We wanted to know more about this team which has been garnering multiple awards for outstanding work, including being named a Platinum Preferred Contractor for Excellence in 2024 by roofing manufacturer Owens Corning; rated in the Top 100 by the Roofing Contractor Group; ranked as a Craftsman Premier in the IKO ROOFPRO program, which offers extended protection limited warranty; and scored 4.9 stars in customer reviews, so we spoke with Andrew Hutchison, General Manager.

He told us the company’s roots go back to 2008, when founder and president Will Bates, a military veteran, and his wife Tasha began working with other roofing companies doing storm repair work anywhere and everywhere, from New York to Colorado. In 2012 they decided to settle in their hometown of Sullivan and start their own business. Hutchison first met them in 2014 when he was working for a lumber company that provided roofing materials to Central Roofing and began working with them in 2018.

But it wasn’t until the Christmas party, eight months later, that Bates, who up until then had “always worn all the hats himself, invited me to become general manager,” Hutchison says. “The year prior, they had done about $4 million worth of business, but in the intervening years, business has continued to grow, and this past year we were over $40 million.”

Much of this growth is attributable to Central Roofing’s qualified and highly skilled workforce, a result of the company’s investment in education and training through classroom instruction as well as the on-the-job training offered to roofers, installers, artisans, and project managers, which ensures the job is “done right at first try.”

Last year, Bates, who remains president of Central Roofing, combined forces with Omnia Exterior Solutions, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, an umbrella company comprising 11 roofing and remodeling companies serving home and business owners in 22 states. Its mission is to “revolutionize the home exteriors industry by building the nation’s premier collection of curious, collaborative, team-minded businesses.”

“The companies are all similar in size and we are aligned in the ethical way we conduct our businesses,” Hutchison explains. “Essentially, Omnia’s goal is to help us achieve our goals and encourage work done to the highest standards, thereby bringing customer satisfaction back into the spotlight in the roofing and remodeling industry across the country.”

Being affiliated with a national company gives each of the partners certain advantages. However, by maintaining their own independent regional offices, they are not slotted into a “one size fits all” approach and are able to do what they do best—which is to understand the unique weather conditions of their regions and how they will affect the roofs they install. Illinois, for example, has greatly varied weather conditions including heavy snow, rain, strong winds, and intense summer heat. Choosing the right roof and installing it according to the manufacturer’s specifications will protect against those elements and prevent water damage, mold growth, and energy loss by reducing heating and cooling costs.

Connecting with manufacturers
Whether a customer is looking for asphalt shingles, stone-coated steel, wooden shake shingles, tiles, composite shingles that look like slate or wood, or a commercial membrane roof, Hutchison says the key is to work closely with the manufacturer and understand the product, because the products have very different makeups.

Depending on the needs of a commercial property with a flat or low slope roof—such as hospitals, schools, multi-family residences, manufacturing plants, shopping centers, big box retailers, and restaurants—Central Roofing can recommend the right product for a monolithic membrane. EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) for example, is a type of synthetic rubber. “It looks like black rubber, and can be adhered or attached to the roof, but if it were to be used on a restaurant rooftop with grease coming out of the vents it would deteriorate quickly around that area,” Hutchison tells us.

A better option for the restaurant would be TPO, a thermoplastic membrane, which is resistant to light grease, whereas if the roof is going to be installed on an industrial plant where chemicals or solvents are in use, the best material choice would be PVC (polyvinyl chloride), a single-ply membrane which is more resistant to chemicals. Because TPO and PVC membranes are typically white, it reflects heat, so it’s also suitable for a flat roof over a living space because it will keep the rooms below cooler. “We have installed roofs that include light foot traffic areas with walk paths and a few with decks on them where people can access rooftop mechanical equipment or lounge around on a sunny day.”

All the manufacturing companies Central Roofing has teamed up with are nationally recognized and quality driven, “and working with them is another way we make sure we take care of our customers,” Hutchison shares. “We do extensive training with manufacturers to ensure we are the best trained in our industry with their various systems and we also work closely with them on individual projects to make sure everything is done according to their specifications,” he says. “In construction, you run into oddities and there’s not necessarily a simple way of dealing with those, so we get together with the manufacturers and their technology departments and make sure we come up with the correct solutions to overcome those obstacles.”

He went on to say that the company has the capability to handle all the requests that come its way, even when it receives requests for a product with which it is not familiar. “What we do in those cases, is contact the manufacturer, learn about it, and make sure our guys are fully trained to install it before we begin the job.”

A lifestyle, not a job
Like the company founder and president, Hutchison also served in the military, as did many of Central Roofing’s employees, “but we didn’t go through the credentials to become a designated veteran-owned company,” he says. “We grew fast enough that we didn’t feel it necessary to take advantage of the programs that are available for veterans. We wanted to save room for smaller veteran-owned companies to realize the benefits and just went with our own organic growth.”

Indeed, concern for customer satisfaction and compassion for employees are at the heart of this company. Every employee who works in the field is provided with fall protection systems, most have gone through 30-hour OSHA or OSHA equivalency training, and all participate in safety refreshers regularly. “I love working at Central Roofing—it is much more than a job,” Hutchison says. “I had never worked with an employer before who allowed staff to express the kind of person they are; it was all about business. But here we show compassion and do things out of the goodness of our hearts.”

This business model extends to hiring practices that emphasize the importance of ensuring new hires fit in with the company’s culture of honesty and integrity. “Here we don’t treat people like a number. We are all one big family—we share our problems, we help each other through them, and we are very supportive.”

Community-minded
The service Central Roofing’s founder and many of its employees gave to the nation through the U.S. military is now being extended to the surrounding community in which it does business. The company supports sports teams, school programs, blood donor drives, and at Thanksgiving and Christmas, works with local grocers to put together food boxes for several families, which employees from Central Roofing deliver to their homes.

For many years, Central Roofing, did an “annual veteran roof giveaway, in which we supplied both the material and the labor,” to install a replacement roof on the home of a veteran. More recently, the team has participated in Purple Heart Homes, a veteran-based program in which it partners with Owens Corning, who supplies the material while Central Roofing supplies the labor to install new roofs.

Today, Central Roofing stands as a testament to what is possible when skill, service, and heart come together under one roof. The company has grown from a small local business into a nationally respected leader in roofing solutions, elevating industry standards while staying true to its roots—offering tailored, weather-smart roofing systems and cultivating a company culture where people matter.

The post Illinois’ Roofing Experts – Top Rated and Trusted<p class="company">Central Roofing</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

For several consecutive years, Homestar has received numerous awards including the “Best New Home Build” award from the CHBA (Canadian Home Builders Association) of New Brunswick for its custom-built homes based on quality, design, and uniqueness. This past March, the company received yet another award from the association as “New Brunswick’s Renovator of the Year,” at the annual gala held in Fredericton.

Homestar also received the “Commitment to Craft” heritage award in 2024 from the Saint John Heritage Board for the restoration work it did on The Chapman Group building, a three-story brick structure dating to the late 1800s.

“Bricks were falling off it, and it was considered to be a danger,” Hatfield explains. “We shut down Germain Street, barricaded the area, set up staging, and began work on the section where the bricks had fallen out after all safety precautions had been taken. Thankfully we got there when we did as overnight, more bricks fell out from the third story. This was in January and frost had gotten in behind the bricks, so we had to get up there and take the rest of the bricks down so no more could fall in the street, pin the wall with special ties, and board it up for the winter,” he tells us.

“In spring 2024, we removed the plywood and rebuilt the wall according to the heritage specs, using older style bricks and a process calling slaking the lime—putting in part water, part lime, sand, and white Portland, waiting 48 hours before using. We followed the procedure to a ‘T’ to put it back together, and installed heritage-approved windows that were rounded at the top, just like the originals. Feedback from the community and customer was that the project turned out amazing in response time, safety procedures and visual outcome/craft of the project.

How it all happened
We first spoke with Mark Hatfield in 2023 when he told us how the roots of his successful business go back to the ’90s when, as a high school student in Quispamsis, he began his entrepreneurial adventure, mowing laws and assisting homeowners with other yard work. This morphed into a business he named University Venture, which employed other students and allowed him to graduate debt-free from Mount Allison University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2001.

After selling this first business in October of 2000, Hatfield considered a career in the corporate world, but his entrepreneurial experience drew him back home where he founded Homestar Inc. in August 2002, a custom home construction company serving the Greater Saint John area, which includes the City of Saint John and municipalities in the Kennebecasis Valley.

The company now offers construction services throughout the province of New Brunswick and parts of Nova Scotia. While there are no plans currently to expand further into Nova Scotia or PEI, Hatfield says this could happen in the “next three to five years.”

How Homestar Inc. became Homestar Group
Two years ago, when we spoke with Hatfield, he told us he had been slowly and patiently growing the company, surrounding himself with good people, and reinvesting profits to offer more services and remain competitive, with the goal of becoming a one-stop shop in the construction industry.

At the time, Homestar had become the authorized dealer for Castle Building Supplies; recently acquired Huff n’ Puff, a spray foam and blown insulation company; launched Allstar Heating & Cooling; and coupled with Property star, which formed in 2005, a holding company that manages over 50 properties. Hatfield was also set to incorporate a newly formed company, Maverick Electrical, into the Homestar Group by the end of 2023.

“We now have our own in-house electrical company that does both commercial and residential electrical work,” Hatfield says. “Originally, we had electricians working for Homestar, but after they gained experience working for us, they went off on their own, so I partnered with our electrician, Jon McVicar, to form Maverick Electrical and we now have 10 employees, both fully qualified electricians and apprentices,” he explains. “We do anything electrical—commercial or residential!”

In 2024, Homestar Group joined forces with Mackenzie & Wilkin’s Plumbing, a well-established company serving the Saint John area. “Together with two partners, we’ve grown the team from six to 16 skilled professionals in just over a year,” says Hatfield, “with the vision of a one-stop shop, providing our customers with the same high-quality service they’ve come to expect from us as builders now expanded to include every aspect of construction—residential and commercial—from electrical and plumbing to heating and ventilation.”

Next up, Star Safety
Hatfield launched a new venture in January 2025, Star Safety. A strong culture of safety has been a core value at Homestar Inc. from the beginning, supported by a robust in-house safety program.

Still in its early stages, Star Safety is led by Ryan MacMorrough and is designed to deliver safety training not only for Homestar employees but also for companies that may not have the resources to employ a full-time safety officer.

MacMorrough has developed a comprehensive suite of safety training programs with the guidance of WorkSafeNB designed to support small to medium-sized businesses—especially those without dedicated in-house safety teams. These programs cover essential areas such as personal protective equipment (PPE), equipment operation, and the development of customized workplace safety plans.

“Our mission is to build a culture of safety where everyone goes home at the end of the day,” says Hatfield. “We don’t just provide training—we help businesses establish and manage ongoing safety systems tailored to their needs.”

By offering hands-on support and practical training, MacMorrough empowers employers and employees alike to take ownership of workplace safety and stay compliant with evolving standards.

Happening now
The 140 employees at Homestar Group have more than enough work to keep them busy according to Hatfield, who shares that the company is just wrapping up one of its largest commercial expansion projects to date in Rothesay, has recently acquired Department of National Defence contracts from the federal government throughout the province, and is in the process of getting final approval from the Town of Rothesay for a 43-unit multi-family residence that will contain 12 affordable units.

“We are working with the government and CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) and hoping to break ground in September,” he says.

Meanwhile, Homestar, in conjunction with Property Star, is about to embark on its biggest project yet, a 40-plus-acre commercial development which will likely take between five to eight years to complete. “There is a need for a commercial development like this in the Quispamsis, Rothesay, Hampton, and Sussex area, with commercial establishments, hotels, restaurants, and shopping centres, but there are not many large parcels of flat land that are available for development, so finding this was a real win for us,” says Hatfield. “With the support of the Town and Council of Quispamsis, we are thrilled to be able to bring something like this to life for the surrounding community.”

The land, which has access from a provincial highway (NB Route 119), has been approved for rezoning, with water and sewer permits received. Hatfield is currently working with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to finalize entry and exit points, and once that has been done, landscaping and development can begin within the next 12 months.

Looking to the future
No matter how much the company grows, Hatfield emphasizes the importance of staying connected to the local community by offering meaningful employment with competitive wages and benefits.

As part of its dedication to giving back, the company participates in annual charitable initiatives, community fundraisers, and supports public spaces for families and pets. These efforts reflect a broader commitment to being a responsible and engaged community partner.

Looking ahead, Hatfield states, “We are committed to maintaining the high standards our clients have come to expect. We’ll continue investing in our people and processes to grow, improve, and keep making things happen for years to come.”

The post Making It Happen, Now and for the Future<p class="company">Homestar</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Since its inception, Newman has been honored with more than 150 prestigious awards in recognition of design quality, construction quality, sustainability, and/or team collaboration. Today, its staff of 40 forms a knowledge-driven architectural practice with a vision to shape space and deliver outstanding results for clients in the educational, commercial, and community sectors.

In recent years, the company has completed no fewer than 19 LEED certified projects, 10 of which were certified Gold and one of which was certified Platinum. In addition, another recent project has recently earned Passive House certification from PHIUS, meeting even more stringent energy efficiency requirements. In further support of its commitment to sustainability, the company encourages staff to become LEED or WELL accredited and invests in their success by paying for the examinations.

For the past three years, Newman Architects has been named by the American Institute of Architects, New England as an “Emerging Professional Friendly Firm,” guaranteeing an ongoing succession of young architects who wish to work to the highest standards.

We enjoyed a wide-ranging conversation with Principal José A. Hernández, AIA, NOMA, LEED GA, who in 2024 was honored with the American Institute of Architects Presidents Award for his mentorship and leadership in the industry, and in 2023 was named by the University of Connecticut as the Employer Career Advocate of the Year.

Speaking about his long career at Newman, he tells us that success is “about the people we work with. We have an incredible staff and when you work with an incredible staff, you have excellent work, and that is built into our company’s DNA. We had a seismic shift in leadership a few years ago, and with that shift came a whole different way of thinking about architecture, about making it more holistic, less about leadership, and more about being inclusive, with everyone having a contribution. And with those combined contributions, we have been able to make quite a statement.”

We also spoke with Abigail M. Carlen, LEED AP BD+C, Associate Principal and Director of Marketing & Communication, who explained what it means for Newman to be knowledge-driven and to work from a human-centric perspective.

“Each of our employees is involved with a specific Knowledge Group within the office,” she says. “These include Design Methods and Technology, Sustainability, Office Culture, and Professional Development, through which we work collectively to advance our knowledge and skills and to bring all of those areas together and make the whole product we deliver that much better,” she explains.

“We are focused on developing a body of knowledge that supports the work we do, particularly in residence hall design for our higher education clients, many of which we serve through a design-build delivery method,” she says.

In 2024, the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), Connecticut Chapter, awarded Newman and KBE Building Corporation with the Project of the Year award for one of those design-build projects, the University of Connecticut’s Connecticut Residence and Dining Hall in Storrs, Connecticut.

The LEED Gold, 246,000-square-foot residence is a seven-story, 656-bed facility with a project value of $180 million. Delivered through a design-build-bridging method with Newman as architect of record, the project consists of semi-suite residential units, a 500-seat dining hall, large central living room, common gathering and study areas, seminar rooms, flex spaces, offices, game room, and bike storage. The dining hall includes a main dining floor with a range of food stations and a variety of seating options.

Newman’s first project with KBE was at UConn in 2000, and the two companies have since completed 12 projects together, including UConn’s eight-story Peter J. Werth Residence Tower, a design-build-bridging, LEED Gold, 210,000-square-foot, $85 million project. Newman served as bridging architect for the Werth Tower, continuing as UConn’s design advisor through subsequent design and construction phases. In 2017, that residence received recognition from the Associated Builders and Contractors and the International Masonry Institute.

Referring to KBE, Hernández says, “If you can find a builder you can engage in a design-build project, and if you come out of the exercise wanting to do another design-build with them, then there’s a good chemistry to tap into. We try to be very collaborative, and certainly one of the aspects we bring to the university is our desire to collaborate with the builder. So, rather than the builder and the architect being under contract separately to the university, never speaking to each other, we set up a dialogue and we find common ground to deliver the best product for the university,” he explains.

“We have been able to demonstrate our ability to do that with a high success rate, and that has kept us at UConn,” he says. “Not all architects can collaborate, but this is one of the signature hallmarks of Newman. Clear, constant communication and transparency is everything, and that is why builders like working with us.”

This communication begins in the pre-planning stage—finding out what the building owner needs through a series of meetings with “concentric circles of stakeholders,” the inner circle of university staff who develop the program, then a circle including the department of residential life, and then a circle of end users.

What is unique about these residences is that they were designed to house set populations of learning communities. Connecticut Hall, for example, houses honors students and nursing students, among other groups, while Peter J. Werth has eight learning communities, several of which are focused on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students, and includes academic spaces on the lower levels where the students can work together and support each other.

Construction of Connecticut Hall experienced additional challenges above and beyond those to be expected when working on a building of that size and complexity. Project Manager Jeff Pleshek explains that the original drawings submitted by the bridging architect were not as developed as Newman, the architect-of-record, had hoped they would be. “It was a very aggressive schedule, with the design work needing to be completed within five months, with some of it folded into the construction phase,” he says. “We even heard there were people betting that we couldn’t do it in time.”

One aspect that contributed to the successful completion in 20 months was Pleshek’s background in construction work, work he did before he studied architecture. “I was coming into it with a sense of how things are put together, and that really helped me establish relationships with the builders and the trades,” he shares.

“But I think the main reason we succeeded was the longstanding relationship Newman has with KBE and the personal relationships between their team and ours which has built a level of comfort and trust. Having open communication lines facilitated the decision-making process.”

Another successful education project that Newman completed as part of the design-build team with KBE is the Wayback Residence Hall at Purchase College, a public liberal arts college and campus of the State University of New York, whose key goal was to bring students together to live and learn in communities and to share collaborative spaces.

The LEED Silver, 78,600-square-foot, four-story, L-shaped residence was a $32 million project completed in 2019. The building was shaped and placed to create a courtyard and edges to give form to outdoor spaces, with paths and portals to promote outdoor programming and informal socializing to enhance the living-learning experience the college requested. It houses 310 students in junior and single-bed suites, including ADA-compliant suites, rooms for disabled students, ten resident assistant’s suites, and a resident coordinator apartment. These occupy the top three floors, while the ground floor features common and support spaces.

Currently, Newman Architects and KBE, with Pleshek as Project Manager, are collaborating on yet another design-build project in West Hartford, Connecticut, which involves the reconstruction and rebuilding of a new clubhouse for the Wampanoag Country Club, whose original building was destroyed by fire in April 2024.

For construction and scheduling efficiency, the new clubhouse is sited in the footprint of the previous building, but a second story will now enable the addition of expanded facilities, which it is hoped will encourage membership growth. The new club plan calls for an office, bar area, dining room, patio, and parking spaces. The 33,469-square-foot building got underway in November 2024 and has an estimated completion date of late 2025.

“However, we are hoping to finish it for them by October 2025,” Pleshek shares, “because they would like to have their members’ annual Christmas party in the new facility. For me, the most rewarding thing is working through projects which have their own sets of challenges, getting them completed, and then seeing the user go into the building and watching them enjoy being in the space, seeing how the space has helped them grow in the way they wanted.”

The post Collaborative Architecture in Action<p class="company">Newman Architects</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

One is one too many
Construction Dive editor Zachary Phillips writes in his December 2024 article that, “Construction last year counted the highest number of workplace deaths in the sector since 2011, according to newly released (U.S.) federal data.”

Construction had 1,075 fatalities in 2023, according to the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. It measured a fatal work injury rate of 9.6 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers and indicates that the numbers have been hovering around this rate for over a decade.

Slips, falls, and trips accounted for 39.2 percent of the fatalities, with falls from a height between six and 30 feet the primary source of 109 fatalities. The remainder were a combination of on-site vehicle and transportation accidents, exposure to hazardous materials, and explosions and fires. Not included among those fatalities are suicides, with workers in the construction sector in both the U.S. and Canada having higher rates than any other sector.

In 2023, there were 169,200 recorded injuries, although the total may be higher depending on the criteria used for reporting, which may vary from state to state.

Meanwhile, in Canada, according to the AWCBC, there were 183 fatalities in 2022, (the most recent year available) making jobs in the industry the most dangerous in the country.

According to the AWCBC, the most significant causes of fatalities are falls while working at heights, equipment accidents while working with cranes and excavators, electrical hazards due to improper wiring or faulty equipment, and exposure to hazardous materials such as asbestos, silica dust, or solvents, which pose long-term health risks.

Workers who received compensation for their injuries from the board numbered 28,512, but again, as in the U.S., the number of injuries may be under underreported.

Why are the numbers so high?
One would expect there to be fewer injuries and deaths in recent years given that the industry as a whole has been pushing for higher safety standards. The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) has mandated measures for construction safety including fall protection systems such as harnesses and guardrails; machine guarding to prevent heavy equipment accidents; stringent electrical safety standards; and worker training programs. Employers are required to invest in regular safety audits, personal protective equipment (PPE), and continuous training for workers. In addition, many employers are going above and beyond, adding dedicated Safety Managers to their roster of employees.

And yet, despite this emphasis on safety in the last 25 years, the fatality and injury rates remain about the same.

As Gregory Sizemore, Vice President Workforce Development, Safety, Health, and Environmental for Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), told Phillips, “Unfortunately, we are not seeing the gains or progress that we would consider favorable for the health and safety of construction workers.”

In her Journal of Commerce article, Jean Sorensen shares some insights. “In both Canada and the U.S., falls have been the leading cause of death in construction fatalities. However, the U.S. based Center for Construction Research and Training has looked at the why and found that workers who were seniors had a higher fall mortality rate.”

With fewer young people entering the skilled trades, employers value the expertise of older workers and want to keep them working, but “older workers are also more likely to experience hearing loss, decreased muscle strength, and diminished balance, all a natural part of the aging process, but which are contributing to the falls,” the research body found. Because of a short supply of skilled workers leading to a need to retain older workers, the center recommends pairing younger, physically fit workers who can do the heavy lifting with seniors who can impart knowledge.

Another cause of the higher accident rate, despite efforts to lower it, can be attributed to language barriers faced by migrant workers, who in the U.S. account for 25 percent of the workforce, as noted by Richard White in his article, Challenges Posed by Language Barriers in Construction.

Examining findings published by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in 2019, White writes that the construction industry has the greatest foreign language skills gap, with 40 percent of its workers reporting a skill gap, which is projected to rise to 54 percent in the future. Those skilled workers and labor are needed, however, as fewer young North Americans enter the trades.

“With the steady increase of cultural diversity in the workforce, there is a growing need to fill in communications gaps,” writes White. “Given the nature of this kind of labor, miscommunication or failure to understand the safety training or the instructions given by the English-speaking site manager may result in injuries and even death.”

However, he continues, “clear multilingual safety training can be a key component in keeping the jobsite safe.” He recommends hiring skilled, bilingual (English and Spanish) or even multilingual personnel for on-site supervisory positions, having materials such as safety training, employee handbooks, construction plans, and other documents translated by professionals who understand construction terms, and offering immersive language training for migrant workers. “Taking these steps will make your company more welcoming for people from different countries. Crossing these communication gaps can give you access to unrecognized and underutilized talents of a diverse workforce without any compromises on their safety.”

Behavioral psychology and safety culture
Traditionally, construction companies prided themselves on finishing a job on time and on budget. But more and more, companies have begun adding a third point of pride to their accomplishments, that of being a company where safety comes first and where a culture of safety permeates every aspect of the business and the skilled trades thrive alongside a culture of efficiency. Many of the construction company CEOs and project managers we speak with proudly tell us about their safety programs which have resulted in far fewer injuries.

We were particularly intrigued by the Safety and Leadership program initiated in 2006 by the CSM Group in Kalamazoo, Michigan, founded on a sound understanding of behavioral science based on the teachings of Dr. John Austin, a psychology professor at Western Michigan University. He looked at patterns and trends in behaviour that had been observed, combined them with data collected from the industry, and by pinpointing those components that drive human behavior, related it to the industry.

“This approach to behavior science is what we teach our colleagues with the goal of helping them understand the science behind it,” CSM Group CEO Stuart Mason told us. “Before they can create the right environment to get the right behaviors, they must understand Austin’s basic premise: if you create an unsafe environment, you get unsafe behaviors and the reverse is true—a safe environment leads to safe behaviors,” he shared.

“It is important to look at the whole person,” he said, “because there are many factors that employees bring to work with them such as family or relationship stress, or medical issues, which influence how they respond to day-to-day tasks. This requires an organization to maintain an open environment where employees can speak freely and ask for help if they need it.” Thus, “We talk about psychological safety as well as physical safety. It is not easy to build up psychological safety and trust, but when you do, it is transformational, and that is what underpins our safety culture here.”

Added Katrina Reed, the company’s Director of Marketing and Sales, “Construction workers are 12 times more likely to die by suicide than they are by workplace hazards and that represents a significant number of individuals who didn’t have, or didn’t think they had, an environment of care that was open to them.”

In response to these concerns, CSM Group has broadened its outreach beyond its own staff, and in partnership with MIOSHA, the Michigan state agency which regulates workplace safety and health, has begun offering a variety of workshops in both English and Spanish to their trade and manufacturing partners to elevate their level of safety, both physical and psychological, in the hopes that a broad-based safety culture will lead to positive change.

Visionary technologies transforming traditional practices
Being deployed in tandem with a vibrant safety culture are a plethora of high-tech approaches to increasing on-site safety for workers. Wearable technology, including smart helmets, vests, and glasses with sensors and communication devices, is making it possible to monitor a worker’s vital signs in real time and detect signs of fatigue, alerting workers it is time to take a break and thereby preventing accidents caused by exhaustion, according to an editorial in the October 16, 2024 edition of BOSS Magazine.

Wearable technology can also detect hazardous conditions in the immediate environment and instantly communicate safety alerts to workers and supervisors. When integrated with proximity sensors, they can alert workers of potential collisions with equipment on sites where heavy equipment and workers move constantly.

Drones, meanwhile, are helping safety managers accomplish comprehensive site inspections and look at real-time work zones, alerting them to potential danger before it escalates. They can also be used for structural inspection of tall buildings and bridges, reducing the need for workers to access dangerous areas.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are leading the way in predictive analysis by analyzing vast amounts of data to identify safety risks, predict equipment failures, and optimize work schedules to reduce fatigue-related incidents.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) can be employed in safety training, allowing workers to practice handling dangerous scenarios in a risk-free environment. AR is beneficial on active sites, as workers wearing AR-enabled smart glasses can receive real-time information about their surroundings—hazards, safety reminders, and step-by-step instructions for complex tasks.

Exoskeletons—wearable support systems—can augment workers’ physical capabilities, reduce the risk of muscular/skeletal disorders and injuries associated with repetitive tasks, reduce strain during lifting and carrying tasks, and provide greater endurance for tasks requiring prolonged standing. In a similar vein, robotics and automation can provide assistance with high-risk electrical tasks or with asbestos removal, for example, minimizing workers’ exposure to potentially life-threatening situations.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems can create detailed 3D models to identify safety hazards before construction begins and create safety plans, such as the placement of safety equipment, emergency exits, and first aid stations.

And finally, there’s IoT (Internet of Things) technology, which creates smart sites where safety hazards are immediately identified and addressed. For example, IoT technology-enabled machinery can automatically shut down if a worker enters a dangerous area, or alert supervisors if unsafe operating conditions are found.

“Integrating these technologies will be crucial for construction companies aiming to create safer work environments and achieve excellence,” says BOSS. “Embracing these innovations allows the construction industry to build a future where safety and productivity go hand in hand.”

As 2025 gets into full swing, it seems so much more is now understood about how to reduce the potential for fatalities and serious injuries, through a more broadly accepted safety culture and through the amazing powers of smart technology. The industry has the knowledge and the tools to lower those numbers and make it possible to celebrate safety. All it needs to do now is to invest in it, take it off the shelf, and put it into practice.

The post Construction Safety<p class="company">Can Culture and Technology Save Lives?</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

To better serve its customers, Apollo maintains three warehouse and showroom/design-center facilities, including its original facility on Apollo Parkway in Willoughby, Ohio. In 2019, the company opened a second location in Cleveland proper, a 55,000-square-foot property under one roof, and in 2023, a third facility in Akron, which includes two warehouses totaling 65,000 square feet on a seven-acre property.

We recently enjoyed a wide-ranging conversation with the founder, owner, and company President, Jerry Bednarcik, who has 40 years of industry experience, and his son, Gerry Bednarcik, Operations, who joined the company five years ago from a Fortune 500 roofing company. Daughter Avalon, who works in sales, logistics and management, has been at Apollo over eight years.

Say hello to the Window Man
“I’ve been in the industry since 1985, so I have an extensive background of exterior building product knowledge and installation expertise,” Jerry says. “I’m still very much hands-on and I’ll do product demos for contractors and work through anything they need help with. Customers call me ‘Jerry the Window Man’ and say, ‘Go ask Jerry, he knows!’”

Just before our interview, he was helping young salesmen working for a contractor measure a house for siding. “They had been using roof and siding scopes and would have to go back to their office to work out an estimate, but I showed them—while walking around the building twice—how they could give the homeowner a price right then and there. They said they hadn’t realized how easy it was, using basic math skills. Next, I’m going to help a contractor figure out how to sell based on the client’s needs.”

Adds Gerry, “It’s about supporting the customer, being their champion, going out in the field, and educating a sales team like my dad did today. And we do this in-house for our staff too; we host internal trainings to make sure our staff is up to date on all the products we offer. We also do customer-facing events every year so they’re aware of what’s new in the market—be it product update trainings or certification courses—because if they know more, they can sell more and support their business growth,” he explains.

“We’re taking our one-stop shop to the next level. For contractors who want their business to grow, we’ll give them the tips and tricks they need to be successful.”

The full envelope
According to Gerry, Apollo’s portfolio of products—which includes windows, siding, roofing, doors, and more—is the most expansive in the region. Some distributors, he says, stock one line of siding or offer limited colors of shingles, for example, which results in delays. That is far from the case at Apollo. The company stocks four lines of siding in the full color offering, carries all lines of asphalt roofing shingles, and works with more than a dozen window and door manufacturers regularly. The team operates under the motto, “We have what you need, when you need it.”

The company is prepared to service a full range of needs—whether contractors are looking for cost and efficiency or to meet the latest ENERGY STAR requirements—with offerings such as foam backed or composite siding, reinforced thermally broken triple pane windows, and cool-roof reflective shingles, to name a few.

“If a builder wants a high-efficiency net zero home, we can accommodate them, and if they say, ‘I need to get this job done as fast as possible,’ we can help with that too. Our knowledge, service, and attention to detail help us navigate the product portfolio and assist customers in a meaningful way.”

Logistics and same-day delivery
It’s one thing to have a large product inventory from leading brands and the requisite knowledge about those products, and another thing entirely to get those materials delivered on time. Here again, Apollo excels.

The company maintains a fleet of over 30 delivery vehicles on the road daily, and also invests in specialty equipment including mounted tow motors referred to as a Moffit or Piggyback—a three-wheel all-terrain vehicle that detaches from a flatbed on arrival at a construction site, unloads the materials, and moves the material to wherever it is needed on site.

“Another vehicle type we have is a boom truck or conveyor vehicle or what I call a ‘laddervator,’ with a range of 28 to 36 feet. It’s mounted on a flatbed vehicle and once that truck is planted, the driver can pivot around and shoot the roofing material up to the crew in the quantity they need, exactly where they need it,” says Gerry.

The delivery crew will also hand-drop siding materials exactly where required. Some companies will drop a pallet on the curb, but Apollo will place it according to the customer’s specifications.

Serving the customer is always top of mind, Gerry adds. “If you’re focused on problems, anyone always find them, but here we focus on solutions. I like to say, ‘The answer is yes; what’s the question?”

To help customers, Apollo is open six days a week, “and I have even opened on a Sunday to get a contractor that last bundle of shingles. Our entire organization from sales to delivery has the same mindset: ‘Let’s make sure the customer is taken care of.’”

Digital systems for people and performance
When Gerry returned to the company five years ago, he developed a multiphase long-term plan. The first phase began with redesigning the company’s website, making it attractive and customer-friendly, and building up back-end capabilities so it could move into the second phase. This involved updating the company’s internal processing system, including accounts receivable and accounts payable, by utilizing an improved enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

“Now that our process and network are stable and humming along efficiently, in phase three, we’re going to implement a back-end portal that will let our customers sign on at any hour—they can see their invoices, submit for rebates, pay their bills, look at delivery status, and have a myriad of updates and resources at their fingertips. We’ll be able to service them to an even higher degree than we have before,” Gerry explains.

“I knew this was going to be challenging, and it was a bit like our Apollo space mission,” he says, laughing. “We want to make our service out of this world and, once fine-tuned, we can communicate more efficiently with our customers, market our products more effectively, and let our staff focus more on customers instead of all the other tasks they used to get bombarded with.”

Building community
Treating customers like family extends to the company’s annual fish fry, with fishing boats hired to take customers out on Lake Erie in teams to catch walleye tournament-style. “While this is going on we have live music on shore and a whole array of entertainment along with a fresh fish fry and other food—smoked meats, chicken tenders, cheeseburgers. It’s a two-day event and it helps build camaraderie and a sense of family and helps show our appreciation of our customers.”

Part of the fun at the event involves caricature drawings of Jerry. One year it was Jerry holding a trident with a roofing shingle impaled upon it; last year Jerry appeared as a surfer, riding a window on the waves into shore. “Unlike the national competitors, we live in this community, and when customers buy products from us, they recognize us at the grocery store or the bank, and from their kids playing on the same baseball teams as ours. We live here and we care,” says Gerry.

And caring for the community goes beyond caring for customers, extending to charitable organizations, with Apollo participating in building projects for Habit for Humanity and Home for the Holidays, an initiative of the local chapter of the Home Builders Association; the team also supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation and St. Jude’s Hospital. “We’re a big advocate of supporting all the people around us.”

Fast tracking to the future
Apollo Supply Company was ranked as 2020’s Fast Track 50 No. 1 winner, in the Established Business Class, by virtue of having reported sales of at least $4 million in the years between 2016 and 2020, and has consistently placed in the top five since in the Fast Track 50 organization’s listing, which honors business excellence among the fastest growing businesses in the region.

At the time of writing, it looks now as if opening a fourth location at an undisclosed location within the region will happen sometime in 2025. Would the company ever consider expanding outside the state, we ask? The Bednarciks aren’t ruling out the possibility. “With our 20 percent growth factor, we are definitely on the path to grow our business dynamically over the next few years,” says Jerry. “We’re focused on controlled growth because we want to make that growth reproducible; we want to maintain our customer-centric culture and our family values, and still grow efficiently.”

Indeed, Apollo Supply Company’s journey from a single facility in Willoughby to a regional powerhouse exemplifies the enduring impact of customer-centric values, community engagement, and innovative growth strategies. With a deep commitment to supporting contractors, building lasting relationships, and delivering unmatched service, the company has carved out a unique niche in the exterior building products industry. As Apollo prepares for its next chapter, including expansion and cutting-edge customer solutions, one thing remains clear: this family-owned business is not just about building homes—it’s about building trust, community, and a legacy that continues to inspire.

The post Building Excellence, One Customer at a Time<p class="company">Apollo Supply Company</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

In addition to shipping lumber to customers across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and China, Wolverine operates a retail store dedicated to fulfilling unique requirements. It has emerged as a preferred choice for contractors, craftsmen, and homeowners.

Famed forests
Located in southern Michigan, 40 miles southwest of Grand Rapids and 30 miles northwest of Kalamazoo, Wolverine is ideally positioned in the heart of one of the nation’s most productive hardwood regions. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources reports that the state’s forest products industry contributed $26.5 billion to the economy in 2022, an increase of $4 billion since 2019.

According to a report by Michigan State University, the area’s fertile soils support high-quality hardwood forests, benefiting from a warmer, moister climate and a longer growing season that allows for quicker recovery. This strategic location, along with Wolverine’s commitment to craftsmanship and customer care, has helped the company build a stellar international reputation.

To learn more about Wolverine Hardwoods, we spoke with Tina Mallery, Office Manager, who oversees human resources and logistics, and Paul Mallery, Sales Manager, on behalf of company founder and President Javan Mallery, who is meeting customers on the West Coast.

The Mallery family has deep roots in Michigan’s lumber industry, with Javan’s father and grandfather owning lumber companies. “It was always in Javan’s blood,” Tina says.

After earning a business administration degree, Javan attended the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) school in Memphis, Tennessee, where his father had been part of the seventh class and his uncles and cousins also trained.

As Paul explains, the NHLA, founded in Chicago in 1898, established a standardized set of rules for grading lumber and assigning value. The association offers training and networking opportunities, helping members build valuable international contacts. One of Wolverine’s Canadian customers was even a classmate of Javan’s.

After completing his training, Javan began brokering lumber from his home in 1996, continuing until 2002, when he acquired a facility to offer a broader range of services. During those years, he built a strong reputation, says Paul, “so we’re still selling to the customers he worked with back then.”

Prized around the world
Wolverine’s hardwood lumber—including hard maple, soft maple, red oak, white oak, and walnut—is sourced from forests within a 300-mile radius of Allegan and kiln-dried to ensure it’s ready for use.

When freshly cut lumber arrives from local sawmills, it is end-trimmed, air-dried, and placed in the kiln to reach a moisture content of six percent. This ensures the product will not warp. Next, it is planed, surfaced, and graded by color and quality before being stored in a climate-controlled warehouse, awaiting shipment.

Michigan’s prized maple, both soft and hard, are known for their bright white color, which is unmatched in any other region in North America.

Michigan’s red oak is also highly valued for its consistent red color, unlike the pinkish shades found in southern U.S. oak. “This is due to the soil composition and the water in the ground,” Paul explains. “Our species are a superior product because they come from Michigan, and we have customers in Texas, on the West Coast, and in China who insist on that nice red color.”

To become a true “one-stop” shop, Wolverine also sells plywood, which is either manufactured in Michigan or imported from Indonesia.

To better serve customer needs, Wolverine has made several key investments. The addition of two more kilns has doubled its drying capacity to 400,000 board feet, enabling the company to fulfill large orders faster.

Additionally, Wolverine installed a gang rip production line, which allows it to take random-width lumber and rip it to sizes that customers can immediately use, saving them both time and labor costs. “It increases yield because the customer knows exactly how much usable lumber they’ll get from each board,” Paul says.

The company’s most recent upgrade was doubling the size of its retail store, allowing it to better serve local woodworkers from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo who need specific lumber types and quantities.

Care for the customer
Wolverine’s customers primarily consist of wood product manufacturers—makers of cabinets, flooring, doors, trim, crown molding, furniture, guitars, and drumsticks—as well as distributors, other lumber companies, and RV manufacturers. Locally, through its retail store, Wolverine serves homeowners and contractors, from those remodeling kitchens to artisanal woodworkers crafting items like cutting boards.

“As a sales staff, we try to speak weekly with every regular customer so we know both their immediate and upcoming needs,” Paul says. “That way, we know how we can best help them.”

Tina adds, “We try to get to know each customer’s business so we understand what they make and what kind of lumber they need. We’re very involved in their business so we can help them stay productive.”

Tina also ensures that Wolverine’s shipping process is as efficient as possible. Thanks to the company’s strong relationships with local transport operators, she can offer quick turnaround times. “I try very hard to get it out quickly. We have several customers who ask, ‘Can you get it there the next day?’ and I will make it happen.”

Family and friends
Tina, Javan’s sister-in-law, and Paul, his nephew, agree that the family atmosphere extends to all 34 of Wolverine’s employees, which includes multiple families, such as one with three brothers and another with two brothers-in-law. Several employees have been with the company since 2002, and many others have worked there for more than 10 years.

“We care about all our employees, and we show it,” Tina says. “We value their work. It’s because of them that we can do what we do, and we accomplish a lot with a small staff.”

Employees earn competitive wages and are offered health, dental, and life insurance, as well as paid sick days.

Paul adds, “We make sure each team member hears from us regularly. We remind them that no role is less important than another, and that gives everyone a sense of purpose. It’s a team approach.”

Though business has slowed due to the economy and rising interest rates, Paul remains confident. “Our focus on customer service and our dedicated team of employees gives us a leg-up, even when the economy is tough.”

The post From the Forest to the Home – Bringing out the Beauty of Wood<p class="company">Wolverine Hardwoods</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

CSM’s strength is its ability to match a delivery model to specific project needs, including work completed within FDA-regulated environments and occupied environments such as hospitals and schools. The company provides tailored solutions to its clients, including At-Risk and Design-Build project management and services such as project planning and estimating, building information modeling, and safety management.

Stuart Mason, CSM Group’s CEO, believes that safety management is where building stories of success begins, and welcomes an opportunity to speak with us about the company’s Safety and Leadership Program.

Leading with safety
“Leading with safety is one of our core values,” Mason says, noting that CSM Group has been awarded the Safety Award of Excellence by the Western Michigan Chapter of ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) for 2023 and 2024, only the second time in a decade that the same company has won it two years consecutively.

It was undoubtedly a proud moment for the CSM Group—but not enough, says Mason. “It’s great to be recognized in Western Michigan, but we want to be recognized globally for safety. Our goal is not to be the most profitable company or work with the coolest clients—although we’d like that too—but our goal as an organization is the audacious goal of being the safest company on the planet.”

CSM’s stellar Safety and Leadership program is founded on a sound understanding of behavioral science, which is shared with all employees.

Katrina Reed, Director of Marketing and Sales, tells us that in 2006, CSM Group partnered with Dr. John Austin, who at the time was a psychology professor at Western Michigan University. Company management discussed with him the patterns and trends in behavior that had been observed, and combined with data collected from the construction industry, he pinpointed those components that drive human behavior, relating it to the industry.

According to Dr. Austin’s insights, three things affect human behavior and two of them cannot be changed: people cannot change their DNA, they cannot change the past, but they can change their environment, and changing it leads to better and safer outcomes.

“This approach to behavior is what we teach to our colleagues with the goal of helping them understand the science behind it,” Mason explains. “Before they can create the right environment to get the right behaviors, they have to understand the basic premise: if you create an unsafe environment, you get unsafe behavior and the reverse is true—a safe environment leads to safe behaviors.”

CSM has continued working with Dr. Austin. Several times a year, the company brings him in so he can work with 10 or 12 individuals at all levels throughout the organization, from execution to support staff, to help them identify behaviors, understand why they are happening, and how to change the environment to support desired outcomes.

Underpinning this is the premise that it is important to look at the whole person, because there are many factors that employees may bring to work with them, such as family or relationship stress or medical issues, which influence how they respond to day-to-day tasks. This requires an organization to maintain an open environment where employees can speak freely and ask for help if they need it.

“We talk about psychological safety as well as physical safety, an environment where everyone can speak up and talk about difficult things. It is not easy to build up psychological safety and trust, but when you do, it is transformational, and that is what underpins our culture here,” Mason says.

While the safety and leadership training that the project managers, construction superintendents, engineers, and interns receive at CSM Group is excellent, it has not, in the past, extended to the trades partners and the subcontractors who perform the work, and therein lies a problem.

As Mason notes, the construction industry presents inherent dangers, both physical and psychological. It is work performed outside, often in harsh environments, and for long hours. It’s a male-dominated industry wherein some tradespeople may be reluctant to reach out for help. Compounding that is that tradespeople often work far from their homes, so they are isolated from their families for extended periods.

“It’s a recipe for disaster, and the industry got a wake-up call when the number of construction workers who commit suicide was released. It was staggering compared to other industries, and we must create awareness and an environment where people are comfortable talking about their feelings, where that’s not seen as a weakness or a threat to their job.”

Adds Reed, “Construction workers are 12 times more likely to die by suicide than they are by workplace hazards, such as falls or electrocution, and that is a significant number of individuals who didn’t have an environment of care that was open to them.”

In addition, Mason says, conditions within the industry are combining to create a perfect storm. The industry is the busiest it has been in a long time, with federal government investing in infrastructure and with the resurgence of manufacturing. “Everywhere you turn, you see construction, but at the same time, we have an aging workforce, and we are not getting an inflow of talent, so trades who remain are suffering from general fatigue, not eating properly or exercising, because they feel they don’t have time.”

Partnering with MIOSHA
With this alarming reality in mind, CSM Group is partnering with MIOSHA, the Michigan state agency that regulates workplace safety and health, to increase mental health awareness in the construction industry, and is adopting a multi-layered approach.

This past September, members from MIOSHA’s and CSM’s leadership teams, together with a licensed mental health therapist, offered a program during National Suicide Prevention Week, in both English and Spanish, to 150 tradespeople. They learned that it was ok to talk about their feelings, to admit they weren’t feeling 100 percent, and to ask for help, and they received resources including information about the 988 hotline.

Reed recalls that after most participants left the sessions, “a few stayed around talking. They said thank you for having this event and for saying it’s okay for guys to admit they are not having their best day. So even if we impacted just one or two individuals that day, it’s a win in our book, because that’s one or two who feel they are being helped.”

But this partnership goes much further than a one-day event. CSM Group is continuing to work with MIOSHA which offers online, half-day, full-day, and multi-day workshops to trade and manufacturing partners to elevate their level of safety, both physical and psychological.

The workshops also give tradespeople insight into what is motivating their behavior; they have likely all gone through safety training programs in the proper use of tools and equipment, but what motivates them to actually follow—or not follow—the proper procedures?

Now CSM Group is taking this partnership one step further, by involving MIOSHA in a formal program that includes everyone working on CSM’s two new projects in Kalamazoo. At the beginning, each of the subcontracting partners will sign up to be fully involved, with the goal of lifting the entire collective, Mason explains. This effect will be amplified across the entire industry, as those subcontractors and trades will go on to work on projects for other companies, bringing their new knowledge and skills with them.

“This partnership with MIOSHA has been a significant value addition to our company and execution team and is helping to elevate safety leadership throughout our industry,” he says. “We are honored that MIOSHA is making this commitment to our organization and partners in our projects.”

Building community
CSM Group is currently working on two key projects, each of which will have an important impact on the construction industry in a variety of ways.

The $100 million KRESA Career Center, scheduled to open in September 2025, will be a centralized facility that hosts the majority of the county’s career and technical education programs and offers specific skill training and certifications for high school students in high-demand areas based on state and local market analysis. It will be a place where realistic work environments, which are difficult to duplicate in a traditional school setting, will be replicated to provide a real-world experience and foster an inclusive work-oriented culture.

Currently, the career and technical education programs offered in the county are spread out through multiple satellite locations and this state-of-the-art facility brings everything together under one roof, making it easily accessible for students wanting to investigate careers in such areas as automotive, welding, veterinary medicine, nursing, culinary arts, and of course, the construction industry.

When the career center project is completed, CSM expects to be breaking ground on a joint venture project, currently in the pre-construction phase, with a key partner, Barton Marlow of Detroit, to build the 440,000 square foot Kalamazoo Event Center. This will provide a new home for the Kalamazoo Wings (a member of the ECHL, a minor professional ice hockey league) and for Western Michigan University student athletes.

The facility, which Mason says has been talked about for 20 years, will be built on some derelict lots and will transform downtown Kalamazoo. It will consist of an arena, practice facilities, student-athlete amenities, locker rooms, a multi-purpose center, office space, and a dedicated parking deck. In addition to ice hockey, basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and gymnastics, the center will host community events and concerts, and will be a unifying force in the community.

The multi-year construction project is also expected to have a strong impact on the industry going forward, through the aforementioned partnership with MIOSHA and by making it a learning opportunity for students at the KRESA Career Center, who will have an opportunity to be part of this landmark project.

“We have just gotten started with the workforce development of the project, and we anticipate being able to put up to 60 individuals a year, aged 14 to 18, through this program, where they will experience the benefits of a safe, supportive, and open workplace environment. Having all those talented individuals ready to enter the workforce and bring that experience with them is fantastic,” Mason concludes.

What comes next? Mason and Reed did hint at a “top secret” announcement coming sometime in the first quarter of 2025. So stay tuned!

The post A Foundation of Safety<p class="company">CSM Group</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

A family-owned business, Home Nation has been a national dealer of new and pre-owned manufactured (mobile) homes, modular homes, and prefabricated homes since 2008, and since 2020, has been the design/builder of the hybrid eHome, which has the potential to revolutionize the home building industry.

The company was founded by Paul Comino and his wife Roxanne in Indiana, where it still maintains one of its branches, during the 2008 recession. “We saw the need for more affordable homes, and now I like to say that we have a home for every budget, whatever that budget is,” says Paul Comino.

Back to the beginning
The oldest of six children born to a Greek immigrant to Australia, Comino emigrated to the U.S. in 1984 with two suitcases and $900 in his pocket, found work with an electrical company, met Roxanne, who he recalls as “a wonderful young woman,” and got married. Together they went on to have eight children, who as adults are now involved in the family business themselves.

While working for the electrical company, Comino studied to become a master electrician, bought the business, learned about other aspects of home building, and eventually became a builder himself. “In the ’90s and early 2000s, I was building one- and two-million-dollar homes, and those were extremely nice homes at a time when a million dollars went a lot further, but I turned my back on the custom home industry to focus on affordable housing when I saw a tremendous need across the country,” he says.

In the beginning, the company did remodeling of older homes to bring them up to code, but evolved to become a dealer for single- and double-width mobile homes when Comino realized this was a more efficient way to get families housed quickly and securely. Mobile homes, now referred to as manufactured homes, are manufactured to a national code and delivered from the factory to a site—either a mobile park or privately owned land if zoning permits—and set on a permanent base, with Home Nation assisting with financing.

But in terms of helping to alleviate the affordable housing issues that affect every part of the country, Comino realized Home Nation was addressing only five percent of the market, “although we were doing very well there.” This led the company to offer modular, factory-built homes alongside site-built homes, while keeping all affordable.

However, both factory-built and site-built homes have their inherent issues that can drive up the cost, no matter how much the builder intends to keep it down. Without question, building a home in a factory is an economical and efficient way to build the house itself; but arranging for logistics, permits, and transporting several large modular units from the factory to the site, renting a crane to lift them into place, and preparing two flooring systems—one on the module and one on the site—can add $30,000 to $50,000 to the original cost.

“This is one of the main reasons why modular homes may not be getting widespread buy-in in the market—because of the constraining considerations inherent in the model of building an entire home in a factory, shipping it, and lifting it onto a foundation that duplicates the cost of the floor system that was built in the factory,” Comino explains.

The coming of the hybrid eHome
Then, during COVID, he says, “I started thinking about a more efficient way to build a home when I couldn’t get one delivered, thinking what I could do differently to leverage the advantage of factory-built modules, without the downside of high transportation costs.”

His solution—an affordable house built on-site with a combination of modular, prefabricated, and stick-built construction—is both elegant and simple. Surprisingly, no one had thought of it before, as far as Comino knows. “The idea I had involved extracting part of the home—the kitchen, bathroom, and utility room—and putting that in one small module that becomes the core of the home, with everything built out around it,” he explains.

“In the module, we install 80 percent of the MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems), the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems), and all the fixtures, appliances, and cabinetry. Then all that needs to be done once the module is installed and the rooms built around it, is to install wiring for lights and electrical outlets.”

Once the core module is in place on a poured foundation, the construction team from Home Nation builds around it with a simple construction method using SIPs (structural insulated panels, also built in the factory and shipped to the site with the module), doors, and windows. As the core module is relatively small compared to an entire house, and the unassembled panels are flat, transporting them to the site is much easier and far less costly than transporting fully constructed modules. Homeowners can also cut costs if they elect to do some of the interior finish work themselves—drywalling, painting, and adding trim.

But the real beauty of the eHome model is that it lets homeowners build a house constrained only by the specifications they can afford and what zoning permits allow. Since they’re not restricted by transportation safety regulations and costs, and because it’s a conventionally built house, it’s not restricted to mobile home parks or, in the case of modular homes, to zoned areas of a municipality.

Comino is upbeat about these developments: “We now have two factories up and running, and they’ve proven to be cost-effective right from the beginning.”

As he explains, the start-up cost to build a factory designed to build small modules and only three different module prints is approximately $400,000 and can be completed in 90 days, as opposed to the approximate $250 million needed to build a factory capable of handling the complexity of entire custom-designed modular homes, and which may take up to two years to complete. “This means a factory we build to accommodate the eHome model can be up and running in 90 days in any state in the country, whereas it could take up to two years for a large modular home factory to start production,” says Comino.

“I think it could revolutionize the housing market. We call it the SAFE way to build—Simple, Affordable, Fast, and Energy-efficient—because the SIPs we use for the exterior have a very high R-value, way ahead of what the local and state building codes require, making it energy-efficient and economical.” This new way to build homes from Comino’s company has proved to be so efficient, economical, and affordable that Investopedia has chosen Home Nation’s e-Home as the most affordable starter home option for two years in a row.

The consumer in the driver’s seat
“Putting the consumer in the driver’s seat” is how Comino likes to describe the way Home Nation’s online business model allows the potential home buyer—anywhere in the country—to control all the options, from choosing the home and financing it to signing the contract. “We’re putting the consumer in the driver’s seat so they can get the best home to meet their needs for less money—whether manufactured, modular, conventionally site-built, or an eHome.

The company’s membership in the Florida Home Builders’ Association of America (FHBA), says Comino, is “great for meeting other industry professionals and gives you a real feel for where the market is going. The market drives our business, and the market is calling for a new way to build. That’s what we’re providing with the eHome,” he says.

“With stock market volatility and the possibility of a recession, I think our product is looking even more interesting and affordable as we combine the benefits of a factory-built home with a custom-built one at an affordable price, which allows families to thrive.”

And that—a brilliant insight bringing a chance to thrive to every family—has also turned out to be Home Nation’s chance to thrive.

Visit www.homenation.com to find out more.

The post A Revolutionary Approach to Affordable Housing<p class="company">Home Nation</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

For many years, Lott Brothers has received Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Accredited Quality Contractor Award, given to world-class construction companies that qualify in corporate responsibility, quality, safety performance, and talent management. The company has built millions of square feet of new and renovated structures since it began operations over 30 years ago, with millions of square feet completed in sectors as varied as health care, retail, corporate and commercial offices, hotels, education, and industrial. The company’s broad experience has given it a distinct competitive advantage in successfully bidding and managing projects.

Right the first time
Brothers David and Wayne Lott, Jr. founded the company in 1988, inspired by the work ethic of their father Wayne Lott, Sr., a commercial contractor and developer who began working in the Austin area in the 1950s, and instilled in his sons the core value of “doing things right the first time.”

Today, led by Justin Lott and Mike White, Lott Brothers still serves its clients with the simple commitment of working tirelessly to make every project absolutely right. Justin “grew up in the business. My father ran the field, so I came up as a superintendent, and my uncle managed the office, so I worked there too and learned all sides of the industry.” Now he encourages all employees to do the same, working in various roles to gain greater understanding and insight into the business.

Justin was joined eight years ago by his business partner, Mike White. Mike has more than 25 years of experience in the construction industry, including healthcare, retail, commercial, industrial, institutional, and multi-family. He leads the team with a no-nonsense, positive attitude that turns every project into a “win-win” situation. We speak with Justin Lott and Jenn Griffith, Marketing and Business Development Coordinator, to learn more about what the company does, and why an inverted triangle and the acronym CLEAR are central to its success.

CLEAR benefits
In the early 2000s, Lott says, “We decided to showcase the values we stand behind and present them in a graphic in the form of an inverted triangle using the company’s trademark colors of gold and silver, denoting excellence.”

Balancing the triangle on its tip is an interesting way to emphasize the importance of the first value, Character, because the trust that is given to a company based on its sterling character is critical for its success. Should that character waver, the delicately poised triangle will topple, as will any business shown to be untrustworthy.

Working upwards from the lower tip are the other values that make up the anacronym CLEAR: Leadership (leading without fear of conflict); Excellence (through commitment); Attitude (encouraging an attitude of accountability); and Responsibility (accepting responsibility for the results).

This translates into numerous benefits for the client, as Lott Brothers is committed to taking responsibility for completing every project with experienced personnel; verifying everything to the owner’s specifications; producing detailed construction estimates before production begins; providing a final validation of accuracy with each layout; scheduling aggressively and finishing on time; and communicating across every level to provide a transparent flow of information and knowledge to all participants.

“The CLEAR approach breaks down traditional barriers that slow the work and increase the costs,” Lott says. He explains that “traditional barriers” refers to “the old standard process where the architect does something on a piece of paper, hands it to the engineer, and maybe works with the owner, who eventually hands it over to the General Contractor who prices it and gives it back to the owner, who doesn’t like the price. Then the engineer must do some value engineering and that slows everything down, and that is where the traditional barriers begin, which can result in days and weeks of delays.”

Instead, Lott Brothers has implemented leading industry technologies, including cloud-based solutions for information control and documentation. Among the tools the team uses are Building Information Management (BIM), computer-assisted estimating, field engineering, and location-based CPM scheduling, while PlanGrid is used to control documents and information that can be transmitted via email to team members or posted online for review.

But first, safety
“We train our people to be competent on site, and we believe we offer as much as or more than many big companies in terms of health benefits, training, and education. We develop site-specific safety plans for every project because safety comes first. It’s important to us to retain our employees,” says Lott.

The employees appreciate the way they’re treated by the company, as a survey conducted by Griffith revealed. “Everyone genuinely cares about one another and their well-being.” “Our company has a strong understanding of work-life balance.” “I love that our contributions are recognized directly by leadership.” “I am new, but I feel like I am part of the team.” “I feel encouraged to speak up and share opinions.” These are just a small sample of the comments that echo each other in positivity.

As a result of Lott Brothers’ proactive approach to ensure safe working conditions and promote health and well-being, Griffith notes that the company “has received multiple ABC STEP (Safety Training Evaluation Process) awards by consistently meeting the stringent criteria, including most recently the STEP Gold for 2020 and 2021, and STEP Diamond for 2022 and 2023.”

The company has extended its caring, thoughtful approach to the wider community, ensuring philanthropy is at the forefront of all it does, with company owners sitting on several philanthropic boards and supporting many local groups and organizations such as the YMCA, educational and hospital foundations, youth sports teams, and scholarship funds.

Happening now…
“Texas has been blessed with large companies moving here and homes being built to house the employees, including large multi-family residences,” Lott explains. “And we have built several of those complexes in the last few years, including affordable housing. With the amount of people moving here, that comes a need for retail, commercial, businesses, schools, and medical facilities to serve the people relocating here in Texas, which creates more opportunities for the industry, including us.”

Currently, the company is involved in 19 active projects, covering most of those sectors.

Education projects include a new Elementary Science Academy, part of the Harmony (Public) Charter School System focusing on STEM education in Leander to be completed by June 2025, and Stony Point High School in Round Rock, which is getting an additional 4,046 square feet of additions, with the work coordinated around the functioning school.

Another education project involves the Divine Savior Academy in Liberty Hill, a design-build project. For Phase I, Lott Brothers received a 2020 Merit of Excellence in Construction Award; the team has just wrapped up Phase II and is now embarking on Phase III. Also in Liberty Hill is Phase II of another design-build project, this one for the Grove Church and Worship Centre, where the design/preconstruction has wrapped up and construction is about to begin.

Medical projects include a 23,200-square-foot living facility/dorm for the staff of the Rankin County Hospital, an attached EMS building with a three-bay garage, and a complete renovation and expansion of the kitchen and cafeteria of the Ascension Seton Medical Centre in Austin, which requires a temporary kitchen to be built to accommodate patients and staff.

Lott Brothers currently has seven housing projects in various stages from pre-construction to wrapping up. These include two luxury complexes in Surprise, Arizona, comprising eight buildings in one and 12 in the other for a total of 496 units, with each complex having a pool, clubhouse, and amenity center; townhomes in Leander; and two affordable communities, both in Austin.

There’s also the just-completed Burnet Place, a project with a local non-profit to provide 61 affordable apartments reserved for people living with HIV, and Habitat for Humanity’s Persimmon Point, which will be a community of 126 affordable homes, a mix of townhouses and condos. Some families will be able to move in as early as 2025, with completion in 2027. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said that the project was satisfying key critical needs in Austin, “making sure that people can afford to live in the place they call home.”

Lott Brothers is also in the process of pre-construction, breaking ground, or wrapping up four commercial/industrial projects. There’s a new design-build manufacturing facility under construction in Georgetown, three large commercial parks, and the Panther Commercial Park in Pflugerville, which won the 2023 Central Texas Excellence in Construction Merit award, is now fully leased.

Building on this success, the company, through its development arm TBN development, “is excited to announce two new commercial parks, Cross Creek in Georgetown and Rolling Oaks in Austin.”

As Griffith shares, “These projects are set to redefine flex commercial spaces with features such as 14-foot-high, glass roll-up doors, 24-foot building heights, high bay windows in the back, and expansive storefronts. Our parks cater to a diverse clientele, including light manufacturing, distribution centers, tech startups, retail showrooms, and creative studios, and are thoughtfully designed so businesses of all kinds can find a perfect fit.”

What’s to come?
Certainly, this company has plenty of irons in the fire and a lot to look forward to. Lott is enthusiastic about the future, saying, “We have doubled in size in the last few years, and we are not slowing down.”

Will there be a fourth generation of Lott Brothers? Justin Lott is the father of three sons, aged 13, 11, and 8, but it’s too early to tell yet, he says. “They are young and having fun, and I’m not putting any pressure on them and will let them decide if they want to enter the business. I’ve told them I’m leaving the door open to them if they decide they want to, and already they’re saying, ‘We’re the next Lott Brothers!’”

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The company installs brick, concrete masonry units (CMU), cast stone, precast, granite, and stone veneer work for hotels, public and private institutions, historic landmarks, government facilities, condominiums, mixed-use structures, libraries, apartment complexes, resorts, and retail establishments.

Established in 1957 by Gus Pappas, Telligent Masonry has an illustrious history, having completed dozens of outstanding, award-winning masonry projects over the years, including the Miami International Airport, Walt Disney World, and Andrews Air Force Base.

Construction in Focus last featured Telligent Masonry in 2021, with the company having come through the worst challenges of the pandemic and still dealing with intense COVID-19 health and safety protocols, material shortages, and supply chain issues. To discuss what’s been happening since, we spoke with company President Chris Pappas, who took over the reins from his father in the 1990s; Safety Director Ulises Gomez; and Tina Cron, Human Resources and Payroll Manager.

While there have been many exciting new projects for the firm, some things remain the same, Pappas says, referring to the company as relationship-based and employee-based, with most of its work performed for repeat customers. Unlike many competitors, the company does not subcontract and instead is proud of its staff of 600, which Pappas claims is the company’s great strength.

Like his father, he believes in investing in his company and “leading by example,” which has earned him respect from the industry and his clients.

Says Cron, “We take the time to invest in our employees, which has created a brilliant family relationship. Many of our foremen and superintendents started as bricklayers or in other types of labor, and we have taken the time to invest in their training.”

The success of this business model is reflected in Telligent Masonry’s stellar performance and the awards the company has steadily continued to win—42 to be exact—for safety, for the superior quality installation work it has executed, and for the detailed preconstruction work it does, including meticulous estimating, planning, and project management, where nothing is left to chance.

Cron shared with us the stories of several multi-award-winning projects, including the Braddock Gateway in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, on which Telligent Masonry worked with owner and contractor, Carmel Partners. Telligent won the 2022 Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) Metro-Washington Excellence in Construction Award and the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Masonry Association (MAMA) Craftsmanship Award.

To maintain harmony with the existing built environment, the project combined traditional brick with an art deco style to create a contemporary look for the four-building, mixed-use complex, spread over 5.5 acres. It comprises 670,000 pieces of oversized brick; 125,000 pieces of CMU and 8,400 pieces of architectural CMU that adorn the courtyards; 11,100 units of cast stone; and 12,000 linear feet of flashing.

Each building has unique design features such as protruding narrow brick columns along recessed panels, rooftops of varying levels, and different colored bricks and mortar, which gives each building a distinctive look while creating distinct challenges for masons. For example, one building featured two different brick-and-mortar colors, khaki and black, creating a narrow, striped pattern requiring meticulous tool cleaning from the masons to prevent unsightly, discolored mortar.

An even greater test involved having to work in a limited space wedged between existing buildings, train tracks, and a main road pulsing with traffic. This resulted in a logistical challenge in positioning Fraco, Telligent’s gas-powered mast climber system with an elevating platform for masons to work from, in a tight space. For areas so confined that Fraco simply couldn’t be placed, manually erected tube scaffolding was used, with separate certified Telligent crews working on each of them.

Although the project tested the limits of masonry construction, it turned out to be a typically safe, on-budget, and on-time project for Telligent Masonry and Carmel Partners. That it won prestigious awards as well was a bonus.

In a different vein, the 2023 MAMA Craftsmanship Award for an educational facility was awarded to Telligent for its work on the Georgetown Preparatory School Dormitory and Stadium, two separate buildings separated by a turf football field. Because of their location on a campus where students and teachers move from class to class between buildings, additional safety measures had to be in place, especially with heavy equipment in motion, including cranes.

Unlike Braddock Gateway, the architecture for the school was traditional, utilizing a uniform color of bricks and mortar. Instead, the challenge here involved lifting into place 7,000 cast stone units adorned with medallions and engravings that celebrate the school’s history. Each weighed between 2,500 and 3,500 pounds, and although some were placed in the stadium, others had to be lifted into the interior of the completed building, without damage.

That same year, 2023, Telligent Masonry won a second MAMA craftsmanship award for its 1150 1st St NE commercial project.

Meanwhile, a newly constructed project, rivaling the Braddock Gateway in complexity, the Rockville Town Center Phase II, has been submitted for the 2024 MAMA Craftsmanship Award. The 18-story, mixed-use building contains residential units, including affordable senior units, retail, amenities, and parking. It is composed of 540,000 bricks in six unique types and colors, including Norwegian brick, which is difficult to install because of its size. In addition, there are 130,000 units of CMU, 2,600 units of cast stone, 22,000 linear feet of flashing, and 91,000 square feet of rigid insulation.

The design called for the selective use of hand-cut bricks and for some bricks to lie horizontally with the window, while in other areas they lie vertically, with heavy elements of cast stone hand-placed at the bottom of the windows by the masons.

Three different scaffolding systems were required. Where possible, the Telligent crew used Fraco, but because the building has multiple tiers, a swing scaffold had to be used in those areas, and since there was no exterior access into the courtyard, tube scaffolding was required. Erecting those systems was a labor-intensive process.

During the project, Telligent had numerous crews managing their scope of work, meaning crews for each scaffolding system, for each of the veneer areas, and for the two different CMU areas.

Recently, Pappas told us, the company wrapped up a Coast Guard building at Fort Myers, Florida, and completed the brickwork on the remodeled 720,000-square-foot former Fannie Mae building in mid-town Washington, now referred to as City Ridge. But when Pappas casually says “brickwork,” readers can be sure this is no ordinary brickwork, rivaling the artisanal and artistic work on the previously mentioned projects.

Currently, the company is estimating projects in Florida, the Carolinas, and the Boston area. Although Telligent Masonry generally does not bid on jobs outside its traditional Pennsylvania/Florida territory, it will go further afield for an existing client who may be opening a new facility, as with the Boston project, says Pappas.

In his day, company founder Gus Pappas believed that a safe working environment produced a higher quality of work, and that belief continues to be the foundation of Telligent Masonry, which goes beyond what is required by OSHA, insurance companies, construction partners, and local regulations.

Ulises Gomez has played a key role in driving improvements to the safety program, taking the lead in its enhancement. With eight years of experience in the safety industry, he brings valuable expertise to the team. He recognizes the hazards of working in an environment where just one careless step or faulty piece of equipment can mean disaster and death. Together with the company, he believes in a multifaceted approach to safety, which begins with performing all safety-related work in-house with the company’s own personnel, all 600 of them.

The benefits of having employees who undergo regular safety training; all foremen having 30-hour OSHA cards; all workers being screened for drug use and subject to random drug tests; and all workers being required to wear the correct PPE are real and tangible. Most valuable, though, is that in response to this culture permeating Telligent, its personnel fully grasp the company’s safety stance and buy into it.

“However,” Pappas cautions, “we’re competing against companies going in the opposite direction, subbing and hiring work crews, and that is a burden on the industry. If they have a job with 50 to 60 people on it, they might have five or six sub-crews with 10 or 12 people on each, and they all have different agendas and varying amounts of safety training. That just doesn’t work for quality control or safety.”

Telligent’s culture of safety extends to the office with pre-construction meetings to consider all materials, details, drawings, access areas, and potential challenges in advance, plus the use of 3D imaging software that allows the team to work through intricate details before the materials are delivered and construction begins. Job sites also begin each week with a safety meeting to refresh, remind, and learn anew, with regular safety inspections carried out by Gomez, who, because of his industry experience, knows exactly what a safe job site looks like.

But not only does Telligent Masonry invest in employees and their training, as opposed to subcontracting; it also invests in its own equipment, as opposed to renting, and inspects and maintains it on a strict schedule. “We have 15 people working right now to maintain the equipment,” says Pappas. “We do have a couple of guys who do repairs, but we do a lot of maintenance which avoids equipment breaking down and endangering our employees.”

This multi-faceted, comprehensive approach to safety has added up to a lot of awards in this area as well. Between 2014 and 2021, Telligent Masonry received eight Gold Level STEP Safety Management System Awards from the Associated Builders & Contractors, and in 2022 moved up to the Platinum Level award. If the activities of this company and its talented people all sound highly Telligent, well, it’s no surprise.

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