joke about drought that says a three year old kid would think the sky was falling if it rained because it never had in his life time.After being over 34 feet low at its worst the level of Lake Buchanan has risen to just a little over 4 feet low! It has taken several rises on the Colorado River since July of last year to get the water back, but it is finally here!

Years of drought left thousands of acres of lake bottom dry and exposed to the sun. The rich silt grew all kinds of heavy brush and trees. Now all of that structure is mostly hidden beneath the waves again and the fish have already moved in, just in time to spawn and raise their

young. Buchanan is poised to become a destination fishing lake once again!All around the lake the lights are coming on as people come back to enjoy their lake houses and rediscover their favorite resorts and fishing camps. We are hear-ing not only from fishermen that had been displaced by this drought, but from long lost friends and customers from up

to 30 years ago. Everyone seems to just want to check in on the return of the wa-ter and recapture the good times they’ve had here and we are happy to welcome them. We can’t seem to stop looking at the lake either!

I can’t explain how good it is to hear soft conversation on the cabin porches over

coffee, and smell bacon sizzling as the sun comes up, children playing on the beach with splashing dogs and fishing boats idling in and out of the docks in the cool morning air or the scent of fish and taters frying as the sun goes down. It is so nice to have everyone around again. It was too quiet for a long time around here.

Already we have plenty of bait fish that have moved back in. For the first time in several years the white bass have been able to make it all the way up to the head of the lake at Colorado Bend State Park for their spawning run. Stripers and hy-brids are back to their old spring migra-tion patterns like nothing ever happened. Largemouth bass are starting to find themselves good spots to nest and the crappie are loving all the brush to hide in. Everything seems to be settling back into place

I know this same scenario is being played out all over the state with the other lakes that are returning. We are in for a fine fishing season this year. Don’t miss out on going back to the waterfront; after all we have learned just how precious our water is and how quick it can be gone.


Wes explained that formal training appeals to people, as well. “Husbands are also bringing their spouses in to have them trained as op-posed to training them themselves,” he said. “Also, after the wives learn to shoot they can come in together. Shooting as a sport has drawn countless number of women.” Women who walk in the range may be uncertain, Sandy says. “Probably one half the ladies that walk in this door are somewhat afraid of a gun,” she said. It’s the unknown. They don’t know what to expect or if they will even want to shoot. They also worry about if they will shoot well.” Is it better for a lady to be trained by a male or female was my next question and how does she get a new shooter over that initial fear. Also, what is the differ-ence between the sexes when it comes to learning about guns and safety. “They come in and say I want to learn from a female because I feel more com-fortable. I work with them one on one using a nice easy approach. Safety is first hands down. It’s the first thing I start with and no matter what we are talking about, we go back to safety. Over and over again we talk about safety,” stated

continued from Page 7 — Protect yourself but be safe

Sandy Barnett spends time with Dana Calonge in the classroom before hitting the

range.

Beginner’s luck? Not according to Wes Barnett, who says women are more focusedwhen learning to shoot.

Sandy. “They come in and are usually a little nervous. After we go though the steps and some training sessions they are more comfortable and their confidence is building. Confidence plays a big part.” According to Wes, women have dif-ferent strengths than men. “Women seem to multitask a little better than men do,” says Wes. “They seem to follow the process better when they step into the lane. They do the same thing in sequence all the time. They are very deliberate in what they are doing. Guys don’t necessarily do that.” Sandy says she has a specific plan in place for training women shooters. “There is a strategy in the training,” said Sandy. “When I get them in here we take it step by step by step. Women will spend more time in the class than the males hands down. They ask more ques-tions. They want to know and make sure they get it right. “Also we go through the process even before we go into the range so I am comfortable they know how to dry fire, stance, hand placement and all of that.” I brought Dana Calonge our new Construction News account manager to the interview since she had shown inter-est in learning more about guns. She had never shot a handgun so a first training session seemed like a good idea. Sandy began going through the ba-sics with Dana and I could tell very quick-ly that safety is the number one topic in this classroom, along with lots and lots of basics. After this phase was complete we headed to the range and, here again, the first thing out of Sandy’s mouth was safe-ty rules. It was interesting to watch Dana and her initial apprehension about what she was about to do. She was carefully guid-ed step by step. Load one round of 22 long rifle into the pistol. Assume the proper stance, proper grip, proper aim and gently squeeze the trigger.

After that first shot she said, “I wasn’t aiming there.” Her first shot was in the 8. Now load up three more rounds and go again. This time each of the shots hit close to the X circle. Beginners luck, I said to myself. Next was the step up to a Sig Sauer P238 and six more rounds. This sweet lit-tle .380 was going to be Dana’s first expe-rience with a little bit more recoil. All six landed in the X circle and now I really be-lieve in first time luck. The gal is now hooked on something new. Back to the classroom and a little more conversation and I had to ask. “Are the ladies really better shots than men?” Sandy says yes, but then puts in a, “I don’t know why,” but Wes may have the answer. “When guys get guns our first thoughts are, ‘I can’t wait to go shoot’ and wanting to shoot off a lot of rounds. With the women, they are not so much about that. They are about hitting that X and seem to be more focused, I think.” Proper training and fit seems to be the key word at Ballistic Therapy and I asked Sandy for her final comments.

“I want women to know when they come into this range it’s different than anything you have experienced before hands down,” she said. “Wes and I are proud to say that. If they have never shot before we suggest a shooting course to get the basics down then we can go into other classes. We tell them if they are go-ing to carry they need to train. If they don’t train, then maybe they shouldn’t have a gun with them. “Buying a gun is a personal fit like buying a pair of shoes or a purse. It has to be what you are comfortable with and that’s why we have try before you buy. And safety is always first.”

Buddy DoebblerPublisher

P.S. After Dana left, I went to the range and shot a box with terrible results. I asked Wes to hide the evidence (target) in the trash.

P.S.S. Next day I had an eye appointment and found out my prescription really needed to be changed. I knew there was a reason.


The ACT Pipe & Supply Pflugerville location hosted an open house Feb. 5. Attendees checked out products, had lunch and networked with fellow friends in

the construction industry. –ab

Opening actSubmitted to Construction News

Ryan Companies US Inc., Austin, broke ground on Feb. 19 for Urban Oaks, an affordable multi-family development situated on 8 acres in Austin. Pictured, L-R: Ron Kowal, HACA vice president of Housing Development/Asset Management; Carl Richie, HACA board

member; District 2 Council Member, Delia Garza; Sr. Pastor George Ward; David Knoll, director of development, Ryan’s SouthCentral Region; Hunter Barrier, president of Ryan’s

SouthCentral Region; Suzanne Schwertner, AAHC Homeownership coordinator; and Michael Gerber, HACA president and CEO. –cw

On its waySubmitted to Construction News

Terracon recently announced it has acquired Building Exterior Solu-tions LLC (BES) of Texas.

Terracon is a provider of environ-mental, facilities, geotechnical, and ma-terials engineering services with many locations throughout Texas. Terracon will retain BES’ 20-plus em-ployees and offices in Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio areas. Founded in 2008, with the experi-ence of professionals from architectural, engineering, and construction industries, BES provides investigation, evaluation, and construction solutions for exterior building systems. BES’ experience resolv-ing existing building enclosure problems and developing new integrated building enclosure designs reinforces Terracon’s facilities capabilities and strengthens the firm’s ability to service clients across the country. “BES adds significant bench strength to our building enclosure practice and we are excited to have them join Terra-con’s Facilities Division,” said David Gaboury, PE, president and CEO of Ter-racon. “The depth of their expertise al-lows us to further demonstrate our com-mitment to bringing even greater value to our clients.” The BES staff includes licensed engi-neers and certified roof and waterproof-ing consultants who provide design for new facilities or rehabilitation of existing building enclosures that exhibit distress, deterioration, and air and/or water infil-tration. BES clients include owners, de-velopers, architects, contractors, and or-ganizations such as Kirksey, Memorial Hermann, Lincoln Properties, and Gensler. BES operates as Building Exterior So-lutions, A Terracon Company, as of the Jan. 31 closing.

Terracon acquires BES

“Terracon is well-known in the mar-ketplace and gives BES clients the benefit of an expanded network of resources and capabilities,” said Jerry Abendroth, BES president. “The facilities services ca-pabilities of our firms align perfectly, en-hancing our ability to serve clients across the country.” The acquisition strengthens Terra-con’s Texas presence as BES joins a net-work of more than a dozen offices in the state. Engineering News-Record ranks Ter-racon as the third largest General Build-ing design firm in Texas and Louisiana, and 11th on the Top Texas Design Firms list. Terracon is an employee-owned engi-neering consulting firm with more than 3,500 employees providing environmental, facilities, geotechnical, and materials ser-vices from more than 150 offices in 42 states. Terracon currently ranks 35th on En-gineering News-Record’s list of Top 500 De-sign Firms. –cw

David Gaboury

www.constructionnews.net

The Reynolds Company, an electrical wholesaler distributor, was founded in 1984 in Ft. Worth. Walt Reynolds

and Donald Reynolds Jr. are now the president/CEO and COO, respectively. The company, still headquartered in Ft. Worth, has 18 locations in Texas and Loui-siana, with the newest location in Selma, serving the San Antonio area. Massey Brand, regional manager for Central Texas, says customer service is a top priority. “Our idea is to truly value the overall customer experience,” he says. “We want our customers to enjoy doing business with us. We are a customer focused com-pany.” Brand says the company’s goal is to be the premier distributor in Texas and Louisiana, and that begins with top-notch staff. “We believe in hiring experts in our field,” he says. “We have an outstanding culture. We want our employees to come

Electric energy

to work and enjoy their jobs – and to make progress. We understand our most important asset is our people.” The company believes in promoting from within and has an internal training program, as well as an intern program. Brand says the company takes part in several charity endeavors, including the American Heart Association Heart Walk, the Juvenile Diabetes Fund and various trade associations. “We understand we have a responsi-bility to the community and we take that very seriously,” he added. Brand says when he started in 1995, the company was only in the DFW mar-ket, but over the last 20 years he has watched the company grow into a major regional distributor. “It speaks volumes to the type of owners we have,” he says. “It’s family owned with family values.” The Austin location opened in 1998 and employs a staff of 25. –cw

The Reynolds Company believes in grooming its employees to move up within the company.

Tony Rizo and Rachel Calima of Water Storage Tanks Inc. traveled from Dripping Springs to Dallas to exhibit at the Dallas Build Expo Mar. 9-10. –mjm

Traveling for tanks


Women in Construction

Plenty of opportunity for women in construction

Riki F. Lovejoy, PresidentNational Association of Womenin Construction (NAWIC)San Antonio, TX

More opportunities forwomen than everSandra Johnson, presidentEdge Electric,Driftwood, TX

What is your background in the construction in-dustry?

My parents have owned a construction company for nearly 20 years so I grew up learning the ins and outs of

the industry. However, I only started working within the industry in 2009, when Edge was incorporated.

Why did you choose a career in the construction industry? Construction chose me! I was sup-posed to be a real estate agent, actually I still am, I just haven’t sold anything in six years! I got my license to sell real estate the same year my husband and I incorpo-rated Edge. I didn’t think the company would grow as quickly as it did but it be-gan to require my presence and attention more and more often. I honestly believe there was a time frame in which I worked every waking second, A/P and A/R 7am to 4pm and showing houses in the evening and weekends - leaving no time for my family or myself. I had a tough decision to make - Real Estate or Construction??? Ob-viously, I chose the latter and I’m glad I did because it has been an amazing ex-perience building a successful business with my husband by my side. Do you have a mentor? Please explain. Common sense tells me that if you strive to be successful your best bet is to learn from those who are already suc-

cessful. And if you find someone who is willing to share their knowledge for suc-cess you should listen! But the key is to actually use the advice they give. My business advisor doesn’t always tell me what I want to hear - even so, I follow his instructions. For example, a couple years ago we were offered a $2 million project in Louisiana - literally just needed to sign the dotted line. Our advisor, with good reasoning, suggested we turn it down. And abiding by the law of common sense and listening to words of the wise we re-luctantly declined the contract. What are the benefits of women pur-suing a construction career? Women are emotional creatures by nature - so the fact that you are able to be a part of something bigger, like building a city, is pretty fulfilling. I was born and raised in Austin so being involved with the growth of my hometown makes me so proud! Almost every corner you turn downtown, I could point out a building where we’ve worked.

What do you enjoy most? I’ve worked in offices where the ten-sion was so thick you could cut it with a knife - I woke up every morning dreading the day ahead of me. So when we opened our company it was very important to me that we create a peaceful and inviting en-vironment for our employees and in re-turn I walk into an amazing atmosphere every morning. I love my job and the people I work with! What specific challenges have you faced? There’s really nothing easy about building a business from the ground up. But I have to say that one of my biggest challenges have involved growth. Unless you had a rich uncle kick the bucket and leave you a small fortune you should be prepared for the long haul. Rapid growth requires substantial capital, if you don’t have the capital you can simply grow your business slow and organically. How did you overcome those chal-lenges? We didn’t have the “rich uncle capi-tal” so we grew it slow, reinvesting every penny of profit for several years. We set annual goals considering the strain of growth on cash flow and our labor force - taking on only as much work as neces-sary to meet our goals while remaining profitable. Typically we grow 20%-30% per year. In your experience, are more opportu-nities opening up for women? Definitely! What areas do you see the most in-crease in jobs for women? There’s really NOTHING a women can’t do in our industry! I see women of all ages with a wide range of skill sets within

the construction industry. Business own-ers, upper management positions, wom-en with trade certifications, etc. What advice can you offer women who want to pursue a construction career? This isn’t my quote but I like it, “You can’t force someone to respect you, but you can refuse to be disrespected.” –un-known. I used to think that just because I signed someone’s paycheck they should naturally respect me but I’ve learned that respect must be earned (that applies to men, too). But as a woman in a predomi-nately male industry we have to maintain confidence and consistence in our work to earn the respect of our colleagues and customers. Which is more important for a con-struction career – education, or expe-rience? I believe experience is more impor-tant - I know lots of successful women in our industry with no more than a high school education. From a woman’s perspective, has the construction industry changed over the years? Things have changed dramatically in the last 10 years - women aren’t just run-ning the office anymore - they own the office, they run the field, they design and engineer projects, women are assets to successful businesses! What are your goals for the future in the construction industry? A perpetual goal of mine is to main-tain a healthy business. We’re looking for-ward to another 20 percent in growth for 2016. –cw

What is your background in the construction in-dustry?

I have been in the industry since 1985, starting as a re-ceptionist for a national general contractor. By the time the company had a layoff I was a project manager. At this point, in 1990, with a male partner, we opened a carpentry/concrete/miscellaneous specialties company. By day I worked in the field alongside our crew on commercial projects; by night, I was president of the company and all that entailed. Due to personal issues, both for my family and my partner’s, we closed the business in 1992.

From there, I went back to work with a couple of local general contractors and finished my education. In August 2001, I opened RFL Consulting Solutions in Or-lando, FL. We are a construction man-agement consulting firm specializing in owner and lender representation on commercial projects and moved to the San Antonio area in October 2012.Why did you choose a career in the construction-related industry? Prior to 1985, I had worked both in the hospitality and insurance industries but knew that neither of these was to be a life-long career for me. I had also worked as a part-time secretary/book-keeper for a masonry subcontractor. The VP of the company would take the office staff on ‘field trips’ to visit the various projects we had going. From these field trips I found it fascinating to watch a building literally rise from the ground. I realized that this was a very ‘tangibly’ re-warding career opportunity. I also real-ized that I could make better money to support myself (and later, others) nicely. I love the fact that 10 years or more later, I could drive by a building that I had a part in and realize that the building is a part of

any city’s history and/or footprint.Do you have a mentor? I don’t think I can honestly say I have had A mentor, and certainly not for this industry. What I will say is that the sup-port I received from the ladies in the Na-tional Association of Women in Construc-tion (NAWIC) was probably the biggest factor in staying in construction and con-tinuing to pursue career goals. And to be perfectly frank, I really did not realize the knowledge and leadership skills I had re-ceived from being an active member un-til 20 years after becoming a member and becoming a part of the national board. Not that I want to shamelessly plug NAWIC, but I truly believe I would not have had the ‘moxie’ to pursue the start-ing of my companies, working in the field with little skill but learning as I went along, co-authoring in women’s issues books, doing workshops and other pre-sentations, or even becoming the presi-dent of NAWIC. What are the benefits of women pur-suing a construction career? There are sooooo many avenues in the construction industry that can be pursued. When someone first says ‘con-

struction career’, the first thought is the field/trades people, which I’ll get back to. Architects, engineers, contractors, busi-ness owners, developers, are next in line. But because of the very nature of con-struction, attorneys, CPA’s, bookkeepers, insurance/bonding agents – all must have knowledge specific to construction. With all this said, women can find them-selves in any aspect of construction to be able to support themselves and their families very well. What specific challenges have you faced in your career? Early on in my career, being taken se-rious that I knew what was going on with a project and wasn’t ‘the secretary’ was very frustrating for me. Also, with the first GC that I worked with, I was actually passed over for a PM position for a guy that had literally just got out of college and I was asked to ‘train him’. In the field, I did have to work twice as hard to prove that I could do the work as well the guys and there were some un-comfortable moments with being ap-proached by guys with perhaps another agenda for my being in the field. And I think the worst challenge is the port-a-potties! Uggghhh!How did you overcome those chal-lenges? In the case of the PM pass-over – I let the boss know in no uncertain terms that this was not a fair decision. I did have sup-port of a couple of the other PM’s in the office so after I let loose on them and calmed down, with their advice, I talked to the VP (who had hired me in the first place and knew I was looking to rise in the company). Two things happened shortly after this conversation – first ‘the guy/PM’ real-ly proved himself to be near worthless…and, because I was still covering his butt, I finally got the promotion. I’m pretty sure the pay scale was not the same, but I still felt accomplished. The field work – I con-

tinued to work hard, kept up with the crew, and, in fact, found out later that my partner used me as a benchmark for hir-ing and staying employed with us. He told all new hires, first, can’t have a prob-lem with working with a woman in the field and second, ‘gotta keep up with her’. For the uncomfortable moments, I basically just had to face the issues head on, probably taking on a little more ‘male attitude’ and then just staying cautious about being alone with any of the trou-blesome workers (none on my crew – these would be from the other subs on the project). And, the port-a-potties – well, just had to hold my nose and get through it the best I could!What advice can you offer women? Talk to women that are currently in the field of choice. If a woman thinks she wants to pursue the trades, talk to trades-women about the challenges they face in the field. Which is more important – education, or experience? Obviously, it really depends on ca-reer choice, but in general, I think experi-ence is the greatest education. For tradespeople, although there is an amount of education needed, to acquire skill it is experience. But being of the con-tractor persuasion, I have also always said that architects and engineers should have an internship period of actually working in the field. I have had both, but I learned more from the experience.What are your goals for the future in the construction industry? To not have to have this discussion about women in the construction indus-try. For not only women to realize the ben-efits of choosing a construction career but for the industry as a whole to understand the importance of having women and their influence in making this industry a career of choice for everyone! –cw


The Greater Austin Contractors & Engineers Association (ACEA) held its 2016 Frostbite Golf Tournament on Feb. 22 at Twin Creeks Country Club.

Statewide Materials Transport won first place in Flight 1. –cw

Not so frostySubmitted to Construction News

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) in Austin, an arm of Associated General Contractors Austin Chapter (AGC), met up at the Container Bar for its annual CLC

Spring Celebration. More than 50 young construction professionals got together to mingle and let their hair down. –cw

Containing themselvesSubmitted to Construction News

Moving on up

The National Association of the Re-modeling Industry (NARI) an-nounced the 158 Regional CotY

(Contractor of the Year) winners in the 2016 competition, of which 13 are mem-bers of the Austin NARI. Regional CotY Winners now advance as finalists at the national level. Contractors from seven regions around the country vie for CotY Awards on an annual basis. Regional winners will be honored and National winners will be announced at NARI’s Evening of Excel-lence reception on Friday, April 8 at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol in Austin. Competing projects were complet-ed between Dec. 1, 2013, and Nov. 30, 2015. The entries of this year’s competi-tion totaled over $100.2 million worth of remodeling projects. –cw Austin-area NARI winners included:

Residential Kitchen Under $30,000Kitchens By Bell, Austin

Residential Kitchen $30,000 to $60,000Adams Company with team member Bartush Design LLC, Cedar Park

Residential Kitchen $100,001 to $150,000Realty Restoration LLC with team mem-ber Twelve Stones Designs, Austin

Residential Bath Under $25,000Realty Restoration LLC with team mem-ber Twelve Stones Designs, Austin

Residential Bath $50,001 to $75,000Realty Restoration LLC with team mem-ber Twelve Stones Designs Universal De-sign Project Recognition, Austin

Residential Bath $75,001 to $100,000Realty Restoration LLC with team mem-ber Twelve Stones Designs, Austin

Residential Interior $75,000 to $150,000Clark Richardson Architects, Austin

Residential Addition $100,000 to $250,000CG & S Design-Build, Austin

Residential Addition Over $250,000CG & S Design-Build, Austin

Residential Exterior $100,000 to $200,000RisherMartin Fine Homes, Austin

Entire House $250,000 to $500,000CG & S Design-Build, Austin

Entire House $750,001 to $1,000,000RisherMartin Fine Homes, Austin

Entire House Over $1,000,000Realty Restoration LLC with team mem-ber Twelve Stones Designs, Austin

Plumbing retirement

ICON Mechanical Contractors in Aus-tin bade a fond farewell to one of its own at a retirement party on Mar. 24.

Wayne Lawrence has been with ICON for 10-plus years and has been a licensed plumber in the Austin area for over 30 years. “Wayne has not only been a great worker, but a great friend and teacher to many apprentices,” said Chuck Paxton, president. “The day has come that we

have dreaded, he is retiring from the pro-fession. Wayne is one of the most knowl-edgeable plumbers in Austin and he will be missed. We wish him good luck and lots of fun in his retirement.” Lawrence has been involved in many of the buildings built in Austin over the past 10 years. The projects include hospi-tals, high rise buildings, down town ten-ant remodels, new construction and ser-vice work. –cw


Engineer cheer!

Round-UpFlintco LLC, has named Kevin Moy-es as president of the South Central Region, overseeing the company’s Aus-tin office and its op-erations through-out Texas. Moyes has been with Flintco for 29 years. He was integral in growing the Memphis division into one of the company’s most success-ful offices.

The Texas Society of Professional En-gineers Travis Chapter (TSPE) held its 2016 Banquet on Feb. 26 at Bar-

ton Creek Country Club in Austin. James

Bass, newly-appointed executive direc-tor of TxDOT, was the keynote speaker. Congrats to the winners! –cw

2016 Engineer of the Year Award: Ali Khataw, PE, right, president and CEO of Encotech Engineering Consultants Inc.

2016 Ervin S. Perry Memorial Award, Outstanding Young Engineer: Brandon Klenzendorf, PE, right, water resources engineer with Geosyntec Consultants

2016 ASCE Engineer of the Year: Julia Harrod, PE, FNSPE, right, president and CEO

of MWM DesignGroup.

Christopher Gon-zalez, AIA, LEED GA joins as an architect. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Architec-ture degree from the University of Texas at San Anto-nio. Gonzalez has over seven years of ex-perience in the architecture and design field in both the Austin and San Antonio markets. He has worked on projects of varying scope and scale in residential, commercial, educational and institution-al. Gonzalez is a LEED® Green Associate™ and Registered Architect in Texas.Maegan Holloway joins the interiors department as a de-signer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design from Michigan State Uni-versity. Holloway’s design career began with a foray into residential design before transitioning to commercial design with an office furniture dealer. She is excited to pursue her registration in interior design and further her LEED® design expertise.

STG Design has announced:

Brittani Long, LEED GA joins the interi-ors department as a designer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Science in Interior Design from Pratt Institute. Long has four years of experience in the design field. She has worked on projects of vary-ing budgets, scope and scale in corporate, justice and healthcare. Long is a LEED® Green Associate™ and is actively pursuing her registration in interior design.

What was your favorite TV show growing up?

Tales from the Crypt, I love scary shows. Russell Johnson, Edge Electric

Friends, because it was hilarious (and I had a crush on Joey!)

Sandra Johnson, Edge Electric

My favorite was the Mission Impossible series. It was so well done for the time period. The intrigue of the assignment always had your interest. Plus, watching them execute their “plan” to take out the bad guys always drew me into the story. Despite the limited technology of the day, they could make some pretty simple

equipment appear so high-tech. Barney was the master at this. I still watch the old shows occasionally on Roku.

David Matula,360 Electrical Contractors

My favorite show growing up was Dal-las. As a kid, it was addictive to watch and JR Ewing was who I wanted to be "when I grew up." The show had it all...fancy cars, beautiful women and the rugged yet so-phisticated feel of being a powerful oil-man. In many ways, that show still epito-mizes Texas image on a global scale.

James Gill, Austin Fence

Association CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

ACEAAustin Contractors & Engineers Assn.

Apr. 7: Monthly luncheon at Dave & Bust-ers, 9333 Research Blvd., Austin.Apr. 14: Infrastructure Design and Con-struction Symposium, Austin Convention Center, 500 E. Cesar Chavez, Austin. For more info contact Michele Yule at 512-836-3140

ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers

Apr. 7-9: Texas Section Student Sympo-sium in Lubbock at the United Supermar-kets Arena. Concrete Canoe Races, Steel Bridge Building, Career Fair. Call 512-472-8905 for more info

CTMCACen. TX Masonry Contractors Association

Apr. 29: Golf tournament at The Golf Club at Star Ranch. Shotgun start at 1:30pm. Check in starts at 11am and lunch is served at noon. Call Josh Abel at 512-312-6657 for more info

CTSACentral Texas Subcontractor Association

Apr. 12: Monthly meeting: Open Carry and Hot it Affects Your Business. 5:30-6pm, so-cial hour; 6-8pm, dinner and presentation. Embassy Suites, 5901 N IH 35, Austin. Speaker, Bobby Clark, TCHA president

IECIndependent Electrical Contractors

Apr. 4: Power Drive 18 Golf Tournament at Avery Ranch, 12:30-6pm.Apr. 13: Membership luncheon, Salt Creek Steak House, 11:30am-1pm.For more info contact (512) 832-1333.

IEEEIns. of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

Apr. 26: Monthly meeting, 6-6:30pm so-cial; 6:30-7:30pm business meeting; 7:30-8:30pm program. Speaker: Mark Siira, ComRent.

NARINat’l Assn. of the Remodeling Industry

Apr. 7: 5:30-10pm. Spring Business Meet-ing party at Rattle Inn, 610 Nueces St. fea-turing The Spazmatics.Apr. 21: 11am-1pm. General membership meeting at Norris Conference Center, 2525 W. Anderson Ln #365. Presentation: Achievement Now by Craig Krause of Di-rect Development Training.For more info contact Kayvon at 512-375-2601

NAWICNat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

Apr. 6: Chapter meeting at Big Daddy’s Burger Bar. Decorating session for Safety Hard Hat and Safety Vest Contest to be held at the regional forum in May. Slate of board of directors will be announced with elections at June meeting.

BIG RED DOG Engineering | Consulting announced that Dan Hennessey, PE, and James Schwerdtfeger will head up its latest service line expansion in Texas, a new Traffic Engineering practice. Hennessey will lead the new Traffic Engineering service line as a vice presi-dent and the direc-tor of Traffic Engi-neering Services. Hennessey was most recently a team leader and Senior Transportation Engineer for west-coast based Fehr and Peers. Prior to that, he held noteworthy positions for the South Carolina Department of Transportation and Greenville, SC-based Sprague and Sprague Consultants. Schwerdtfeger will also be a vice president in the Traffic Engineering practice. He has suc-cessfully led Austin-based R-K Traffic Engineering, LLC for the past three years as owner and presi-dent. During his time at R-K Traffic, he successfully led the traffic engineering analysis and recommendations for doz-ens of projects on behalf of development clients in the Austin metro area.


‘Ten’acious

continued from Page 1 — Needed: White horse

continued from Page 1 — Contractor as client

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Dennis said he had already made up his mind to help after only a few minutes of observing the children and the horses. “She is setting the bar for good deeds over there,” he says. “All I had to do was go over there one day and see the children. It was amazing. They do that ev-ery day. My hat is off to them.” Dennis said the original contractor had put up the steel columns and made the roof rafters for the covered arena, but everything needed to be put together and it was found that more sheets were needed for the roof. He said it took about two weeks to finish the project. Roland just thinks Dennis is one of the good guys. “If we had a white horse, we would have him ride it!” she says. Dennis started Dennis Steel in 1980

with a welding machine in the back of his pickup truck. “When the University of Texas start-ed the expansion of its dormitories, we were doing the handrails and burglar bars,” he says. “We did that for many years before we started doing structural steel. I find it very satisfying.” The company now boasts 71 employ-ees and finds most of its work through referrals from satisfied customers. “I would have to say I know every job we have comes from a customer,” Dennis says. “It’s not a real big secret. Our only job is to make our customers happy. If we ever lose sight of that, we’ll go the way other businesses do.” The company mainly focuses on resi-dential and commercial work. –cw

An Austin company that was found-ed 10 years ago with a crew of six has had a great decade and now

boasts 80 employees. Austin Underground was founded by Rick Vavro in 2004 and began opera-tions in 2006. New partner Tony Franco, general superintendent and vice presi-dent, has joined Vavro, president, to con-tinue the firm’s stellar growth. Out of our six original employees, four are still with the company. “I attribute that to their growth with-in the company,” Vavro says. “Two of them are now superintendents and one is a skilled equipment operator, while the other is a leadman” The office and equipment yard the company built in Jonestown has a literal open door policy for employees. “Other than the restroom, there are no doors on any of the offices,” Vavro says. “I try to run it like a family opera-tion.” For the last three years, employees

can look forward to an annual Christmas party where someone will win a car, Vav-ro says. Other company events include most events at Rodeo Austin and the oc-casional fish fry. The business is not afraid of chal-lenges. “Our saying is your construction challenge is our specialty,” Vavro says. “We do a lot of unique projects. We take on projects that other people avoid.” That includes digging deep in what are sometimes less than ideal situations to lay the groundwork for utilities. Both Franco and Vavro are OSHA cer-tified trainers, and are proud of the com-pany’s safety record. “We don’t stop work when it’s rain-ing,” Vavro says. “Rain days are training days.” Vavro says repeat business and great employees are the key to the company’s success. A celebration is planned in May to recognize the 10th birthday. –cw

Austin Underground employees donated money to the Pit Stop Barbecue tent, which the company sponsored at the recent Rodeo Austin Barbecue Cook-off. The company raised

$22,000 from the tip jar during the weekend for children’s scholarships.

space a higher-end feel. For example, the building’s exterior features two panels of country field-colored stone that was selected in New Braunfels. For the interior’s front lobby, Thomas requested a unique concrete tilt wall behind the receptionist’s desk. “I told Ernesto that I wanted that wall there and he made it happen,” she says. “It was poured on the interior on the slab and tilted in place just like a regular tilt-wall. Then he finished it with a labor-intensive sanding process to make it very smooth; you can run your hand over it and it almost feels like velvet. It’s just a massive concrete wall that is standing in place. He had to do some creative work in pouring it; it’s not structurally holding anything up even though it is supported from above. The weight involved in having something that is standing up in our lobby – he jumped through some hoops and really pulled off a very unique product.” Thomas says touches like these really make the space, but the cost of each one had to be carefully considered, given that the budget was hers. “It does present challenges because you’re looking at it from both viewpoints,” she says. “You’re looking at it as a contractor and at the cost implications. But because it’s something for yourself, you’re also looking at it as the owner who wants it to look nice. On a project we do for somebody else, it’s what is on the plans and on the drawings.” Fortunately, Thomas trusted her

years of experience and stood behind her choices, which cut down on construction delays. “We didn’t make any changes in the middle of the process,” she says. “We knew our budget well enough to know the most we could get for it. There were changes along the way because of city requirements – those change fairly often. But for ourselves, we went in knowing exactly what we wanted to put up and went after it.” Unfortunately, bad weather is what caused delays, which pushed a six-month project to the seven-month mark. Even though the slab was poured and the panel walls were tilted in place, a flood in San Marcos last spring affected the schedule, and the drought that followed impacted groundcover installation, delaying the certificate of occupancy. Being a seasoned contractor, Thomas took the delays in stride. “That’s typical for a general contractor,” she says, laughing. “We’re always fighting Mother Nature.“ With the project complete and her staff moved in, Thomas is more than pleased with the result, both as the contractor and the client “I’m extremely happy. The new space is much more comfortable than our last,” she says. Established in 1982, K-W Construction Inc. is a commercial general contractor with projects ranging from churches, schools, universities, retail centers, office buildings, tenant finish-outs and warehouses. –mjm

named Rebel Weirdness Skatepark, will have a 50-ft vertical ramp, a 50-ft deep bowl – shaped like a guitar – and a full pipe. But what makes it really weird and different from the others? Marriott laughs. “Skaters will be able to take advan-tage of a feature never seen before in a skate park,” he says. “A conveyor belt will allow skaters to leave their boards travel-ing underneath them as they traverse an iron-man like course that will take brute strength, as well as brains, to complete! If the board comes out at the end before

they do – well, to get the board back, they will need to do a passable version of the chicken dance on stage in front of the live band that will play all the time!” Marriott says the park will be lighted and be able to be accessed 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. A hotel, golf course, fine dining and other amenities will make this a destination place for enthusiasts of all kinds. However, you won’t be able to make reservations to take advantage of this wild idea, because Paul was a good sport and went along with this April Fool’s joke from Construction News to you! –cw

Kenneth Wayne Painter, 80, died March 17 in Seguin. He was born June 27, 1935, in Kiowa, OK, to George and Izona Paint-er. He moved to Corpus Christi in 1948, and considered Cor-

pus Christi his home town, though he lived across Texas and Okla-homa with his work for AGC. He was the Associated General Con-tractor (AGC) Austin Chapter’s executive director from 1993-2000. He is survived by his wife, Jeanette and children, Karen Painter Greathouse (Cody), Wayne Painter, Kirk (Heidi) Painter, Traci Garlington and Scott Gar-lington; grandchildren, Kelby Greathouse (Lindsey) and Lori Greathouse King (Dar-rell), Serena, Sarah, Shayla, Kelan and Mckennon Painter, Kelsey, Zachary and Harrison Painter; and six great-grandchildren with many nieces and nephews that he loved deeply as well. A memorial service was held Mar. 24 in the Chapel at First United Methodist Church in Corpus Christi. –cw

Obituary


Rodeo up!

More than 90 teams signed up to cook barbecue and help fund scholarships for children at the

first – and newest – event at Rodeo Aus-tin on Mar. 4-5. The new event, BBQ Austin, brought thousands of people to the Texas State Fairgrounds to sample plenty of barbe-cue and other items. Barbecue teams started working on Thursday and continued into the wee hours of Friday as they prepared their de-lectable treats. All proceeds raised by the teams fund Texas scholarships. –cw

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austin construction news april 2016

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