dallas/fort worth construction news march 2015

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Way to go First response roofers

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Trophy Club

When Bob Tomes, owner of Bob Tomes Ford in McKinney, decid-ed to transform his warehouse

at 410 Industrial Blvd. into a useful auto parts distribution center, he had two re-quirements for general contractor Bud Howard of Incept Construction. “The client had a really good idea of what he wanted to accomplish and he also had a really good idea of how much money he wanted to spend,” Howard says. “We had to marry those two to be able to accommodate all of the things he wanted to do, as well as stay within his budget.” Howard, who had previously con-structed a Subaru dealership for Tomes, knew he could meet the two require-ments, but there was a third he needed to carefully consider. The renovation of Tomes Texas Star Parts Building would be a design/build project, something How-ard had never before offered a client. For-

tunately, he knew just the experts to help him out: Fort Worth architecture and in-terior design firm Roe Design Group LLC. “This was our first design/build proj-ect where we actually designed the facil-ity and the architect actually worked for Incept Construction,” Howard says. “We were in charge of design, as well as the actual construction of the project. This brought on some new challenges that I have never been personally involved with before.” Howard says good coordination, hav-ing the right people in the right situation and picking an architect that his firm shared history with helped them avoid pitfalls and overcome any hurdles. Work-ing together, the team designed and con-structed an additional 20,000sf of space to be added to the 25,000-sf building. The construction, which began in July 2014, consisted of adding nearly

A second-floor steel mezzanine floor adds valuable space to the renovated building.

When San Antonio-based Joeris General Contractors Ltd. es-tablished a Dallas/Fort Worth

office in 2012, one goal was to implement the kind of golden rule atmosphere the San Antonio office had always enjoyed. It was important to establish that morale, especially since the six locally-hired em-ployees were opening an office that did not have any local work on the books for the first nine months. “We pride ourselves very much on the culture of our company,” Stephen Walter, executive vice president, adds. “It’s always about making it better for the people, whether it’s about our people or the clients’ people.” However, as director of operations Scott Lee, who helped start the Dallas/

Fort Worth office, explains, “It’s tough, as you’re bringing a new team together working within a new culture to try to de-velop that [culture].” Fortunately, the company created a way to get everyone on the same page. “We have something called the ‘Jo-eris Way,’ which is actually sort of a code of conduct that we have published a book about,” Walter, who joined the San Antonio office in 1990, explains. “Every employee that works for us gets one and learns about the history of the company, how the Joeris Way came about, and how we expect them to conduct themselves in accordance with that. It’s important to us; it’s based on being good people and

Joeris’ San Antonio and Fort Worth employees know the way.

When severe weather hits, major retail, financial and healthcare businesses strive to support

others as they try to get back on their feet, but who helps these white-hat hero businesses when they become damaged in those same storms, affecting their abil-ity to assist others? Repairing those crucial businesses in record time is the mission of National Roofing Partners (NRP) in Coppell and the concept behind its First Responder model. Operated by 42 Tier 1 roofing contractors with more than 120 service locations and 8,000 employees nation-wide, NRP boasts the resources to ad-dress these types of repairs no matter where in the U.S. they happen. The con-cept behind NRP’s First Responder Model

is to deploy the crews and resources needed to get weather-damaged busi-nesses restored and back to supporting their local economies as soon as possible. Despite the severity of the storm, NRP’s First Responder Model process is the same. NRP assesses the situation and determines an appropriate response. It then notifies NRP’s network of commer-cial contractors that have teams available so they can stay updated on resources. The NRP Home Office team, thanks to its structure of concentric response team rings, outlines the number of teams and resources available to handle the jobs within the storm area. Dale Tyler, NRP president, says the

Dale Tyler says NRP won’t let severe weather hamper national businesses.

Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • Mar 2015

Eager to show off the company’s ren-ovated Euless office, Associated Supply Company Inc. (ASCO) rolled

out the welcome wagon – er, loader – Feb. 18 for nearly 70 vendors, clients and members of the National Utility Contrac-tors Association (NUCA). The equipment sales, parts, service and rental company entertained the crowd with a happy hour, eats and door prizes, which included miniature versions of the equipment they offer. –mjm

An office-ial welcome

The folks at ASCO made sure guests felt welcome.

L-R: Equify Auctions’ Walt Ponivas and ASCO’s Kyle Saunders and Bill Pepper

L-R: Pacheco Koch’s Scott Berman and Advanced Drainage Systems’ Brooks Madden

L-R: Reyes Groups’ Kory Peterson and North Texas Contractors’ Sean Gilligan

Happy camperConstruction News JOB SIGHT

The KOA building on Cooper Street

in Arlington is getting a fresh coat thanks to painter Jose

Martinez, who works for Fort Worth general

contractor High Rise Independent

Contractors. –mjm

(972) 459-4749www.pclbonds.com

Building suretyrelationshipsfor 30 years

PARTNERS IN CONSTRUCTION.BONDED BY TRUST.

Not a contractor

In a Photo News entry that appeared in our February issue, we may have inad-vertently given the impression that Cowtown Redi Mix Concrete is a contractor. The company is a supplier only. Additionally, Billy Hawkins was misidentified. Hawkins is a foreman for Jackson Construction, a Fort Worth general contractor. Construction News apologizes for any confusion this may have caused. –cw


CONSTRUCTION NEWS

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Melissa Jones-Meyer . . . . . Dallas/Fort Worth [email protected] 817-731-4823

Dallas Fort Worth

The Dallas Fort Worth Construction News (ISSN 1547-7657) is published monthly by Construction News Ltd., dba Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News, and distributed by mail to construction related companies in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area. 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 Dallas Fort Worth Construction News, will not be liable for errors in copy or in advertisements beyond the actual cost of space occupied by the error. Publisher reserves the right to reject any advertisement at any time.

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L-R: Anthony Collins, Rebekah Furstenfeld and Skyler Gambill of BlueLine Rental are eager to help their rental customers at the company’s Arlington location. –mjm

Rent-up energyConstruction News ON LOCATION

Lane Gorman Trubitt employees were lookin’ for some hot

stuff on Feb. 11, and they found it, bubbling in bowls in the company’s seminar room. The Dallas-based certified public firm hosted its annual chili cook-off, where hot helpings of their co-workers’ cooking were distributed to the hungry masses. The gloves came off and the mitts went on for the cook-off as contestants peppered their pots with unique ingredients. LGT’s business development officer Neil Bar-row won “Best Overall Winner” for his concoction, “The Heat Wagon.” Commu-nication coordinator Elizabeth Dahl-gren’s “The Girl With The Dragon Chili” nabbed the “Spiciest Chili Award.” Audit

Fire starters

L-R: LGT cook-off contenders Neil Barrow, Elizabeth Dahlgren, Jennifer Wangner,AJ Norman and Heather Stave

Jayne Wilson casts her vote.

manager Cas Findlay’s “Jah-Makin-Me-Crazy Chili” captured the “Most Creative Name” category. All LGT employees end-ed up winning at the end though, scoring a delicious lunch and plenty of warmth to fuel their workday. –mjm

Fete of engineering

It was a celebration nine decades in the making. On Feb. 7 at Brookhaven Country Club, the Dallas branch of the

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) celebrated its 90th anniversary, inviting industry professionals to enjoy dinner, dancing and casino gaming, which raised money for the branch’s G.B. Mann scholarship fund. In attendance were Marylyn Powell Hargrave, granddaughter of the Dallas Branch’s first and founding president, and past branch president Robert Patton, who provided memorabilia to exhibit at the fete. The ASCE Dallas branch is one of the nation’s largest branches, boasting more than 1,000 subscribing members and a reach to more than 7,500 North Texas area professionals. –mjm

Photo credit: Walquist Photography

On the right:Hossein Hosseiny, Brown & Gay Engineers

L-R: Henley-Johnston & Associates Inc.’s John Johnston, Pat Johnston, Marylyn Powell Hargrave, Sue Patton, Bob Patton and James Phipps, Henley-Johnston & Associates and Laura Phipps

Mr. & Mrs. Dan Hartman with the City of Arlington, Angela Matthews, Hayden Consultants, David Schnurbusch, USA Professional Services Group and Sean Merrell, Brown & Gay Engineers


Tom O’BrienOwner

Lone Star Synthetic Turf

Tom O’Brien loves to whip out his cell phone, access Google Earth, and show people the aerial view of his

home, especially in winter. It’s good to be the owner of Lone Star Synthetic Turf – his yard is an eternal oasis of vibrant green standing out in stark contrast against the brown of lifeless lawns around it. O’Brien has created emerald oases like these throughout the Metro-plex for hotels, apartment complexes, playgrounds, dog parks and wedding and sports venues. Most importantly, he’s created green spaces in his own life too – vibrant with seized opportunities and personal and professional fulfill-ment.

Tom, are you from Texas? Your syn-thetic turf product is marketed as a surface solution for our Texas sum-mers and water restrictions – I thought maybe you spoke from experience! I was actually born in Chicago. My parents grew up there, and we’d be there too, but my dad was in insurance and ev-ery promotion he got we would move. So we never stayed in the same city for more than three years.

Did anything in your childhood influ-ence you to get into this line of work? Between 6th and 7th grade, I had a paper route. I remember it like it was yes-terday. In my neighborhood in Lake High-lands, where I lived for a while and where I now live, I threw The Dallas Morning News and The Times-Herald. For two years, I threw both papers both morning and afternoon; my dad would help me throw The Times-Herald on Sunday, which was the only day I really had trouble throwing two routes. During the week, I would get up and my contractor would knock on my window at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morn-ing and would put the papers on my sidewalk. I would flip on the light so he would know I was up. I would start out on

my bike, throwing the morning newspa-pers. I would come back and sleep for a little bit, my mom would wake me up and I would go to school. When I came home from school, the papers were out front, and I would immediately start throwing papers again. I was learning to make money, to make phone calls. I didn’t do much in the way of sports; I was interest-ed in making money.

That’s a great deal of responsibility and discipline for such a young per-son. Did you enjoy it, even though it was hard work? It was a great experience. What hap-pens to a lot of people is that your life is filled with opportunities and things that you never thought would make sense, or jobs that you thought were stupid – my opinion is, God has a way of initiating that, so that later in life, He’ll say, “Hey, that stupid job that I told you about? You need that job [skillset] now.” He’s prepar-ing you for the future, but most people don’t understand that. They think that it’s a part of life, but I think there are too many coincidences.

So your career as a businessman start-ed at a young age? It did. I also collected baseball cards, and a lot of my money would go to the baseball cards. I would sell them through magazines; that was another little busi-ness in junior high. After high school, I got a job at Tandy Leather and went to Richland College part-time for a while and started a couple of businesses.

What businesses did you start? I started a copy shop. Like everything else, I had worked for a company and thought, “Well, I could do this.” I rented some equipment, got a location and went out and sold! After that, I started a landscape com-pany; it was just me and a truck. I was mowing yards, with Thursday being my best day where I was mowing 12 yards by myself. Eventually, I hired a crew to help.

Where does this drive to create and run businesses come from? There’s nobody that can teach you this stuff, you just have to try it and see what happens. I’ve always been the one that says, “I can figure that out.” I’ve al-ways landed on my feet and have never had too much heartache, because usual-ly I can see it before it happens and make adjustments.

How did you transition from mowing real grass to supplying and installing synthetic turf? I was growing the business and start-ed doing putting greens and that’s when I got into synthetic turf. It was the first time we were under water restrictions, and people were asking me if I did any-

thing besides putting greens. I was one of the very first ones to start doing syn-thetic grass. Some people were doing putting greens and stuff like that, but I was one of the first that was really using it as [a substitute for] landscape grass. That’s when I found Forever Lawn of North Texas in 2007, and then I started Lone Star Synthetic Turf. You hear people say you’ve made the right decision, and I’ve had people tell me I’ve made the right decision in synthetic grass because [Texans] aren’t going to be able to water their grass as they’d like. The restrictions are happen-ing now, and people and businesses are considering paving areas, or putting rock and stone down. I don’t believe synthetic grass should cover the whole world – just the problem areas! It looks more realistic than it ever has, you don’t mow it, you don’t water it and it’s inviting to go out-side and see green grass. The economic benefits from a commercial aspect are we can even put it on a rooftop, it costs less, there’s no maintenance, no mud and it doesn’t die. We even have special turf for dog parks and dog runs. At wedding chapels, brides love it because their heels and guests’ chairs don’t sink in the mud! We’ve installed it at places like Klyde War-ren Park, the Omni Hotel, the Museum Tower, and Emerson apartment complex in Frisco. It has so many applications.

Do you use synthetic grass anywhere in your personal life? I have it in my yard. My neighbors don’t like me because I’m not doing yard work every single week! Whether you use the product for commercial or residential application, by the time you do the calcu-lations of how much it costs to water and maintain your yard for three to four years, you would have already paid for it with synthetic grass. I love it.

What do you do when you aren’t tick-ing off your neighbors? What do you do for fun? I enjoy spending time with my fami-ly. I have a wife, a son, and a daughter who is going to college next year. My son plays tennis, so I watch him play, and we go to Rangers games peri-odically. He and I have made a bucket list; we’re eventually going to go to every ballpark in the United States and watch a major league game. I love baseball and he likes it too, and that’s what we have in common.

Also, my fun is work. It’s kind of sad, but if you don’t have a passion for it, then why are you in business? If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t be here; I would be doing something else. When I had my copy business, my dad was staying with me at my apart-ment. I came home one day and I had a Coke and four or five cookies. My dad said, “You know, that’s one thing I admire about you; you come home and you have a Coke and you have four or five cookies. I would come home and have three mar-tinis to forget my day.” I said, “Dad, I love every job that I do, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it,” and he said, “That’s what I admire about you is that anything you want to do, you just go out and do it.”

What inspires you? We’re really active in our church; that’s where I met my wife and that’s where my kids have gone ever since they were big enough to be in a cradle. We’re Baptists, and we go on Wednesday nights; my kids and wife are in the choir, we have dinner, and there’s a band of us that meet and chitchat about what is go-ing on in our lives. It’s the fellowship; I re-ally believe you can touch people just talking to them. Life is short; find the best in every-thing that you can, the fruit that keeps you going. For me, it’s church and family and friends, and business is a big part of it. If you strip that all away, there’s noth-ing left.

What are you going to go out and do next? I want to expand in a couple of differ-ent markets, grow the business and see where it takes me. I’m on a journey; it’s really in God’s hands. I did not finish col-lege and I have a very successful business – I didn’t do it alone! My mom hates it when I say this, but I’m not smart enough in a lot of cases! But, with His help, I can do anything. My kids are young – I’m older – and I don’t see myself retiring for a while. Do I think my kids will take over the business? I doubt it; you have to have a passion for it. My plans really depend on my family. I see myself spending more time with the kids, they may be married in five years and have kids. I think family will make me happier than anything else. Dallas-based Lone Star Synthetic Turf installs and supplies synthetic grass. –mjm

For Tom O’Brien (here at turf-clad Klyde Warren Park), the grass is always greenerright where he is.

Concrete plansConstruction News JOB SIGHT

L-R: Edward Arshouk and superintendent Roy Silva of Mansfield general contracting company MA Design & Construction consult with worker Rogelio Cardenas about the slab that will be poured for Service Pros Auto Center in Mansfield. The 7,000-sf, 12-bay

facility is scheduled to open by May. –mjm


Show enough!

Buyers from every corner of the construction industry brought their purchasing power to the 2015 Dallas Build Expo USA. The building and construction show, held Feb. 4 and 5 at Dallas’ Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, featured

several seminars and workshops and more than 100 exhibit booths showcasing a plethora of products and services. –mjm

Gary Halstead, BOXX Modular

L-R: Construction News’ Kent Gerstnerand Jim Reilly

Matt Smith and Paula Beebe, Castro Roofing

L-R: Virtual Builders Exchange’s Lorri Chambers and Tawny Williams

Michelle Barrett and Ricky Whitfield, Weatherproofing Services

Amy Aubuchon, J Reynolds

L-R: Austen Daniel, Ryan Landon and Zach Davis, ARC Abatement

L-R: Dean Nestrud and Sean Marcotte, Morton designBUILD

L-R: Chris Wittry, Glenn Burns and Lynn Lumsden, Prism Electric

L-R: James Thompson, Luis Zaragoza and Miguel Burlato, Johnstone Supply

L-R: Danny Ali and Chris Mawani, LED King Ashley Henderson, CORE Safety Group

Lynne Stevens, H&W Utility Contractors Ardor Solutions’ Chris Rains

Robert L. “Bob” Marwill, 77, passed away Jan. 25, 2015. Marwill graduated from the University of Texas in 1959 with a degree in Mechani-

cal Engineering. During his career, he served as president for Sam P. Wallace Company and SpawGlass Corporation. In 1987, he co-founded The Cadence Group and served as president of Cadence/Cadence McShane Corporation until 1999. In 1994, Marwill served as president of the Dallas Chapter AGC. During his retirement, he continued to work with PBK Architects and Satterfield and Pontikes. Services were held Jan. 31 at Christ the King Catholic Church in Dallas. Marwill is survived by Janine Marwill Torma; Joe Torma and Nathan; Barbara Mar-will and Scott Schaefer (Corey, Christina, Alyssa, Valerie and Quentin); Gregory and Lori Marwill (Hannah and Colton). Memorials may be made to the Robert L. Marwill Leadership Fund National Delta Tau Delta Educational Foundation, 1000 Allisonville Road, Fishers, IN 46037.

In memoriam


Invisible exclusions, part IIIThe new (04 13) additionalinsured endorsementsCharles E. Comiskey, Sr. V.P.Brady, Chapman, Holland & Associates, inc.Houston, TX

There are three potentially significant issues with the new (effective April 2013) additional insured en-

dorsements. The new endorsements (1) exclude the sole negligence of the additional insured party, (2) po-

tentially limit the amount of recovery, and (3) according to some insurance companies and their agents and brokers, are required to be used in place of the older, broader-in-scope additional insured endorsements.

#1. The Sole Negligence Problem The ISO CG 20 10 endorsement pro-vides coverage for on-going exposures only. No coverage is provided for com-pleted operations. The ISO CG 20 10 04 13 states that coverage is provided to the additional in-sured “only with respect to liability … caused, in whole or in part, by:1. [insured’s] acts or omission ; or2.. he acts or omissions of those acting on [insured’s] behalf in the performance of on-going operations.” Sole negligence of the additional in-sured would not be “caused, in whole or in part by” the downstream named in-sured, hence coverage is no longer pro-vided for the additional insured’s sole negligence. The ISO CG 20 37 endorsement pro-vides coverage to the additional insured for completed operations exposures. As with the CG 20 10, the CG 20 37 10 01 in-cludes coverage for the sole negligence of the additional insured, and the CG 20 37 04 13 excludes the additional insured’s sole negligence. If additional insured status including coverage for the sole negligence of the upstream party is needed, use of the fol-lowing wording is recommended: Addi-tional insured status shall be provided in favor of [Upstream Parties] on a combina-tion of ISO forms CG 20 10 10 01 and CG 20 37 10 01.#2. The Amount of Recovery Problem The April 2013 endorsements in-clude three new provisions:

1. The insurance afforded to such addi-tional insured only applied to the extent permitted by law; and2. If coverage provided to the addition-al insured is required by a contract or agreement, the insurance afforded to such additional insured will not be broad-er than that which [the named insured is] required by the contract or agreement to provide for such additional insured; and3. If coverage provided to the addition-al insured is required by a contract or agreement, the most we will pay on be-half of the additional insured is the amount of insurance: Required by the

contract or agreement; or available un-der the applicable Limits of Insurance shown in the Declarations; whichever is less. The first change is inserted to permit the additional insured endorsement to apply to the many various state laws af-fecting the provision of this coverage. The second change is clearly intend-ed to make the agreement the control-ling document with regard to the intend-ed scope of coverage (i.e., for what expo-sures coverage is granted). The third change is problematic as it can limit the amount of coverage pro-vided, depending on how the construc-tion agreement was drafted. And keep in mind that these same terms are being incorporated into many excess liability policies as well as the primary general li-ability policies. If you are a downstream contractor (i.e., a subcontractor or a sub-sub), the more limiting wording works to your benefit. If you are an owner or upstream contractor, the broader wording works to your benefit.#3. The “Required to Use” Problem The April 2013 editions of CGL addi-tional insured endorsements are now in common use, and many insurance com-panies are firmly stating that they must be used and the older endorsements providing broader coverage are no lon-ger permissible. This statement may be true within a particular insurance com-pany, but is absolutely not true within the insurance industry. The CG 20 10 10 01 and CG 20 37 10 01 additional insured endorsements re-main readily available to qualified con-tractors. New, small or residential con-tractors, or contractors with insurance agents or brokers that cannot access qualified insurance carriers, will likely not be able to get them.Charles E. Comiskey, CPCU, CIC, CPIA, CRM, PWCA, CRIS, CCM, is Sr. V.P. of Brady Chap-man Holland & Assoc. and is National Chairman of the Construction Insurance Practice Group of RiskProNet International, the 5th largest brokerage organization in the U.S. He can be contacted at 713.979.9706 or [email protected].

Use JPM to trackproductivity during jobsLane Gorman Trubitt PLLCDallas, TX

Poor productivity can spell disaster for a construction project. Unfortunately,

traditional measures of productivity are applied after the fact, so they do little to help contractors spot issues during a job — while there’s still time to do some-thing about it. To help contractors monitor produc-tivity during jobs, ASTM International (formerly, the American Society for Test-ing and Materials) developed its Job Pro-ductivity Measurement (JPM) standard. Adopted in 2010, the standard enables contractors to measure productivity throughout a job and address productiv-ity issues as they arise. It also alerts con-tractors to changes in productivity rates, serving as an “early warning system” for potential productivity problems down the road.

Output vs. outcomesRather than focus on output — such as the amount of concrete poured — JPM looks at outcomes. Output measures the amount of effort expended or materials installed, with little regard for the quality of the results. It obscures unproductive activities, such as repairs, rework or out-of-sequence work. JPM, on the other hand, analyzes work performed relative to actual con-struction put in place — that is, work product that’s acceptable to the custom-er. By measuring outcomes based on the transfer of value to the customer, JPM of-fers a more accurate picture of productiv-ity in terms of actual progress toward contract completion. It also provides a more reliable meth-od of measuring percentage of comple-tion. By tying it to construction put in place, JPM allows a contractor to make progress billings based on value provid-ed, regardless of the amount of cost in-curred, which can improve cash flow. This method tracks nicely with upcoming changes to accounting rules,

which tie revenue recognition to the completion of performance obligations.

Putting systems in place To make JPM work, you must have systems in place to measure, in ASTM In-ternational’s words, “observed comple-tion of the project as accepted by the customer.” You need to break down the contract into tasks, assign cost codes to each task and create a budget that as-signs labor hours to each activity that contributes to the finished product. In addition, when relying on regular reports from workers in the field, you must track the observed percentage of completion for all activities (typically, weekly). Then, you need to compare those results against the actual hours de-voted to each activity. Errors, repairs, rework and inefficient processes hurt a construction company’s productivity. Rather than discover these issues in a “postmortem,” consider im-plementing JPM. By providing ongoing feedback on problems that hurt produc-tivity, it gives you an opportunity to cor-rect problems during the course of a job — enhancing your performance, cash flow, and ultimately, your profitability.

About Lane Gorman Trubitt, PLLCFounded in 1950, Lane Gorman Trubitt, PLLC (LGT) is one of the largest certified public accounting firms headquartered in the Southwest. Dedicated to serving the middle market, the firm represents a broad range of clients, from individuals to public companies, in a variety of industries. LGT offers traditional accounting, audit and tax services, as well as various other special-ized services. In an effort to expand the ser-vices provided to valued clients, LGT has launched three affiliated companies, LGT Financial Advisors, LLC, LGT Insurance Ser-vices Inc. and LGT Retirement Plan Solu-tions. To learn more, visit http://www.lgt-cpa.com.

He has driveConstruction News JOB SIGHT

Kirby Fence’s Pedro Ortiz gets behind the wheel to help construct a new Panera in Mansfield. Rowlett-based general contractor D4 Construction Services LLC and

superintendent Bob Crites are overseeing the project. –mjm

Have a photo or storyyou’d like to share?

Send to:

[email protected] call Melissa at 817.731.4823


Trenching andexcavation safetyJoann NatarajanCompliance Assistance SpecialistOSHAAustin, TX

Two workers are killed every month in trench collapses. The employer must

provide a workplace free of recognized hazards that may cause serious injury or death. The employer must comply with the trenching and excavation require-ments of 29 CFR 1926.651 and 1926.652. An excavation is any man-made cut, cavity, trench, or depression in an earth surface formed by earth removal. Trench (Trench excavation) means a narrow ex-cavation (in relation to its length) made below the surface of the ground. In gen-eral, the depth is greater than the width, but the width of a trench (measured at the bottom) is not greater than 15 feet (4.6 meters).

General Trenching and Excavation Rules:

• Keep heavy equipment away from trench edges.• Identify other sources that might affect trench stability.• Keep excavated soil (spoils) and other materials at least 2 feet (0.6 meters) from trench edges.• Know where underground utilities are located before digging. In Texas, dial 811 to request utility location at least two business days prior to digging. • Test for atmospheric hazards such as low oxygen, hazardous fumes and toxic gases when greater than 4 feet deep.• Inspect trenches at the start of each shift.• Inspect trenches following a rainstorm or other water intrusion.• Do not work under suspended or raised loads and materials.

• Inspect trenches after any occurrence that could have changed conditions in the trench.• Ensure that personnel wear high visibil-ity or other suitable clothing when ex-posed to vehicular traffic.

Protective Systems:

There are different types of protec-tive systems. Benching means a method of protecting workers from cave-ins by excavating the sides of an excavation to form one or a series of horizontal levels or steps, usually with vertical or near verti-cal surfaces between levels. Benching cannot be done in Type C soil. Sloping involves cutting back the trench wall at an angle inclined away from the excava-tion. Shoring requires installing alumi-num hydraulic or other types of supports to prevent soil movement and cave-ins. Shielding protects workers by using trench boxes or other types of supports to prevent soil cave-ins. Designing a pro-tective system can be complex because you must consider many factors: soil clas-sification, depth of cut, water content of soil, changes caused by weather or cli-mate, surcharge loads (e.g., spoil, other materials to be used in the trench) and other operations in the vicinity.

For more information:http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/trenchingex-cavation/index.htmlhttp://www.texas811.org

[email protected] x232

Employers use noncompetition & nonsolicitation agreements to limit poaching of key employeesShelly Masters, PrincipalCokinos Bosien & YoungAustin, TX

Between the demands of the surging construction market and the increasing scarcity of construction

labor in the Texas workforce, employers face a heightened risk of losing key employees to poaching by competitors. Because key employee retention is critical to the overall success of a company, a growing number of employers are seeking ways in which to keep key employees satisfied, limit lateral movement and prevent others from hiring away talented workers. Thanks to recent Texas Supreme Court rulings, well-drafted noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements offer a viable form of relief for em-ployers.

Noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements are not synonymous. Non-competition agreements aim to prevent an employee from working for another employer in a competing business while nonsolicitation agreements preclude so-licitation of another in some form or fash-ion (e.g., by preventing a departing em-ployee from calling on the employer’s customers or clients or preventing an-other company from soliciting the em-ployer’s workforce). Nonsolicitation agreements may also be used by a com-pany to prevent another company with whom it has entered into a contractual relationship (such as a general contractor or subcontractor) from soliciting its em-ployees. Covenants not to compete and so-licit are governed by Section 15.50 – 15.52 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code. By statute, a covenant is enforce-able if: (i) it is ancillary to or part of an oth-erwise enforceable agreement at the time the agreement is made; (ii) it contains reasonable limitations as to time, geo-graphic area, and (iii) the scope of activi-ty restrained does not impose a greater restraint than necessary to protect the goodwill or other business interest of the employer. If the primary purpose of the agreement to which the covenant is an-cillary is found in an employment con-tract, the employer has the burden of es-tablishing that the covenant meets the statutory criteria. Prior to recent Court opinions, the judiciary frequently found noncompeti-tion agreements to be an unreasonable restraint on trade. Texas courts enforced only narrowly tailored noncompetition agreements. Under prior law, employers were often unsuccessful in obtaining in-junctive or other relief against the em-ployee. The Texas Supreme Court has made it easier for employers seeking to restrict key employees from competing post-employment. Now, trade secret informa-tion and specialized training are not the

exclusive forms of employer-generated consideration necessary to enforce non-competition and non-solicitation agree-ments. These opinions have recently been extended to contracts with inde-pendent contractors as well. The key to enforcement now is that these types of provisions must be rea-sonable and not impose a greater re-straint than necessary to protect the em-ployer’s interest. The provisions must state a duration of time, geographical area to be limited, and scope of activity to be restrained. Courts have generally held reasonable geographic restrictions include the territory in which the em-ployee worked and performed services for the employer, the area in which the employer does business, the physical lo-cation of the employer’s customer or cli-ents, etc. The shorter the time period, the more likely the covenant will be en-forced. If the provisions are indefinite or without appropriate limitations, a Court will likely find them unreasonable and unenforceable. Because Texas has become more fa-vorable to employers than it has been in the last two decades, employers should audit existing and prospective employ-ment agreements, incentive plans, prime contracts and subcontracts to determine whether to incorporate covenants not to compete, solicit or hire employees and/or customers and other provisions to pro-tect confidential information and trade secrets. Poorly drafted provisions can lead to unwanted surprises for employ-ers who wrongfully believe they are rely-ing on solid agreements with enforce-able language. Shelly Masters is a Principal in the Aus-tin office of Cokinos Bosien & Young. She represents clients in the areas of construc-tion, labor and employment, commercial and products liability law. Cokinos Bosien & Young has been representing the con-struction industry for over 25 years. She can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (512) 615-1139.

Melissa LeschBusiness Development

and Bond Producer

PCL Contract Bonding Agency

Industry FOLKS

When Melissa Lesch recently re-ceived instructions from her sis-

ter Alicia Navejar to look for an email from Neiman Marcus, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What she didn’t know is that Nave-jar had written the luxury department store nominating Lesch for their annu-al “Faces of Beauty” campaign. In her letter, Navejar recounted Lesch’s child-hood struggle with bullying due to her weight and her determination to re-solve it by dedicating herself to fitness,

beginning with at-home workouts be-cause she was too embarrassed to go to the gym. That, and Lesch’s current in-volvement in volunteer work, touched the judges, who selected her and five other inspiring women from nearly 1,000 entries to represent Neiman Marcus in its

2015 Spring campaign. “I was thrilled,” the business devel-opment and bond producer for PCL Con-tract Bonding Agency says. “It’s a special recognition that she thought about me in that way and was proud of everything that I’ve done with health and fitness, be-ing a mom and balancing everything.” As a token of congratulations, the store sent Lesch a box filled to the brim with luxury cosmetics (much to the de-light of her young daughter!) and a card that said, “Let the celebration begin!” She was also invited to meet the commit-tee and other winners and enjoy a day of pampering and recognition. Once there, her arrival was heralded in paparazzi-like fashion, and stylists brought out a rack of designer clothes specially selected for her. After an outfit was chosen and her hair and makeup were done, she and the winners participated in interviews and a

photo shoot and were served an ele-gant dinner. As a representative of the “Faces of Beauty” campaign, Lesch will be fea-tured on Neiman Marcus’ mailers and catalogues and in-store marketing ma-terials and events. The campaign pho-tos have already appeared in Harpers Bazaar and Elle magazines, and her face is featured on the cover of the campaign’s “Beauty Book.” The mother of two said the experi-ence, meeting the other winners and hearing their stories, reinforced her idea that true beauty starts from the inside. Although she still expresses sur-prise over the heady experience, her husband Eric, who also works for PCL Contract Bonding Agency, wasn’t sur-prised at all that his beautiful wife was selected for the honor. –mjm

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Roof, love and honor

Feb. 14 was a night not just for ro-mance, but also an evening to show the roofing industry a little love. The

North Texas Roofing Contractors Associa-tion (NTRCA), a regional association for roofing contractors, honored its mem-bers at its 15th annual NTRCA Awards Banquet. Hosted at the Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas, the event wooed guests with cocktails, dinner, dancing, award presentations, raffles and casino games. The theme of the evening, “Cele-brating Thirty Years,” was a nod to the three decades that the association has been helping its members achieve and maintain the highest industry standards. –mjm

Outstanding Commercial Roofing Project:UTD Student Housing, Project 4

Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing

Outstanding Community Service Project:Lindo Drive Project

Springtree Roofing & Restorationand The Rosedale Group

Outstanding Green Roofing Project:Burleson Boulevard Baptist Church

Classic Superoof LLC

Associate of the Year:Matt Hood, ABC Supply

Industry Leader Award:Dan Pitts, Pitts Roofing

Outgoing NTRCA President: Craig Rainey, Supreme Roofing Systems

Outstanding Commercial Roofing Project:Chateau Plaza DallasEmpire Roofing Inc.

Outstanding Residential Project: Moreno ResidenceTice Enterprises LTD

Associate Member: Westend Roofing Supply

Outstanding Residential Project: Liszewski ResidenceBuzz Roofing and Construction

Associate Members:GAF and Wholesale Roofing Supply Outstanding Residential Project: Vandelia Residence

Springtree Roofing & RestorationAssociate Members:

GAF and Westend Roofing Supply

Outstanding Community Service Project: Revealed World Ministries ProjectSupreme Roofing Systems and SR Roofing Solutions

Associate Members: ABC Supply and Empire Disposal

Outstanding Commercial Roofing Project: GW-50 Roof ReplacementSupreme Roofing Systems

The 2015 Board of Directors were installed at the event.

Photos by Mira Vista Photography


BAFFIN BAY –– LAGUNA MADRE –– LAND CUTSPECKLED TROUT –– REDFISH –– FLOUN DER

FISHING AND HUNTING TRIPS

STEVE SCHULTZ OUTDOORS, LLC

(361) 813-3716(361) 334-3105

www.baffi [email protected]

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

Spring outlookis promisingby Capt. Steve Schultz

Sponsored by:Premier Yamaha Boating Center, Majek Boats, E-Z

Bel Construction, Power Pole Shallow Water Anchor, Aggregate Haulers, Interstate Batteries, Simms Products,

Pure Fishing, Mirr-O-Lure, ForEverlast Hunting and Fishing Products and Columbia Sportswear.

For the last several months I’ve been fishing with my fingers crossed, not so much for the fishing luck but for what our water conditions have been. So

far this year the waters of the Upper Laguna Madre (ULM) and Baffin Bay Complex have been in great shape and free of any algae blooms, even with the extreme low tides we had during February. I hope I’m not speak-ing too soon, but just maybe the winter rains we had will be enough to keep our bays clear through the spring and summer months.

As we enter into March, we start seeing the early stages of our spring weather patterns. Hopefully, cold fronts will just be a change in our wind directions and a slight atmospheric temperature change. Surface bait activity should be more present as our water temperatures should be steadily rising and nearing the 70-degree mark. I guess it’s time to break out the topwater lures and get ready for some explosive surface action. There

Cameron Zelnik (5) of Katy, TX caught this sheephead on his cast last month during an outing with Capt. Steve Schultz. As

you can tell from the picture, he was one proud angler.

are several pointers I will give you to help you be a bet-ter angler when throwing surface plugs. Not every game fish can be raised with a popping plug, of course, but most can’t resist the temptation to blast what ap-pears to be a helpless meal - even if they have no idea just what it is. That even applies to fish that aren’t hun-gry. Presentation is key when working surface baits. On calm mornings I tend to use smaller baits than I would if it was windy. Work the bait with a side to side action and a slow retrieve with frequent pauses. On winder days move up to a larger plug such as a Top Dog or She Dog and be a little more aggressive with your retrieve and less frequent stops or perhaps none at all. Try different retrieves of rhythm to find what works best on that giv-en day. Another tip that will be very useful when fishing surface baits, is to not try and set the hook to quickly when you see the fish hit the lure. Lots of times they will miss or short strike on the first pass only to come back and hit it again. Once you find the tempo your target fish wants, it could make for some explosive action. Also, those who say top water lures only work in early mornings and late evenings, have obviously never given them a solid effort during mid-day wades.

In the product section this month while we are on the subject of top water baits, I would recommend using the line of baits produced by MirrOlure. They offer one of the largest selection of floating and slow sinking bait in the industry. Top Dogs and She Dogs both come in sev-eral sizes to meet all fishing conditions along with Catch 2000, Catch 5 and MirrOdine lures. All these lures come in an assortment of colors and patterns which are as-sured to catch fish. Look them up on the web at www.shopmirrolure.com or your nearest tackle retailer.

To schedule your next bay fishing trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716 or 361-334-3105 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Still have several days open in March although summer is filling up quick. Good luck and Good Fishing.

Quite pheasant, indeedSubmitted to Construction News

David Ashcraft, service manager in ASCO Equipment’s Euless office, recently scored a pheasant near Wagner, South Dakota. –mjm


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

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

Spring is almost upon us and the weather is getting nice. The water is getting warmer and the fish are

starting to stir. March is my favorite month of the year to fish; you really don’t know what you will catch with each cast. This is because the warmest water is in the shallows and this is where the baitfish will be along with multiple species start-ing to spawn. Largemouth and crappie are finally moving back into the shallows and this is a great time to take the kids fishing. How many of you have memories of going fishing with your dad or granddad sitting on the bank with a cane pole catching perch or crappie? Those memories very likely took place during the spring or ear-ly summer, during this pattern. The best part about spring fishing is that you don’t need a boat; all you need is a hook, some bait, and some water. Rather it is a pond in your subdivision or Lake Buchanan there is a good chance that you can catch something and create memories in the process. Spring is also the time of year when you can catch some trophy sized blue catfish. I can remember one trip I had some years ago when we were fishing shallow with big baits looking for big spawning female stripers and we found one. As I started to turn the boat to chase down the big fish another rod bent over and started screaming out drag, I thought oh boy we have two big stripers and was getting ready for the rodeo. We contin-ued to chase down and land the first fish, an 18 pound striper, and then we turned and started after the second fish. We could see it throwing a wake 100 feet off of the side of the boat, our adrenaline was pumping because we knew it had to be a potential lake record striper, and

then all of a sudden I thought I saw it roll-ing. Well stripers don’t roll and I knew we had a catfish that we all would remember for the rest of our lives. After about twen-ty minutes we finally landed a 48 pound blue cat. It just goes to show you even the guys that do it for living can make new memories this time of year. On your next day off grab your fish-ing gear, or call your favorite guide. Load up the kiddos, a friend, or a neighbor and go make some memories. I see stories ev-eryday where some lucky fisherman catches a fish of a lifetime, and many times it is caught in a place where the people that “know” what they are doing would never suspect a fish like that to be lurking. If nothing else you will have spent some quality time with good com-pany enjoy a beautiful spring day in the great outdoors.

Max Milam (son of Ken Milam) has been running fishing trips for several years at Lake Buchanan. Max is a graudate of Texas A & M, with a degree recreation, parks and tourism.

Spring fishingby Max Milam


Cycling has always been a common bond for Good Fulton & Farrell employees. Since the architectural

planning and design firm was founded in 1982, the group has regularly organized weekend rides to wheel around Dallas. Cycling took on a deeper meaning, however, when the firm and its tight-knit cycling group lost employee and cycling enthusiast Jeff Green, who was killed during a cross-country trek for charity in July 1989. “That was our first and probably our most significant firm tragedy,” GFF de-sign principal David Farrell, AIA, remem-bers. “After that, there were several of us that stayed committed to bike riding, and we would always remember Jeff. We did rides from Austin to Dallas, taking three days and touring through old towns.” Twenty-five years later, GFF contin-ues to bond over bikes, even as the firm added a Fort Worth office in 2014. GFF’s younger employees who live close to work often commute via bike, and the ever-expanding trail systems offer more excursion options. One third of the 120-person staff placed an order for GFF’s yellow bike jersey last year, and racks were even installed in the offices to accommodate the growing number of employee bicycles. GFF’s love of cycling

Growth cycle

Good Fulton & Farrell’s David Farrell (second from left) has witnessed a growthin his firm’s like for bikes.

has aided them in their design work as well: The Dallas and Fort Worth offices are currently collaborating on Fort Worth’s Trailhead Bike Shop at Clearfork. “We have a pretty good bicycling commuter contingent in the office,” Far-rell acknowledges. “On weekends we have organized rides. We’ll meet in White Rock and we’ll either go on the trail sys-tems of north Dallas or a couple of laps around White Rock. We’ll go south of White Rock on the Santa Fe Trail down to Bishop Arts and have breakfast or tour the Trinity bottoms area and then come back up through the Katy Trail. Some-times we’ll hop a train and get back to White Rock and other times we just ride; those can be 25 to 35 mile inner urban routes that we do. Fort Worth has always had a great trail system along the Trinity River; I think this year we are going to ride in Dallas, go to Union Station, take [the Trinity Railway Express] to Fort Worth and ride there for a while.” Even as more employees join GFF’s cycling culture, one can’t help but think of how Green would have enjoyed shar-ing his passion with the firm’s next gen-eration of cyclists. “Whenever I go cycling,” Farrell says, “there’s not a time when I don’t think about Jeff.” –mjm

The good hookSubmitted to Construction News

Hook ‘em, Hamilton! Action Gypsum’s Jerry Hamilton caught this 18-lb. striper on a Feb. 8 fishing trip to Lake Texoma. –mjm

The hunt was on for PCL Contract Bonding Agency’s Clem Lesch, his son Eric Lesch, his brothers Marv,

Gerald and Jerome Lesch and TEPCO Glazing founder Fred Keen. The six men enjoyed a bit of bird hunting Jan. 20-21 in the panhandle near Littlefield, TX. Unfor-tunately, the trip was cut short due to a snowstorm headed for the area, but the shooting six went home with plenty of

Hunting in the ’handle

sandhill cranes to show for their trouble and enough exercise to keep the dogs happy. “Each hunter maxed out at three sandhill cranes each day,” Clem says. “Six hunters equals the 18 birds on the ground for each day. They are quite noisy when coming into the decoys. It kept the dogs busy bringing them back to the blind!” –mjm

L-R: Clem, Gerald, and Eric Lesch, Fred Keen and Marv and Jerome Lesch

L-R: Clem and Fred Keen hoist a crane.


Construction management. With a lot of the jobs that I do, like the large hospital we just finished, managing those jobs versus managing the smaller jobs is very differ-ent. I would love to know the organization-al tools, prioritization tools and tips and tricks that would make jobs like that easier.

Teresa Mastin,Spectra Contract Flooring

I always regret that I didn’t go into archaeol-ogy or museum studies. I did major in histo-ry, and I was a history teacher. But when I went to school, women didn’t go into a lot of these other occupations. I regret that I didn’t. Liz Moucka, Bridgefarmer & Associates

I would say more of a safety certification/safety class. With the focus over the last 12 years since I’ve been in the rental busi-ness, everybody’s always talking about the revenue, but your biggest loss is an accident. One of the things I preach to the guys in the shop is safety – safety’s an attitude, not a department. Working safe is going to save you money.

Ben Odell, SRT Equipment

I would like to take a Spanish class. So many of the people I interact with in this business don’t understand me, or I don’t understand them. I never took [Spanish] in college, so for me, a Spanish class would be great.

Gary Halstead, BOXX Modular

A cooking class. I’ve been watching the little kids on “Master Chef.” They have 7-12 year olds that are like gourmet chefs! They can cook anything, and I don’t cook!

Brad Pilkington,Suntec Custom Signs & Awnings

I would like to study graphic design to be able to take my thoughts and create it, to not have to try to translate it to somebody else and have them put their own spin on it and be able to create my own image.

Amy Aubuchon, J Reynolds

I would like to learn Photoshop. It’s a dif-ferent world. To be able to do color, learn how to do graphics, learn how to make stuff pop out when I send my emails.

James Thompson, Johnstone Supply

I would like to take a class on doing pre-sentations, sort of like Toastmasters. It trains you to think thoroughly and articu-late your point succinctly. No matter what your job is, no matter what you are doing in life, if you can succinctly articu-late your point, you’re much more likely to get it across than if you ramble or if you’re unclear.

Marc Punjak, Lone Star Synthetic Turf

A cooking class for sure. I’m a horrible cook. I like to eat. I do pour a bowl of ce-real really, really well.

Bryan Kidd, Sunbelt Rentals

I never actually finished college; I was go-ing to school for chemistry and I guess I would like to finish that degree, as well as get a minor degree in physics or mathe-matics. I always was interested in green energy, so I think I would like to learn more about wind power or even more specifically, solar power.

Chris Rains, Ardor Solutions

Something related to time management, both personally and professionally.

Sean Marcotte, Morton designBUILD

Music lessons. I have an interest in music, and have played guitar since I was a kid. I haven’t gotten any better in the last 40 years. I try to sing sometimes too, and need a little direction there.

Paul Black,Crossroads Decorative Pavement

What class wouldyou like to take?


The Fort Worth chapter of the Ameri-can Institute of Architects (AIA) hon-ored the creators of 2014’s most no-

table local architecture at its annual awards ceremony on Jan. 24. Hosted at Kimbell Art Museum’s Piano Pavilion, the association presented honor awards, as well as the past year’s design awards. –mjm

Making their mark

Photos by CHAD DAVIS AIA

Community AwardJerre Tracy, Honorary AIA

Historic Fort Worth Inc.

Studio AwardSEWN: Triangle Fire Memorial Design

Bart Shaw AIA, Architect

25-Year AwardJ.M. Moudy Visual Arts

and Communication Building

Citation AwardG Model

Bart Shaw, Architect President’s AwardSandra Dennehy AIADennehy Architects

Studio Award: Memory: Fairmount ParkBart Shaw AIA, Architect

Merit Award: Erma Lowe Hall – Texas Christian University, School of Classic & Contemporary Dance

Bennett Benner Partners

Citation Award: Overton Ridge Interior ImprovementsNorman D. Ward, Architect

Certificate of AppreciationChris Ortiz, Associate AIA

Certificate of AppreciationSilvia Malavasi, International Associate AIA

Excellence in Sustainable Development: Redenta’s

Young Professional AwardBrandon Burns AIA

Bennett Benner Partners

Quality in Construction AwardMario Camilleri, Camilleri Custom Cabinetry

Citation Award: PaintballBart Shaw AIA, Architect

Merit Award: SiloIbañez Architecture

Event committee chair Brandon Burns of Bennett Benner Partners addresses the

crowd.


NU-CAsino Engineers that could

The Fort Worth chapters of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE) and the American Society of

Civil Engineers (ASCE) kicked off their an-nual Engineers Week festivities a week early. The associations honored their members for contributions to the indus-try at their joint Engineering Week Ban-

quet held Feb. 17 at Fort Worth’s Ridglea Country Club. Fort Worth mayor and key-note speaker Betsy Price congratulated the engineers on their contributions to the city and encouraged them to contin-ue their work as the city continues to reach record growth. –mjm

Ken Randall PE of Baird, Hampton & Brown received the TSPE Richard Van Trump Award.

The ASCE Edmund Friedman Young Engineer of the Year Award is presented to Andrew

Wilson EIT, CFM (right) of Peloton Land Solutions.

Caleb Milligan PE (left) of Dunaway Associates receives the TSPE Young Engineer

of the Year Award.

TSPE Engineer of the Year King Cook (right) of Fugro Consultants Inc. is presented with

the Golden T-square.

Whether the shuffling came from the cards at the casino tables or the stilettos and boots on the

dance floor, the guests were all in for the action at The Westin ballroom on Jan. 30. The National Utility Contractors Associa-tion (NUCA) rolled out a casino night, complete with a DJ, photo booth and a raffle for its members and guests. –mjm

On the right:Kris Phillips, Kirby-Smith Machinery,

is a winner!

L-R: Angie Fusilier, Marie Rhom, Buyers Barricades, Erica Ward and Linzey Tweed, North Texas Contracting and Kelli Meyer, Vermeer Texas-Louisiana

Guests lined up for the dancing at the event.

Thirty members of the American Subcontractors Association’s North Texas (ASA) chapter participated in the Texas Construction Association (TCA) and ASA of Texas’

2015 PAC Roundup and Walk on the Capitol. The event, held Jan. 27-28 in Austin, gave construction peers a chance to speak with legislators and make their voices

heard on issues that impact the industry. –mjm

Walking the talkSubmitted to Construction News

Share your history

So many of you have been a part of Construction News since it was first founded in 1998, and then expand-

ed into markets throughout Texas, in-cluding Dallas/Fort Worth in 2003. Per-haps you have participated as an adver-tiser, as a subject of one of our articles or have been a faithful reader (or all three!), and we sincerely thank you for support-ing our paper all of these years. But, do you know the history of Con-struction News? Buddy and Reesa Doebbler, who were involved in the construction indus-try, founded this paper at their kitchen ta-ble in their hometown of San Antonio. The couple wanted to recognize the myriad accomplishments of the men, women and companies in a publication that would be circulated to all segments of the construc-tion industry. Remembering their begin-nings in the industry and the many people who helped them, they also wanted to be able to give back by promoting compa-nies that were just getting their start. Their concept was so well received, they soon produced Construction News for other markets: Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and, most recently, South Texas. These five monthly editions show-case the good work (and good works) the people and companies in our industry perform every day. We are proud to fea-ture them, and always appreciate when readers let us know they enjoyed a story, recognize someone they know, tell us what they or their company are doing or recommend someone we should feature. Our paper highlights the construc-tion industry in so many different ways. Beginning on our front page, Construc-tion News features a local project that has been constructed in the past six months, outlining the process and featuring the final result. Our “Spotlight” takes a deeper look into the lives of construction business owners – how they started in the indus-try, what motivates and inspires them,

their hobbies, interests and families. The “Great Outdoors” section, one of the most popular in our paper, is a great place to show off your latest hunt-ing, fishing, vacation, marathon, vehicle or pet photos. Our editorial content explores topics and provides coverage of statewide and national events that you will not learn about anywhere else. In “Industry Folks,” we help you to get to know the industry employees be-hind the desks, the drills and the phone lines that you might have the good for-tune to do business with. The editors also take “Job Site” pho-tos of projects underway and “On Loca-tion” photos of office staff as they go about their workday. Finally, there are our “Industry Pro-files,” which focus on local companies, the fascinating reasons behind their es-tablishment, their employees and their company culture. On a personal note, I began writing for Construction News in 2008 and love writing about the construction industry because I’m reminded every day that people are still keeping the American Dream alive through their work. It doesn’t matter if I interview the person who owns a handful of tools and a pickup truck or a multi-million dollar construction busi-ness, everyone has a “history” worth sharing. I meet people who say, “I read your paper every month!” When I ask if they’ve ever been featured, however, many say no, insisting that they’re not very inter-esting and that they have nothing to say. They do have something to say, and so do you. You have a story, or you know someone in commercial construction who does. I hope you’ll connect with me so we can share it with Construction News read-ers. All you have to do is call me at (817) 731-4823, email me at [email protected], or take me up on the offer when I meet you at an event! –mjm


Construction Education

Look for a good education foundation

Mike Holland, CPC, AIC, PresidentAmerican Council for Construction EducationSan Antonio, TX

When most people think about con-struction education, the first thing

that comes to mind is training for the skilled trades – plumbing, electrical, equipment operator, steel erector, etc. These are important elements of the in-dustry. Just as important are the senior managers, executives and business own-ers who create the opportunities to work in the industry and invest their money and manage the risks to their investment (the company’s equity). This element of the construction industry needs more than the training of the skilled tradesman – they need education, that element pro-vided by colleges and universities that provides the foundation upon which to build and lead a successful business. Through American Council for Con-struction Education (ACCE), the industry has developed the ability to create the foundation (there’s that word again – a construction-appropriate term for this ar-ticle) for new graduates to begin their

career in the management of the con-struction process, to grow their experi-ence and ability to combine the many parts and teams of skilled folks and busi-nesses to deliver that safe, on-schedule, on-budget project, protecting the equity of the company from the many risks that threaten every construction project. There are many colleges and univer-sities across the country that offer 2-year, 4-year and master degrees in the build-ing sciences, construction management, construction science and management that prepare the graduates to manage the process. Other degrees that are tan-gent would include construction engi-neering, architectural engineering and construction technology and other de-scriptors. Engineering is more focused on the design of the project, whether a building, highway, residential develop-ments, a bridge or a utility. The building sciences are focused more on managing the constructing of the project; this re-

quires a broad basis of the technology of building as well as the business side of the process; engineering does not give the graduate that element. A degree in the building sciences in-cludes education in these competencies: estimating; scheduling; safety; project management; construction law; commu-nications, both written and oral; con-struction accounting; basic construction methods and materials; surveying; ethics in the construction industry; and the fun-damentals of business: accounting; eco-nomics; business law; and principles of management and more. Regardless of the level of college degree (2-year, 4-year, or master degree), the foundation that a college degree provides the graduate the starting point for advancing their career. With the downturn in 2007-2011, the media caused many parents and high school students to steer clear of the con-struction industry – a sad situation. Though the industry did slow down, it is not one that can be exported, like com-puter programming, architectural and engineering efforts, to lower wage coun-tries – construction and the management of it has to be on-the-ground, at the site. The industry is now suffering from a worker shortage on many levels, includ-ing the construction management grad-uates. This “hole in the pipeline” of new graduates is now impacting many com-panies that need the continuum of man-agement talent in their organizations to

continue that flow of quality manage-ment and leadership development for the successful succession in the years ahead. Today, the shortage of new grad-uates in the construction management arena is causing companies to struggle in filling their teams with the talent they need. A career in the building sciences, construction management, construction science and management professions provides the opportunity for young graduates to begin a very rewarding ca-reer – more than money – the chance to be part of creating in every community, state and country and supporting the lo-cal economy, health and education, and environment for that community. During one’s career, one can look at what they created – not alone - with a team of other professionals, skilled tradesmen and oth-er local leaders and be proud of where their career has taken them. Education will provide the opportu-nity – the foundation; a person’s capabili-ties will take them toward their calling and the success provided by this special industry – construction. Get that foundation built and see where you take your career.

The mission of ACCE is to be a leading global advocate of quality construction education; and to promote, support, and accredit quality construction education programs. –cw

Education and experience equally important

Dr. Orlando R. Bagcal, Associate Professor and Coordinator, Construction ManagementTechnology ProgramTarrant County College SouthFort Worth, TX

How have construction education and training changed over the

years? Construction education has always been dynamic and evolving. The de-mand of stringent industry standards and quality, as well as the growing em-phasis on making buildings more energy efficient, require a high level of knowl-edge and education. Keeping abreast of current technological changes, emerg-ing techniques and methods and com-puter knowledge and skills will help fu-ture construction project managers per-form their professional responsibilities. In addition, the delivery of education and training has changed in the past de-cade. Aside from the traditional class-room face-to-face instruction, there are various options that students can choose that will suit their demanding schedules, such as online classes and hybrid (combi-nation of face-to-face and online) classes. These options allow individuals who want to further their education more flexibility and enable them to learn sub-ject content at their own pace.

What areas of education need to be improved to better serve the indus-try? The construction industry is a com-

plex and challenging environment, thus requiring an individual that has the abili-ty to quickly adapt and respond to cur-rent situations and problems. Students who are pursuing a career in construc-tion must be trained and learn critical thinking (logical and analytical), team working (collaboration) and advanced knowledge and skills in computer-driven technology. Further, as many government agen-cies and private companies require and standardize the use of BIM (Building In-formation Modeling) in construction projects, it is important that students must learn the capability as well as ability to operate this software. The use of BIM in construction projects is known to im-prove collaboration and more efficient processes in the construction industry.

How important is “hands-on” train-ing? As I always tell my students, educa-tion is as important as obtaining experi-ence (hands-on). Knowledge + experi-ence = wisdom, a trait project managers must possess in order to make good deci-sions in every situation that arises at the field site. Practical experience or hands-on training is very important in becom-ing a construction manager, whether you

obtained it through classroom laborato-ries, an internship or a job as a construc-tion trade.

What are ways to attract young people to the industry? The mindset of young people has to be changed. The idea that the construc-tion industry is all about dust and mud, hammers and saws or materials and heavy equipment must go away. Pro-spective young people need to know that getting an education in construction will lead them to vast and various oppor-tunities in the industry. To attract young people, we need to teach them to look at things in a different way, a varied way in doing things. Teaching strategies and ways that will streamline processes and improve workplace safety by integrating computer and automation in the work-place could stimulate their desire to be in the construction industry. Likewise, construction companies should invest in training their young con-struction workers so that they feel secure that their viability as a hirable employee will continue to grow. Thriving construc-tion companies must establish skills pro-gression programs with rewards as young workers move up the management lad-der. Doing so will help restructure the in-dustry to continue to be appealing to young people.

What are some areas of study? The responsibilities of the construc-tion manager are becoming complex and demanding. Construction managers plan, direct, coordinate and budget di-verse construction projects in various sectors such as residential, commercial, heavy infrastructure and industrial facili-ties.

Students who consider a career in this industry must learn the functions of project managers: estimating, schedul-ing, planning, coordinating and supervis-ing. There is also this growing need to-ward certification in special areas as con-struction managers. This certification is becoming valuable as it provides valida-tion and evidence of their expertise, pro-ficiencies and competencies to be con-struction management professionals. Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), American Institute of Constructors (AIC), National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) all have established a voluntary certification exam or training for construction manag-ers. At Tarrant County College, we offer four different certificates of completion and an AAS degree in Construction Man-agement Technology.

Are scholarships available for con-struction education? There are several scholarships of-fered for construction management stu-dents at Tarrant County College through the TCC Foundation such as the “West-wood Contractor Scholarship” and “For the Ones Who Get It Done Scholarship.” In addition, the Texas Builders Founda-tion and the National Housing Endow-ment of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) offer scholarships for students who pursue a career in the residential sectors. The Associated Gen-eral Contractors (AGC) is also offering scholarships for those wanting to be in the commercial sectors. –mjm


Construction Education

Hands on experience is key

Glen O’Mary, Director of EducationConstruction & Maintenance EducationFoundation (CMEF)La Porte, TX

What type of training is available at your organization?

CMEF provides formal craft training, skills upgrade training, soft skills training, customizable corporate training, and fast-track training. The Foundation con-sistently seeks new training avenues to assist members and contractors with their changing needs in today’s construc-tion environment. A new program we have developed – the Commercial Jump Start Training Program - is a great example of how we are able to fill a need that is the direct re-sult of contractors requests for fast tracked, module based learning. By keeping our training model flexible, we are able to meet a wide range of contrac-tors’ needs quickly and efficiently. How has construction education and training changed over the years? Previously, the training model of for-mal semester-based craft education fit the bill for most contractors. While this train-ing model is still applicable, today we have a ‘perfect storm’ brewing in the industry.

We are blessed to have a healthy in-dustry with new projects that have either broken ground or are coming down the pipeline in short order. However, we have a shortage of men and women in the field to build these projects. A shortage of skilled labor has a domino effect for everyone – delayed projects and higher costs are most ap-parent. CMEF is working on many levels to help alleviate this problem, from high school programs that educate young people about the opportunities in con-struction, to reaching out to veterans and the un- or under-employed to demon-strate the rewards of a career in construc-tion. Because of the industry’s critical worker shortage, CMEF is focusing on specialized, industry-based, fast-track training options that benefit the employ-ee as well as the employer. How important is “hands on” training? The “hands on” component is crucial, and should be a part of every program. You can sit with a student in a class-room and teach him or her the funda-

mentals of welding for hours, but it is not until that student actually stands at a welding booth and is able to physically experience the welding process that he or she gains a true understanding. Hands on experience is the key to success. It is this reason that we offer Per-formance Verifications at the CMEF cam-pus. We assist craft professionals by ob-serving their skills in a trade to verify that they do in fact have the correct skills to complete a task – not only correctly, but also safely. What are ways to attract young people? The first step is to improve the con-struction industry’s image and properly convey the many opportunities available. We, not only as an industry but as an entire community, need to let young people know they have more options available to them after high school. Un-fortunately, many young people are led to believe that a four-year college degree is the only option if they want to be suc-cessful. Not all high school students want to go on to college and they need to know about careers in construction. We feature success stories on our website at www.cmefhouston.org of men and women who went through our training program, built their career in construction, and today are highly suc-cessful individuals. We have also been very successful in expanding our outreach to high school campuses. Just a few years ago, we part-nered with a handful of high school cam-puses. Thanks to our state legislators who

supported and passed House Bill 5, as well as the efforts of our Schools Program Director, Dr. Steven Horton, today I am proud to say that we are partnered with 30 high school campuses and continue to grow that number. One of the goals of the Schools Pro-gram is to provide students with the op-portunity to explore the many facets of the construction industry and the career opportunities available. A second goal is to give CTE teachers resources and new connections to current happenings in the industry, providing them with opportunities to meet industry leaders, and become aware of the numer-ous job opportunities for their students. A third goal of the program is to en-courage industry participation from the very companies who will seek to fill con-struction positions. How important is recruitment at high school and college level? As mentioned before, it is very im-portant to create awareness about indus-try opportunities and recruit students into the industry at the high school and college levels. These recruitment efforts help de-velop a long-term pipeline of future in-dustry professionals and exposure of our industry. It is never too early to educate young people about the industry and built envi-ronment around them. Many of our contractor members par-ticipate at the middle school level of edu-cation – working to foster lines of commu-nication with young people early on. –ab

Promoting professionaldevelopment

Dana Marsh, Education DirectorAssociated General Contractors (AGC)San Antonio, TX

While there are programs to rally the next generation of the workforce

and college programs to bring construc-tion science into the realm of higher edu-cation, what options are available for a professional in the field who wants to continue to improve along an existing ca-reer path? The Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America has programs that are offered nationwide that anyone can at-tend, regardless of membership. Dana Marsh, education director for the San An-tonio Chapter, notes that these programs offer professional development on every level. For people who are out in the field, AGC has the Supervisory Training Pro-gram (STP), a construction-specific train-ing curriculum developed, updated, and field-tested by and for contractors. “Supervisory skill – or the lack of it – directly affects every company's bottom line,” explains Marsh. “Each day, decisions made by every foreman and superinten-dent are crucial to the success or failure of

every construction project. You make your money in the field, and STP can help you improve your organization's bottom line.” Participants in the STP program, which is comprised of six courses or mod-ules, come from a range of backgrounds, and Marsh notes that they could be “any-one on a construction jobsite in a super-visory role – from the new supervisor and foreman to the experienced superinten-dent – who is looking to become a more effective manager of people, time, equip-ment and materials.” For project managers, there is the AGC Project Manager Development Pro-gram (PMDP), another training curricu-lum developed and field-tested by and for contractors, which also offers a certifi-cate of completion. This five-course pro-gram helps assistant project managers, project managers, project engineers and project administrators, among others, develop long-term skills. These courses teach estimating and job costing, con-tract administration, project administra-tion, risk management and leadership.

This program is comprised of five mod-ules, and it is two days for each module. Marsh emphasizes that they try to spread out the scheduling for the classes, especially if they are two-day classes, which ensure that the attendees will not be out of the office for an entire week. “What’s good about these programs is each module is stand alone,” she adds. “So, if you don’t feel like you need all five modules, you can attend just one mod-ule. If you’re a project administrator and you want to just take the one on contract documents and project administration, you can. “These really hit everybody that works in construction, you don’t have to be just a project manager or just a super-intendent to get something out of one of these modules.” In 2009, AGC started its Building In-formation Modeling (BIM) Education Pro-gram, and upon completion, participants receive the Certificate of Management – Building Information Modeling (CM-BIM). Marsh points out that this is the in-dustry’s first and only BIM certificate pro-gram that teaches the practical applica-tion of the Building Information Model-ing process for commercial construction firms. The San Antonio Chapter has also joined with Bexar County to offer the “Ba-sics” of Construction Training Program, and this month, the program is in its 10th year. “The program is a 10-session educa-tional program designed to assist small, minority and women-owned construc-

tion businesses,” she says. These sessions include topics such as running a successful construction busi-ness, project scheduling, financial man-agement, understanding contracts, liens, estimating, project management, safety, business development, insurance and bonds. Graduates of the program are eli-gible to participate in AGC’s two-year Mentor-Protégé Program. These programs each offer a certifi-cate of completion and help to fill an ed-ucation gap once an employee or man-ager is in his or her job. Not only are these things that are not taught in college, Marsh comments, but a lot of field per-sonnel might not have gone to college, having worked their way up to their cur-rent position. Addressing practical issues that these team members will be dealing with daily, these programs can help them learn how to motivate the people work-ing for them and communicate to them. Also, Marsh believes that this can benefit those applying for these posi-tions, stating, “if you’re applying for a job, it’s going to show the employer that you’re really interested in bettering your-self and progressing in your career.” Dana Marsh started at AGC San Anto-nio as the plan room manager 15 years ago. As the chapter developed a more ro-bust education program, she transitioned to education director. She serves on the Ad-visory Council for Construction Careers Academy and the St Philip’s Construction Advisory Committee, as well as chapter ad-ministrator for the AGC Student Chapter at UTSA. –mh

NEXT MONTH: Women in Construction


Round-Up

Association CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

ASA North TexasAmerican Subcontractors Association

Mar. 26-29: ASA SubExcel Convention – Seattle

CFMAConstruction Financial Mgmt Assn.

Mar. 19: Construction Financial Profes-sional of the Year Award Dinner, Las Coli-nas Country Club, 4400 N O’Connor Rd., Irving, 6:30pm

ICRI - NTInt’l Concrete Repair Institute

Mar. 19: Sporting clay event, Dallas Gun Club, 3601 S Stemmons Fry at Hwy 121, Lewisville, Noon registration

IEC - DallasIndependent Electrical Contractors

Mar. 11: Membership meeting, IEC Dallas office, 1931 Hereford Drive, Irving, 11:30 am

IEC - Fort Worth Independent Electrical Contractors

Mar. 26: Annual meeting at Joe T Garcia’s

NARINat’l Assn. of the Remodeling Industry

Mar. 10: Meeting, The Jarrell Company, 2651 Fondren Drive, Dallas, 6pm.Mar. 28: Annual Chili Cook-Off, Ivey Lum-ber Sales, 10230 Plano Rd., Dallas. Cook-off begins at 8:30am, open to public at 11am

NAWIC - DallasNat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

Mar. 1-7: WIC week, Contact Sandy Li-ebau for info, [email protected]. 5: Building Hope – Art Bra and Box-er fundraising event, Diamond Oaks Country ClubMar. 16: Monthly dinner meeting, MCM Elegante Hotel, 2330 W. Northwest Hwy., Dallas, 5pm

NAWIC - Fort WorthNat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

Mar.1: Walk into WIC Week, Montgom-ery Plaza, 2600 W 7th Street, Fort Worth, 11amMar. 4: Blood Drive, Barnsco – Carter Blood Bus, 5000 Blue Mound Rd. Fort WorthMar. 5: Building Hope – Art Bra and Box-er Fundraising Event, Diamond Oaks Country Club, 5821 Diamond Oaks Dr. North, Fort Worth, 6:30pm. Contact Terri Witcher at [email protected]

Brian Platfoot has joined Raba Kist-ner, Inc. as corpo-rate health and safety manager for the firm and its sub-sidiaries, including 14 locations across the state of Texas, Utah, Mexico and New York. He will manage the Enterprise-Wide Health and Safety program. With more than 14 years of experience, he has been a regional health and safety manager in the con-struction and oil and gas industries for multiple companies in Alaska. He earned his bachelor’s degree in health and safety and his master’s in occupational safety and health from Columbia Southern Uni-versity.

Skanska USA an-nounces that Amie Kromis O’Riley has been named as the diversity and inclu-sion coordinator for the company’s Tex-as region. O’Riley, who is positioned in the Dallas office, will be responsible for internal coordi-nation of diversity and inclusion initia-tives, community outreach and relation-ship development with diverse business enterprises. O’Riley received her Bachelor of Arts degree in corporate communica-tions and public affairs from Southern Methodist University.

Certified public ac-counting firm Lane Gorman Trubitt re-cently named Pat-rick Reilly as princi-pal of the assurance services depart-ment. Reilly joined LGT in 2003 with more than seven years of SEC experience and 10 years of experience serving the automotive in-dustry. His responsibilities include proj-ect management for audit, reviews and consulting accounting engagements and compliance auditing.

Eric Bunner has been promoted to vice-president-ac-count manager for Skanska USA’s North Texas opera-tions. Bunner, who joined Skanska in 2004 and has been working in Texas since 2005, is re-sponsible for North Texas operations and managing key accounts in the higher ed-ucation and mission critical markets in Texas. He is a graduate of University of Wisconsin –Platteville with a Bachelor of Science in industrial technology man-agement.

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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Mike Holland, new chief operat-ing officer at The Marek Compa-nies, has been with the compa-

ny for 31 years and says the company’s culture towards employees encourages long-time retention. Holland will be headquartered in Houston. “Some of this started with the three original Marek brothers and their desire to share the company and its success with the employees,” Holland says. “We don’t look at people as a short-term in-vestment. We look at them as a long-term investment. I’m an example of that.” Holland will oversee the operations for the award-winning specialty subcon-tractor’s offices in Houston, Dallas-Ft Worth, San Antonio, Austin and Atlanta. “We selected Mike to provide the leadership and sustainability for our overall operations as we position the company for continued growth through-out our markets over the next decade,” said Stan Marek, president and CEO of the Marek Family of Companies. “Hol-land, a proven leader with over 40 years of experience in the construction indus-try, has served the Marek Companies as the Houston Division president for the last 31 years.” In addition to his role with the com-pany, Holland, who is married and has three children, currently serves on the boards of several industry organizations, including the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Houston Chapter, American Subcontractors Association (ASA) Houston Chapter and the Con-struction Career Collaborative (C3). He is a member of the Texas A&M Construc-tion Industry Advisory Council and is in-

New COO at MarekCompanies

volved in the community as a board member of the Greater Houston YMCA, the Foster Family YMCA and Covenant House Association. He says the company’s long- and short-term goals remain focused on strength and growth. “In the long-term, it’s really about the quality of people we find to grow from top to bottom,” Holland says. “In the short-term, it’s about sharpening the saw. Making sure everything we do is aimed in the right direction. The market is constantly changing and we want to make sure we are in the right place doing the right things.” Marek is a 77-year-old private, family-owned specialty interior subcontractor that provides both commercial and residential construction services to major office, retail, healthcare and institutional clients. –cw

Mar. 6: Membership mixer, Risky’s BBQ, 300 Main Street, Fort Worth, 5:30pmMar. 19: Business meeting, Colonial Country Club, 6pm

NTRCAN. Tx Roofing Contractors Assn.

Mar. 18: Lunch & Learn, International Bowling Museum, 621 Six Flags Dr., Ar-lington, 11:30am

RHCARegional Hispanic Contractors Assn.

Mar. 3: Hard Hat 2015 Construction Expo, 944 South Lamar, Dallas, 5:30pm

TEXOThe Construction Association

Mar. 2: ASC Region V Student Competi-tion, Crowne Plaza Dallas, 14315 Midway Rd., Addison, 8am


continued from Page 1 —Way to go

continued from Page 1 —First response roofers

continued from Page 1 — A work of part

5,000sf of new office space, renovating six restrooms with the addition of a sev-enth, constructing a 15,000sf-second floor mezzanine and installing an eleva-tor. A secured room and an area to ar-chive company files were also added to the facility. The outside of the building was spruced up as well; the tilt wall struc-ture sheet metal panels were cleaned and painted, outdoor landscaping was planted and new storage areas were add-ed to the site. “The main feature was the 15,000-sf steel mezzanine floor that our design group subsequently engineered and in-stalled in the existing building,” Howard says. “We basically turned a single-story building into a two-story building. It’s the most noticeable thing when you walk in, and it accomplished the required floor space that the client needed. We couldn’t put a normal amount of weight on the

existing floor, so instead of concrete we used an expanded metal product which resulted in less weight overall.” Howard credits the use of excellent contractors, including CNC Steel Erec-tors, Intex Electric, Bill Joplin’s Air Con-ditioning & Heating, Southwest Com-mercial Interiors and Crosstex Mechani-cal, to help achieve the client’s vision and finish the project by February. “We feel Mr. Tomes was very satis-fied,” Howard says of the client’s reaction. “We received a very nice referral letter from the owner. I’m personally very hap-py with the result; our people did a good job, and we met the square footage and budget challenges. We’re really proud of it.” Carrollton-based Incept Construction offers general contracting, preconstruction, construction management and design/build services. –mjm

Nearly 5,000sf of added office space enhances the usage of the distribution center.

treating everyone the way you want to be treated. “The book has helped us a lot here because, except for Stephen, we didn’t really have anyone here when we started to help transplant that culture,” Lee says. “The book really gave us a guideline to make sure we’re doing things the right way for the company.” The firm’s focus on treating their em-ployees well has benefitted the business. As the Dallas/Fort Worth office ap-proaches its third anniversary, the staff has grown from six to 27 people working in operations, marketing, human resourc-es, estimating and business develop-ment. This year, they anticipate comple-tion of $78 million in projects. They also plan to expand their service reach into more retail, government and, possibly, healthcare projects. In addition to quarterly birthday cel-ebrations, bowling tournaments and highly-competitive ping-pong games, the company is serious about helping

their employees expand their profession-al horizons. Human resources and train-ing representative Ashley Stephens in the firm’s San Antonio office explains that Joeris conducted a 2014 employee sur-vey and learned about their desire for more training programs. With Stephens’ help, the company is in the process of implementing “Joeris University,” which will allow all employees access to a cen-tralized training program, taking any op-portunity happening within the compa-ny and making it available online and easy to access. Lee says management also takes care to recruit and then thoroughly train new employees in the Joeris Way. “We think that’s the future of this company, to bring in these good people, keep them and continue growing,” Wal-ter says. Joeris is a general contractor focusing on K-12 private and higher education and retail projects within the state of Texas.–mjm

organization, which originally started as a best business practices group, morphed into a business model that has been op-erating for nearly eight years, helping businesses after storms such as Hurricane Katrina. “It allows us to have a footprint of contractors to take care of large national clients,” he says. “With thousands of offic-es each, when the numbers get that big, there’s no way they maintain a database of qualified contractors to help them.” KPost’s Steve Little, who was a founding architect of NRP, says that re-gardless of the size of the business, using the National Roofing Partners Model is beneficial because it’s a single source of contact and NRP can offer consistent project management services. “We created National Roofing Part-ners with the idea to be able to have na-

KPost’s Steve Little was a foundingarchitect of NRP.

tional coverage but local serviceand pric-ing,” Little says. –mjm

Another new leader rises at HOLT

The New Year brought some big changes to the leadership at HOLT CAT, and in early February, the

equipment and engine dealer an-nounced that Bert Fulgium has been ap-pointed vice president of product sup-port for the company’s Machine Division. Fulgium is taking over for a veteran at HOLT, Ron Craft, whom Fulgium calls a “legend builder,” who recently an-nounced his retirement from the compa-ny. Before moving into his new role, Fulg-ium served as vice president of product support for HOLT CAT’s Power Systems Division. “I’m very excited about the opportu-nity to serve our customers in this new capacity,” says Fulgium, noting that he has been on the engine side of the com-pany for 13 years. In his previous position, Fulgium es-timates that 80 percent of their business came from the oil and gas industry. On the machine side, instead of dealing with just engines, he is leading a group that deals with a diverse group, including cus-tomers in road construction and the min-ing industry. Having grown up in Beckville, TX, Fulgium originally started out as an in-strument and electrical (I&E) technician. He then moved into supervision and management in the oil and gas industry. From there, he took on a business devel-opment role for a couple of years. Around that time, having attended junior college for a short time after high school, Fulgium decided to return to school in pursuit of his bachelor’s degree in business administration, which he earned from LeTourneau University in Longview. He later earned his master’s degree from Texas A&M University-Com-merce. He began his career at HOLT CAT in 2002 around the time the company ac-quired Darr Equipment Co. He started out as a local service manager in Longview. A

year-and-a-half later, he was promoted to regional service manager. Five years ago, he was promoted to product support manager, and then he became vice presi-dent of product support on the engine side. Along with his team, he has worked on building new engine rebuild facilities, which, he adds, have been wildly success-ful, and they started national generator maintenance contracts. He states that a lot of good people have contributed to his success at HOLT CAT. In his new role, which he describes as being part of the sustainability and growth efforts, leadership and the cul-ture of the company will be keys to suc-cess. He maintains that a lot of great things are already at work, and he just has to continue to provide leadership for a great team. At 47, Fulgium’s passions outside of work include his family and bow hunting. –mh

Bert Fulgium has taken on a new role at HOLT CAT as the vice president of product

support for the Machine Division.

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