J-Track LLC is the commuter’s equivalent of a masked superhero – frequently unseen, but instrumental in saving the day. As a company that specializes in end-to-end track and transit system construction services, J-Track is frequently the unsung hero in circumstances where flooding and water leaks threaten to grind to a halt the daily subway commute in metropolitan cities like New York and Washington, D.C.

Beretta Pipeline Construction is situated in Onion Lake, located on the Saskatchewan side of the Alberta/Saskatchewan border. The company is owned by Onion Lake Energy Ltd., an Onion Lake Cree Nation community. Having grown from a simple pipeline company to one that offers so much more, Beretta Pipeline Construction is dedicated to offering quality products and services.

Headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, Hargrove Engineers + Constructors was founded in 1995 by Ralph Hargrove, who remains the President and CEO to this day. The award-winning firm specializes in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), as well as project management, controls and automation, and technical services for the processing, manufacturing, and energy industries.

D&D Building started as a building maintenance company in 1968; it was launched by two high school friends, and it gradually grew into doing more commercial work. Today, the company has around 170 employees in four facilities totaling just less than 100,000 square feet. It is primarily a general contractor that does carpentry with specialized divisions that provide separate services.

Facility Solutions Group (FSG) began in 1982 as a specialty lighting distributor selling lamps and lightbulbs under the name American Light Bulb and Supply Company and has since expanded into providing a wide variety of other services. The primary focus then, and still to a large degree today, was to go beyond the role of a typical distribution role by promoting new technologies and creating lasting relationships with customers.

icon Mechanical continues to build upon its well-honed strengths as a full-service mechanical contractor that has been in business for over two decades in the Granite City and St. Louis region. Unlike much of its competition, icon offers more than highly qualified and experienced customer service—their team joins with clients to provide unique and successful mechanical engineering, contracting and construction solutions.

For more than 25 years, Bay City Mechanical has provided a full suite of mechanical services throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Bay City Mechanical is proud to be one of the Bay Area’s largest and most innovative mechanical contracting firms. Bay City has been recently recognized as the 38th Largest Privately Held Company in the East Bay with approximately $81M in revenues from 2015. In addition, Bay City Mechanical has been short -listed in making the Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies List from SF Business Times in the Greater Bay Area for 2017. The results will be made public in early October.

Since 1967, DMG Corporation has been a leading regional independent sales agency for engineered HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) equipment. Representing HVAC systems and products that have been designed and customized to meet and exceed customer specific needs, it has become California and Northern Nevada’s first choice for HVAC systems and solutions.

Huckestein Mechanical Services, Inc. has a strong history of providing state-of-the-art, real world solutions to the challenges facing today’s businesses in terms of energy optimization, sustainability, and environmental awareness.

RELMEC Mechanical LLC is a mechanical contractor specializing in commercial Plumbing, HVAC and Piping Services, based in Cleveland, Ohio. This contractor’s work can be seen in buildings across the city’s skyline as there are very few buildings in which it did not provide the mechanical installation. The forward-thinking company strives to help other companies to improve the city it calls home. Business in Focus spoke with its President Layne Kendig.

ProAll is an award-winning producer of specialized concrete mixing technology. The company is based in Olds, Alberta but sells its equipment around the world. Its unique mixers have been used to fix airfields and build everything from skyscrapers to swimming pools.

CTLGroup of Skokie, Illinois is a leading consulting engineering and materials consulting and testing firm with a heritage spanning more than one hundred years. The company has worked on several noteworthy projects – including the tallest building in the world – and takes pride in its well-educated staff, comprehensive services and wide reach. CTLGroup enters its next century with a confident outlook and a plan to expand its services and personnel while enhancing existing facilities.

This year, Northeast Solite Corporation celebrates its seventieth anniversary in the lightweight aggregate (LWA) business, as its forward-thinking innovation continues to set the gold standard, globally. Its list of illustrious achievements where its products have been used includes the roof of the U.S. Capitol, 1.2 million Solite® concrete blocks in the Freedom Tower in New York City, and the deck of the original Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland – among others.

Locke Solutions works predominantly in commercial and industrial projects, from mixed-use developments to mega petrochemical facilities. The company provides solutions to engineers and contractors who are looking for more efficient and safer methods of construction.

The name Central Plains Cement Company is relatively new, having originated in 2012 when Eagle Materials Inc. purchased significant Midwest assets from Lafarge. Eagle Materials Inc. is one of the largest American-owned and operated construction materials suppliers. A locally operated subsidiary, Central Plains Cement Company headquarters is in the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area, and its two cement manufacturing plants are in Sugar Creek, Missouri and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Richard Goettle, Inc. is a design-build contractor that began as a small general contracting company in 1956.

Ben’s Structural Fabrication was founded in 1959, when skilled blacksmith Benjamin Schwartz opened up shop in Minnesota. Now, the Waite Park, Minnesota based business has entered its third generation of family leadership, employs 40 people, and serves clients all over the United States.

Texas-based Hauk Custom Pools is built on years of experience and works hands on with customers to help make their pool dreams come to life. Hauk Custom Pools is headquartered in the city of Celina and serves a majority of the north Dallas Metroplex.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has reported an increase in labour and subcontractor shortages across North America. They have stated that a periodic shortage has occurred from a low of 21 percent in 2012 to an escalating high of 56 percent in 2016.