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Circle of friends Stars and stripes

Trincon Services Group LLC (Trin-con) completed the Techno Chaos project in Sugar Land, TX Jun. 13.

President and project manager Eric Sarlls says Techno Chaos delivers STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and related services. The owners are husband and wife, Mike Hinkle and Jeannette Breton. Hinkle says students start with sim-ple machines, structured learning and design using Legos and can advance up through highly-sophisticated robotics projects using the very latest technolo-gies and parts, he said. “Key objectives for the space design were fun and flexibility,” Hinkle said. “The space is open and light and a certain amount of background ambient noise is promoted to broadcast the sounds of youth having fun learning and playing.

“The use of roll-up garage doors as space dividers gives a high degree of flexibility, ranging from four classrooms with a central play area to one large event space for large competitions, exhibits and shows. The space also provides an interesting visual element. “Bright and rich colors and patterns are used throughout to keep energy and interest high. In addition, a lounge/wait-ing area is provided for adults to stay and pass time with their children. A small re-tail area is also included.” According to Sarlls, the construction materials used include millwork, struc-tural steel, overhead doors, glazing and glazing systems, metal framing and dry-wall, acoustical ceilings, insulation, toilet partitions and accessories, plumbing,

Techno Chaos exterior

Beginning with one truck and a lot of enthusiasm and hard work, Owner Les Armstrong has operated

Stripe-N-Sweep Inc. since 1985. “I started the company not far from our current location on Antoine Drive,” Armstrong said. “I got into this business because I needed a job. I borrowed $1000 in the beginning and I have been doing parking lot striping and sweeping ever since. “We were up to about 15 vehicles in the late ‘90s and we had to go back down to seven vehicles. Now, we are building back up and we are up to 12 vehicles.” Armstrong says the company has a total of 19 employees today. His wife Di-ane takes care of sales.

“I think key to success in this business is perseverance,” he said. “You have to constantly work at it and provide quality customer service. “I have really enjoyed this business. Today, I handle all the operations, man-age the fleet of vehicles and take care of the scheduling and sales. “ On the weekends, Armstrong says he likes working on classic cars, sports, hunt-ing and fishing. “I recently went out to the Hill Coun-try to look at some property for hunting,” he said. “I mostly hunt in South Texas, West Texas and the Brenham, TX area. I will go fishing anywhere!”

Les Armstrong says the key to success is perseverance.

Houston-based A.J.’s Construction Services has served Texas since 1995. Anthony (Tony) Dominik

founded the company. Prior to opening the company, Dominik says he worked as warehouse manager in a supply house and worked in lumber sales, landscaping design, rain gutters, roofing, siding and construction. The salesmen at A.J.’s Construction Services today are Wayne West, Mitch-ell Moore and Buddy Lavergne. Rene Mendez is the sales manager and Dominik’s wife Tracey is the office ad-ministrator. According to Mendez, the company relocated to its current location on Mel-

bourne St. at the beginning of the year. “We have expanded our commercial and residential roofing services lately,” Mendez said. “We have jobs all over Tex-as right now. In the beginning, the com-pany specialized mostly in gutter servic-es. It is exciting to handle more roofing projects these days. “Sometimes, we will go out of state too. We recently did work at a military base in Arkansas. Closer to home, we are starting to work at a historical renovation project in Galveston, TX.” Mendez says on the side he and some of the guys at the company are in-volved on a committee for the Houston

The A.J.’s Construction Services crew

Page 2 Houston Construction News • Jul 2011

For the past 25 years in the first week-end of June, architects, designers, engineers, and contractors have

taken their tools to East Beach in Galves-ton for what is considered one of the world’s largest amateur sandcastle com-petitions. This year, folks from all over the state traveled to Galveston for the event from 10am-5pm Jun. 4. The Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) hosted annual contest. According to AIA executive director Rusty Bienvenue, 54 teams competed to win the prestigious Golden Bucket Award. “Firms began months in advance generating ideas, developing designs and assigning duties,” Bienvenue said. “On the day of the event, the teams stretched along the beach meticulously sculpting their sand piles and worked non-stop for five hours. “The judging of the sandcastles is rated on originality of concept, artistic execution of the concept, technical diffi-culty, carving technique and utilization of the site. “At the end of the day, everyone went home with memories of a great day on the beach filled with fun, sun, sand and sea.” –ab

To view a video of the 2011 AIA Sandcas-tle Competition visit http://www.con-structube.com/video/

Congrats to the winners!

1st Place: Gold Bucket Jacobs: Have Your Sandcastle and Eat it Too

2nd Place: Silver ShovelMatrix Spencer Architects: The Midas Touch

3rd Place: Bronze ShovelColby Design: Lion in the Sand

4th Place: Honorable MentionDow NPN Sand Castlers: Kung Fu Sand-Duh

5th Place: Honorable MentionPage Southerland Page: America's Idols

6th Place: Honorable MentionStudio MET: Fresh Fish

Legends of SandCastle (Participating past Gold Bucket winners)Matrix Spencer Architects:The Midas Touch

Playing in the sandBest Architectural ThemeBay-IBI Group Architects:Evoluton of the Ants

AlA College ChallengePrairie View A&M University School of Ar-chitecture: Architecture of the mind IN-SOMNIA

Let The Games BeginPDR: Angry Architects

Best Team SignagePBK: Tangled in the Sand

Most ComplexMatrix Spencer Architects:The Midas Touch

Stars and StripesUs "N" Sand: Don't Mess With Texas

Best Team T-ShirtUs "N" SandDon't Mess With Texas

Most HilariousCDA Architects: Hungry, Hungry Houston

Best CostumeUs "N" Sand: Don't Mess With Texas

Most LifelikePDG Architects: Bull Dozing

Public FavoriteJacobs: Have Your Sandcastle and Eat It Too

That's EntertainmentCDI Douglass Pye: No Theme

4th Place: Honorable Mention: Dow NPN Sand Castlers: Kung Fu Sand-Duh

The Penguins of Madagalveston: Morris Architects

Angry Birds Shuttle Edition: Kirksey Architecture

Rexon Oil & Gas - What’s Left in Your Wallet?

Rio’s Rockin Beach Party: Brown and Gay Engineers

Hop on Sand: Clark Construction and Wiss Janney Elstner

Houston Construction News • Jul 2011 Page 3

CONSTRUCTION NEWSHouston

The Houston Construction News (ISSN 1547-7630) is published monthly by Construction News LTD., dba Houston Construction News, and distributed by mail to construction-related companies in Houston 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 Houston 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.

Publisher: Buddy DoebblerProduction/Editorial: Reesa Doebbler Managing Editor: Debra NicolasProduction Manager: Sue JohnsonSales Representative: Kent GerstnerAdministration: Kevin Hughes

© 2011 Construction News, Ltd.

If you are a construction-related company in Harris, Ft. Bend, Galveston or Montgomery

counties and are not receiving a free copy ofthe Houston Construction News, please call for a Requester Form, or visit our website.

Construction News Ltd. Home OfficeP.O. Box 791290 • San Antonio, Tx 78279

210-308-5800 Fax 210-308-5960www.constructionnews.net

Houston Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abby BeMentHoustonEditor@ConstructionNews.net

713-599-1774

Want to be in Construction News?Simply contact your city editor.

We also welcome your outdoor storiesand photos (hobbies, trips, talents, etc.)

Publishing theIndustry’s News Texas Style

San Antonio • Austin • Dallas/Fort Worth • Houston

The recent Trico Lift 1st Annual Open House and Crawfish Boil went off without a hitch at its Tomball facility

on Hwy 249. Gulf Coast Regional Manager Jesse Rodriguez says more than 275 people including friends and customers attend-ed the event. Rodriguez says folks stopped by the facility during the afternoon and enjoyed a plate of crawfish and all the trimmings. "We're happy to be an active Hous-ton business and we wanted to thank those who rely on us and enable us to be a member of their business teams," Ro-driguez said. "After doing business in this dynamic city for more than two years, we're still somewhat new and we'll keep working hard to keep and form the partnerships that mean so much to us. We hope this will be the first of many events to express our thanks to customers and to continue to meet some new ones.” Rodriquez says door prizes such as an ice chest, hunting gear and fishing poles were announced during the event. Trico Lift rents, sells, leases and repairs boom lifts, scissor lifts and telescopic fork-lifts to the greater Houston and San Anto-nio areas. Trico Lift is a privately owned, full-service aerial work platform company with 13 locations nationally. –ab

Saying thank you

The entrance to the crawfish boil

Beronico Vazquez says he and his employees do a little bit of every-thing at Vazquez Sheet Metal &

Roofing in Houston. “Sometimes, I will fabricate in the shop with the guys and other times I stay busy in the office doing paper work,” Vazquez said. “I started working in the construc-tion industry when I was 17. At the time, I was a shingle installer at another roofing company. I ultimately decided I wanted to continue working in the industry.” Vazquez opened the Vazquez Sheet Metal & Roofing eight years ago. His

Staying alive

brother Roberto works with him today. Enrique Verdin is a fabricator and in-staller. “At one time, we were doing really well, but then the recession came,” he said. “Right now, we are surviving and staying alive. Business is picking back up this year, which is a good sign. “The best part about what I do today is fabricating sheet metal in the shop and getting out to the jobsites. I really like that I am not stuck in one place all day long. I am able to go here and there and meet different people. I also enjoy being my own boss.” Although he hardly has time for hob-bies these days, Vazquez says he loves to go fishing when he can. “Occasionally, we will bring in food from a local restaurant and have lunch together here at the shop,” Vazquez said. “In addition, we enjoy going to watch soccer games in Houston and we play recreational soccer on the weekends.” Vazquez Sheet Metal & Roofing pro-vides commercial and residential sheet metal work, including sheet metal repairs, chimney finishing and metal roof repairs and installation. –ab

L-R: Roberto Vazquez, Beronico Vazquez and Enrique Verdin

Page 4 Houston Construction News • Jul 2011

Kim CreagerCo-owner

Decorative ConcreteSupply Inc.

Anyone who visits Kim Creager’s Carrollton office leaves knowing a bit more about her decorative

concrete products. But the luckiest visi-tors learn about Creager herself when she runs back to the breakroom fridge and returns to present a little bit of her heart to you, kept in a small, chilled con-tainer with a label boasting: “Home Raised With Love.” Love is what Creager has in her life - love for her work, her daughters and for the nine newest ladies in her life. And to make it all a little sweeter, she has had a little bit of luck, too.

I’m curious to know what your opinion is about how much luck contributes to a person’s success. As a woman work-ing in the construction industry, has luck played a part in what you’ve achieved? There’s an old saying that I really like: “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” I think you do have to know what you’re doing and be prepared, but I also think being at the right place at the right time plays a part. I grew up in Ohio, the Dayton area. When my older daughter, LeighAnne, who works with me now, was 3 months old, we moved to Texas because the economy was really bad in Dayton. We started over, and we loved it. I feel so for-tunate to be here for a lot of reasons. After high school, I had gone to col-lege, but I wasn’t really focused or into it. But when LeighAnne was 18 months old, I went back to school and finished at Tex-as Women’s University in Denton, and I graduated when she was 4. It was diffi-cult, being a commuter, being a non-tra-ditional student at TWU. I was trying to keep a house and do my homework. Back in the day, there were no personal com-puters; there was my typewriter and cor-rection fluid. I would try to get everything done and go to class and see these girls who live on campus, don’t have anything else to take care of, they can go to the li-brary but they come into class and they’re not prepared! I would be like, “Really?” But I appreciated my education more as an older student, and I got great grades, graduating magna cum laude. I had a rough start after high school, but when I got serious about it, I got it done!Alyssa, my second daughter, is now a stu-dent at TWU.

After you armed yourself with an edu-cation, when did the opportunity of running this business present itself, and did you feel prepared you for it? The business has been here about 19 years, and I’ve been running it close to 13 years. It’s something that we started and someone else was running it for us, and then we had some employee issues. So I got drug out of 16 years of stay-at-home-momdom - and I just loved it. When I first came into the business on a full-time basis, we had 1500 square feet just a few blocks away, and I did ev-erything myself – worked the counter, drove the forklift, loaded trucks. It was fun. It’s kind of changed over the years now that we have three locations in three different cities(Buda, Carrollton and Houston) with close to 15,000 square feet of warehouse space. Because of my degree, I’m a certified

teacher. I did some subbing years ago, but I still feel like I’m kind of a teacher be-hind the counter, teaching people how to use the products.

What lessons have you learned through this business? I think the hardest thing for me was delegating and allowing myself to not be in control all the time. I just wanted to have my hand in everything, and that held me back a little bit. But I just had to realize, because we have two other stores, that I needed to trust other peo-ple to run the business like it was their own.

What do you enjoy most about the construction industry? Most definitely the people. Between my vendors and my customers, I have a fantastic variety of friends and acquain-tances.

How do you unwind when you aren’t running the business? I love to garden. I’ve been doing it for years. I just love working in the yard, it’s therapeutic to me. I love antique roses, and my favorite is the thornless rose, the “Zephirine Drouhin.” It’s a beautiful pink rose that is actually a climber, but I’m training mine to be more of a bush. It’s so nice to have roses when they’re not tear-ing your hands up. I also have a vegetable garden – tomatoes, peppers, strawber-ries and a lot of herbs. But … my latest hobby in the past nine months has been … you’re going to think I’m crazy.

Actually, Kim, probably not, people tell me all kinds of things in my line of work. Are you ready for it? I raise backyard chickens. I have nine chickens! I have a little acreage with a barn out in Argyle. A couple of years ago, we got Macey, an Anatolian Shepherd, which is a guard dog, and she guards the chickens, which we got last spring when they were 2-month-old chicks.

(Breathing a sigh of relief that the hob-by is fit for print …) That sounds like fun! Do you find that they require much upkeep on your part? They’re not a lot of work. I let them out of their henhouse in the morning and in the evening I put them away. They free range over the back pasture. In addition to their feed, in summer we give them watermelon, and during this time of year, we’re chopping up grapes and canned peas for them. Some of them start laying at five months, some at six. We have different varieties: Belgian d’Uccle, Barred Rocks, White Leghorns, Black Australorp, New Hamsphire Red, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Gold Laced Wyandotte, and Americana. It is so much fun to go out there in the afternoon when I come home from work. They all have their own personalities. And they come racing to the gate like puppies, they’re so happy to see me. In the evening, I collect my eggs. Out of nine chickens, eight are laying.

How many eggs would you say you collect every evening? It depends, but right now I collect between six and eight. The other day I had my first “eight egger” as I call it. I think the cycle [for the chickens to lay their eggs] is every 24 to 25 hours, so if a chicken doesn’t lay an egg in the evening it probably will by the morning. I know which chickens lay which eggs, because they are different colors and sizes. I usu-ally have a hodgepodge of little cream ones and a big white one and medium brown ones.

This may be showing my hidden inner city girl here, but I didn’t realize chick-ens lay eggs every single day. That’s a lot to ask of a chicken! It is! They are my hardworking girls. And they are so funny. When they start to lay their eggs, their personalities change a little bit. They become really proud of

themselves, and they start talking and clucking. Like when Snowflake lays an egg, you can hear her up at the house, she is clucking and strutting around; she can’t get over herself. It is so funny.

What in the world do you do with nearly 56 eggs every week? I can’t imagine you cook them all! I do eat eggs for breakfast – a lot! But I also give them away to my neighbors, and my daughters love them. I even give them to the UPS man at work. Since I’m getting ready to add to my flock, I’m go-ing to check into donating some of my eggs to a food pantry.

What gave you the idea to get the chickens in the first place? My neighbors across the street had some, and I loved getting their eggs since they had a variety of chickens and the eggs were all different shapes and sizes. And the eggs were just different. When you go to the grocery store and buy eggs, the yolk is yellow. When these girls that free range out in the country lay eggs, the yolk is bright orange. The eggs are so healthy and fresh, and they just look and taste different. I just loved it. So this sweet man that I’m in a rela-tionship with suggested that I should get chickens too, but I said I was fine with eat-ing the neighbor’s eggs. And then he came home from the feed store with the chickens in a dog kennel. They were the teeniest things.

And how long did it take before you surrendered yourself and named them? About five minutes! I named them based on what kind of chickens they were and what kind of eggs they laid. I named one that laid brown eggs “Cocoa” and our neighbor named the white one “Snowflake.” And I liked old-fashioned names like “Flossie” and “Lacy.” And then there’s “Mamasita,” “Gabie,” “Grandma,” “Lucy,” and “Goldie.”

It sounds like you might love those chickens just a little bit. I was kind of kicking and screaming at first, but now I just love them. I just look forward every day to going home after work and cutting my grapes up. I’ve never been an “inside pet” kind of girl, but now I have a 150-pound dog in the pasture and nine chickens. My kids think I’m crazy, that maybe Mama’s lost it a lit-tle. What’s funny is that it’s kind of the trendy thing to do now! There are articles in the paper about it, and all over the country there are chicken coop tours and you can go out and check other people’s chicken situation and talk chicken. Even in lots of Texas cities, you can keep a cou-ple of chickens in your back yard.

If a reader is inspired by your story to

go out and buy a chicken, what are your tips? Should they buy more than one? Yes, they’re very social. And the pecking order is for real. If you have some chickens and you want to bring in more chickens, you don’t just bring in one be-cause that one just gets really picked on. She’s at the bottom of the pecking order, and the other girls will show her that.

Now that you have branched out and included chickens in your world, what other new things would you like to try? Well, my biggest thing is that I’m turning 50 this year. And I would like to be in better shape. Taking time to exer-cise is not at the top of my list of “Fun Things To Do.” Getting home and work-ing in my flowers and gathering eggs – way more fun. But I feel 30. When I think about turn-ing 50, I think, “How can that be? I can still do a cartwheel!”

Is there a big party in the works? I don’t know. It’s really inconvenient, since my birthday is three days after Christmas. I don’t really want a big party. My daughters and I are planning a trip, maybe a place where none of us have been – an adventure!

With your work are you able to travel much? I did just get back from Las Vegas, where the World of Concrete show is held every year. But it’s hard to be gone a long time, so I take long weekends. Last year I went to New York and also to L.A. The year before was San Francisco. I really en-joy California.

Well, wherever you go with your daughters, I hope you have a great time. Do you miss them now that they’re grown and not living with you anymore? How are you handling hav-ing an empty nest? It’s been good. Actually, I love it. That’s the way I raised them. I didn’t want them on my couch when they were 30. I wanted them to be independent women, to go out and make their way.

Like their mom did? Yes, even though I certainly didn’t think I would be raising chickens and working in the concrete supply industry! Life takes some funny turns.

Established in 1990, Decorative Con-crete Supply Company Inc. distributes deco-rative concrete products through stores in Buda, Carrollton and Houston. –mjm

Kim Creager is almost as proud as her “girls” are to show off some of the eggs that are

produced daily in her own backyard.

Macey keeps a watch over the ladies.

Houston Construction News • Jul 2011 Page 5

How safe is your money?

Allen Sparks, PrincipalIndependent Insurance Group, Inc.Dallas, TX

Mention the words bank robber and we conjure up images like Jesse James or Bonnie and Clyde, guns

blazing and everyone ducking for cover. But today’s major bank robbery occurs, not at gun point but with the clack of a keyboard and the click of a mouse.

From the Wall Street Journal, 02/08/10, we learned that hackers placed a malicious program on a computer be-longing to the controller of Sign Designs, Inc. of Modesto, CA. Cyber thieves trans-ferred almost $100,000 sending it to 17 mysterious people in other banks. By the time the theft was discovered some $48,000 had been picked up by “money mules,” people that pick up the money and send it to the criminals that initiated the transfers. The Bank of Stockton said they were not liable for the loss when notified by Sign Design of the theft. Consider Experi-Metal, Inc. a Michi-gan firm whose employee, responding to a fake email they thought came from their bank, disclosed banking informa-tion that allowed cyber thieves to with-draw $560,000 from their bank, Comeri-ca. Comerica refused to reimburse the loss when it was reported to them, even though Comerica allowed 47 wire trans-fers, 38 of which allegedly took place af-ter the client asked the bank not to honor any more transfers. In December 2009 EMI filed a lawsuit for its money. Closer to home, Hillary Machinery, Inc, located in Plano, TX initially lost over $800,000 in November, 2009, when cy-ber crooks gained access to its account at Plains Capital Bank allegedly using a so-phisticated password stealing Trojan horse program called “ZeuS.” The bank recovered approximately $600,000 but when Hillary asked for the balance they were refused. In a surprise move the bank sued Hillary asking a U.S. District Court to not allow Hillary to file a lawsuit against it because the bank had honored valid Internet credentials in good faith when it processed the transfers. The case was eventually settled for an undisclosed amount, over a year fol-lowing the theft.

Lessons learned:1. If it happens to your company do not expect your bank to simply return the money to your account. 2. Even though some banks finally set-tled with their customers it is very likely that the customers received less than the full amount because the customers were culpable. In other words, in each case the bank had every reason to believe it was reacting to the request of its client be-cause the requests carried the correct credentials.3. Even if you get a partial settlement it

could take years and require legal action before payment.

What can you do?1. Educate your staff about phishing emails. 2. Install anti-virus programs, updating and running them often.3. Consider installing hardware that screens traffic coming from the Internet and can also be set to limit access to In-ternet sites.4. Learn how to set up stronger pass-words you can remember. For more in-formation on this, email free@indinsgrp.com and put “strong password” in the subject line. We will email you a report on creating stronger passwords you can remember. While these procedures help, they are not fool proof. For example, antivirus software can only fight known viruses so if you are attacked by a new virus, the anti-virus software cannot protect you. According to Yahoo! Answers, and An-swers.com, as of May 28, 2010, it is esti-mated that thousands of new viruses ap-pear daily, half of those are variations on current viruses. Insurance is available under the Crime policy using the Computer Fraud section. In the ISO version of this policy it states in part: We will pay for loss of or damage to “money”, “securities” and “other proper-ty” resulting directly from the use of any computer to fraudulently cause a transfer of that property from inside the “premis-es” or “banking premises”:a. To a person (other than a “messen-ger”) outside those “premises”; orb. To a place outside those “premises”.

Words in parentheses are defined terms and should be reviewed with your insurance agent. As you can see this is very broad cov-erage. There are of course policy condi-tions, exclusions, etc. that apply but the wording here covers a lot of ground. You should also look into Cyber In-surance, which covers additional expo-sures not covered under the standard property, crime or general liability poli-cies. Allen Sparks is a Principal at Indepen-dent Insurance Group, an agency specializ-ing in Commercial Insurance for Contrac-tors. Allen can be contacted at:AllenS@indinsgrp.com

The BMC Houston staffrecently gathered

next to a Sam Houstonstatue in Houston, TX.

The company is a providerof building materials, trusses

and components, doorsand millwork, and targeted

construction and installationservices. –ab

Gather ‘roundSubmitted to Construction News

Tax resources and taxbenefits available in 2011Lynne M. Grix, CPA CFELynne M. Grix, CPA CFE P.C.San Antonio, TX

Many business owners do not give much thought to tax planning until late in the year. But a reasonable

amount of time spent throughout your tax year, consid-ering tax implications of business decisions, can pay re-

wards at tax filing time. You don’t need to be a tax expert of course, but knowing some basics and being aware of some of the free resources available from the IRS can help with planning.

Anyone can subscribe to the “IRS Newswire”, a periodic email update of hot topics, general IRS news releases, tax tips and fact sheets. The IRS Small Busi-ness Tax Center, found at www.irs.gov/smallbiz has links to the Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop, as well as to a tax calendar, common forms, help on obtain-ing an EIN number and what to do in the event of an audit (of course, if you do re-ceive notice of an audit, call your CPA im-mediately and let him or her coordinate with the IRS) among other useful topics.

Two key tax saving provisions that businesses should consider in 2011 are the small business health care tax credit and generous first year write offs for pur-chases of qualified fixed assets.

While no one doubts that the recent legislation surrounding health care has created uncertainty and unease, if you are a small business as defined in the Af-fordable Care Act, and are offering health care to your employees or are contem-plating offering coverage, there may be some tax credit available to you to assist in offsetting a portion of the cost. To be eligible to claim the credit you must cov-er at least 50 percent of the cost of health care coverage of your employee (you do not need to cover any of the cost for de-pendents); have less than the equivalent of 25 full-time employees; and pay an av-erage annual wage of less than $50,000 (excluding benefits). The maximum credit is worth up to 35 percent of the businesses premium cost. On January 1, 2014, this rate increases to 50 percent of the premium cost. Another point to re-member, is that this is a credit against tax and therefore can offset tax owed rather than be used as a deduction in calculat-ing the tax. The credit can be calculated using IRS form 8941.

In 2011 the maximum section 179 ex-pense deduction remains $500,000. The limit is reduced if total qualified property acquisitions exceed $2,000,000. Howev-er, qualified property acquired after Sep-tember 8, 2010 and placed in service be-fore January 1, 2012 is eligible for a 100% special depreciation allowance. The spe-cial allowance is often called “bonus” de-preciation. Here is a simple example of the benefits. From September 15, 2010 to the end of calendar year 2010, XYZ Con-struction Company purchases $250,000 of trucks all with gross vehicle weight over 6,000 lbs. If they are a calendar year tax payer, the entire $250,000 can be de-ducted on their 2010 tax return as bonus depreciation even if they have other pur-chase during the early part of 2010 that are eligible for section 179 deduction. Let’s then assume that in 2011, they need to acquire a new computer system, soft-ware, office furniture and heavy equip-ment totaling $1,800,000. On their 2011 tax return they can take a total deprecia-tion deduction on the entire amount, $500,000 in section 179 deduction and the remainder in “bonus” depreciation. This assumes that they have taxable in-come that can be offset by the deduc-tion. If they do not, then the unused por-tion of the deduction can be carried for-ward to future years. For those compa-nies in a growth mode, and in need of equipment, this additional write-off pro-vides incentive for purchase in 2011. As a reminder though, purchasing equipment that cannot be put to productive use, just to obtain a tax write off is not a prudent business decision.

Lynne Grix is the owner of Lynne M. Grix, CPA CFE P.C. and has over 15 year’s public accounting experience working extensively with construction contractors. Lynne is also a Certified Fraud Examiner and can be reached at lynne@lynnemgrix.com or (210) 259-8243.

Page 6 Houston Construction News • Jul 2011

Texas Dig Laws: Don’tdig yourself a deep holeTiffany Serbousek, AssociateLaw Offices of James Stanton, LPDallas, TX

It seems that we all know to “call before you dig,” but inevitably, I seem to have at least four cases a month in

which companies who thought they “called” and did what was required, find themselves in deep trouble try-ing to dig out of a costly hole. You can be protected, but you have to do it right.

Excavators have a duty to notify under-ground utilities of digging. This duty ap-plies if you intend to dig more than six-teen (16) inches. An excavator must con-tact a designated notification center no earlier than fourteen (14) days prior to the excavation date and no later than forty-eight (48) hours prior to excavation.

Texas has simplified the process for noti-fication of the intended excavation through the development of one-call centers such as Lonestar Notification Center and DigTESS. An Excavator can call Lonestar Notification Center at (713) 432-0365 or DigTESS at (972) 231-5497. Once the notification center receives the required information, a ticket will be pro-duced.

The Associated Masonry Contractors of Houston (AMCH) celebrated excellence in all phases of ma-sonry construction as they presented the 2011

Golden Trowel Awards Jun. 23 at the Rice Hotel/Lofts – Crystal Ballroom in Houston. The master of ceremonies was Ian Powell, AIA, partner at PBK Architects. –ab

Congrats to the Excellence award winners!

Going for the gold

Educational Facility College/UniversityDavid & Barbara Gibbs Recreational and Wellness

Mason Contractor: W.W. Bartlett Inc.Architect: Lake Flato-Smith Group/F&SGeneral Contractor: Tellepsen Builders

Residential (Single / Multi-Family)Highland Tower

Mason Contractor: W.W. Bartlett Inc.Architect: Ziegler Cooper

General Contractor: G.T. Leach

Governmental / Institutional Lady of Lourdes Church

Mason Contractor: Winco MasonryArchitect: Jackson & Ryan Architects

General Contractor: Turner

Industrial / Commercial North Cypress POB II & Garage

Mason Contractor: Camarata Masonry Systems Ltd.Architect: Davis Stokes Collaborative PC

General Contractor: SpawMaxwell

Educational Facility K-12 Saint Theresa Catholic Education Center

Mason Contractor: W.W. Bartlett Inc.Architect: Jackson & Ryan Architects

General Contractor: E.E. Reed

Hardscape / Landscape James Baker MonumentMason Contractor: W.W. Bartlett Inc.Architect: GenslerGeneral Contractor: Linbeck

Block El Paso Court HouseMason Contractor:Winco MasonryArchitect: BPLWGeneral Contractor:Caddel

There are exceptions to the forty-eight (48) hour prior notice rule stated above in the case of emergencies. However, an ex-cavator must contact the notification center to inform it of the emergency pri-or to digging. The emergency exception applies when the excavation is necessary to respond to a situation that endangers life, health, or property, or a situation in which the public need for uninterrupted service compels immediate action. The excavator may begin digging immedi-ately; however, there is still a duty to take reasonable precautions to protect under-ground facilities. There are a few other exceptions as well.

While the one-call center like that of Dig-TESS is a great, easy to use, and simplified notification system, it is not the only en-tity that has to be notified. Unfortunate-ly, Texas dig laws do not require water and sewer operators to be a part of the notification system. Therefore, the exca-vator should contact the water and sewer operators in the area directly prior to ex-cavation.

Once the utility lines are marked by the various utilities, be careful, you are still not done yet. An excavator still has the additional duty to not damage the utili-ties while digging. The marks for the util-ity lines only indicate approximate loca-tions of the lines. The excavator should hand dig around the marks to locate the underground facilities. The most accept-ed practice is to dig eighteen (18) inches on each side of the mark to find the indi-cated line. Also, be aware that there could be more than one line under each mark.

If the excavation project will take longer than two weeks, call in for a re-mark of the facility lines. The paint could fade or the flags could be destroyed or removed by the time the excavator arrives in a par-ticular area to excavate. Additionally, the excavator knows the condition of the area the best. It is the excavator’s respon-sibility to call in for a re-mark if you can no longer determine where the under-ground facilities are located.

The excavator has the ultimate responsi-bility to prevent damage to the under-ground facilities. Here are some recom-mendations for future excavations. First, call before you dig at any depth. It is bet-ter to notify the utility companies of the intent to excavate and allow them to de-cide whether or not to mark their lines. Second, stop and think. If the lines are marked, find the line before you dig. Dig outside of the tolerance zone until you find the lines. This will take more time in the beginning; however, it will be faster than dealing with the costly headache of hitting a utility line. Third, make sure you expose the line. This will give you a good idea of the direction of the utility line.

If you follow these tips, you should avoid the substantial majority of damages to underground facilities. However, no one has x-ray vision. If you hit an underground facility, stop and contact the notification center. The center will contact the opera-tor of the facility for repairs. The opera-tors will need to know the location of the damage in order to quickly and efficiently repair the damage to the line.

Tiffany Serbousek is an Associate at the Law Offices of James Stanton, LP. She prac-tices in the areas of construction and lien law, collections, and general civil litigation. Ms. Serbousek represents owners, general contractors, and subcontractors. She may be reached by telephone at (214) 559-3232 or e-mail at tserbousek@jstantonlaw.com.

Houston Construction News • Jul 2011 Page 7

BAFFIN BAY –– LAGUNA MADRE –– LAND CUTSPECKLED TROUT –– REDFISH –– FLOUNDER

FISHING AND HUNTING TRIPS

(361) 949-7359www.baffinbaycharters.com

steveschultzoutdoors@gmail.com

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

STEVE SCHULTZ OUTDOORS, LLC

Summertime atthe coast

by Capt. Steve Schultz

Sponsored by:Trans Sport Boats, Yamaha Outboards,

Ronnie’s Marine, Minn Kota TrollingMotors, Power Pole Shallow Water

Anchor, Interstate Batteries, Pure Fishing, Pflueger Reels, All-Star Rods,

Mirr-O-Lure, FINS Braided Lineand Columbia Sportswear.

Despite tough drought conditions over most of South Texas, fishing remains excellent. The high winds

we endured through May have subsided, and the high pressure conditions have blessed us with chamber of commerce fishing days.

With changing water temperatures which start out in the upper ‘70s and reaching the mid to upper ‘80s by mid afternoon, one must adjust to those changing conditions. I concentrate on fishing quiet shallow areas at first light and move deeper as the day progresses. Many areas along the King Ranch shoreline can be reached very early in the morning by prepared anglers who have planned their

trip the night before. Most anglers wait ‘til the morning of their fishing trips to gas and oil the boat, prepare snacks and lunch, and rig their favorite rod and reel. This is wasting the most valuable fishing time of the day. By the time you get the boat launched and to your favorite fishing hole, most likely someone has fished that area or has run through it. One must have some sort of plan before you even leave the dock. Always have a secondary location planned out in case someone has beat you to your first spot. Early morning areas to start out include the King Ranch Shoreline from the CPL Power Plant to Compuerta Pass heading into Baffin Bay. If you get a real early start and want to fish further south, try fishing

the South Shore of Baffin Bay from Los Corrales to White Bluff. This area offers a vast amount of shoreline, which can be fished shallow over sand and grass, or deeper later in the day over rock structures. It is a great shoreline to wade fish if the winds get up later in the day. Another area, which is holding fish lately,

Jody Swann of San Antonio enjoyed a day of fishing with daughter Brandywho serves in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. Thanks for a great day and for

serving our country Brandy. Photo by Steve Schultz Outdoors.

is the spoil islands south of Bird Island. This stretch of small chains of submerged and exposed islands are excellent habitat for both specks and reds. Continuous miles of grass beds and scattered sand pockets help keep this water filtered and clear even when the winds reach peak gusts.

For those not willing to brave the rocks in Baffin Bay there are other areas closer to the JFK, which can be very productive. North of the bridge before entering Corpus Christi Bay is the Boat Hole. This area holds large numbers of schooling fish coming in from the Gulf thru the Packery Channel. Specks are sure to be found in the deeper waters near the Naval Air Station and redfish can be chased over the flats under the power lines. Just a few miles into Corpus Christi Bay is another prime habitat for the above species. Shamrock Cove is another popular fishing area offering protection against high winds and heavy boat traffic. It’s a great area to fish out of a Kayak if you don’t own a boat. This pristine fishery can be accessed off of Hwy. 361 across from the Twin Tower Condo’s. Trophy trout and redfish have been caught in this bay system throughout the summer.

To schedule your next bay fishing trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-949-7359 or 361-813-3716, or e-mail him at SteveSchultzOutdoors@gmail.com. Good luck and Good Fishing.

Catching fish at Lake Buchanan with Ken Milam.

Page 8 Houston Construction News • Jul 2011

Ken Milam’s Fishing LineSponsored by Tropical Marine and Honda Marine

My name is Ken Milam and, for the past 26 years, I have been guiding fishing trips for striped bass onLake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity of getting to know

a good many folks in the construction trade.

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

In the last three weeks the water level has dropped so fast we have had to abandon two different docks. We

moved down to the third dock today. There is no end to this drought in sight and by now everybody is beginning to suffer from it.

Even if you are far removed from the cur-rent events in the natural world, and weather is only what happens to you on the way to your car, you are beginning to feel this! With the 100+ degree weather that has already set in, I hate to think about the rest of the summer.

Most places are canceling 4th of July fire-works and implementing water restric-tions of one kind or another. Farmers and ranchers and tourism are blowing away. Grass and trees will die and cars will stay dirty and we will wait and hope and pray for rain, because it’s all we can do.

To the wildlife, the lack of water means the difference in life and death. Already the new crop of fawns being born is suf-fering. The does have to travel and search for water and that puts them in unusual places, like the middle of the road or your front yard. Food is scarce too, maybe not enough to help feed a nursing fawn. That means if you have a deer lease and you can provide feed and water, your place will be in high demand by the time deer season gets here.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a cougar flash across the highway in my headlights while I was on my way into Austin to do

my radio show. I guess they are on the move too. All God’s creatures from arma-dillos to stinging scorpions have to have water, so I expect we will hear about all kinds of critters getting a little too friend-ly with us until we get some relief.

Of course it’s not all bad news. If you are trying to get something built, you are in luck! No rain delays now. If you want a great chance to check out your favorite lake and find new fishing holes, this is your golden opportunity! Most Texas lakes are low and getting lower, so you can see the ledges and drop-offs and brush piles you need to be fishing or even make some secret fishing holes of your own. If you are like me you can go collect some of the anchors and lures you have hung up on the bottom the lake and finally bring them back home. You might really want to remember where those good old caves and ledges are now, be-cause I hear that noodling for catfish is on its way to being legalized in Texas! Yee-haw!!!

It is said that the climate in Texas is one long drought, broken by intermittent floods. That is about as true as it gets. The only cure for this much dry is a whole lot of wet…usually in the form of a nasty hurricane crawling inland and raining it-self out. It is bad news for anybody that gets hurt by it, but is the salvation of all those who have suffered from the devas-tation of the drought.

We’ll pray for the safety of you folks at the coast, if you will pray we get some rain up here!

Well darn it,the lake up and

left again!

Dry dock

Houston Construction News • Jul 2011 Page 9

The Texas Bad Lands

by TJ Greaney

July and August are tough months if you’re a hunter. Yes you can hunt hogs, exotics or even travel to far-away places and enjoy more extreme adventures like ele-

phant hunting or Hawaiian hogs, but let me recommend one that might not end up with meat for the freezer but they are excellent ways to enjoy the outdoors and if you have a family, immerse them in the adventure with you. It’s a long run for some but you have got to head down to the Big Bend National and state park area. I had never been there until this past month and wow what a place. You can go from dessert to mountain top in an hour. The land-scape is fantastic and the lists of adventures are endless. Yes, it can get hot in the dessert areas but there are always areas of relief and the folks there understand how to help you stay comfortable.

We stayed in Lajitas, Texas which sits directly between both parks. This is a wonderful resort area just a hop, skip and a jump from the border of Mexico. The Badlands Hotel and the adjacent RV park have all the amenities and comforts you would expect to find at a top notch resort. River rafting, golf, four wheelers, horseback riding and shooting sports are daily activities you can enjoy. I tried my hand at the cowboy action shooting sev-eral times and it was fantastic. The action shooting can be timed and accuracy kept determining who in your group the best shooter is as you bust through the saloon doors or run up the hangman’s station with real noose. You shoot live ammuni-tion, a .45 colt style pistol, a Winchester lever action rifle and a double barrel shotgun in each effort. If that doesn’t completely get you going, the clays course is one of the best I have ever shot. All firearms are provided as well as train-ing and safety gear. The host for most of the shooting and horse activities is an old cowboy, O.K. Estes (truly his given name). The stories, humor and level of professionalism from this seasoned and well know horse train-er, cowboy and hunting guide make for a great addition to your stay. Estes also host a limited number of Aoudad hunts on the Lajitas ranch and his personal re-cords include the biggest Aoudad taken by a pistol, ever, right there. The food, well Chef Ray Lopez does not have an equal. Wonderful meals at Lajitas overlooking the mountains help you to relax from a long day of adventure. Day trips away from Lajitas can include going up the mountain to over 8000 feet into the national park and this year the bear and mountain lion, javelinas and coyotes are very active. The chances are very good you will get to see them when driving through the dessert or up the mountain or even while on a hike along one of the many trails. If you stay just outside Lajitas in Teril-igua the full meal deal is with Far Flung Adventure Tours and Lodging. They have been Big Bend National Park’s leading outfitter for guided tours over 35 years and there new little bungalows are abso-lutely impeccable with no detail left out. I was born and raised in Texas, a fourth generation native and I have to say I am ashamed I have not gone west to the Big Bend earlier. The beauty and excite-ment of the dessert and mountain tops is special to the area and you are truly miss-ing a Texas gem if you have not been there. If and when you do go, tell O.K. hello for me and shoot a round with him. You will feel the spirit of the old Texas west and the Badlands in every breath in Lajitas and Big Bend and it is invigorating. TJ Greaney is an outdoor communica-tor. He host the Outdoor Zone radio pro-gram on ESPN in Austin and is Executive Director and founder of The Kids Outdoor Zone (kidsoutdoorzone.org) contact him at tj@kidsoutdoorzone.com

According to Captain Randi Way-land, “Texas Parks and Wildlife wants boaters to do three things,

1) always wear a life jacket, 2) learn the rules, and 3) don’t drink while boating.” Captain Wayland is the Texas Parks and Wildlife area chief boater safety education volunteer instructor. She also teaches water safety courses at San Antonio College. Wayland covered important infor-mation that boaters should know in a re-cent interview. “First of all know how to operate your boat and know what to do with it,” she said. “Learn to do this in a parking lot, not on the boat ramp. Practice how to

Boating safety

back your boat in a parking lot away from the traffic. It’s real easy.” Wayland said waiting to learn how to back the boat down a ramp at the lake can cause problems with more experi-enced boaters. “It can volume up into real serious-ness because we have a lot of tourna-ments, especially in the spring. People pay big money to enter these tourna-ments. They know how to back the boat, and they’re ready. Then Joe Blow comes along and messes everything up. And, that is what we call ramp rage.”

Wear life jackets while boating

continued on Page 13

Page 10 Houston Construction News • Jul 2011

You could smell the hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill

at the Ahern Rentals open house and Xtreme Road Show event at the Fellows Road location Jun 6. “Approximately 100 of our customers came out from 10:30am to 3pm,” said Joey Forister, branch manager. “Folks enjoyed lunch and during the afternoon, we show-cased our new equip-ment in the yard.”

Going to the Xtreme

Xtreme Manufacturing representatives and the Premium Roofing Systems team

Ahern Rentals employees and customers at the open house

Ahern Rentals specializes in aerial equipment such as boom lifts and scissor lifts and heavy construction equipment rentals. –ab

Scott Nicklas, Xtreme Manufacturing

Houston-based VYO Structural Welding and Fabrication has reached its five-year anniversary.

Brothers Omar and Roman Davila own the company. Manuel DeLeon is a fabricator. Omar Davila says he started the busi-ness with one truck and today the com-pany has three trucks and one trailer. “We have also added welding ma-chines along the way,” Davila said. “We have picked up more commercial work in 2011. We are definitely staying busy now-adays.” Davila says his son is currently on summer break from school and he comes to the office to help out. “To stay in business for five years, I think you have to do the job right the first time,” he said. “That way, you will con-tinue to get more jobs in the future.” Every couple of weeks, the Davila

Ready to weld

brothers will cook lunch or dinner for their employees at the shop. “We have a two grills in the back,” Roman Davila said. “We usually have faji-tas or baby back ribs on Fridays or the weekends.” Davila says he and his brother have six goats, 15 chickens and two dogs on the property behind the shop. “We also have two soccer goals in the back,” he said. “Several employees like to play soccer, so they will play around after they complete all their work. “In addition, most of us enjoy going fishing on the weekends. We like to go to Texas City or Freeport.” VYO Structural Welding and Fabrica-tion provides commercial and residential structural welding and fabricates gates, fences, steel doors, frame steel beams and metal buildings. –ab

L-R: Manuel DeLeon, Omar Davila and Roman Davila

Houston Construction News • Jul 2011 Page 11

Electrical Industry

Electrical current

John Underwood, Sales RepresentativeWildcat Electric SupplySan Marcos, TX

How would you describe the state of the construction industry in

general terms? We are actually starting to see things picking back up this year. It is exciting that things are looking up again. We no-tice there are more commercial construc-tion jobs going on in the area these days.

What are the positive happenings in the electrical supply business? Several new products have come out recently such as material for under-ground boring.

What is the most significant challenge your industry faces? A challenge for us right now is the in-creasing fuel costs to ship materials out.

In addition, there is a volatile market as far as the copper industry goes.

What is your perspective on copper theft in the area? We have heard of copper theft hap-pening, but mainly around the San Anto-nio area. The thieves will rip off wire from traffic signals. We are keeping our eyes open for that. As copper prices rise, the crooks come out.

Are there any other cost increases re-lating to your industry? Well, everything is going up right now. In my perspective, it is because of the fuel prices.

Have there been any significant code

changes in the last year? We haven’t noticed any significant code changes in the last year on our side. With the recent emphasis on green building, what is the most environ-mentally friendly change relating to your industry? As far as green building goes, we have seen the lighting industry really turn around. Incandescent light bulbs are about be obsolete. Compact fluores-cent lights or energy saving lights will take the place of incandescent light bulbs.

What are keys to being successful? You have to get out there and meet people every day. Look where the ground is being broken and stick your nose and foot in the door and ask ques-tions. That is what we are doing.

Why do you enjoy what you do today? I enjoy working with the folks at Wildcat Electric Supply. They are a great group of people. I also enjoy getting out to the jobsites. What advice would you give to some-one who wants to do what you do? I’d say to start working in the ware-

house in the beginning. Learn the prod-ucts and really get to know how the busi-ness actually runs on the inside. Next, you can move up to counter sales, inside sales, outside sales or eventually man-agement.

What does a typical day look like for you at Wildcat Electric Supply? I handle both inside and outside sales on a daily basis. I will receive quotes and type those quotes up. Next, I send out the quotes to see if we are the low bidder. If we are, then we pull all the ma-terials and ship the materials out. I have worked at the company for about three years. I started in the electrical supply business about 18 years ago. What is on the horizon for your indus-try? Personally, I think things are going to turn around in the near future. Everyone is just waiting right now. There are a lot of things on the drawing board and we are just waiting for the investors to put the money out and break some ground.

Wildcat Electric Supply is an electrical dis-tributor with offices in San Marcos, TX and Houston. –ab

Challenges for keeping a trained, skilled workforce

Renea Beasley, Executive DirectorIndependent Electrical Contractors of TexasAustin, TX

The electrical industry is facing a crisis – a shortfall of trained electricians. Ac-

cording to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis-tics, projections show that by the year 2014, the national need for electrical workers will rise to more than 734,000. That is 78,000 more than currently em-ployed in the field. This is just one more indicator of a looming ‘perfect storm’ threatening the entire construction in-dustry and ultimately impacting the en-tire U.S. economy. Overall, the construction industry will need to add 185,000 to 250,000 new workers annually for the next ten years to offset the wave of workers expected to retire. The greatest shortfall in skilled la-bor in the construction industry will be among electricians where employment opportunities will grow by 23.4 percent through 2012. The electrical workforce is aging, and the average age of an electri-cian today is 47. Adding to the electrical workforce will not be easy, thus resulting in a shortage in the near future. This shortage affects the cost and quality of

products and services in all industries. Another area contributing to a short-age of workers in the skilled trades is a movement by Texas legislators and busi-ness leaders to push every high school student to college. Current curriculum requires all high school students to take four years of math and science (4X4 plan) effectively eliminating most career and technology education (CTE) in high schools across Texas. This was essentially the career path for many skilled workers who would have moved into apprenticeship programs; training programs that incorporate work-place training with technical in school training after high school. “The new 4x4 plan in Texas has dra-matically reduced the number of stu-dents who can take CTE classes. Research shows that if the trend continues, the trade’s workforce will suffer a 30 - 40 per-cent shortage in SKILLED workers,” stated Ronny Williams, Electrical Trades Instruc-tor, Leander High School. “Training in a skilled trade is just as

important as going to law school and just as rewarding. We have four-year pro-grams in Texas where you can get certi-fied as a journeyman or master electri-cian and work making a good wage while you are being educated. Although the norm today is continuing on to college and working in an office, I believe that the trades offer opportunities for success that often far outpace those that could be attained in a corporate atmosphere,” Raul Vasquez, Senior Electrical Instructor, Northeast Independent School District & IEC San Antonio. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has been way ahead of the curve in recognizing the need employers have for a skilled, trained workforce and is do-ing something about it with awareness campaigns. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in apprentice-ship in Texas. During the 2010-2011 school years, over 2,400 individuals were enrolled in electrical apprenticeship pro-grams across the state. Groups like the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) have been working diligently with the TWC to find ways to attract young people by showing them apprenticeship in a skilled trade offers a solid career and ex-cellent compensation. IEC Apprenticeship Programs have helped students and their employers meet the needs of a changing industry since 1957. Coursework and instruction reflect the latest technology, current standards and regulations, and training needs as identified by electrical contrac-tors. Industry experts continuously work to update the curriculum to reflect the

needs of today’s electrical industry. Ap-prenticeship programs allow participants to gain knowledge, technical skills, and the practical experience necessary to succeed in whichever aspect of the in-dustry they choose. Texas IEC chapters have developed an Integrated Appren-ticeship Model with the TWC that will aid in attracting people to the electrical in-dustry through an outreach to underuti-lized populations, plus developing pre-apprenticeship programs to educate youth on the benefits of the electrical in-dustry and how to be a quality employee. Because of changing industry de-mands and the necessity for a mobile workforce, there is a strong need for on-line education to target the way youth learns today while allowing employers to work throughout the world. The IEC will have online apprenticeship classes start-ing in the fall of 2011 allowing for further flexibility for employers and students. The demand for electricians will only continue to accelerate. Tapping into ar-eas that are underutilized and changing the way we educate to conform to new industry demands is critical to filling jobs. The task ahead for the electrical industry is not only to recruit and train more elec-tricians to meet the needs of our growing industry, but for electrical contractors to make provisions to replace current elec-tricians who will retire. There is no time to waste, tomorrow is here. As the executive director of IEC of Tex-as, Renea Beasley supports the non-profit trade association with ten chapters repre-senting over 450 electrical contractors and their employees in the state of Texas. –dn

Page 12 Houston Construction News • Jul 2011

Electrical Industry

9635 West Little YorkHouston, TX 77040

Phone: 713-896-4002Fax: 713-896-4003

4818 South MainPearland, TX 77581Phone: 281-992-0002

Fax: 281-993-2002

www.actiongypsum.com

Quality Products • Superior Service

Specializing in residential and commercial products such as drywall, steel studs,insulation, acoustical and all other related building materials. Our materials aredelivered by boom truck, drop shipped, or picked up at our warehouse location.

420 Industrial Blvd.Bryan, TX 77803Ph: 979-775-0890Fax:979-775-0871

8402 Vidor Dr.San Antonio, TX 78216Phone: 210-348-8300

Fax: 210-348-8399

Mark Melton, president of Melton Electric Inc., was re-cently elected as a vice presi-dent of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Melton Elec-tric is an electrical and struc-tured cabling contractor in Houston, TX. –ab

The electrical industry of the future; from provider to partner

Melissa C. Lott, Joshua D. Rhodes and Charles R. Upshaw Webber Energy GroupThe University of Texas at AustinAustin, TX

In February 2011, severe winter storms threw ice and snow across Texas, shutting down schools and government buildings throughout the state. As temperatures dropped into the single digits, electricity demand rose and the state’s power plants were

unable to keep up, leading to blackouts that affected millions of customers. This event illuminated some of the reasons why the energy industry is working to increase its ability to manage residential electricity demand. By enabling active management of residential electricity demand through remote control and in-home systems, the state’s utilities could hope to reduce the impact of or even eliminate events like the February blackouts – and give Texans more control over their energy use.

L-R: Joshua Rhodes, Charles Upshawand Melissa Lott

This ability to manage customer en-ergy demand is already used by utilities in the industrial and commercial sectors. In many locations, large commercial and industrial facilities agree to reduce or shift their electricity use in response to overall demand (and supply) in their re-gion and in emergency situations. This type of curtailment was seen in February 2008, when a drop in wind power caused utilities to remove 1,100 megawatts (MW) of demand in 10 minutes, mostly from large interruptible customers. Utilities of-ten compensate companies for this ‘de-mand response’ service by providing a payment for being on call, whether or not the customer is actually called upon, along with an additional payment when a demand response event occurs. This ar-rangement can be mutually beneficial, as it pays consumers to reduce peak power demand, which in turn helps utilities keep generation costs lower. But, these demand response ar-rangements have traditionally been lim-ited to large users of electricity, such as refining facilities or manufacturing cen-ters. As technology has become more so-phisticated, the potential for widespread application of load control for smaller customers has become a reality. In the residential sector, which represents 48 percent of ERCOT peak summer demand (64 GW), utilities are beginning to incor-porate distributed demand response as a

means of managing electricity demand. Today, distributed residential de-mand response exists in rudimentary forms. Some programs, such as those by Austin Energy and CPS Energy, offer free programmable thermostats that can be used by the utility to turn off an air condi-tioning unit for 15 minutes during a peri-od of peak demand. Other programs and technologies are currently being tested in Texas, including several at the Pecan Street Project’s Mueller Smart Grid Dem-onstration. The goal of this demonstra-tion is to evaluate the effectiveness of home energy management systems and customer-based demand response for reducing electricity usage and manage peak demand. Studies like The Pecan Street Project will provide a base of knowledge that will allow utilities to offer better-targeted in-centives for residential users to reduce or shift their energy usage. Information gathered could allow for the optimiza-tion of technologies such as electric and thermal energy storage, further enabling distributed demand response. With 1,000 homes and businesses, this project will be one of the largest and most compre-hensive studies of these types of tech-nologies in the US and it could offer a glimpse of the future of the electricity (and building) industry. Residential demand response is indica-tive of a slowly occurring shift in the way

people think about electricity. There has traditionally been a disconnect between the producer and consumer; people do not receive any feedback about their energy use behavior from the utility aside from a total on a monthly bill. New technologies will help shift utilities from the role of ener-gy provider to that of an energy partner, where both customers and utilities benefit from smarter energy management. During the February storms, Texas utilities had few choices when it came to reducing electricity consumption and traditional demand response partner-ships with companies and manufactur-ing facilities were not enough. In the fu-ture, utilities might be able to more pre-cisely manage residential electricity use in order to minimize the impact of anoth-er cold snap, or more likely, become more efficient at managing summer peak loads. This could help to keep utility pric-es low, while opening up a new frontier in remote control and in-home energy management – giving Texans more con-trol over their energy use. Melissa C. Lott, Joshua D. Rhodes and Charles R. Upshaw are researchers in the Webber Energy Group within the Mechani-cal Engineering Department at The Univer-sity of Texas at Austin. –dn Photo by Mary Christenberry Lott

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Houston Construction News • Jul 2011 Page 13

Round-UpSubmissions

This is a monthly section for brief company announcements of new or recently 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 Antoniosaeditor@constructionnews.netAustinaustineditor@constructionnews.netDallas/Ft. Worthdfweditor@constructionnews.netHoustonhoustoneditor@constructionnews.net

Round-Up

Rees Associates, Inc. (REES) is pleased to an-nounce the promo-tion of Allan Parr, AIA, LEED AP to the position of presi-dent. Parr joined the firm in 2009 as chief operating officer and director of op-erations for the Dallas office, and current-ly oversees the Houston presence. In ad-dition to serving as the second President in the firm’s history, Parr will continue to act as COO.

electrical and mechanical. “The approximate project cost was $200,000 and the square footage was 4400sf,” Sarlls said. “Construction start to finish was Apr. 11, 2011 to Jun. 13. The scope includes first generation buildout. “We had a great working relationship with our owners and were able to help their vision become a reality for what they wanted and expected in their store. “This project is unique with the over-head doors and structural steel through-out the space so the space can go from a large open area to four large class areas.” Established in Dec. 2009, Trincon has one office in located in Houston, TX. Sarlls says customers are mostly private with revolving working relationships. Current projects the company has worked on include the Whitlock reloca-tion (approximately 15000sf renovation) in Houston and Central Transportation

Systems relocation (approximately 24,000sf office warehouse first genera-tion buildout) in Missouri City, TX, he said. Trincon is a commercial general con-tractor that specializes in interior commer-cial build outs for high rise tenants, office warehouse tenants, retail and restaurants tenants. –ab

Professional Team:Superintendent: Clark Ward, Trincon Architect: Brett Zamore DesignsKey Subcontractors: Varmon Construction; LMI Paint;Able Glass; FCM Millwork;W and W Overhead Door;Building Specialties; BC Partitions;Kauffman Sprinkler; Alvites Plumbing;Fairway Mechanical; Sonlight Electric;Pyrotex Fire Systems

continued from Page 1 — Creativity connection

Techno Chaos interior

Houston area contractors compet-ed in a Texas Hold‘em Poker Tour-nament at Slack & Co. Contract-

ing Inc. May 26. Doors opened at 5pm and the tournament began at 6pm. The Associated General Contractors Houston Chapter (AGC) held the tourna-ment, which will benefit the AGC Hous-ton Construction Education Initiatives. –ab

Congrats to the winners!

1st Place:Jonathan Shaw, Tellepsen

Know when to hold ‘em

Contractors concentrate at the Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament

2nd Place:David Galindo, Pieper Houston Electric L

3rd Place: Bob Wilson, Marton Roofing Industries Inc.

4th Place:Cameron Alvarez, Comfort Systems USA South Central

5th Place:Gary Wachsmann, Gonzales Commercial Electric Inc.

Dead Ass Last: Cliff Roberts, Hilti

According to Armstrong, the company has worked on jobs at building garages, strip centers, shopping centers, professional buildings and the Texas Medical Center. Stripe-N-Sweep provides parking lot striping, concrete and asphalt repair and power washing in Houston and the surrounding areas. –ab

continued from Page 1 — Stars and stripes

Livestock Show and Rodeo Barbecue Cook-off teams. He says he has been in-volved in the cook-off event for the past 14 years. “In addition, once a week Tony will cook us lunch here at the shop,” Mendez said. “He will cook hot dogs or ribs on the barbecue pit.” Mendez says most of the folks at the company are avid hunters and fishermen. “We all enjoy going whitetail deer and bird hunting at ranches in East and

South Texas at least once a year,” he said. Looking ahead, Mendez says his goal is help expand the business and continue to work hard every day. “With all the contacts between all of us here at this company, we want to get our name out there on the construction side of the business.” A.J.’s Construction Services specializes in commercial and residential gutter, roof-ing, siding and window services. –ab

continued from Page 1 — Circle of friends

continued from Page 9 — Boating safety

Wayland states boaters should know the rules on the water. “Before getting on a lake, learn about that lake. We only have one natural lake in Texas and that’s Caddo Lake. All other lakes are dammed up river systems. Whenever we dam up a river to build a lake, we leave everything there, so you need to know what the obstacles are in the water. Look at a chart of the lake ahead of time. Most of our lakes have a chart that can be purchased at stores like Academy, Wal-Mart or Bass Pro. Wayland states if you go fishing, whether during the day or night, know the rules for speed, right-of-way, boat lights, signs, buoys and property rights. Finally, Wayland is adamant about boating safety, such as knowing the law and having safety items on board that are required in Texas. They include: 1) U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets that fit the wearer. 2) Children age 12 and under must wear a life jacket. 3) Only adults 90 lbs. or heavier can wear an in-flatable Type-3 life jacket. 4) A fire extin-guisher for boats 16 feet or longer. 5) A Type-4 throwing cushion. 6) A sound-producing device like a whistle or horn. 7) A certificate of boat ownership or copy of it on board. 8) If fishing, current fishing license on board.

Additionally, Wayland stated, “If you fish in international water or lakes be-tween states, you need to have three more objects such as bailing bucket, an-chor and paddle.” Finally, Wayland suggests having on board an emergency first aid kit, spare parts for the boat and drinking water. She also states boaters should know the peo-ple and pound limit capacity for the boat. “Games wardens are on the water to enforce the rules and to keep boaters safe,” noted Wayland. “When you are stopped, they are going to do a boat check.” However, Wayland states there are two volunteer organizations, Coast Guard Auxiliary and Power Squadron, who will do a safety check for you. “These are volunteer groups that will be on a lake or coastal waters, and they will approach a boat and ask if you want a volunteer safety check. They will check your boat to make sure everything is working properly and give you a paper saying you are checked.” Captain Randi Wayland teaches boat-ing safety courses that are mandated by the Water Safety Act for Texas Parks and Wild-life. She can be reached at 210-415-1264. Further information on boating safety can be found at www.tpwd.state.tx.us. –dn

Page 14 Houston Construction News • Jul 2011

Association CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

ABCAssociated Builders & Contractors

Jul. 8: Member BreakfastJul. 13: Legislative Update SeminarJul. 15: Bowling MixerFor more information call 713-523-6222

AGCAssociated General Contractors

Jul. 5-7: OSHA 2264 Permit Required Confined Space Entry CourseJul. 7: 2011 Annual Mid Year Safety meet-ing and Awards PresentationJul. 11: SH 320 Electric Arch Flash and NFPA 70-E Awareness TrainingJul. 12-14: OSHA 3095 Electrical Stan-dardsJul. 13: First Aid-CPR-AEDJul. 14-15: Qualified Rigger/Salesperson TrainingJul. 19: Unit 3 BIM Contract Negotiation and Risk AllocationJul. 19-21: OSHA 501 Trainer Course for General IndustryJul. 22: AGC Fishing TournamentJul. 26-29: OSHA 510 Standards for the Construction IndustryFor more information call 713-843-3700

AIAAmerican Institute of Architects

Jul. 12: I/AN Intern Associate ARE Work-shop, 6pmJul. 13: YAF meeting, noon; Authors in Architecture: Paul Hester, Hon. AIA, 6pmJul. 21: Full Day CE – 6 CEUs, 8:30amJul. 26: Urban Design Committee meet-ing, noon; Government Affairs Commit-tee meeting, 5pmJul. 26: COTE meeting, 6:30pmJul. 27: BIM meeting, noonJul. 28: Climate Specific Design Consid-erations for Moisture Management pre-sentation by Maria Spinu, Ph.D., DuPont Building Innovations, 4pmFor more information call 713-520-0155

ASAAmerican Subcontractors Association

Jul. 6: Membership Committee meeting, 11:30am, Bowen, Miclette & Britt, 1111 North Loop WestJul. 13: Board of Directors meeting, 9am, Marek Brothers Systems; Government Advocacy Committee meeting, 10:30am, Marek Brothers SystemsJul. 21: No General Meeting in JulyJul. 26: Safety Committee meeting, 10am, T.A.S. Commercial Concrete, 19319 Oil Center Blvd.For more information call 281-679-1877

FPAFoundation Performance Assn.

Jul. 13: Presentation “Environmental Geophysics Case Studies from Texas”, 4:30pm, The HESS ClubFor more information call 713-699-4000

HAGAHouston Area Glass Association

Jul. 14: Quarterly Dinner meeting, 6:30pm Social – Cash Bar, 7pm, Dinner with presentation by Daniel Ramirez, Monty & Ramirez LLP, Crowne Plaza Northwest, 12800 NW Freeway (Hwy 290 at Pinemont) $30 Members, $45 Non-members, RSVP requiredFor more information go to http://www.houstonglass.org

IECIndependent Electrical Contractors

Jul. 5, 12, 19, 26: State Masters Exam Prep, 6-9pm, Contractor Members $294/Non-Members $353Jul. 6, 13, 20, 27: State Residential Appli-ance Installer & State Maintenance Exam Prep, 6-9pm, Contractor Members $220/Non-Members 300Jul. 7, 14, 21, 28: State Journeyman Exam Prep, 6-9pm, Contractor Members $220/Non-Members $300Jul. 7, 14, 21, 28: Motor Control Level 1, 6-9pm, Contractor Members $368/Non-Members $420For more information call 713-869-1976

NECANational Electrical Contractor Assn.

Jul. 7: CSLMCC meeting, 9am, LU 479 HallJul. 7: CoSab Division meeting, 11:30am, Pappadeaux SeafoodJul. 12: Houston JATC meeting, 9amJul. 19-20: SWHBF – Dallas, TXJul. 21-24: Summer meeting, Lake Tahoe, CAJul. 26: Houston Division meeting, 11:30am, Goode Co. SeafoodJul. 30-31: National Training InstituteFor more information call 713-977-2522

NAWICNat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

Jul. 14: Summer Social, 5:30pm, The Rainbow Lodge, 2011 Ella Blvd. Reserva-tions required. Guests welcomeFor more information call 713-961-1300 X128 (Cathy McDow) or visit www.nawic-houston.com

PHCC Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors

Jul. 13: “How Do You Like Them Apples” – presentation by Michael Berry, Dinner meeting and Social event, 6-9pm, Cadil-lac Bar & GrillFor more information go to www.gulf-coastphcc.org

WCAWomen Contractors Association

Jul. 14: Annual Planning Conference, 8am-5pmFor more information call 713-807-9977

L-R: Francisco Castaneda and his father Manuel Castaneda, Quality Insula-tion Ltd., load insulation material in the company truck. Based in Conroe, TX,

the company specializes in blown and batt insulation systems. –ab

Like father, like sonConstruction News ON LOCATION

July marks six months into 2011. Con-struction News asked nine folks in the Houston construction industry about

their best advice for being successful. “I think it takes a lot of hard work and you have to make sure to be on time to every job,” said Vincente Gonzalez, owner of Gonzalez Roofing. “I get to the shop about 7am and stay until about 5pm. I really love what I do today and I think that helps!” Jason T. Chan, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, associate project manager at Perkins+Will, says his advice for success in architecture is to be on the forefront of the latest trends, push the envelope, lis-ten to the needs of the client and be in-novative. “Have internal initiatives to research ideas and trends and collaborate to cre-ate innovation,” he said. Owner Thomas Siry, Three Broth-ers Plumbing Co., thinks it takes lots of hard work and dedication to be success-ful. “You have to enjoy the work and stay positive too,” Siry said. “I also think it takes effective communication when you are working with contractors and own-ers.” Josh Clements, owner/manager at Texas Paint Supply says it is important to have the right products that customers need when they need it. “You have to talk to your customers and have good communication skills,” Clements said. “Treat your customers as if they are your friends.” Jerry G. Ince, president of Ince Engi-neering LLC says to be successful in engi-neering it is best to listen to all parties from the client to the contractors and make decisions that blend these view-points. “I try to look at each project like it is my own problem that needs solving and approach the solution as if it was for me,” Ince said. “This method allows me to serve my client on a more personal level which I have found to be greatly appreci-ated.” Norbert (Norb) Ogrodowicz, own-er, of C & B Wholesale Plumbing Sup-plies, says success is when you have an abundant amount of trustworthy cus-tomers.

Keys to success

“You want customers that you know will pay you and be honest with you, as you are honest with them,” he said. Owner Victor Valdez, Victor’s Exte-riors and Remodeling, thinks to be suc-cessful you have to stay honest and do quality work. “Treat people good,” Valdez said. “Be fair. If you make a mistake, go out and correct it. Communication is key too. Maintain and good relationship with your customers. Every job can get you more work. Exceed expectations!” Registered Professional Land Sur-veyor Kyle Sunday, owner of Sun Sur-veying LLC, says it is essential to keep equipment up and running. “I think our key to success is main-taining a good equipment fleet and hav-ing the latest equipment,” he said. “We purchased a new GPS unit when we start-ed the business and it is good to have one on hand. It is always available and it is nice we don’t have to rent it.” President and CEO Michael Caliel, Integrated Electrical Services Inc., says the keys to being successful are under-standing what you do well as a company and targeting the proper parts of the in-dustry. “The construction industry is too large for anyone to be all things to all people,” he said. “We have been success-ful by focusing on items our customers value most: safe and reliable execution and access to the resources they need to meet their requirements.” –ab

Houston Construction News • Jul 2011 Page 15

Job Sights

L-R: Daniel Huerta and Lopez Sanchez, Air Flow Mechanical,work on a customized vent for the air conditioning system at the Men’s Warehouse project

on Westheimer Road. The GC is Warwick Construction Inc. –ab

Juan Hernandez, C & A Painting Inc., paints the front lobbyat the PIMA Medical Institute on Katy Freeway. –ab

The Mitchell Contracting LLC crew is on the job at the Frost Bank project on Kirby Drive The GC is Teal Construction Inc. –ab

Kendziora Plumbing Co. Inc. is the plumbing contractor at the Luby’s project on South Post Oak Blvd. The GC is Jerry Kachel Builder Inc. –ab

Over 200 attendees learned more about green building at the 2011 Gulf Coast Green (GCG) Sympo-

sium and Expo at the United Way of Greater Houston May 25. The event brought together archi-tects, engineers, contractors, developers, educators and government officials from the Gulf Coast region. Laura Spanjian, The City of Houston Director of Sustainability, opened the event by outlining programs the city has

recently implemented. The keynote speaker was national industrial sustain-ability expert Lance Hosey, president and CEO of Greenblue. The second key-note speaker was Alex MacLean, a pilot, architect and photographer. In addition, the GCG Professional Expo showcased the latest products and technologies for sustainable projects.–ab

Photos by: ©2011 Slyworks Photography

GreenGrid

Armor Glass PPG industries

Thinking green

Hmm…Dukes of Hazzardin Pasadena?

Page 16 Houston Construction News • Jul 2011

President Fred Heldenfels IV, Heldenfels Enterprises Inc., says the precast con-crete manufacturing company recently produced and delivered the longest pre-stressed concrete bridge beams ever manufactured for a Texas bridge project, as

confirmed by David Hohmann, TxDOT Bridge Division Director.Here the 164 ft. beams leave the plant heading to the SH 130 project. –ab

Longest beamsSubmitted to Construction News

Gilbane Building Co., a commercial general contractor, recently held its 4th An-nual Gilbane Golf Classic at Kingwood Golf Club. The tournament raised money

for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. –ab

Afternoon golfSubmitted to Construction News

If you were givenone million dollars,

what would you do?

If I had a million dollars given to me, I would buy some property in Houston and build a brand new shop.Omar Davila, VYO Structural Welding and Fabrication

I would go hunting and fishing a lot more than I do now!

Les Armstrong, Stripe-N-Sweep Inc.

I would tithe to church and other orga-nizations we have always wanted to support. THEN: the Bahamas!Darry Watson, Nortex Modular Space

I’d probably go on more vacations than I do now if I received a million dollars.

Francisco Castaneda,Quality Insulation Ltd.

I think I’d save the money for my 3-year-old daughter, Giselle. That would come in handy during her college years!

Hugo Gil, Evys Electric Inc.

I would go fishing more often in Mata-gorda Bay.Jose Ponce, Ponce Remodeling Service

Hawaii is my absolute favorite place in the world. I would travel to Oahu and Maui for sure!

Matt Rhodes,Cambridge Doors & Windows Inc.

I’d go scuba diving all the time. I am a certified scuba diver. My wife and I would love to go back to Cancun to go scuba diving.

Daniel Frank, Cryer Plastering Co. Inc.

My husband and I love music, so I think I would spend some of the money on a new music studio with quality equip-ment.Korina Barnett, James Kidd Enterprises

I would spend more time going fish-ing on Lake Conroe!

Matt Sanford,Warwick Construction Inc.