austin construction news may 2016

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Fired up

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GarzaBury LLC is Garza EMC Rocking the pool scene

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www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 15 H Number 5 H MAY 2016

Smoke from barbecue restaurants in Austin has made the news recently, even spurring the Austin City Coun-

cil to consider a proposal to regulate smoke wafting from barbecue joints in Aug. 2015. And even though the city council ultimately decided not to pursue the proposal, Terry Wooten, owner of a new Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que on Congress Ave., took preemptive action, according to Matt Haralson, G. Creek Construction, the general contractor on the project. “Besides the legendary Cooper’s name and the interior finishes, we in-stalled a first of its kind in Austin scrubber system for the four large smoke fired pits,” says Haralson, who owns G. Creek with his brother John Haralson. “Barbe-cue smoke has been in the news a lot in Austin recently, so Cooper’s decided to be proactive and install a system that takes almost all the particles and odor

out of the exhaust. While too expensive for use by most barbecue joints, the size and customer volume of this Cooper’s made it feasible.” The project cost approximately $3,300,000 and took 10 months, com-pleting on Dec. 17, 2015. Project manager was John Haralson and Shane Luckie, superintendent was Juan Pineda and ar-chitect was Kevin Stewart. The scope of the 13,000-sf project in-cluded complete demolition and remod-el of an 1800’s masonry building. G. Creek added a steel structure, second floor, re-framed existing trusses and walls, in-stalled new concrete floors, reclaimed wood throughout, elevator, deck, new roofs, kitchen, pit rooms, dining, bath-rooms, walk-in coolers, all new MEP and underground utilities, and a new fire sprinkler and fire alarm. Working in downtown Austin with a

Inside a historic masonry building in downtown Austin is the new Cooper’s BBQ.

When Rudy Garza retired as assis-tant city manager from the City of Austin after 23 years, he

wanted to venture into some type of en-gineering or construction career. With more than 25 years of experience in proj-ect management and the delivery of ma-jor capital projects, Garza had conversa-tions with several of the companies he had worked opposite to during his stint with the city. During a conversation with Paul Bury, Bury Inc., the two realized that they could help each other and in 2012, GarzaBury LLC was born in a mentor-pro-tégé type relationship with Bury Inc. “When I was with the city, a big part

of my responsibility was infrastructure and I had several opportunities to work opposite the Bury team. I got to know them very well,” Garza says. Now, with their early success, Garza-Bury has rebranded and will be proceed-ing as Garza EMC, an engineering and management consulting firm. Garza is president and CEO. Mainly a site development and water/wastewater utilities firm, Garza EMC is cur-rently working on the redevelopment proj-ect at Ft. Sam Houston, the Dell Medical School and Seton Teaching Hospital at the University of Texas campus, the integrated

The Garza EMC team seems to be growing daily as the firmhas enjoyed an early success and growth.

Boomer Block and Nikki Kay joined forces to open RockStar Design Studio in October 2014. Together,

they renovated an old house in Cedar Park and have turned it into a one-of-a-kind, over-the-top home for presenting their pools and outdoor living designs. The studio is not only well known for its uber personalized luxury pools and fine outdoor living designs, but also for pool houses, landscaping, tree houses, hardscapes and more. Kay is originally from Brooklyn, NY but moved to the Austin area as a child and says she has grown to be a true Aus-tinite. Block grew up in Houston and has been working in the pool and construc-

tion industry for 32 years. He moved to Austin to challenge himself with the local topography for his unique designs. “He’s a master designer and master builder,” Kay says. “Everything we do comes from his mind and on to paper. Nothing is generated from a computer. It is all personalized to each individual client. “ Kay, who is the business backbone to the company and makes sure that end of the operation is running smoothly, says she met Block seven years ago and they’ve been the best of friends since. “He started teaching me about his line of work,” she says. “I became serious-ly interested in it and now absolutely love

Boomer Block and Nikki Kay stand on a grotto RockStar Design Studio designed and built.The grotto seats 10-12 people.

Austin Construction News • May 2016

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With a lot of business in the Austin area, San Antonio-based Jim Filipowicz & Associates (JF&A)

decided it was time to open an office in the state capital. With approximately 15 to 20 projects going in the Austin area at the time, JF&A opened its office at 3913 Todd Lane, Suite 305, in January, and the company has added more projects since the establish-ment of the branch. Jim Filipowicz, owner and CEO, notes that the company has sought daily jobs to stay more local in the disaster res-toration business, and about half of that business is in Austin. The constant travel-ing was hard on JF&A’s employees and vehicles, and a lot of productivity was lost as they spent about four hours a day on the road. Filipowicz called opening an office there “a no-brainer.”

Closer to the action

The office location was strategically chosen to allow JF&A to get people, ma-terials and equipment up to Austin from San Antonio as quickly as possible. Filipo-wicz estimates that he can get from the San Antonio headquarters to the Austin office in about an hour. Two members of the JF&A team relo-cated to Austin to operate the office, which is in a flex space, just like JF&A’s first office was in San Antonio. Nick Bow-lin manages the Austin office. A graduate of University of Texas at San Antonio, Bowlin majored in construction science and has been with JF&A for three years. Filipowicz notes that with technolo-gy making it easy to share info between San Antonio and JF&A’s first branch of-fice, this new location should improve service and response for its Austin jobs. He says, “It makes us a better company, but I also think it makes a better experi-ence for our clients.” JF&A is a restoration construction company that does mostly commercial work and focuses on restoring properties from damage following disasters such as fires, hurricanes and hailstorms. –mh

Nick Bowlin, branch manager, is leading the way for JF&A’s new office in Austin, heading up the company’s existing projects in the area as well as taking on new ones.


Originally owned and operated as Allied Equipment Rentals, We Rent It (WRI) began in Bryan, TX when

then-owner Charles Mancuso acquired that Allied location in 2001. For nine years, WRI operated under the management of Allen Housley until it was acquired by Cobra Equipment Rentals in 2010. The WRI name, Housley, and the entire family of WRI employees were retained. Housley is head of operations for all stores. Grant Dillon is district manager. “We Rent It strives to provide the best customer service for any project one may need to accomplish,” says Hal Hawkins, director of marketing. “We Rent It ensures the best products are available to rent and purchase and quick and reliable responses are made to any service needs.” WRI opened a new store in 2012 in Pleasanton, added three new stores in 2013 by acquiring Derrick Equipment Rental’s locations and assets in Caldwell,

Meant to rent

Bastrop, and Elgin, and expanded to two more stores in 2014, acquiring Longhorn Equipment Company’s assets and loca-tions in Buda and Schertz. According to Hawkins, the stores and employees sponsor a cook-off com-petition, as well as baseball teams, fairs and rodeos in the specific locations. Roland Duran started with WRI in January 2014 as branch manager in Bas-trop and now in the company’s Buda lo-cation. There are 15 employees. He says he knows repeat customers are the backbone to his business. “We try to meet their expectations and needs as best as possible,” he says. “Taking care of them means returning customers.” After a career in freight and trucking, Duran says he wanted a fresh start in a new industry. “WRI is a great company and even better people,” he says. –cw

The Buda branch of We Rent It opened in 2014.

Sending their top techs

Four HOLT CAT technicians won a state competition and traveled to Little Rock, AR to represent the

heavy equipment dealer in the 2016 Tech Wars, a four-day competition with other Caterpillar heavy equipment dealers. From the Machine Division, Jarrett Payton, field service technician tech 5, San Antonio, took first place at the state level, and Autry Adams, field service technician tech 2, Longview, took sec-ond. From the Power Systems Division, Alan Lindow, shop service technician

tech 6, Longview, took first place at the state level, and Vince Jones, lead techni-cian, Longview, took second. The four state winners participated in three rounds of completion at the lo-cal, regional and state level against 400 of their HOLT CAT peers. This is the first year HOLT CAT competed in Tech Wars, and the company plans to expand the competition in coming years to include its Transport, Ag, Crane, and Electric Pow-er divisions. –mh

Machine Division state contestants L-R: Howard Schram, Steven Pinkerton, Jonathan Morrow, Autry Adams, Jarrett Payton, Grady Trainor, Paul Boubel

Power Systems Division state contestants L-R: Keven Leon, James Pardaen, Vince Jones,Alan Lindow, Ben Gallo, Wade Nagel


OSHA adopts new rule to protect workers from RespirableCrystalline Silica

Stan GregoryInsuricaSan Antonio, TX

Most people in the construction in-dustry are familiar with silica dust.

This is the dust that is produced when drilling or cutting certain materials, such as concrete or stone. The negative effects of this dust have been well documented since the 1930s, but OSHA’s previous ex-posure limits did not adequately protect workers. This much needed new rule will curb silicosis, lung cancer, chronic ob-structive pulmonary disease, and kidney disease in America's workers by limiting their exposure to respirable crystalline silica. The new rule has separate stan-dards for construction and general indus-tries. OSHA estimates about 2.3 million workers face exposure to silica dust at work, including 2 million construction workers and 300,000 workers in manu-facturing facilities, foundries, and energy production. It is estimated that the new rule will save more than 600 lives and 900 new cases of silicosis annually. In addition to this fantastic improvement, OSHA also estimates that the new rule will provide a financial benefit of about $7.7 billion per year. In addition to reducing the allowable exposure limit for silica dust, the rule in-cludes employer requirements such as limiting worker exposure through work practices and engineering controls, pro-viding respiratory protection when con-trols are insufficient, training workers, limiting their access to high exposure ar-eas, and providing medical exams to highly exposed workers. Most employers can limit harmful dust exposure by using equipment that is widely available – generally using water to keep dust from getting into the air or a ventilation system to remove it from the air. OSHA is also providing additional as-sistance through their free on-site con-sulting services for small businesses. As this rule goes into effect, specific materi-

als will be made available directly from OSHA. Insurance Pro Tip: many insurance carriers offer compliance and testing ser-vices for construction clients. Most of the time, you have to ask for these services directly, so check with your insurance car-rier to see if any free services are avail-able. OSHA defines the key provisions of this new rule as follows: • Reduces the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift. • Requires employers to: use engi-neering controls (such as water or venti-lation) to limit worker exposure to the PEL; provide respirators when engineer-ing controls cannot adequately limit ex-posure; limit worker access to high expo-sure areas; develop a written exposure control plan, offer medical exams to highly exposed workers, and train work-ers on silica risks and how to limit expo-sures. • Provides medical exams to monitor highly exposed workers and gives them information about their lung health. • Provides flexibility to help employ-ers — especially small businesses — pro-tect workers from silica exposure. The compliance schedule for this rule will begin to take effect on Jun. 23, 2016. Businesses involved in the con-struction industry will have one year to become fully compliant. General indus-tries will have two years. Stan Gregory is a Safety and Risk Con-sultant and a leader on INSURICA’s Risk Management team. He has more than three decades of experience working with loss control, safety planning, and risk man-agement for clients within the construction and energy industries. He can be reached at 210-805-5915 or [email protected].

It’s time to redevelop middle management development

Andy Ray, PrincipalPFK TexasHouston, TX

Recently, I polled a group of 200 execu-tives and owners of mid-market com-

panies. The question was this, “How many of you have a formal development program for your middle managers?” Only two people, or one percent of the group, acknowledged such a program. It should be no surprise then that when this same group of executives was asked if their middle managers had driv-en a significant and sustainable result into their businesses in the last 90 days, the answer was a collective sigh and a frustrated, “no.” The performance dis-connect here is clear - executives and owners are consistently dissatisfied with their middle management’s ability to change business results in a meaningful way, and yet there is little being done programmatically to change that dissat-isfaction. This performance disconnect is oc-curring while “millennials,” the most edu-cated generation to hit the workforce in the history of our nation, are rapidly back filling the middle management ranks be-ing vacated by baby boomers that are hitting retirement age at the rate of 11,000 people a day (a demographic trend that will continue through 2030). Executive and ownership’s reflexive response to this performance disconnect is to blame the millennials for the charac-teristics that define that generation. This shortcut prescription for middle man-agement underperformance is a misread, and we are long overdue for a reframing of the discussion. Hiring smart people and hoping they will “figure it out” is not middle management development. And yet, that is the predominant middle man-agement development methodology used in mid-market companies today. The root of the frustration between ex-ecutives and the middle managers that are trying to keep them happy is not gen-erational; it is developmental. Mastery in middle management, (the ability to create a significant and sus-tainable results change), is developed the same way mastery in music, or golf, or carpentry is mastered: through a broad range of experiences over time. The path to middle management mas-

tery, then, is not so much about explor-ing an unending supply of domain knowledge, but rather digging in and working through real business results change challenges in a tactile way. “Applied Development” is the pro-grammatic response to this managerial challenge that delivers both a high ROI to the sponsoring business and a path to mastery for the middle manager that par-ticipates in it. In an “Applied Develop-ment” model, middle managers journey toward mastery through solving real per-formance challenges in the business they are in in repetitive iterations over time. A successful “Applied Management Development” program rests on four pil-lars: 1) Guidance: Senior peer guidance is critical in any middle management devel-opment program. This is where real tacti-cal knowledge transfer can occur. 2) Technique: Lean, Six Sigma, and Design Thinking are all techniques that today’s middle managers need in their problem solving toolkit and “Applied Management Development” supplies training in these techniques. 3) Structure: Real deliverables in tight timeframes assure that develop-ment cycles deliver a sustainable ROI to the sponsoring company. 4) Practice: Applied development creates a framework for middle manag-ers to practice their craft repetitively and in different types of management chal-lenge scenarios. It is not a one-time fix but, rather, a change in management process. Taken together as a programmatic approach, the four pillars of “Applied Management Development” deliver mid-dle management capability improve-ment that can drive sustainable and meaningful change into a business in as little as 90-days, and change the way middle managers work forever.

Andy Ray is a principal with the Entre-preneurial Advisory Service Practice at PKF Texas. Contact him at (713) 860-1400 or [email protected].


Texas-sized acquisitions

Practical tips for limitingdiscovery costs in construction litigation Jessica NeufeldMunsch Hardt Kopf & HarrDallas, TX

With two acquisitions, Stantec has doubled its size in Texas. The North American design firm ac-

quired both the Infrastructure Americas Division of KBR last December and multi-disciplinary firm Bury Inc. in March. With Texas offices in Dallas, Austin and Houston as well as an office in Ala-bama, Infrastructure Americas has added 180 professionals (120 which are in Texas) with transportation, water/wastewater and aviation project experience to the Stantec team. The acquisition of the divi-sion will strengthen Stantec’s presence in Texas and enhance its infrastructure de-sign capabilities in the Gulf region. Austin-based Bury Inc. boasts 300-employees in offices in Dallas, Hous-ton and San Antonio, as well as locations in Arizona and Florida. The firm, which has been in business for more than 30 years, offers infrastructure and buildings design services to private and public sec-tor clients. Bury Inc. focuses on civil, me-chanical, electrical, plumbing design and structural engineering, as well as survey-ing, land planning and landscape archi-tecture. The Bury acquisition will help Stantec gain a foothold in the transportation, wa-ter and architectural markets, as well as contribute to staff growth. Stantec plans to benefit from Bury’s wealth of experi-ence in community development, as well as the experience of Bury’s staff. Bury of-ficially becomes “Stantec” in September, but will be referenced as “Bury, now Stan-tec” in the interim, and will continue to operate in Bury’s current offices.

Fermin A. Diaz, Stantec’s Regional Gulf Leader, believes both acquisitions promise to be a good fit for Stantec. “The asset purchase in December 2015 of KBR’s Infrastructure Americas Di-vision, coupled with the recent Bury Inc. acquisition, reflects Stantec’s commit-ment to provide a comprehensive and diverse level of services to meet the chal-lenges and needs of our clients,” Diaz says. “Both firms complement Stantec’s philosophy to ‘design with community in mind.’ The addition of this talent to our current Texas team provides us the op-portunity to expand multi-disciplined services and offer a full suite of profes-sional services from local, trusted part-ners.” Stantec offers professional consulting in planning, engineering, architecture, inte-rior design, landscape architecture, survey-ing, environmental sciences, project man-agement and project economics. –mjm

Stantec’s Regional Gulf Leader Fermin A. Diaz

Alex Betancourt with JD Krane, a flooring and tile company based in Pharr, is installing flooring at the Oaks of Kyle multi-family project in Kyle. The GC on the project is FJW Construction. The project includes 204 luxury apartments, plus a clubhouse, and is

expected to be finished by Aug. 1. –cw

For the floorsConstruction News JOB SIGHT

Litigation isn't the first thing on the mind of most con-struction companies when considering their informa-

tion technology infrastructure. However, how an organi-zation stores and manages its data can have a major im-

pact on the overall cost of complying with preservation obligations related to lawsuits.

When litigation arises, parties are obligated to take good faith and reason-able measures to preserve unique data potentially relevant to the case. For the construction industry, this can range from emails and other forms of commu-nication, to CAD, scheduling and ac-counting files, as well as hard copies of the plans and specifications, RFIs and submittals. There are several ways a company can structure data to limit discovery costs without adversely affecting its business functions. Below are some practical data management suggestions construction companies should consider implement-ing to limit potential discovery costs:Avoid storing data on individual com-puter hard drives If each employee stores work on their individual computer hard drive, when it comes time to preserve and col-lect in litigation, relevant data may need to be collected from each computer sep-arately. This is a time- and labor-intensive process that also will likely result in a sub-stantial amount of duplicate data. This results in more data to cull through when it comes time to review and produce to the opposing party, which means greater discovery costs for the company. In contrast, if employees maintain their work on a shared server, preserva-tion and collection of that data can likely be performed just once on that server. This benefits the company by keeping collection costs down, limiting the chance of spoliation (the more individual collections you need to perform, the greater the chance of technical issues or that relevant data is missed) and stream-lining the review and production pro-cess. Though it is still best practice to in-terview key employees to determine whether they’ve saved work on their in-dividual hard drives, having a policy in place instructing employees not to do so, and which the company can back up with regular compliance audits, will help to further ensure it can rely on shared storage locations for litigation data col-lections.Utilize an email archive An email archiving system captures email content in a central location, while storing and indexing the emails for easy searchablity in the future. This type of product enables a company to reason-ably limit the amount of email storage per user while providing employees quick and easy access to archived mate-rial. Maintaining a centralized and searchable database of company emails makes it easier to isolate, preserve and collect the emails of key employees when

litigation arises. In addition, it enables more consistent preservation by central-izing the process instead of relying on individual users to manage their email archives themselves.Be mindful of electronic communica-tions, beyond emails Do employees utilize instant mes-saging software or text messaging? These forms of electronic communica-tion have value for companies as they enable employees to communicate effi-ciently with colleagues, clients or cus-tomers, which can be crucial in the field. At the same time, they each generate ad-ditional potentially relevant data that may need to be produced in litigation. In addition, especially with respect to mo-bile technologies, they may pose unique security risks. Prior to implementing such tools, weigh the value of their use with the po-tential for related litigation costs. Bring IT, legal and other relevant stakeholders to the table for an informed analysis. Fur-thermore, develop policies regarding use and retention of this data to help mitigate discovery costs. If these tech-nologies are already in use, it is not too late to consider revisions to current poli-cies and protocols to minimize discovery costs and improve data security. Jessica Neufeld practices general com-mercial litigation with a significant focus on construction litigation and counseling on behalf of contractors, developers and design professionals. She has both defend-ed and asserted claims of breach of con-tract, negligence, professional negligence, DTPA, fraud and mechanic's liens foreclo-sure. Jessica is also a member of Munsch Hardt's eDiscovery task force. In that ca-pacity, she advises clients and other attor-neys on cost-effective and defensible strat-egies for the preservation, collection, pro-cessing, review and production of electron-ic information. [email protected] www.munsch.com


Chris Kelley, President/CEO

Jeff Kelley,Vice President/Sales Manager

Amber KurkowskiVice President

Bilt Rite Scaffold/Bilt Rite Insulation

Chris and Jeff Kelley, brothers and new owners of Bilt Rite Scaffold, were a little surprised when they

realized that the company that was es-tablished in 2006 had hit its 10th anniver-sary in April. Chris and Jeff bought the company in August 2015. Born in Germany and raised by their father, Charles Kelley, both Chris and Jeff give all the credit to their father for the success they are finding as business own-ers today.

Where did you grow up? Chris: We were raised in the Austin area. We went to San Marcos High School.

Were you active in sports or other ac-tivities? Jeff: I was active in varsity football and track. Chris: I was more into debate and theater. Jeff was the smallest guy on the football team but has always had the heart to push through. I found I wasn’t meant for that.

You sound like you are very different. Does one take after your mother and one take after your father? Chris: Jeff takes more after mom. Lots of personality, easygoing. The nice guy! Calm and caring. Jeff: Chris takes after our father. Very tenacious, a mystery box. Lots of ambi-tion and strong willed. Chris: Yes, I tend to be more like help me or get out of the way! Jeff: It works out well. Sometimes Chris is the accelerator and I’m the brakes.

Tell me about your parents. Chris: Dad raised us from the age of

one on. Life was challenging. We didn’t have money, but we learned to stick to-gether. He devoted his entire life to mak-ing sure we would be successful. He stressed that it is always family and each other first. He insisted we work here dur-ing the summer and on our school breaks. We got good at doing scaffold-ing. We learned hard work, determina-tion and discipline. We developed a relationship with our mom as we got older. She’s extreme-ly intelligent, and very creative.

What happened after you left high school? Jeff: I went to Texas State University, majoring in sports science. I’ve always had – and still do – a big passion for sports. At first, I thought I would do something with engineering but I didn’t really like it. My dream was to take Mac Brown’s job! As I spent more time here at Bilt Rite, I worked my way up, became a foreman, then went into the office. I worked my way from the bottom to the top. Chris: The irony is when I started working here I hated it. I was 16 years old and in the Texas heat! As I moved through the company, I found I was really good at drafting and design. I worked one summer in the office doing design and went from hating it to loving it. Jeff: He’s good at a lot of things. Chris: When you design a scaffold, you choose from hundreds of pieces. It’s like Tinkertoys. There are infinite possi-bilities. It’s very exciting.

Tell me about a particular project that stands out. Jeff: The old Highland Mall that Aus-tin Community College has renovated. We put up scaffolding all the way around. It was a year-long project with 850-ft of scaffold. The tallest side was 65-ft tall. Chris: We are also legendary for our trash chutes. No-one builds them like we do.

Your ongoing work at one of your projects has led to some new friend-ships and partnerships here. Tell me about it. Chris: We met Amber at that project. She was subbing us for the scaffolding. Amber: We felt there was a serious need for a quality insulation company. Most of the time you need scaffolding when you are doing insulation work. Chris: So, we started Bilt Rite Insula-tion in March and Amber came in as a partner.

Amber, tell me about yourself. Amber: My husband, Charles Witt, and I own K&W Engineering Solutions. I attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated with a bache-lor’s degree. I was active duty Army from 2007-2012 with the 1st Calvary Division out of Ft. Hood. I also received an MBA

degree from Norwich University and I’m currently working on my masters in elec-trical engineering. I started partnering with Chris by providing structural engineering designs and a stamp for his specialty scaffolding projects. We also brought in Johnny Mi-kulec as a superintendent for insulation and as a partner.

Who are some of your other key em-ployees here? Chris: Our father – he is the biggest piece of this. Then there is Matthew McKinney, branch manager, Greg Martinez, and Chuck Gavarette. They have all been with the company for more than seven years and have helped build the company. We have 42 employees at both busi-nesses.

What is the company culture like? Chris: We try to hold some kind of re-treat every year. We gave more than $30,000 in Christmas bonuses and we provide healthcare. We treat the compa-ny and the employees like family. Everyone gives to the company. In a sense, it’s all about the client. Anyone who is willing to work hard will get the training they need to succeed. I always want to see people succeed and grow. A lot of our friends from high school work here – they don’t need to have scaffold-ing experience. We will train them and provide opportunities. We have a company softball team and we take part in charity golf tourna-ments.

You do quite a bit of work for non-profit organizations, right? Jeff: Yes. Over the Edge is a company that provides the opportunity for non-profits to raise money and name recogni-tion by having participants rappel over the edge of a local high rise building. We built a platform up to the roof of a build-ing in Waco so the people rappelling would be able to step out away from the edge and reduce rope fraying. Chris: We also sponsor a Little League baseball team, The Phantoms. We helped them raise enough money to compete at a national tournament. Some of the other non-profits we work with are Art Alliance of Austin, Texas Wounded Warrior, #BandTogetherTX,

Premiere Combat Group and FORE Chari-ty Golf.

What are some of your future plans for Bilt Rite? Chris: We are planning to build a new facility. We are looking for 10+ acres with multiple space for our companies, a showroom, and extras for the employees like a weight room and a game room. We want this to be a place where people want to come to work. We will be break-ing ground within a year. We also plan to break into some new markets, such as San Antonio and more.

What do you like to do for leisure? Chris: Golf, barbecue, fish, hunt. I’ve always had a passion for psychology, so I like to study that. I want to build an ECG machine that measures brain waves! I’ve always wanted to be an inventor. I also take part in truck shows. I won second at the Hays County Fair! Jeff: Sports! Video games, time with my family, darts – anything sports! I’m very competitive and I’m a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys, the Spurs, the Long-horns and the Texas Rangers. Amber: Ride horses. We do hobby farming. We have goats, sheep, horses, a micro pig and dogs. I like to hunt and spend time with my family.

Chris and Jeff, are you single, married? Chris: I have a girlfriend, Katie Hodges. Jeff: I have a girlfriend, Courtney Haynes and we have a one-year-old daughter. Chris: They are extremely supportive and are a key part to our success.

Any last thoughts? Chris: The emphasis is on our father. He’s always said this is going to be one of the better stories. Jeff: Our father was the right person to start this company and Chris and I were the right ones to come in and make it grow exponentially. Chris: And partnering with Amber has been the best move. Jeff: We know how it is living pay-check to paycheck. We treat our employ-ees right so they don’t leave. Chris: Our business model is to be successful but it’s more about providing something that feeds and supports fami-lies and veterans. –cw

Amber Kurkowski, Chris Kelley and Jeff Kelley are taking Bilt Rite Scaffoldand Bilt Rite Insulation to new heights.

The scaffolding for Austin Community College’s transformationof Highland Mall was a huge project.


Nothing mini about this birthday

Construction News publishers Buddy and Reesa Doebbler wished a happy birthday to Dolly, one of their miniature horses, who turned 10 years old on Apr. 24.

This memory was captured when she was celebrating turning 1 month old. –mh

Spring FishingStrategies!!by Capt. Steve Schultz

Sponsored by:Waypoint Marine, Majek Boats, Evinrude Outboards, E-Z Bel Construction, Power Pole Shallow Water Anchor, Aggregate

Haulers, ForEverlast Hunting and Fishing Products, MirrOlure, and

Columbia Sportswear.

As we approach the month of May, every one of my clients has been asking the same questions. “Is it

croaker season, or do you have croakers yet?” Well, as I write this column, croak-ers have not been really available on a regular day-to-day basis. A couple of the marinas have flown the bright yellow flag for several days, but most of the baits have been small and weak from the high winds and the transporting of these frag-ile fin fish. I got my hands on a few dozen last week and they were hand picked at one of the local marinas. I must say that it didn’t take long to put together a decent box once we located the right rock in Baf-

fin holding the larger fish. Some may ar-gue that it’s to early to start using these highly sought after summer baits that usually don’t show up till the first of May, but I beg to differ. Don’t get me wrong,

I’ve had some great days in the last few months using lures and shrimp under a popping cork. I think if you’re in the right place at the right time, and you’re a good fisherman, you will catch fish.

Ben Davis, San Antonio, caught this 26-inch Speckled trout south of Baffin Bay usingshrimp under a popping cork while fishing with Steve Schultz Outdoors.

Fishing pressure will increase dra-matically now and as the summer pro-gresses, I have not seen too many busy weeks on the water this season as of yet, but I’m sure they are right around the cor-ner. Late spring and summer months are very busy on the water. Tournaments will be starting this month and you can bet there will be one every weekend from May thru September. It is very important to stay focused in our conservation ef-forts. Keeping enough fish to eat is not a crime by any means, but stacking fish into your deep freeze to be forgotten about and discarded later because of freezer burn is a no-no. We rarely keep and fish over the 25-inch mark unless its survival is hopeless. These larger sows are carrying eggs ready to spawn and re-plenish our ecosystem for the future, so please do your part with these conserva-tion needs. Nuff said!! For the next few month my plan is to continue running south into Baffin Bay and sometimes further south. The rocks in the middle of the bay have been hold-ing good numbers of solid fish. Shore-lines with surface bait activity will also not go un-fished! Target thigh deep wa-ters while wading throwing large surface plugs early and switching to slow sinking lures or plastics as your action slows. If your choice is live bait, anchor or drift fish with live shrimp under a popping cork over deeper rocks and sand areas for specks and reds. Summer schedule is filling quickly but fall dates are still available. Don’t wait until the last minute to book your dates. To schedule your next bay fishing trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call or text at 361-813-3716 or 361-334-3105 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Good luck and Good Fishing.


Half or Full Day Fishing Trips

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Your catch Filleted andBagged for You

Furnish your TPWD FishingLicense & Refreshments,

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Ken Milam Guide Service(325) 379-2051

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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

When Lake Buchanan started ris-ing last summer we were just happy to have our lake back.

We had no idea that it would be a lake so unlike the lake the drought took away. After the long dry years the lake bed grew up so many large trees that we now have a lake that takes a while to learn to navigate and fish. The lower part of Lake Buchanan is pretty much unchanged. There are more willows in the backs of the creeks that make bass and crappie fishing more fun, but other than that it is not much different. Upper Lake Buchan-an though is a whole different lake. From the Hi-Line and Canyon of the Eagles area up there is still heavy growth of willow trees that grew to 20–30 ft. high along the river banks when the lake was dry. It is these trees that have changed every-thing.

It is now possible to tie your boat up and fish under a cool shady canopy of willow trees in the middle of the lake on the upper end. In many places the trees are too thick to get through and really hard to see through. You have to just fol-low along the narrow forks of the river channel and ease your way along. Even if you are familiar with Lake Buchanan you need to allow yourself some extra time to learn to navigate and do your best not to be on the water after dark. Use your GPS to help you keep your bearings because I can tell you from experience, out in those willows it is possible know where you are and be completely lost at the same time!The nice thing about the willows is that they tend to gentle down the lake some-what. They break the brisk winds that Buchanan is known for and smooth out

the waves. Even better than that, the wil-lows provide habitat for just about ev-erything that slithers, flies and swims. You can see the handiwork of the many beavers that we have now and even catch a glimpse of one basking in the sun. Be careful of the wasps that favor the willows to nest in though. It is worth a trip to the willows because much of the flood debris is still hung up in the willow thickets providing a double whammy of cover for fish to hide and feed in and op-portunities for anglers to catch them. We have seen some really nice size and num-bers of crappie, bass and catfish being brought in, and our charter trips are yielding good steady limits of solid fish.

Just last week a lady came fishing with us on her 60th birthday with friends and caught the new lake record hybrid bass for Lake Buchanan! Sally Nicholas caught one 26 inches long and 7.9 pounds! What a way to celebrate!

This “new” Lake Buchanan makes us all feel like celebrating! Grab some friends and come see us!

Happy New Lake!

Sally Nicholas caught a record hybrid. Beaver in the willows

Through the willows


Concrete Industry

Working togetherto achieve success

Wanda Lynn Gibson, president, andMarty Gibson, vice presidentGibson Concrete LLCPflugerville, TX

What are the “hot button” issues in the concrete industry?

The “hot button” issue that affects the concrete industry from the ground up is the labor force – finding and keep-ing workers, more so in the field, not in management roles. We recognize that nothing is accomplished until the first shovel hits the ground, so the men that have that job and the superintendents that run the crews are most important.

How would you describe the state of the construction industry? The state of the industry is very good right now, there is a lot going on in devel-opment.

What factors are driving this increase? There are several factors that contin-ue to keep our industry busy: the amount of bonds passed for schools, including a new movement towards the fine arts ed-ucation. Austin continues to be a desir-able place to live across demographics, which lends to an array of development, from schools to churches, to urban living communities, hospitals, education cen-ters, retail, entertainment, roads, etc. It’s a ripple effect.

How has this increase affected your com-pany and how you conduct business? Our bidding has to be selective – otherwise if we are not careful, we can take on too much. Work is consistent, and scheduling is everything to keep projects happening on time and on bud-

get. Other than that, we continue to con-duct business and operate with respect and attention to details, the customers, the work force, and Mother Nature.

Have there been recent changes in leg-islation affecting the concrete industry? The legislation that continues to happen and affect the concrete industry on a daily basis has mostly revolved around contractual language. I believe we can look forward to subsequent bills that will address global warming. This will encompass environmental concerns as well, in which Gibson Concrete will al-ways respect and support laws that both protect our Earth and balance healthy development.

What is the most significant challenge your industry faces? The labor force is again the topic of the day. In a nutshell, we are losing the tradesman generation. Young men and women are being educated in the con-struction sciences at universities, but many have not had the opportunity to grow up in or learn an actual labor trade – and so the application knowledge and wisdom that is gained with hands on ex-perience is missing from professionals that we employ on our jobsites or in the offices as project managers, etc. It’s im-portant that we utilize benefits from both, taking aspects from the books but applying it with the practical know-how on a jobsite, in the midst of jobsite vari-ables. We need both. There is a difference

between building out of a book and building on a jobsite. This understanding is huge and must be respected in ways to build and foster the tradesmen vocation with the construction industry in order to maintain its health and integrity. That said, recent interest with high school cur-riculum offering trade certifications again is promising.

How are you dealing with these chal-lenges? For Gibson Concrete, it started a long time ago when Marty began the trade. Since then, he has not only respected it, he knows a tradesman when he sees one and hires them! From there, you manage a business well to provide a good place of employment and keep those great em-ployees. It’s also nice when the long-term employees become your recruiters and bring in others that may possess the same work credentials and ethics.

What is on the horizon for your industry? Technology affects everything, al-ways on the horizon is a better, faster way of getting from point A to point B – in our industry, one personal experience is with surveying equipment for both layout and concrete placement. The instruments and software designed for the tasks are pretty good.

What are the rewards of the industry? At the end of the day, you can look back and see productivity – literally, you can see a permanent foundation or build-ing that will contribute to the community in different ways: socially, physically, eco-nomically, spiritually…it’s an honor to be part of it and lend our expertise and tal-ents in this way. What are keys to being successful? First, let’s define success – Webster’s Dictionary defines success as: 1) the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame; 2) the correct or desired result of

an attempt. These definitions are not bad if they also consider the journey and conse-quence of such success! Success to the owners of Gibson Concrete would first take into consideration the goals which might be summed up to livelihood, con-tentment/happiness, and purpose. Thus far, as owners and employer, we have cer-tainly provided towards our own and oth-er’s livelihoods; we have experienced many hours of contentment and happi-ness (along with frustration and sorrows); and we have come to learn and see how all has great purpose. So in this way, we are very grateful and successful people! We are successful because we have the eyes to understand what we already are and have. If you were to revise the question to how to run a successful business, I would elaborate on the last decade where we learned how vital the owner presence and direction is when it comes to leading a company, both administratively and in the field. In the same breath, a company is not run by one or two people or owners. You learn to strategically (and harmoni-ously) surround yourself with a great team of experts in the different positions called for. You seek and maintain the good work-ing relationships, both with your internal and external customers, and let go of the rest. You start and finish strong knowing that your name is on the product. The fruit: after working together for several years, the cohesiveness between the field and office has a profound impact on projects when it comes to communi-cation and decisions made that can either make it a good day or not so good day. Finally, Gibson Concrete takes the time to identify and recognize each per-son for the person they are, and for their contribution to the success of the com-pany. We do this in several ways, includ-ing, but not limited to: prayer, vacation benefits, monetary recognition, perform-ing charitable functions together, play and social time. –cw

Economy strong, but labor shortage a stressor

Lance Halfmann, Vice-PresidentConScape Inc.Fort Worth, TX

What are the “hot button” issues in the industry?

Its seems like the problem for con-tractors across the board is a shortage of qualified labor, because the work is defi-nitely there – it’s been there for two years – but the labor is the issue. I think right now, with there being so much commercial work available, some-times your eyes get bigger than your stomach and you take on more work, or you get more work because everybody is spread so thin. A lot of times you take on jobs and the schedule is demanding and your labor force is so short you find your-self behind the eight ball before the job starts. What we’ve learned to do is to back off and take the work that we think we can handle so that we’re able to properly man our projects. I don’t want our cus-tomers upset with us or to think we’re not

capable. We know the job, we know what we’re capable of and so we’re not going to extend beyond our means. We want to maintain quality and not just take on more than we can handle. I’ve heard that from many people, that there is so much good work out there that you almost have to rein yourself in and not get overextended, because then you’re into overtime hours and labor, which will eat up your profit margin.

How would you describe the state of the construction industry in general terms? I’ve been with ConScape 15 years, and business is as good as I have ever seen it. My dad, Charles Halfmann, who has been in this industry 48 years, said he’s only seen one other time that was comparable to this as far as the quality of work that’s available.

There’s definitely an increase in busi-ness. As I said, we’re trying to stay level in what we can do. It’s awfully tempting to bid a lot of work but I have to temper that enthusiasm.

How is this increase affecting your company and how you conduct busi-ness? We’ve increased our labor and we’ve increased the pay of our employees, which is good for them, too. We’ve con-centrated on our margins and have been able to pick the work that suits us better. We don’t have to chase work that we’re not suited for, and that’s what we’re lean-ing towards.

Have there been any recent changes in legislation affecting the concrete industry relating to transportation or the environment? I think change has been more local; with the increase in the amount of truck traffic, the Redi Mix suppliers are more conscious of the weight of their trucks going down the road; they seem to get stopped a lot [by police officers]. They have to be careful and conscious that they’re not overloading their trucks be-cause that could become a hazard. As far as legislation pertaining to us directly, nothing drastic has been hap-pening. All that has really affected us is the labor shortage.

What are the cost increases relating to your industry? Thank goodness fuel has leveled off. It has helped our bottom line, just with our day-to-day travels. I would say the general price increase as opposed to two years ago, by roughly 20-35%, is in labor, and 25-35% in material. Rebar has been steady and forming material has been good. Concrete has been the increase that we’ve seen the most, along with la-bor.

What do you think is on the horizon for your industry? What we are looking for is anything equipment-wise that can reduce labor cost because of the shortage right now. We try to make sure that we are up to par on that. We’d like to keep that equipment running so we’re not working our labor too much; we’re more productive and more efficient that way. In our industry, pretty much every-thing is labor-driven, and we’re dependent on quality people. We’re just trying to re-tain what we have. Anything that will take care of our people is what we’re concen-trating on. If they’re happy, we’re happy.

ConScape in Fort Worth offers paving, tilt wall panels, foundations and stamped concrete. –mjm


SpawGlass Austin had its 2nd annual Charity Clay Shoot Apr. 14. More than 185 subcontractors and ven-

dors signed up to participate and the

Win-win

company was able to donate more than$45,000 for its charity, Any Baby Can, in Austin. Congrats to the winners! –cw

First place winners: 5F Mechanical

Second place winners: Martin Marietta

An ‘internal adjustment’

Going forward with a vision for growth, O’Connell Robertson has put a new leadership structure in

place that will help the architectural and engineering firm to accommodate the changing marketplace and workforce. With the firm for about 30 years, Rick Burnight has served as president and CEO for the last 12 years. Under the new structure, he remains CEO. Now, Amy Jones has taken on the role of pres-ident, and Kim Cochran has taken on the role of COO. Burnight wants to remain active in the practice and some of the firm’s proj-ects. Jones and Cochran, with the firm for 19 and 22 years respectively, have been principals for several years and have been planning for this change over the last 12 to 18 months. “I think it was a good internal adjust-ment, if you will, that will really stimulate some positive things for the firm,” says Burnight, adding that he believes the

evolving marketplace and environment will respond better to and be stimulated by the new leadership and their ideas, goals and objectives. Of the new leadership structure, Jones comments, “I think it really takes advantage of the strengths of that lead-ership team, from Rick’s focus on the practice and always enhancing the work that we do, Kim’s focus on the operation-al requirement to support that practice, and then my focus on our firm vision and the relationships and people that we need to have to make it happen.” With a fairly long-tenured staff, Co-chran notes, “We’ve worked together, along with our other partners, for a num-ber of years as we developed our vision.” Founded in 1950, O’Connell Robertson is a full-service architecture and engineer-ing firm focused on the education and healthcare markets. Based in Austin, the firm also has an office in San Antonio. –mh

The new leadership at O’Connell Robertson will focus the firm on expandingand adapting to significant growth the firm has seen in its markets.

L-R: Kim Cochran, Amy Jones, Rick Burnight

Austin translation

Gadberry Construction Compa-ny’s Austin office just opened in January, but CEO Dustin Gadber-

ry says the idea for the new location orig-inated in 2009. That’s when the general contractor (along with the rest of the industry) was weathering an economic crisis. Even though the company had Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston offices, GCC only fo-cused on the private sector. “It was tough because we were really singular,” he says. “Coming out of that, I developed a strategy to diversify in a mix of state, local municipality and federal work as well as our private sector. We’ve done exceptionally well in taking on the municipality work. Austin is the next phase of our state work; we just landed a four-year contract with the Texas Facili-ties Commission, which gave us a great entry point. We’re committed to becom-ing a state builder here and integrating into the community. “When we talked about going to Austin, it was a foregone conclusion that we weren’t just going to be smoked in,” he continues. “We were going to become a staple office, a recognized name, some-

body that everybody knew and respect-ed. Having this location allows us to be there when a client needs us and not be an absentee contractor.” To help hire and lead the Austin team, project manager Nick Keyte is transferring from the Dallas office. “Nick has really taken a front seat on this and has been the one cultivating all of the relationships,” Gadberry says. “He’s really been able to dig in and I couldn’t be more impressed with the progress in Austin.” Located at 111 Congress Ave., Suite 400, the Austin office offers the same ser-vices as Gadberry’s other offices – which Keyte says pleases local clients. “We’ve been here meeting clients and it’s been extremely well-received,” he says. “It’s been absolutely amazing.” “The clients, the subcontractors, the city of Austin – it’s been better than we all imagined,” Gadberry agrees. “We re-ally feel like this is going to be a breakout market for us. We couldn’t feel luckier than to be in this city. ” Dallas-based Gadberry Construction Company provides GSA and commercial general contracting. –mjm

Gadberry Construction Company’s Dustin Gadberry


Round-UpAssociation CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

ABC Central TexasAssociated Builders & Contractors

May 13: Spring golf tournament, Onion Creek Club. Registration starts at 11am. Shot Gun at 1pm.

AIAAmerican Institute of Architects

May 12: AIA Austin Awards Celebration, 6-8pm, Saengerrunde Hall, 1607 San Ja-cinto Blvd, Austin. After party 8-11pm. For tickets or more information, contact In-grid Spencer at 512-452-4332

ASCE Texas SectionAmerican Society of Civil Engineers

May 7: Texas Historical Marker Dedica-tion one block south of the Holiday Inn Corpus Christi, 10:30amMay 9: The Fundamentals of Wind Flow and Wind Load Standards webinar on TexASCE.org, noonFor more info on these events, contact Annemarie Gasser at 512-472-8905

Centex IECIndependent Electrical Contractors

Electrical Construction Tradeshow, The Norris Conference Center, 2525 W. Ander-son Lane, free admission, door prizes, Wire Off competition. For info call David Johnson at 512-832-1333

CTSA Central Texas Subcontractors Assn.

May 6: Annual golf tournament, Star Ranch, HuttoMay 10: Monthly membership meeting, 5:30-8pm, Embassy Suites, 5901 N IH 35, Austin. Speaker, Justin Welch, association attorney.For more information, contact Wendy

Lambert at 512-299-0150

NARINat’l Assn. of the Remodeling Industry

May 11: Social at Factory Builders Store Time 5-7pmMay 19: General Membership Meeting with Rusty Shelton and “Mastering the New Media Landscape.” 2525 W Ander-son Ln #365. 11am-1pm. $30 members $40 non-members. Lunch is providedMay 25: Builders Roundtable. 11:30am-1pm. Must be builders, designer or archi-tect.For more information on these events, contact: [email protected].

NAWICNat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

May 4: Chapter Meeting (How to Ad-vance Within the Company). A panel of women construction company owners will present their story, including their path to owning their company, challeng-es they have faced in a male dominated industry, and suggestions on how to ad-vance within the company. Come hear from Laura Culin with Austin Lumber, Sandra Johnson with Edge Electric, Brita-nie Olivera with Building Team Solutions and Cindy Richter with Vanguard Fire. May20-21: NAWIC Regional Forum in New Orleans

SFPE - Austin/San AntonioSociety of Fire Protection Engineers

May 11: Monthly meeting, topic tenta-tively fire safety concerns with storage of intermediate bulk containers. Check www.sfpe-asa.org for more information.

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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Raba Kistner Inc. has announced that Yvonne Garcia Thomas, PE, has been promoted to manager of Geo-technical Engineer-ing for the Austin office. Having been employed with Raba Kistner since 2004, she will now be responsible for manage-ment of all geotechnical activities per-formed out of the Austin office, including management of personnel and geotech-nical operations, department budgeting, scheduling and coordination of field op-erations. She will continue to work as a project manager on geotechnical engi-neering projects.

Heldenfeld’s Enter-prises Inc. has re-cently hired Paul Elrod as general manager oversee-ing manufacturing and project delivery operations for HEI’s San Marcos and Cor-pus Christi precast concrete plants. Elrod attended Colorado School of Mines for mechanical engineer-ing, earned a CPSCM from University of Houston and formally trained in Lean through the Toyota Production Plans in Bartlett, IL. He was previously director of operations for Senior Flexonics Pathway and director for Lutheran Social Services.

For the kids

On Apr. 8, at the tail end of the 3rd annual Taste of Austin event, Pro-Sales Editor-in-Chief Craig Webb

presented Factory Builder Stores with the 2015 ProSales Excellence Award for Showroom Design. Along with this achievement came a $500 donation to be given to a charity of

their choice. Paul Marshall, division pres-ident, selected Miracle League at Town and Country, a group with which he is ac-tively involved to receive the donation. The donation was accepted by Steve Brown on behalf of the Miracle League at Town and Country. –cw

L-R: Craig Webb, Steve Gause (VP, Factory Builder Stores), Kitty Decareaux (VP Cabinet Sales & Showroom Designer, Factory Builder Stores), Paul Marshall, Steve Brown (board and league

director president, Miracle League at Town & Country)

DCA Construction announces three ad-ditions to its team:

Jay Darwish has joined as a senior project manager. He has 29 years of experience as a field engineer and project manager. Darwish’s work has included projects in the advanced technology, institution-al, corporate, retail, government and healthcare.

Kenny Nordell has joined as estimator and project man-ager. Nordell is a construction man-ager with nine years of experience. His experience ranges from the formation of conceptual estimates to turning over facilities for full use, includ-ing the management and performance of work in between.

Haven Seward has joined as assistant office manager. She graduated from Texas State Univer-sity and worked for seven years in the tech industry focus-ing on crisis management and contract relations. She has two years of adminis-trative accounting experience.

It’s gorgeousConstruction News ON LOCATION

Rob Presley shows off some of the beautiful displays at Summit Stoneworks in Buda. –cw


Pitch perfect

continued from Page 1 — GarzaBury LLC is Garza EMC

continued from Page 1 — Rocking the pool scene

continued from Page 1 — Fired up

historical building made the project unique, Matt Haralson said. “Approximately one-third of the project was an existing 1800s masonry structure on Congress Ave.,” he says. “The struggle was to keep the historic flavor of the existing building, but doubling it in size and making the existing portion structurally sound, as well as adding MEP, elevator and full kitchen and smokers, all while working in a downtown environ-ment with little to no parking. “Since the site was downtown, it was very difficult to access and had no park-ing, in a high traffic area. Work was com-

pleted while trying not to disrupt the JW Marriott on one side and the business with a shared wall on the other, while dealing with festivals and parades.” According to Haralson, working with the ownership team from Cooper’s was great. G. Creek Construction is a family-run commercial construction company incor-porated in 1992. John and Matt Haralson are the 3rd generation of builders in the Austin Area. Located on South First St. in Austin, G. Creek has 20 field employees and does ground up build, remodels, renova-tions, design builds and more. –cw

Patrons have already made the new location a popular place to grab some great barbecue and soak in the atmosphere.

pipeline project with Tarrant Regional Wa-ter District, a storage tank for SAWS and the firm did design and construction man-agement for a lift station in Buda. “I am ecstatic with how far we have come in such a short period of time,” said Garza. “We look forward to continuing our strategic alliance with Bury, recom-

mitting to our founding principles and the future growth of Garza.” The company currently has 20 em-ployees and plans to relocate to offices in both Austin and San Antonio. “We are going to continue to build on what we’ve accomplished so far,” Gar-za said. –cw

it. It’s an exciting industry and I have found that I have passion in my work. It’s a very rewarding job. “When clients cry over the paradise we’ve built for them, you know you did a great job and helped someone turn their dream into reality.” From residential to commercial proj-ects, their philosophy is simple. “We treat everyone how we want to

be treated,” Kay says. “We make sure they’re getting an awesome design and an awesome build experience.” When not working, both enjoy time with family, cooking together, cars, mo-torcycles, races, boating and everything that has to do with water. “We love any kind of water – creeks, lakes, beaches and, of course, swimming in our pools!” Kay says. –cw

Jose I. Guerra Inc. hosted its Washer Pitching Tournament at the Austin office Apr. 7. In addition to the tour-

nament, attendees enjoyed music, food and fun. Congrats to the winners! –cw

First place winners: The “MRI” Team, Stephen Greco and Stuart Bloomquist, Mechanical

Reps Inc.

Second place winners: “G” Squared, Lalo Sanchez, the City of Austin, and JR Sanchez,

Jose I. Guerra Inc.

Third place winners: “Peddlers”, Steve Kreitzer and Kyle Kramer, HTS

Worst place winners: Lauren Gammon, Coleman & Associates and Emily Jaster, JQ

On the goConstruction News ON LOCATION

David Elving with AIM A/C and Heating Services, Buda, grabs lunchand heads back to work. –cw

www.constructionnews.net TexasStyle

publishing the industry’s news

San Antonio Austin Dallas/Fort Worth Houston South Texas

Come on in!Construction News ON LOCATION

Victor Jones, inside sales coordinator at BlueLine Rental in Buda, has a great smile to welcome customers. –cw


Recording a success story

DPR Construction’s Austin location took the opportunity presented by Spring Break to build a big sur-

prise for students at Kealing Middle School who are interested in careers in the music business. According to Matt Hoglund, Busi-ness Unit Leader for the Texas region, the construction company’s relationship with LifeWorks and Rebuilding Together Aus-tin – two non-profits dedicated to better-ing the capital city – led DPR to an oppor-tunity to work with mindPOP and Spotify to build three recording studios at the middle school. “These two companies were willing to donate some of the equipment they used during SXSW to the middle school and we said ‘this is right up our alley’,” Hoglund said. “Spring Break gave us nine days to renovate a 1,500-sf space into three sound wave recording studios. I believe it is the first of its kind in a school in Austin.” DPR has a long history of giving back to the community and 25-plus DPR vol-

unteers worked days, nights and week-ends to make the project happen, donat-ing more than 800 man-hours through-out the project. They built three studios, each 150 sf and a common area. The work involved demolition, three layers of insu-lation to meet the sound rating needed, mechanical and electrical work, drywall, painting and reinstallation of artwork and murals. “We worked from Friday night straight through to the next Sunday so the kids could walk in on Monday and start using it,” Hoglund says. “It gives kids interested in a music career a place to do it, rather than taking a field trip to an ex-isting studio. It makes them self reliant and it makes Kealing more attractive as a school.” Hoglund says DPR’s motto is “Build-ing great things” and the project fit per-fectly with that. “We are builders and we enjoy build-ing,” he says. “When you are successful, you should give back to the community.” –cw

The finished project was ready for the kids returning from Spring Break.

Reimagining the river barges

Three Texas architecture firms com-peted in San Antonio’s International River Barge Design Competition

with different design proposals for the new barges. On Apr. 1, the City of San An-tonio and the American Institute of Archi-tects (AIA) San Antonio Chapter an-nounced that METALAB, a Houston-based firm, was the competition’s winner. “The current river barge design was created for HemisFair ’68 to offer visitors rides up and down the length of the riv-er,” Councilman Roberto C. Treviño, who

Houston’s METALAB won the competition with their vision for San Antonio’s new river barges. L-R: Andrew Vrana, Joe Meppelink, David Richmond

is also an architect, said in a statement. “METALAB’s design is modular, modern, and offers the possibility for barge uses we couldn’t have imagined before.” As a finalist at the open house, META-LAB principal Joe Meppelink comment-ed, “We’re incredibly honored. For us, it’s the project of a lifetime, because we’re an architecture product design firm, and we’ve designed some products at or around this scale. We’re really interested in the intersection of architecture and product design. So, it’s really an ideal

project for us in that way.” Luna Architecture + Design, based in San Antonio, came in second place with its river barge design, and Sadi Brewton and Jonathan Davies, Aus-tin, came in third among the finalists. Designs were showcased at a Mar. 28 open house at the AIA San Antonio’s Center for Architecture where mem-bers of the public could view the de-signs and submit comments about them. The winning design was pre-sented to the city council late last month, and a test barge is planned for early 2017. –mh

A rendering of Austin’s Sadi Brewton and Jonathan Davies’ river barge design.

Photo courtesy of the City of San Antonio

Early safety lessonsConstruction News JOB SIGHT

Kris-Con Supplies and Rentals and Werner Fall Protection provided a fall protection class for TDIndustries at the UT/Dell Construction site in March. It was an early class and

participants were able to watch the sun rise through the clouds. The class consisted of the do’s and don’ts of fall protection, proper fitting, inspection and an onsite lift. –cw

austin construction news may 2016

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