austin construction news february 2016

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Business partners David Matula, vice president, and Rita Conner, president, opened 360 Electrical

Contractors Inc. in August 2011 on a piece of property Matula owned in Smith-ville, TX. But since the majority of the company’s work is in the greater Austin area, the distance proved problematic and, in 2015, the partners moved it to Pflugerville. Now 360 Electrical Contractors is in the process of building a permanent facil-ity on one acre in Pflugerville to call home. In August, the company invited its 25 employees to a special celebration on the building site. “It was a great turn out,” Matula says.

He and Conner attribute the young company’s success to its team and its customer relationships. “We are very proud of the fact over the last couple of years in the Austin mar-ket, the majority of our guys have been with us over two years,” Matula said. “There are a lot of other opportunities out there with other companies. It’s about having the right team and having strong support in the field. We promote from within.” To illustrate that fact, Matula points out that the current project manager was promoted from the position of foreman, while an apprentice electrician has been

360 Electrical Contractors at one of the company’s current renovation projects located at 220 S. Congress. Defined as an “architecturally significant property,” this brick building was

constructed in 1936 and has been vacant for several years. At one time it housed Brink’s cash handling and security business.

Austin and its surrounding suburbs and cities are among the fastest growing places in America – and

Buda is no exception to the list. One only has to drive around this popular destination area of Texas to see the building projects going on and the cranes in the air. JCI Residential is the multi-family development arm of Journeyman Group Development, an Austin-based real es-tate development, financing, design and construction company. Kurt Goll is proj-ect developer and president of JCI Resi-dential. One of JCI’s recently-finished proj-ects, Carrington Oaks Luxury Apartments in Buda, is a 330-unit apartment complex with 13 three-story buildings built of 50 percent stone and 50 percent stucco. All of the apartments have all granite counters in kitchens and bathrooms, with

Energy Star appliances in the kitchens, and including the washers and dryers. The gated property includes a 7,000-sf clubhouse with a movie theater, game room, business center and 24-hour fit-ness center. There is a valet trash pickup with trash compactor on site. According to Goll, the property is part of a city-planned development that will include hotels and pad site retail stores within walking distance. Also with-in walking distance are Walmart, HEB, Chili’s, Cabelas and lots of restaurants and retail. The apartment buildings are situat-ed around a central courtyard that has wide sidewalks that form a walking loop and there are two gazebos inside the courtyard with grills and benches. With 72 garages and 72 carports, the accessible units mean the entire ground

Carrington Oaks Luxury Apartments in Buda has 13 three-story buildingswith plenty of amenities.

Since Asphalt Inc. LLC and Lone Star Paving merged one year ago, the new company, Asphalt Inc. LLC dba

Lone Star Paving, has grown exponen-tially, going from four people before the merger to 241 employees today. In November 2014, Jack Wheeler, Tyler Wheeler and Kennedy McLeod started up Asphalt Inc. Two months later, Jack and Tyler Wheeler along with Steve Spinn and Peyton Kurio began talks and decided to merge with their friendly competitor, Lone Star Paving, which was started in Dripping Springs by Jim Cov-ington many years ago. Soon, the original plan to have one plant and one crew had to change to ad-

just for paving crews and the start of op-erations in San Antonio. Spinn notes that this led to challenges with the internal control system that was designed to ac-commodate 20 people. They had to come up with new internal control, new payroll strategies, electronic time cards, and new accounting and estimation systems. “It was an unbelievable challenge to change all this as the growth is occur-ring,” recalls Spinn. “We were hiring 20 people a week for three straight weeks during the summer.” Today, Lone Star Paving’s executive committee includes Jack Wheeler, presi-dent and CEO; Allen Knox, vice presi-

The management team during its first meeting before the merger ofAsphalt Inc. LLC and Lone Star Paving in January 2015

Austin Construction News • Feb 2016

Home for the holiday

On Dec. 12, more than 30 Austin BakerTriangle employee volun-teers showed up to work on the

home of long-time Baker Drywall em-ployee Ivan Bell. Bell began working with Baker in May 2001, running some very successful projects in the Austin area, including Round Rock and Marble Falls high schools. After diabetes ended his ability to work, Bell retired and began building a

home in Spicewood. However, Bell lost a leg because of diabetes and his inability to work on his home had left it framed with just a roof up for several years. The first weekend, workers complet-ed interior and exterior framing, drywall installation and tape and bed. On Dec. 19, 30 more volunteers returned. Crews were able to complete the home – turn key! Kitchen cabinets, counter tops, flooring, trim and interior and exterior painting were completed. –cw

Former employee Ivan Bell watches from a chair inside the home as a swarm of volunteers complete his planned retirement home.

Volunteers pose with Ivan Bell when the project was complete.

Associated Supply Company (ASCO) Austin employees were thrilled to honor their company’s

core purpose of being a “blessing to oth-ers” through "Operation Community Giveback" at the end of 2015. ASCO em-ployees throughout the 22 locations in Texas and New Mexico were asked to choose deserving charities and to deliver checks in the total amount of $500,000. For the Austin area, the team was allotted $35,000. In the weeks leading up to

Great start to new year

L-R: Jon Ladd, ASCO; Stephen Brewer, Austin Disaster Network; Bob Kramer, ASCO

ASCO employees Bob Kramer, Joey Brooks, Brian DeDecker and CCA staff Kelly Franke, executive director, and Darlene Myers

Feeding the 5000 Pastor Marcus Bigot and council and ASCO employees,David Dahl and Bob Kramer

Christmas, ASCO Austin-Manor team-mates delivered checks to the five chari-ties they selected using a nomination and Survey Monkey voting process. The charities were: Central Texas Ta-ble of Grace, $5,000; Hutto Lutheran Church’s Feed the 5000 program, $7,500; Combined Community Action (Gid-dings), $12,000; Hope and Love 4 Kids (Hays County), $5,500; and Austin Disas-ter Relief Network (Central TX Floods Re-lief), $5,000. –cw

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The Austin Construction News (ISSN 1547-7649) is published monthly, by Construction News Ltd., dba Austin Construction News, and distributed by mail to selected construction-related companies in Austin and surrounding counties. All submissions should be mailed to our editorial offices. We reserve the right to edit any materials submitted. No fees for materials, copy or photographs submitted will be due unless agreed upon in advance in writing. Submissions will be published at our discretion on a space-available basis. Construction News, Ltd., dba Austin Construction News, will not be liable for errors in copy or in advertisements beyond the actual cost of space occupied by the error. Publisher reserves the right to reject any advertisement at any time.

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First in the succession

CorrectionIn the January 2016 legal column, “Texas Mechanic’s and Materialman’s Liens on pri-vate projects in Texas,” it should have said the author, Janet Townsley, and the firm, The Cromeens Law Firm, are based in Houston. Construction News regrets the error.

The New Year has brought Joeris General Contractors to the first big step in its succession plan with John

Casstevens taking the helm as the com-pany’s new president. With the company since the summer of 1995, Casstevens will channel his two decades of experience in project man-agement at Joeris into overseeing its 377 employees across three offices. Based in San Antonio, Joeris opened an office in Dallas-Fort Worth four years ago and one in Austin three years ago. “We’ve had a close-knit, strong ex-ecutive team managing our company for 15 years,” says Casstevens. “I’ve been a part of that, and I’m honored and hum-bled to be the one to step into this role. I could not have done it and I cannot con-tinue to do what I’m doing without their support.” Gary Joeris, son of founder Leo Jo-eris, will continue as the company’s CEO. As he and Stephen Walter, executive vice president, prepare for retirement on the distant horizon, Casstevens will con-tinue the succession process, eventually transitioning a new generation of long-term employees into leadership roles. Casstevens notes that his goals in-clude communicating the vision of the company and its goals to Joeris’ team members, being a leader who provides energy and enthusiasm towards pursu-ing those goals, and growing the com-pany’s people into future managers and leaders. After growing up in West Texas, Casstevens served in the Navy as a sur-face warfare officer on a ship based in San Diego. He worked for a general con-tractor in California for two years before

relocating to San Antonio to join Joeris. Before his rise to president on Dec. 1, 2015, he was COO. Outside of work, he has served in his church’s leadership for 20 years and is ac-tive with the Leukemia Lymphoma Soci-ety. He has also supported the Northside Education Foundation. Not only does Jo-eris do a lot of work for Northside, Casste-vens’ two daughters, now in college, at-tended school in the district. In Austin, Joeris has a strong relation-ship with Manor ISD. The general con-tractor is also starting work on a big proj-ect in the Austin area, Round Rock Set-tlers Park. Established in 1967, Joeris General Con-tractors is a commercial general contractor that specializes in the construction of K-12 and higher educational facilities, health-care facilities, churches, retail, research cen-ters, multi-story office buildings, restau-rants and hotels. –mh

John Casstevens, Joeris’ new president

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Tax break now permanent

John McClelland, vice president of government affairs and chief econo-mist for the American Rental Associa-

tion, (ARA) says the passage of the Sec-tion 179 deduction as a permanent tax deduction in December is great news. The deduction will make it more af-fordable for small companies to buy up to $500,000 per year in equipment, in-cluding machinery and vehicles. “Since 2003, ARA has been a strong advocate for expanding the Section 179 expensing limit – now set at $500,000,” McClelland says. “We’ve been strong pro-ponents of making the $500,000 limit permanent. We think it is something that small businesses can use and they are a huge agent for job creation.” Before the law passed, the dollar lim-it on Section 179 fluctuated, creating un-certainty for businesses that spend a large portion of their budgets on equip-ment, McClelland says. “An important piece of this is the per-manence,” he said. “We’ve had times where we didn’t know what the limit would be until towards the end of De-cember. Sometimes, the new limit set would be for the year just past, but not the year coming up. This law creates cer-tainty so we can rationally decide what our equipment purchases are going to be now and in the future.” Section 179 allows qualifying capital items to be written off immediately on a business’ taxes, instead of being depreci-ated over a number of years. The deduc-tion is essentially limited to small and midsize companies - those that spend less than $2 million a year on qualifying purchases. “This is important especially for rent-al companies who have a large capital

outlay and may still be a small company,” McClelland said. “Annual expenses of $1 million are not out of the ordinary. A very high percentage of our members would be eligible to use Section 179.” McClelland cautions, however, that every business owner must study his or her own situation before making a deci-sion to increase inventory based on Sec-tion 179. “Your tax situation is unique to you,” he says. “Before you implement any kind of acquisition program, talk to your tax professional and figure out what is best for you. “If you are in a mode where you really need to expand your fleet, taking advan-tage of these rules is an important part of your strategy and is certainly worth look-ing at.” –cw

John McClelland

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Work on Hand Reports – a key tool for underwriting

Clark Fresher, IBTXSan Antonio, TX

Business is a game! Play to win!Part 2 of a 3 part seriesCarrie D. Bradshaw, C.P.A.Brown, Graham & Company P.C.Georgetown, TX

Know your cost: Variable versus fixed cost and how to utilize the break even analysis tool

In part one; we discussed the importance of knowing your score to be able to win the game. This included un-

derstanding the story your financial statements tell about your company through ra-tio analysis, industry benchmarking and internal trend analysis.

This month, we will discuss evaluat-ing your cost and how to use a break even analysis tool to gain a more thor-ough understanding of your company’s current position. Before we get into the five steps that make up this break-even analysis tool, there are a few definitions that we should review. • Break-Even: The point at which revenue exactly covers costs.• Variable Costs (VC): Costs that are in-curred only if a sale happens.• Fixed Costs (FC): Costs that are not di-rectly related to sales.• Contribution Margin (CM): The amount of revenue remaining after variable costs are paid.• Target Profit: The profit the owner plans to achieve for the year. As we stated above; engaging in the exercise of using this break-even analysis tools is a five-step process, which in-volves the following steps: Step one: Classify expenses into fixed or variable costs. In order to perform this step you will need a detailed income statement for your most recent annual financials. Identify each cost as fixed (FC) or variable (VC). This is not to be con-fused with the definition of direct costs, indirect costs or selling, or general and administrative costs used by the accoun-tants. If you incur the costs regardless of whether you have any sales, it is fixed (i.e. rent or telephone). If you incur the costs because you made a sale, it is variable (i.e. job materials or tools).Step two: Determine the variable cost percentage (VC%). Add up all of the cost you determined were variable and divide that number by your total sales. For ex-ample, if your variable costs are $75,000 and your sales are $100,000, your vari-able cost percentage is 75 percent. Step three: Determine the contribution margin (CM). The contribution margin is the amount of revenue from the sale re-maining after the variable costs are paid. In the previous example, the contribu-tion margin is $25,000. ($100,000-$75,000(VC)=$25,000(CM)). In other words, $25,000 remains to pay for fixed costs.

Step four: Calculate your total fixed costs. Return to the identification process your performed in step one, and add up all the costs you determined were fixed costs. Step five: Calculate your break-even. Be-gin with the calculation of fixed costs. Let’s assume the fixed costs in step four are $100,000. Next, using the contribu-tion margin calculated in step three (25%), calculate the needed sales. In or-der to pay for the $100,000 in fixed costs, your company would have to generate $400,000 in sales. ($100,000(FC)/25%(CM)=$400,000 sales)To look at this from a different perspec-tive, consider this equation: $400,000(sales) - $300,000(75%(VC%)) = $100,000(FC) This calculation is well and good, however none of us are in business to break-even. We are in business to win! Let’s determine how much revenue from sales you need to generate profit. In order to do this, we need to make the as-sumption that you can achieve the next level of sales with the same capacity, and therefore not needing to increase fixed cost. (We will discuss the evaluation of funding growth in the final installment of this series.) For the purpose of this exam-ple, let’s assume your target profit is $50,000. How much do sales need to go up to generate an additional profit of $50,000? Most of us would immediately answer $50,000. However, we need to re-member that for every dollar of sales we generate, we are also generating 75 cents in costs. In order to create $50,000 in prof-it we would need $200,000 in additional sales. ($200,000(sales) - $150,000(VC at 75VC%) = $50,000 profit.) By truly understanding the costs of your business, you can develop the strat-egy to coach your team to greater suc-cess! Carrie D. Bradshaw, CPA and CCIFP with over 20 years of construction contrac-tor coaching experience, is the Managing Shareholder of the Brown, Graham & Com-pany, P.C.’s Georgetown office. You can con-tact Carrie at [email protected] or call 512-930-4090.

Surety underwriters carefully review work on hand reports for several im-

portant reasons: 1. Backlog- Most contractors have bond lines which require that the agent know what the aggregate backlog is be-ing carried by the contractor. The term "backlog" refers to "estimated cost to complete". Any new bids must fit into this aggregate backlog maximum.

2. Profit Fade- Since an important feature of contractor accounting is the percentage of completion method for in-come calculations, the jobs in progress are estimates of what the project will earn at completion. This is necessarily an uncertain way to calculate the financial health of an income statement, but it's the best we have. Surety companies use the work on hand reports, both at year-end and interim periods, to see how well estimated profits are holding up versus the original estimates. Clearly, a contractor showing signifi-cant and widespread profit fade will ex-perience a net loss and will face ques-tions from the surety. All contractors will experience profit fade on various jobs from time to time and this would not be a cause for alarm as long as it is not a habit. Contractor's inability to maintain esti-mated profits on projects as they pro-ceed is a serious concern for all surety underwriters.

3. Closed Jobs- Comparing final gross profit on a completed job to the original estimated gross profit sheds light on just how effective is the jobsite supervision and project management functions of the contractor. The closed job schedule can also be used to close bonded jobs and generate the bond dividend, if one is available.

Finally, one quick word of warning with regards to change orders. It is not unusual, though not ideal, that work will begin on a change order before the ac-tual signed change order is generated and received by the contractor. The prob-lem here is that the costs incurred in completing the change order will appear on the work on hand report but, con-versely, the increase in contract price and resulting revenue will not be picked up on the report until the order is signed and received by the contractor. It's pretty clear that the results of this process will negatively impact that report specifically and the financials in general.

Clark Fresher joined the IBTX team twelve years ago. He currently has more than 35 years of insurance experience and came to IBTX from Guarantee Insurance Services. Clark’s areas of expertise include Surety, Property and Casualty and Risk Management Services Plans. Contact us at 800-880-6689 or visit us at www.ib-tx.com for more information or to setup your poli-cy today.

At Construction News, we receive several questions from our readers each month, and often readers in-

quire as to how to get the paper. We are very happy to say that our website, www.constructionnews.net, makes it easy to get copies and subscriptions. Here are a couple of those frequently asked ques-tions and their answers.

How do I subscribe to the paper? On our website, go to the menu bar and click “Subscribe.” Fill out the sub-scription form. The subscription is free upon approval. You can only get a free subscription if your office is located in the area of the paper for which you are requesting a subscription. Please check the county listings for your city/paper to make sure you are in that coverage area. If you are approved, you will receive the next month’s issue in the mail. If you apply after the 20th of the month, you will receive the issue following the next month’s paper. Free subscriptions are given to company decision makers, such as presidents, CEOs, vice presidents and branch managers. Only one free sub-scription is allowed per location. Free subscriptions are not approved for companies that are outside the con-struction industry or for employees, oth-er than decision makers, of a company. Free subscriptions for residential con-tractors are only given in San Antonio. If you are not approved for a subscription, you can request a paid subscription for

How to get the paper$35 for the year per city, payable by Pay-Pal, or you can choose one of the follow-ing options. Read on for details.

How do I get copies of the paper? People who would like copies of the paper have a few choices. For starters, you can pick up free copies at any of our rack locations. On our website, go to the menu bar and click “Rack Locations.” Select your city. The map will display all of the rack locations in your surrounding area. There are many racks in each city in offices, shops and other supplier and vendor locations. Those locations only carry the paper for that area. Also, you can download a free PDF copy of the paper. On our website, go to the top right corner and click “Paper Ar-chives.” Digital versions of each paper for each city going back to 2001 are available for download from our online archives. Furthermore, you can request a digi-tal reprint of an article, often used for framing. These are digital versions of the complete article, full size and full color, with the masthead from the issue in which the article appeared. On our web-site, go to the top right corner and click “Digital Reprints.” To order a digital re-print, fill out the reprint form. The charge for a digital reprint is $42 plus tax, and the form will redirect to PayPal. Upon payment, you will receive a PayPal re-ceipt. Your digital reprint will be deliv-ered by email soon after. –mh


Knowing the difference between an invalid and a fraudulent lien

Tina Snelling, Of CounselThe Cromeens Law FirmHouston, TX

If you have performed work on a construction project, and filed a lien on the property, you could find yourself

facing penalties as well as criminal charges. Texas has specific laws governing the filing of fraudulent liens and the refusal to release a fraud-ulent lien.

There is a difference between an in-valid, as opposed to a fraudulent, lien. Texas law entitles the person to claim a lien against an owner’s property to se-cure a debt. However, the steps to “per-fect” a lien can be complex, if not out-right costly. Failure to comply can oper-ate to render the lien invalid. Five rele-vant examples of an invalid lien are: (1) failing to provide notice of the claim to the owner or original contractor, (2) the filing of a faulty affidavit, (3) failing to give notice of the filed affidavit to the owner or original contractor, (4) the filing of a lien after expired deadlines, (5) the filing of a lien on homestead property. If an invalid lien is filed and the owner proves it in court, a lien claimant can be ordered to pay court costs and attorneys’ fees. However, there is a difference be-tween an invalid lien and a fraudulent lien. If an owner proves the lien claimant knew when he filed his lien that it was in-valid, the claimant could be subject to further penalties under the Fraudulent Lien Act. The Fraudulent Lien Act, found in Chapter 12 of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code, provides that a per-son may not make, present, or use a doc-ument or other record with: 1. Knowledge that the document is a fraudulent; 2. intent that the fraudulent docu-ment be given the same legal effect as a valid document; 3. intent to cause another cause an-other financial injury, physical injury or mental anguish; and 4. intent to defraud.

Under section 12.002(b) of the Act, when a person files a fraudulent lien, the in-jured party can receive: (1) the greater of $10,000.00 or actual damages; (2) court costs; (3) attorney’s fees; and (4) exem-plary damages. Moreover, there is the potential for criminal sanctions for failing or refusing to promptly remove a known fraudulent lien. The offense is a Class A misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $4,000, and incarceration for a period up to one

year, or both. One case which addresses the ele-ments of knowledge the lien is fraudu-lent and of the intent to cause financial injury is Taylor Electrical Services, Inc. v. Armstrong Electrical Supply Co., 167 S.W.3d 522 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth, 2005, no pet.), which involved work done for the same owner on two different churches. Subcontractor, Taylor, claimed material supplier, Armstrong, falsely promised and failed to deliver materials on a guar-anteed date, which caused Taylor to fall behind schedule. Taylor paid Armstrong $7,732.99 but withheld $6,110 due to Armstrong’s delay. Armstrong held Tay-lor’s check and filed a mechanic’s lien on the properties. Then, after filing the sworn lien for the sum for the full balance owed, Armstrong cashed the check. Armstrong’s lien was challenged and, at trial, the jury was asked if it found that Armstrong presented a document to the county clerk with knowledge it would create a fraudulent lien or claim against the property with the intent that the document be treated as a valid lien against the property. The jury answered “yes” and the court found sufficient evi-dence of a fraudulent lien because Arm-strong failed to credit the sworn-to lien amount by the amount of the later cashed check. Additionally, the evidence revealed Armstrong was previously warned to make timely deliveries be-cause of Taylor’s potential financial losses of falling behind schedule and that Arm-strong’s notice of lien notice letter stated “[w]e do not wish you any harm in your business.” The court found this evidence sufficient to establish the element of in-tent to cause harm. In sum, there is a difference between an invalid lien and a fraudulent lien. If you are unsure of the validity of a lien you filed or wish to file, it is advisable to consult with counsel experienced in me-chanic’s and materialmen’s’ lien law.

For more information on our services, please visit www.thecromeenslawfirm.com or call (713) 715-7334.

L-R: Balfour Beatty’s Matt Potts, Eric Leisering, Shannon Gavin, Travis McGarraugh, Nick Coker and Damien Yoder are leading a new internal training initiative called

“G.L.U.E.,” (Guidance, Leadership, Engagement, and Understanding). G.L.U.E.’s mission is to engage operations teams in education, interiors, and large projects in a peer-to-peer approach to training. This inaugural team represents a cross section of the Austin office

and will serve until the 2017 team is selected. –mjm

G.L.U.E. crewSubmitted to Construction News

Guidance on safe ropesling use

Joann NatarajanCompliance Assistance SpecialistOSHAAustin, TX

Natural and synthetic fiber rope slings are used primarily for temporary

work, such as construction and painting jobs, and in marine operations. Designate a qualified person to in-spect slings and all fastenings and at-tachments each day before use for dam-age or defects. Make periodic inspec-tions of natural and synthetic fiber rope slings at intervals no greater than 12 months.Make a thorough inspection of slings and

attachments. Items to look for include: • Missing or illegible sling identifica-tions, • Cuts, gouges, areas of extensive fiber breakage along the length and abraded areas on the rope, • Damage of 10 percent or more of the ropes diameter, • Uniform fiber breakage along the major part of the length of the rope in the sling such that the entire rope appears covered with fuzz or whiskers, • Fiber breakage or melted fiber inside the rope that appears along the length at the same relative position and involves damage estimated at 10 percent of the fiber in the strand at that point, • Discoloration and brittle or stiff areas on any part of the sling, Excessive dirt and grit in the interior of the rope structure, • Foreign matter that has permeated the rope and attracts and holds grit, • Kinks, distortion, or other damage in the rope structure, • Melted or charred areas that affect

more than 10 percent of the diameter of the rope or affect several adjacent strands along the length to more than 10 percent of their individual diameters. • Poor condition of thimbles or other fittings manifested by corrosion, cracks, distortion, or localized wear, and • Other conditions that cause doubt as to continued use of the sling. Where any such defect or deteriora-tion is present, remove the sling or at-tachment from service immediately. Do not use worn or damaged slings or attachments. Do not use repaired or reconditioned fiber rope slings. Do not use old or used rope to make up a fiber rope sling. Modifications or alterations to end attachments or fittings are consid-ered a repair. Do not allow natural and synthetic fiber rope slings to be used in contact with objects or at temperatures in excess of 194 degrees F (90 degrees C), or below minus 40 degrees F (minus 40 degrees C). Some synthetic yarns do not retain their breaking strength during long-term exposure above 140 degrees (60 degrees C). Long-term exposure to sunlight or ultraviolet radiation can affect the strength of natural, nylon and polyester rope slings. Consult the sling manufac-turer for proper retirement criteria for ny-lon and polyester ropes subjected to long-term storage or use in sunlight, long term heat exposure, or chemical environ-ments.

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Tracing Rob Case’s history to find out how he came to be in the decora-tive concrete business is an interest-

ing tale with many twists and turns. From a grandmother who came to the United States from Denmark to a great-grandfa-ther who was a banker in the California Bay Area, the family’s history traces the history of the United States from before the Great Depression to modern times.

Where did you grow up? I grew up in California. My family was actually citrus farmers and ranchers.

How did your family become citrus farmers? It’s a long story! My grandmother was from Denmark. She was the daugh-ter of an admiral in the Danish Navy. Her father had her on an exchange program in 1919 to California. My grandfather was at Stanford and they met, but she was only there for two weeks. They dated several times and he asked her to marry him! She said yes, but she had to get permission from her fa-ther and the king of Denmark, so she went back to Denmark for their approval.

Meanwhile, my grandfather was to meet her in Miami, FL. and he told her to meet him there in three months. He boarded a train from California to Miami and waited for three days and she finally arrived. Her ship was delayed. His father, my great-grandfather, was a banker in the Bay Area. They loaned money to farmers and a good number of them ended up defaulting during the Depression, so our family ended up with farm land in the 1930s. That’s, in a nut-shell, how we became farmers. My father was born in 1932 and be-came the manager of the ranches as soon as he was old enough in the 1950s.

The only thing still in the family is an olive ranch.

How did you go from coming from cit-rus farmers to construction? I had two brothers and I think we had tree houses in about every tree on the property! We were enthusiastic young builders.

What are your brothers doing now? They went the easy way. One is a schoolteacher and one is a water techni-cian. They are both in California.

Where did you go to college? I went to the University of the Pacific – it’s a private school in Stockton. I re-ceived my degree in civil engineering in 1985. I swam competitively through col-lege.

What did you do after that? I moved to the Bay Area and went to work for Rudolph and Sletten as an assis-tant project manager in 1987. They are still one of the largest builders in Califor-nia today. My manager, along with two other co-workers, left Rudolph and Sletten and formed their own company, DPR Con-struction. I ventured out and started Pro-gressive Pacific after the 1989 Loma Prie-ta earthquake.

What was it about Austin that attract-ed you so much? I love Austin. I like the healthy life-style and the music scene. I also have another business – a craft brewery.

Well, this is a good place for that! Yes, I am an owner of Middleton Brewing, located between San Marcos and Wimberley. It’s not a hobby now - it’s a real busi-ness. The brewer is a great guy and he is my neighbor. He moved from San Diego and has been brewing Belgian style ales for 40 years. I helped build the brewery, which just opened one-and-a-half years ago. We were just voted Best Brewery of Hays County! Everyone should come on out and check us out!

Tell me about your family. My wife Karen and I met through a mutual friend in 2001 in San Antonio. She handles all the administrative work and so much more at Rock Solid USA. We got married on Aug. 8, 2008 at 8:08 pm. The number eight is a good luck number in Eastern culture. We wanted to incorporate that in our wedding ceremo-ny. Interestingly, we still have friends who were at the wedding calling us on Aug. 8 to wish us a happy anniversary!

Do you have any children? Yes, we have a blended family of five children – four daughters and a son. They range from Sarah, the youngest, who is in her last year at LSU and wants to be a teacher. Erin, our oldest daughter is in Spain teaching – she graduated from Tex-as State. Our second eldest and only son, Ryan, works in construction in West Tex-

as. Our middle daughter, Alexia, is in San Francisco. She also graduated from UOP and works in a tech start up. Our second youngest daughter, Colette, graduated from UOP and is a dental hygienist in Austin. We are really proud of all five of them. They are the best kids in the world. We couldn’t ask for anything more.

You also mentioned a brother who is a teacher. Does teaching run in the fam-ily? Yes, my stepfather and mother were both teachers. My parents divorced in the early 80s and my natural father was a farmer.

Give me some history on Rock Solid USA. I started with Rock Solid Studio in 1997 in Austin. In 2004, Karen and I found when we opened an office in Raleigh, N.C., it made sense for us to advertise in a different fashion - in a more geographic way, so we did a name change – Rock Solid USA. RSU has approximately 40 employ-ees. We started out with mostly residen-tial, but that’s less than 5 percent of what we do today. We do about 75 percent commercial and 20 percent industrial. I still do a little residential for select, old-time clients.

Why did you open an office in Raleigh? The reason we opened an office in North Carolina is because of the local builders who have dual offices. RSU start-ed working there without an office ini-tially. The economies here and there are very similar. There is a lot of big institu-tional building going on. Raleigh had a very similar footprint. We currently have several projects

there. We are doing decorative concrete work at North Carolina State, stained concrete for Duke University, and we are performing concrete polishing work at Lamb’s Chapel, an 80,000-sf church that is being built. The manager at the Raleigh office is Alfredo Titocci.

How’s business in Central Texas? Thankfully, we have not slowed down since day one! RSU purchased our current property and moved to Kyle in 2002. A lot of our work is in Central Texas, San Antonio and Austin so it was a natu-ral move for us to be in the middle. We have four projects underway at SeaWorld in San Antonio. We are also working at UT - Austin with The Beck Group and Allegiance Floors. We are on a job with Vaughn Construction at Jones Hall at Texas State University in San Mar-cos. We’ve also got a dozen smaller local projects around the $100,000 value go-ing on.

Sounds really busy! What do you and Karen do to relax? Our hobby is traveling. I have just hit my 100th country and we’ve been to 6 continents.

What was your favorite place? Honestly, probably Machu Picchu. It was amazing. It is beautiful - the history, the ruins and just studying the technolo-gy they had back in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.

Where will you travel to next? We have two trips on the near hori-zon. We are going to Vietnam and, then in later spring, we are going to Eastern Europe - Czech, Poland, Hungary and Austria. That’s our big personal expenditure. We are very blessed and fortunate. We have great clients and we appreciate all of what Austin and Texas have offered us. –cw

Rob and Karen Case love to travel and say Machu Picchu, pictured,is one of their favorite places.

“I had two brothers and I think we had tree houses in about every tree on the property! We were enthusiastic young builders.”

“I love Austin. I like the healthy lifestyle and the music scene.”


BAFFIN BAYLAGUNA MADRE

LAND CUT

SPECKLED TROUT

REDFISHFLOUN DER

FISHING AND HUNTING TRIPS

STEVE SCHULTZOUTDOORS, LLC

www.baffi nbaycharters.comsteveschultzoutdoors@

gmail.com

(361) 813-3716

U.S. Coast Guard &Texas Parks and Wildlife Licensed

TexasStyle

San Antonio Austin Dallas/Fort Worth Houston South Texas

www.constructionnews.netpublishing the industry’s news

Expect theunexpected!!

by Capt. Steve Schultz

Sponsored by:Waypoint Marine, Majek Boats, E-Z Bel

Construction, Power Pole Shallow Water Anchor, Aggregate Haulers, ForEverlast

Hunting and Fishing Products MirrOlure, and Columbia Sportswear.

I can’t believe that I am saying this, but I’m glad to see deer season come to a

close. It’s been a busy couple of months on the road from South Texas to West Texas and back with a few spots in be-tween. Lots of memories made through-out the way with friends, clients and of course my two boys. Both of my boys killed awesome management bucks this year and I must say they are becoming great outdoorsmen. I can’t wait to get them back on the water this spring and summer for some saltwater action.

Capt. Steve Schultz holds up his 44in. redfish caught in Baffin Bay on a gamblerflappin shad last month. Fish was released after photo by Malek Afram.

February starts one of the most challenging times of the year to be on the water. Weather can be so unpredict-able it is very hard to plan outings in ad-vance. It’s one of those times of the year that you literally have to be ready to go on a moments notice, or perhaps already be here when the weather allows you to fish. That was the case last month when I visited Modern Pawn and Guns Shop and my good friends Malek and Mark Afram, which by the way run one of the best guns shops in South Texas. I got to talking about fishing and how I haven’t

been in several months because of guid-ing hunts all winter and how I had the urge to wet a line. Unfortunately I was boatless at the time after selling mine, and the new one still not rigged. They also were having some withdrawals after a long holiday season, working long hours at the shop and happen to men-tion that their boat was ready to go. I checked our schedules and glanced at the upcoming weather and a plan was quickly established.

Our day started with a cold north breeze and temperatures in the low 50s, but we knew clear skies would warm us up quickly. After a short ride to Baffin Bay, we eased over the side on the Majek Illusion and began our wade. Fishing was rather slow at the start but we managed to string several specks in the first half hour. After a brief lull in the action I set the hook on what I thought was a trophy trout that about ripped the rod out of my cold hands. After realizing that I had a redfish instead of the trophy trout we were seeking, the excitement went away until the fish emerged in front of me. OMG I shouted, It’s a huge red. Granted I have caught many big redfish before, (up to 48 in.) but all out of the boat. This was by far the largest red I have caught wade fishing. The redfish measured over 44 in. and weighed over 40 lbs. and after a short photo session it was revived and re-leased back into it’s environment.

Whether you’re fishing for trophy trout, or just wanting to catch a few fish for dinner or the freezer, always expect the unexpected. You never know what’s going to be on the end of that line.

I have already started to fill the cal-endar for the upcoming 2016 season. 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.


Half or Full Day Fishing Trips

All Bait, Tackle & EquipmentFurnished

Your catch Filleted andBagged for You

Furnish your TPWD FishingLicense & Refreshments,

and WE DO THE REST!Ken Milam Guide Service(325) 379-2051

www.striperfever.com

Life on the leaseSubmitted to Construction News

Daniel Parker, Trepex Construction Group

in Austin,and his family enjoy spending plenty of

time at their lease in Comstock. During the

recent hunting sea-son, Parker’s oldest son, Tyler Themis,

left, poses with a buck he shot. Right, Tyler,

shows the deerParker’s oldest

daughter, Ashlyn Parker,harvested. –cw

in CONSTRUCTION NEWSis the

Send your Stories and Photos to your city editorSan Antonio: [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]

DFW: [email protected]: [email protected]

Have an outdoor photo or story

you’d like toshare?

Email to:

Austineditor@

ConstructionNews.net

or call the home

office at

210.308.5800

Ken Milam’s Fishing LineSince 1981, Ken Milam has been guiding fishing trips for striped bass on Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country,. You can hear Ken on radio on Saturday and Sunday mornings, 6-8

AM on AM 1300, The Zone – Austin, or http://www.am1300the zone.com

I know, spring hasn’t sprung yet but I can feel it coming and I’m just all kinds of excited about it!

This will be the first time in five years we have had water in our part of Lake Buchanan! Yes, Buchanan has been low before and came back up before; this certainly isn’t my first rodeo on the back of that nasty bronc. What makes this time special is that our water was gone so long this time. Years of no flooding rains covering up the Colorado River bottom land that our grandfathers once farmed and Native Americans once roamed had begun the process of erasing the fact that a lake had ever been here. The river itself had wavered itself all over the mud flat and chosen a course again and tall willow, cottonwood and sycamore trees had established themselves on the new river banks. Now the flooding of last summer and fall that caused so much hurt and damage for some finally spilled enough water upstream to restore our river and lake to normal levels and return life to our part of the watershed. Everyone up here from the parched ranchers to the anemic tourism industry is breathing a sigh of relief. Even though our rains seem to have already stopped for now, we remain hopeful for more. The exciting part for a fisherman on Lake Buchanan and on Lake Travis too, I expect we have vegetation now covered by water like we have never

seen before. Even when the lakes were brand new and flooded for the first time there was a whole lot of farm land, little settlements and homesteads that were covered up. Even the wilder parts of the new lake bottom had been put to the ax to clear the way for the lakes. They downed everything from scrub cedar to gigantic oaks and pecan trees while the dams were being built. This time the no man’s land that the lake bottom became was allowed to grow in its own wild way. In addition to the impenetrable willow thickets were all kinds of wild scrub brush and wildflowers growing so thick in the rich silt, it often was taller than a man’s head and so thick and tangled that you couldn’t walk through it. Now imagine what a bunch of fish could do with that! As that vegetation decays and enriches the water the whole food chain on the lakes and river from alga on up to shad and all the game fish that feed on them thrive. Plenty to eat and a chance to get back to all the old spawning places mean that there will be all kinds of little fish with plenty of cover to hide and feed and grow. The most exciting part is the larger fish that have been able to grow during the drought because they haven’t been fished and caught as heavily are experiencing good growth and are looking for their next meal. I plan on being there looking for those guys! We are even going to be booking some catfish charters too this year in addition to stripers and hybrids. Spring Break is coming, so grab a kid and your fishing hat and let’s go!

C’mon Spring!

Lakebed Oct. 2015

Same lakebed after the lake came back up


Sunny vacation

Lovleen Gill Aulakh, director of precon-struction and sustain-

ability at G2 Builders Corp. in Austin, and her family es-caped the winter cold for a few days of fun in sunny Florida. While there, they visited Miami, Orlando and nature at Everglades Na-tional Park. –cw

Lovleen, husband, Shailendra, and daughter, Reett, pose for a family photo with the beautiful city behind them.

Below: Lovleen Gill Aulakh and her daughter, Reett,

6, enjoyed the Epcot earth spaceship.

Lovleen and Reett took advantage of the warm weather to enjoy some shopping.

Business and pleasureSubmitted to Construction News

Charbel Dahdah, Commercial Development and Sales with Huffman Builders in Cedar Park, recently had a successful hunt during a business trip to Rock Creek Ranch,

taking an Axis and Red Stag. –cw


Construction Safety

Effective safety training strategies

Anna Pelletier, CSMNational Association of Safety,Board member, Shelby, NCLiberty Construction, Boston, MA

Keepers of their brothers and sisters

Mike Gunter, Vice President of SafetyYates ConstructionSan Antonio, TX

In 2014, Yates Construction began for-malizing its safety processes and pro-

grams. Unsatisfied with an incident rate of .41 – which Mike Gunter, vice president of safety, notes is many times below the national average – Yates implemented fully documented processes through three programs that reduced that rate to .27 by early 2015. “By design, safety is Yates Construc-tion’s number one core value and an inte-gral part of our day-to-day operations,” explains Randy Powell, senior vice presi-dent of the Texas Division. “This culture of safety has been recognized many times, most recently as one of only nine recipi-ents in the country to be selected for the prestigious 2015 ABC National Safety Pin-nacle Award as a result of our continued commitment to jobsite safety, exemplary safety performance and programs.” The construction safety culture that earned Yates this honor is comprised of the Blue Vest Monitoring, Family Pledge and Brother’s Keeper (and Sister’s Keep-er) programs. All of the above focus on behavior rather than punitive action.

Randy Powell, Senior Vice President -Texas DivisionYates ConstructionSan Antonio, TX

While punitive action is sometimes nec-essary, Yates uses it as a last resort. Preferring to focus on areas of higher risk, Yates has found that the company needs to spend the majority of its time and safety education on new employees. The Blue Vest Monitoring Program is aimed at acclimating new people to Yates’ safety culture, specifically those with less than one year at Yates, and more so, those with the company for less than six months. One key step to emphasizing and encouraging safety on the job is to make sure new hires are identifiable on the job site. As the name of the program sug-gests, Yates’ new employees wear a blue vest on site. If a client asks that all crew-members wear the standard yellow vests, then Yates will use a different identifier for the new hires, such as colored stripes on their hard hats. When the employees are on the job, they see a new hire in the blue vest and know that they need to be their brother’s (or sister’s) keeper and pay special atten-tion to that person. New employees also

go through an additional orientation that addresses new hires, expectations of them and the Blue Vest Monitoring Program. After a couple of weeks, as the new employee becomes acclimated to Yates’ policies on safety and health, the superin-tendent can take them in to re-test them on their grasp of this culture. This is also reinforced by a second orientation. After several months, the supervisor can allow the employee to attempt to test out of the blue vest. If they are still struggling with their grasp on the procedures, the employee will continue to wear their blue vest or stripe. Additionally, Yates has what it calls a safety task assessment process. “The safety task assessment process is a document that’s filled out in real time before work to address the known antici-pated risk of the job that the employees are going to be performing for the day,” explains Mike Gunter, vice president of safety. “It’s also opened up for the em-ployees to ask questions or to provide input. In addition to identifying those potential at-risk situations that may be encountered, the supervisor also offers up the ways that we will manage or miti-gate those anticipated risks. Meaning that we all get on the same page before we begin work in the mornings. We know what our expectations are. We know what we anticipate as a risk. We identify how we’re going to be able to either mit-igate it or through another means man-age it, and the employees then sign off, stating that they understand that. “To make sure of that, we assign a mentor to each new hire employee on that safety task assessment process so that during the day, if any one of the new hires has a question, they can go to Mary, their supervisor, and say, ‘I know we talk-ed about this this morning, but I’m not really clear, and I want to make sure I do this right.’ So, they’re allowed to freely ask questions and allow us to coach them through the process.” Another program is Brother’s Keep-er, which also has a version for the ladies, Sister’s Keeper. In this program, employ-ees commit to be their brother’s keeper.

This means that if they see any employee, new or not, in the field doing something they consider at-risk, those employees are willing to intervene, identify the po-tential risk, and work with the employee to find a safer way to do it. Part of this commitment includes the employees’ willingness to accept comments about making their job safer. Yates gives pro-gram-themed T-shirts to those that com-mit to this program. While fellow employees try to look out for each other and make sure every-one goes home to their family after a safe workday, the Family Pledge Program ex-tends the promise to be safe to the family at home. Yates asks employees to volun-tarily commit in a one-page document to work safely every day so that they can go home to their spouses, significant others, children or parents and other loved ones. Then, the employees take the pledge home for their family and loved ones to sign as a commitment to ask them every day if they worked safely that day. This also gives the people at home ideas about what to ask, such as “Did you wear your hard hat and your safety glasses?” and helps them keep the employee ac-countable and responsible for working safely. Yates sends themed T-shirts to the employees and each family member at home for this program as well. All of these safety measures led to the .14 decrease in the company’s inci-dent rate, as Gunter points out, “There was a marked improvement to year end-ing ’15. We were significantly lower on our number of near hits. That’s an event that’s occurred where there could have been property damage or personal inju-ry but there was not. We saw our inci-dents with injury drop. And on our lost time rate, we’ve always been right at or around zero.” Celebrating its 52nd anniversary, Yates Construction is a commercial general con-tractor with offices in San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth. Based in Mississippi, the com-pany also has locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Mexico. –mh

Within the construction industry, shout-outs like “be safe,” “safety

first,” “zero tolerance” and so on are ever plentiful. Marketing endeavors to share the message include catchy phrases, slo-gans, stickers, and gifts to reward, pro-mote and highlight any and all safety-success moments. While there is merit to spreading the news, it is equally impor-tant to ensure that, along with a cam-paign, education is a key component in promoting safe practices. Such educa-tion can stem from in-house training programs and on-site refresher courses conducted by safety managers, or by outsourcing with consultants for obser-vation, analysis, and recommendations. Recent statistics reveal a disturbing fact – over half of all construction injuries and fatalities are due to lack of or improper training. Therefore, an effective training program must be your top priority. There are a variety of training pro-grams that range from an introduction and overview of a topic (i.e. tool box

meetings) to more in-depth content where one receives a certification. Train-ing programs are available in electronic form, for those who are working and find it challenging to attend classes in person. For example, project administrators can take on-line courses in construction termi-nology and HR personnel might be inter-ested in current behavior-based safety studies. It’s common for construction companies to require that employees complete their OSHA 10 Outreach train-ing; this hazard awareness training is avail-able on-site by safety trainers, on-line and offered through many schools of higher education. A company must ensure that the instructors are certified to teach and that the methodology used is appropriate and adheres to current standards. When considering the options of safety training programs, you must know your audience. Will the training be for craft workers at a large hospital-remodel-ing project that involves working near sterile environments or catered to office

personnel with the focus on active shoot-er and hostile situations? Upon comple-tion of the training will participants earn CEU’s, or will refresher courses be led by in-house safety trainers and attendance entered into a company database? Spe-cialized training can include First Aid and CPR, Confined Space Entry, Material Han-dling Equipment, Rigging and Signaling, Scaffolding, HAZCOM, OSHA Recordkeep-ing, Silica Safety, Emergency Response, PPE and ANSI standards to name a few. Be certain that the training is specific to the hazard, the process, and equipment. For example, if a sub-contractor brings a scis-sor lift onto your site, individuals must be trained on that particular scissor lift. Train-ing must include the practical operation of the lift by someone who is familiar with the equipment along with the proper documentation. Take into consideration the following:• Which type of training would be most beneficial, in-house, on-line or out-sourced to professionals with experience in the subject matter?• Is the training affordable and does the investment make economic sense for yourself and your company?• If the decision is to use in-house safety trainers, are they familiar with the con-tent and will they present in a way that captures the attention of attendees?• Is the subject matter relevant?• Is the material current and viewer friendly, (it can be extremely disappoint-

ing to pay for thrown together binders, copied pages laden with typos and bor-ing power point presentations)?• Are the tools and equipment being used clean and in good condition? Social media can prove valuable when opting for networking opportunities to learn about safety training programs. However, be cautious of selecting offers that sound too good to be true and take the time to vet the program or the instruc-tor. Endorsements from safety profession-als within your network are significant, read reviews and ask questions. Inquire about associations that are recognized and in good standing. Membership with them can work in your favor as one can take ad-vantage of webinars, conferences, and continuing education programs. Assistant Department of Labor Sec-retary David Michaels recently said, “We are seeing untrained workers – many of them temporary workers – killed very soon after starting a new job. This must stop. Employers must train all employees, including temporary workers, on the haz-ards specific to that workplace – before they start working. The bottom line is this: training is ar-guably the most important element of an effective safety program. It’s not an area to cut corners or take lightly. Take the time to qualify yourself to provide the training in-house or choose an outside

continued on Page 12


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vendor whose training is quality, reputa-ble and cost-effective.” Anna Pelletier, a native of Prescott, AZ holds the position of National Corporate Environmental Health and Safety Coordi-nator at Liberty Construction (a division of Suffolk Construction). Anna graduated Summa Cum Laude at Sacred Heart Uni-versity in Fairfield, CT and is furthering her studies in Occupational Safety and Health at Columbia Southern University. She cur-rently sits as a member on the National As-sociation of Safety Professionals (NASP) Board of Advisors. NASP is a non-profit membership or-

Construction Safety

continued from Page 11 — Effective safety training strategies

ganization providing training, consultative services, and third-party certifications that validate knowledge, skills and abilities in the area of workplace safety. The primary mission of NASP is to provide safety profes-sionals with innovative training opportuni-ties and professional certification to assist them in carrying out their safety related functions with confidence and proven com-petence. NASP offers workplace safety and environmental safety courses and certifica-tions for general industry, the construction industry, and the petroleum industry. For more information, visit them at www.naspweb.com.

A safety mindset

Terry Buza, Director of HSESlack & Co. Contracting Inc.Houston, TX

What kind of safety training do Slack & Co. Contracting employees partici-pate in during the year? We are proactive about safety train-ing. Every employee that works for Slack & Co. receives the OSHA 10-hour training and every foreman and above receives the OSHA 30-hour training. Our foremen and lead men also get excavation, confined space and first aid/CPR training. Our equipment operators receive hands-on training. Additionally, each of our crews includes a minimum of two people who have completed an 8-hour rigging class that focuses on safe-ly placing utilities in the ground. We utilize a third party safety consult-ing company to assist us with our training and to conduct jobsite audits for us.

What can be done to increase safety awareness? We conduct our training classes in both English and Spanish, and give our employees visual aids to reinforce key messages. This is important since a high percentage of Slack & Co employees are Hispanic. We hold off-site safety meetings four times a year that all employees (field and office) are required to attend. These meetings are designed to increase awareness of how easily incidents can occur and how to avoid them. Every one of our employees has the responsibility and authority to halt work when they feel unsafe conditions exist. Our goal is to create a mindset where-by everyone incorporates safety into his or her work. It’s a constant process.

What are the major risks in construc-tion? Workers can fall or be electrocuted. They can also get caught between or struck by equipment. Since multiple trades work simulta-neously on one jobsite, we teach our people to constantly lookout for other contractors’ people, equipment and ma-terials. How important is a good safety record in the construction industry? A good safety record is very impor-tant. The GC’s we work with expect us to maintain an excellent safety record. They cannot afford to have unsafe people or work conditions on their jobs.

What is the most significant challenge the safety industry faces? One of the challenges we face is the increased number of unskilled workers on a jobsite. Often they are not familiar with the safety risks that exist on a jobsite, or the situations that require extra caution to avoid an incident. To address this, all our new employees must attend a New Hire Safety orientation before they can go to the field. The language barrier is another chal-lenge, since everyone on a jobsite must be able to communicate with others

when an unsafe condition occurs.

What is rewarding about your job? I sell safety every day and I love it. Years ago when I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, a mentor intro-duced me to the safety industry. And thanks to him, I found my niche and I have been doing this for 27 years now.

What is on the horizon for construc-tion safety? The construction industry is headed towards more stringent safety require-ment than ever before. Owners and developers are more safety conscious. And, OSHA regulations are becoming stricter. Companies with excellent safety re-cords will be rewarded with more work opportunities. That means, if we want to be the contractor of choice, we will be the saf-est. Slack & Co Contracting is a prime and specialty contractor on public and private projects. The company works in densely populated, tightly confined areas like the Texas Medical Center, the Galleria and downtown Houston, as well as in the mid-dle of wide-open fields. The majority of the company’s work is performed in the south and east regions of Texas. –ab

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Round-UpAssociation CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

Mark Tomlinson has joined KCI Tech-nologies Inc. as a regional practice leader. He will be responsible for growing the multi-disciplined firm’s presence in Texas and its offices in Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Irving. Previously, he worked for TxDOT for nearly three decades. He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engi-neering from the University of Texas. He also graduated from the American Asso-ciation of State Highway and Transporta-tion Officials’ National Transportation Leadership Institute.

Ted Davison, HFDP, LEED AP, and Jarrod Sterzinger, AIA, LEED AP, have been named principals with O’Connell Robert-son. Both have been shareholders and se-nior associates with the firm, and were pro-moted in recognition of their commitment and contributions to the firm’s success. A mechanical designer, Davison has been with the company for more than 14 years. He is one of fewer than 300 individuals in the U.S. to have earned a Healthcare Facility Design Professional (HFDP) desig-nation from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Condition-ing Engineers (ASHRAE). Davison earned a Higher National Diploma in Building Services Engineering from Brighton Uni-versity in the United Kingdom and is also a LEED Accredited Professional. S t e r z i n g e r serves as the firm’s K-12 Education Team director. A registered architect, he has been with O’Connell Robert-son for more than seven years and has over 16 years expe-rience as an architect and project man-ager. Sterzinger earned Master of Archi-tecture and Master of Business degrees from Texas Tech University. He is also NCARB certified and is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Julie Zitter, IIDA, RID, has joined Stantec as an interi-or design lead in the firm’s Austin of-fice. Zitter brings more than 20 years of experience and is a Registered Interi-or Designer (RID) in Texas. She will head interior design team as Stantec expands the firm’s Texas Buildings Group. Zitter earned her bachelor of science in envi-ronmental design interiors at Syracuse University. Her background includes a concentration in commercial and educa-tional design, specializing in program-ming; workplace strategy; and furniture, fixtures, and equipment services.

This is a monthly section for brief company announcements of new orrecently promoted personnel, free of charge, as space allows.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Email (w/digital photo, if available) by the 15th of any month,

for the next month’s issue (published 1st of each month).Email info to appropriate city issue, with “Round-Up” in the subject line:––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

San Antonio: [email protected] Austin: [email protected] Dallas/Ft. Worth: [email protected] Houston: [email protected] South Texas: [email protected]

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ACEAAustin Contractors & Engineers Assn.

Feb. 22: 2016 Frostbite Golf Tournament at Twin Creeks Country Club. Register on-line at http://aceatx.com/index.php/event/event_list/

AGCAssociated General Contractors

Feb. 4, 5, 18 and 19: OSHA 30-hour training. Feb. 12: Outstanding Construction Awards Banquet and 2016 Officer Instal-lation at AT&T Conference Center. Feb. 29: Texas Mechanic’s Lien and Pay-ment Bond Law Seminar from 11:30am to 1pm at AGC boardroom.Please call 512-442-7887 for more infor-mation on these events.

AIAAmerican Institute of Architects

Feb. 10: Food For Thought presentation: Design smarter with structural steel. 12-1pm at Austin Center for Architecture. Call 512-452-4332 for more information.

ASSE American Society of Safety Engineers

Feb. 15: Free technical tour of the C Fan Corporation Facility in San Marcos from 11:30am to 1pm. Limited to first 24 peo-ple who register at http://centraltexas.asse.org/event-registration/?ee=23

IECIndependent Electrical Contractors

Feb. 10: General membership luncheon at Texas Land & Cattle from 11:30am to 1pm. Call 512-832-1333 for more informa-tion.

PHCCPlumbing-Heating-Cooling-Contractors

Mar. 4-6: 24-hour Responsible Master Plumbing Training. Call 512-523-8094 for more information.

SEAStructural Engineers Assn. of Texas

Feb. 25: Monthly luncheon at Maggia-no’s LIttle Italy beginning at 11:45am. Register at http://www.seaot.org/austin/reservations_Meeting_austin.cfm

TSPETexas Society of Professional Engineers

Feb. 26: 2016 Engineers Week Banquet at Barton Creek Country Club from 11:30am to 1pm. Keynote address from newly-appointed executive director of TxDOT, James Bass. Register at http://tspe-travis.org/ai1ec_event/tspe-travis-2016-banquet?instance_id=

TSPSTexas Society of Professional Surveyors

Feb. 26-27: 2016 Symposium in Beau-mont. Register at http://www.tsps.org/events/event_list.asp#

Concrete legacy

Jimmy Reyes Concrete Construction is a family owned business operated by owner Jimmy Reyes. The compa-

ny has served Austin and the surrounding communities since 1949. “My grandpa Reyes began doing concrete work in Taylor in 1949,” Reyes said. “He started out with trowel in his hand and his brothers by his side.” Reyes says his father, Raymundo, continued the tradition of concrete work-ing alongside his brothers rounding out the trade with stonework, demolition/re-moval to the detailed specifics of the craft. “I began working at a young age dur-ing the summers with my father,” Reyes said. “During that time, I developed a love for concrete work. “Over the years, I have enjoyed teach-ing the trade and providing others like me the opportunity to learn the craft.” Reyes says the keys to success in his trade are providing quality craftsmanship and staying professional on every job. “It is important to follow through un-til the job is done right,” Reyes said. Jimmy Reyes Concrete Construction provides commercial and residential con-crete services. –ab

The Jimmy Reyes Concrete Construction crew pours concrete at a job in Austin.

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Helping our vets continued from Page 1 — 360 degrees of success

continued from Page 1 — Rising star on the road

continued from Page 1 — Planning for the population

trained as an estimator. That will proba-bly change soon, since he is enrolled in the IEC apprentice school and will need some field time as part of his studies. “It’s been an awesome opportunity for him for the last two years to receive the estimating experience he has,” Matu-la says. A journeyman electrician has also been trained as an estimator and has worked in this capacity for the last two years. Matula received a degree in engi-neering technology from Texas A&M Col-lege Station, while Conner has manage-ment experience working in electrical contracting through a company both of them worked for. 360 Electrical Contractors is a full ser-

vice commercial electrical contractor, mainly focusing on new construction and renovations. Clients are 100 percent com-mercial, with mostly private clients, al-though the company is currently on its second project for Huston-Tillotson Uni-versity. The company is established as a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB). Client satisfaction and repeat cus-tomers are the firm’s main goals, Matula said. “Our focus and success to date is all about client satisfaction, quality work and the repeat customers that brings,” he says. “That’s the key to it. Our focus is long-term minded. We look to establish a client and, based on client satisfaction, have repeat ongoing clients.” –cw

floor of each building is fair housing com-pliant. The heavy rains of 2015 would have constituted a challenge for the project’s timeliness, except for the pre-planning of the city when it designed the area around the Buda Cabelas prior to its opening in 2005. “We had historic rainfall that we dealt with in two different occasions on the property - both times we had zero issues,” says Goll. “The infrastructure the city had put into place for the whole Cabelos de-velopment is what I give credit to for that.” Later, in late October, after another historic rainfall, Goll says he could literally see cars up to their axles in water on Main Street in Buda, one block from the proj-ect - which he could see in the back-ground. “I had chills up my spine,” he said. “But there was not a single problem, the drains handled all the water. The project was unscathed. Great city planning is what I attribute that to – the city has a phenomenal engineer, Stanley Fees.” The GC on the 17-month project was Journeyman Construction. The project manager was Justin Lee and the project superintendent was John Patrick. Cross Architects, Dallas, was the architect and the civil engineering firm was Espy Con-

sultants, Austin. “Our consultants were pretty seam-less in their communication,” Goll said. “We use Cross for all of our multi-family projects without question. Since 2004, we have built thousands of units with them. They know what we want.” All in all, with historic rainfall on two separate occasions, Goll said the project gets a gold star. “The project was completed on time and in budget with no lingering issues, no construction issues and no defects,” he said. “In terms of our total project, whether in-house or third-party, the ex-ecution of the project through the Jour-neyman team was pretty flawless.” After the Wimberley floods, Goll says the company stepped up to help some families who had lost everything. “In relation to those Wimberley floods, we had multiple flood victims that lost their homes in May,” he said. “We don’t usually do short term leases, but this project was fairly close to Wim-berley and when those families came to us, we moved them in without charging them any up-front fees or deposits.” Goll says the project was divided into 13 phases and the first of 13 three-story apartment buildings was finished in April. –cw

A movie theater gives residents a chance to watch their favorite flicks in comfort.

dent of operations; Dean Lundquist, vice president of finance; Ben Carroll, vice president of strategic planning; Thomas Playfair, the vice president of hot mix and equipment; and Ryan Ohlendorf, vice president of South Texas operations. The company’s projects include the

Austin 360 overlay, the Travis County overlay, and maintenance for the City of Lakeway. Lone Star Paving has two locations in Austin, one in Dripping Springs and one in San Antonio. Services include asphalt pav-ing and repairs, seal coating, crack sealing, and striping. –mh

The Tiny Home, HUGE Gratitude! Project was recently launched to build a 176-sf tiny home for Robert

Howland Jr., a disabled low-income vet-eran in need of housing. The tiny home includes a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area and will sustain long-term mortgage-free housing for Howland. This is possible with assistance from the Op-eration Tiny Home Pay-it-Forward Veter-an Housing Program. The nonprofit col-laborates with builders, suppliers, land-owners and communities nationwide to provide tiny homes for eligible veterans with severe housing instability. To kick-start the Tiny Home, HUGE Gratitude! Project, Bo Bezdek, owner of Austin Tiny Homes, generously agreed to build Howland’s home at no profit to his organization. The project also re-ceived a $5,000 grant from the Kansha Foundation. Operation Tiny Home launched a crowdfunding campaign on their website to raise the additional $19,998 needed to finish constructing the home. Once the house is complete, the tiny home on wheels will be trans-ported from Austin to Big Spring, TX where Howland 's sister and brother-in-law offered him a permanent home. Howland has struggled with housing instability and homelessness since his honorable discharge in 2003. As a result of time spent in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has suffered with TBI, PTSD and a leg injury that makes walking extremely painful. "Returning to civilian life has not been easy,” he said. “Coming home living

with pain and unable to work and care for myself is not something I was ever prepared to deal with. I never want to be a burden on my family and with a tiny home, I can be close to them, but also maintain independence. This is the first time in a very long time that I feel hope-ful for my future.” Living in Big Spring and near his fam-ily will also allow Howland to live just 10 minutes from a VA hospital where he can get the medical attention and support needed for his continued recovery. “Providing a disabled veteran with a home is a powerful way that the commu-nity can come together to say ‘thank you’ and show their support to those who have given so much in service to our country,” said Gabrielle Rapport, co-founder and executive director of Opera-tion Tiny Home. “A stable home and the promise of a life of dignity is something we believe everyone deserves, especially our veterans who were injured during their service!” Operation Tiny Home is a 100% volun-teer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Primary funding for this project is being raised through donations made online at the Operation Tiny Home website. The proj-ect has raised $6,915 of its $24,998 goal. You can support the project by visiting http://www.operationtinyhome.org/tiny-home-huge-gratitude-project. For more in-formation, call 650-282-3588 or visit www.operationtinyhome.org –cw

Robert Howland Jr.

A look at the interior of the home Robert Howland will have.

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Texas just got greener

The U.S. Green Building Council (US-GBC) strives toward efficiency and sustainability for buildings and their

construction, and now the 501c3 has re-structured to become more efficient and sustainable in the State of Texas. As of Jan. 1, all of Texas’ previous US-GBC chapters were consolidated into the USGBC Texas Chapter with five regional councils to continue representation and association activity across the Lone Star State. The five regions are Gulf Coast, based in Houston; South Texas, based in San Antonio; Central Texas, based in Aus-tin; West Texas, based in El Paso; and North Texas, based in Dallas, the new statewide chapter’s headquarters. “The biggest point of our restructur-ing here in Texas is being able to be a more efficient and effective organization,” says Jonathan Kraatz, the Texas Chapter execu-tive director, who is based in Dallas. “It al-lows us the opportunity to centralize our administrative costs and our administra-

USGBC’s Texas Merger Taskforce L-R: Joe Riccillo, Sundt Construction, El Paso; David Matiella, UTSA, San Antonio; Pam Carpenter, 7th Generation Design, San Antonio; Brad Garner, W2

Real Estate Partners, Austin; Sergio Grado, Mitsubishi, The Woodlands; Jane Baxter-Lynn, JBL Strategies, Austin; Tim Murray, EYP Architects & Engineers, Houston; David MacLean, Sebesta,

Houston; Michelle McEuen, USGBC chapter staff, Dallas; Eloisa Portillo-Morales, City of San Antonio; Heather Holdridge, Lake Flato Architects, San Antonio; Keith Lindemulder, Nucor, Denton; Brian Uhlrich, DBR, San Antonio; Kirk Johnson, Corgan, Dallas; Thom Powell, GFF,

Dallas; Jonathan Kraatz, USGBC Texas executive director; Scott Gerhardt, Interceramic, Austin

Map of the new USGBC Texas Regions

tive duties and really gets our volunteers back to working in their communities as their primary focus instead of on adminis-tration of the organization.” A LEED Green Associate, Kraatz had been on staff with the USGBC North Texas Chapter since 2010, previously serving as executive director of North Texas before taking on the role of the first executive di-rector of USGBC Texas. He notes that he will be visiting as well as video conferenc-ing regularly with the regional councils. Under the new structure, one of the biggest changes is San Antonio and Aus-tin being separated into their own re-gions. Previously, they were both covered under a single office, the Central Texas-Balcones Chapter. Individual chapter memberships were automatically transferred over to USGBC Texas, and annual membership renewal will continue to be on the anni-versary of joining date. –mh

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conveniently located to service Austin and San Antonio

The Bury Inc. offices recently put their creative problem solving skills to use for some good old-fashioned

fun in the first annual company-wide gin-gerbread house contest! Check out the creative entries that came in from various markets all over the state, with descrip-tions from the teams responsible. –cw

UP! House - Created with the theme of the Disney Pixar movie “UP.” In the movie, the

house is lifted up by many balloons as it takes off on an adventure of a lifetime. The characters

are Carl, the grumpy old man, Russell, the Boy Scout and Dug, the talking dog.

A Charlie Brown Christmas- “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!” – Snoopy. (Note

that the gingerbread people are making snow angels…not just lying there!)

Lil’ BURkini Bottom - Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob Square Pants! SpongeBob even made sure to wear his special candy cane stockings.

Overall winner: Sugar Way, located in a town called Bury!

Most filled with holiday cheer: When Santa’s Away the Reindeer Will Play - Santa has left

the house and Rudolph and Comet are taking over. Comet took Santa’s bag to try to go down

the chimney while Rudolph patiently waits near the tree.

Best theme: Gummy Bears Vs. Teddy Grahams - Welcome to Gummy Bear Castle!

On a normal day, it’s a warm inviting place to enjoy a new layer of fallen snow, but today is no normal day. A great war across all of Candy Land has been raging for 5 years. Today the Teddy Grahams are entering

Gummy Bear Castle to negotiate a treaty and restore peace throughout the land.

The LEED Certified Gingerbread - What’s this? It’s not your grandmother’s gingerbread house. Brimming with the youth and ingenuity of energy-efficient light-on-the-land LEED certified technology, it’s the gingerbread house of the future. Welcome gingerbread construction to

the 21st Century.

Santa’s Cottage - A warm glow welcomes you to Santa’s cottage! Come around back to the barn for his reindeer, where Santa Claus has packed his sleigh full of cheer.

All the way to the topSubmitted to Construction News

SpawGlass Austin Division held a topping out this week for Pioneer Bank. The building is located at 38th and Guadalupe in Austin and is a three story 35,000-sf

office building and bank branch. The facility will also have a 65,000-sf parking garage structural steel building with slabs on metal deck. The façade is limestone, curtain wall, and wood grain metal panels. The project kicked off in August 2015 and the

substantial completion date is August 2016. –cw

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austin construction news february 2016

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