All these can take a toll on any employee, presenting in the form of impaired mental health and overall well-being. Mental health issues are often overlooked in the construction industry. But they shouldn’t be – concerns about job safety and mental health are closely intertwined and will affect an employee’s overall state of well-being.

Signs of escalating stress can show up physically, psychologically, and behaviorally. Such stress can lead to depression and anxiety, and to drug or alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism. These in turn, can lead to accidents on the job site, illness, absenteeism, and presenteeism – being physically present but distracted and unfocused. A worker in this condition is an unsafe worker, who can cause injury not only to her- or himself, but to co-workers.

Proof of the seriousness of this concern comes from the U.S. Department of Labor in its statistics on the suicide rate among construction workers. A 2020 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that “Men working in construction have one of the highest suicide rates compared to other industries. Their rate of suicide is about four times higher than the general population.”

Unfortunately, few construction companies’ health and wellness programs tackle the issues of preventing suicide, controlling alcohol and substance abuse, and promoting mental health.

Fortunately, however, more companies are becoming aware that programs to foster mental well-being are a crucial component of their operations and their relationship with their workforce.

There is too often a stigma attached to mental health problems. Many skilled trades workers, especially males, tend to be stoic and perfectionist, not readily admitting to their ‘vulnerabilities.’ And males are less likely than females to seek help for mental health concerns.

This needs to change. Employers need to let their employees, at all levels, know that they’re in a work environment which promotes respect and that they’re encouraged to speak freely about any issues they may be experiencing.

Some construction companies offer mental health awareness programs and counseling, but it needs to go beyond that. Both companies and employees need a better understanding of how intricately mental health is bound up with worker performance and observation of safety protocols on job sites, indeed with the health of any construction company.

It’s important for supervisors and those in upper management to become familiar with and recognize signs of serious anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts in jobsite employees. Many such stressors go unreported.

According to the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP), the signs that are reliable indicators include decreased productivity, conflict among co-workers, injuries and near hits, decreased problem-solving ability and an increase in tardiness and absenteeism, for example.

The CIASP also has suggestions for companies wishing to support the mental health of their employees. These include taking inventory of what actions the company currently engages in, making a commitment to focus on the mental health of employees, and creating a plan of action that extends forward from this starting point.

Construction companies can build on existing practices and processes to include mental health awareness as part of their culture through such things as toolbox talks, staff meetings, and safety orientations.

Education and training can also come in the form of corporate and safety leadership, guest speakers from the industry, and seminars and webinars. It’s essential that discussion and education move out of the realm of shadows and become ever-present components of a company’s agenda, focus, and communications.

Sean Strickland, Executive Director of Canada’s Building Trades Union (CBTU) notes that “Canada’s Building Trades Unions have been leaders in apprenticeship, health, and safety training for over 100 years. Through our 195 training centres, we work closely with our contractor-partners to privately fund ongoing training opportunities for our members.”

He says that the construction industry is changing rapidly and that “ongoing, integrated training is key to having the best-trained and skilled workforce anywhere in the world. Health and safety is a cornerstone of the building trades. We have advocated, and will always advocate, proper health and safety training – including mental-health training and support – to ensure every worker returns safely home at the end of the day.”

According to Construction Magazine, “There is no doubt the construction industry cares for its people. However, we are at a critical point in identifying solutions to help workers resolve their mental health issues. More must happen.

“Increasing awareness and treatment of mental health are essential for workers who require sound minds and bodies to be productive at work and available for their families and friends at home.”

Mental health information needs to be incorporated into safety orientation for all employees to ensure those working onsite are equipped by this knowledge to work more efficiently and safely. Companies may also provide counseling through employee assistance programs.

Employees need to know what their specific roles involve and who they should be taking directives from while on site. Employees should “take regular breaks, which are good for both their mental health and physical health. But for preventative measures to gain traction, you need supervisors and managers to model self-care and take breaks themselves.”

Regular mental health check-ins also prove beneficial. Health Shield research indicates that “57 percent of workers would feel more loyal to their jobs, be more productive and take less time off work if their employer supported their mental health.”

For those employers concerned about their employees’ mental health, there are options available to address the issues, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

These options include free or subsidized clinical screenings from a qualified mental-health professional and a clinical referral when required, offering health insurance with little or no out-of-pocket costs for medications or counseling in mental health. Lifestyle coaching and self-management programs can also prove effective.

Other options can include the distribution of such materials as brochures, fliers, and videos to employees indicating the signs and symptoms of diminished mental health. Employers can make employees aware of self-management techniques such as breathing exercises, proper diet with discounts for healthy foods and supplements, and meditation (mindfulness) which can aid in improving focus and motivation.

Additionally, companies should provide quiet spaces for relaxation, offering flexible hours when possible, access to exercise classes, and allowing employees’ the opportunity to freely participate in decisions about those issues that precipitate and affect job stress.

It’s important to note that The World Health Organization estimates that “depression, anxiety disorders, and other conditions cost the global economy $1 trillion per year in lost productivity.”

Also, mental health challenges “can lead to higher health care costs for employers. Some employers may not be aware, though, of exactly how much mental health care drives up insurance costs,” according to a team from Tufts Medical Center Program on Health, Work and Productivity. “One estimate showed that an employed person with depression has an annual average healthcare cost of over $10,000, which is more than twice that of an employee without depression ($4,584).”

Many employers now have health offerings that include personal digital or virtual technology solutions such as smartphones, tablets, fitness trackers, chatboxes, and gamified exercises, for example.

Such digital solutions are available at any time, are anonymous and offer therapeutic solutions which enable help on demand ruling out the wait for in-person therapy.

“Many of our affiliate training centers utilize new technologies like virtual reality training to build the necessary skillset for apprentices to go on jobsites and work more safely. Virtual training, videos, online learning modules – they all make training more accessible, creating the right environment to have a safer workforce.”

The CBTU’s Virtual Recruitment and Assessment Portal (constructiontradeshub.com) “Provides a virtual learning portal for anyone going through their apprenticeship or interested in entering the trades to start their training today,” says Sean.

He notes that the CBTU has created free health and safety and online courses “as a direct result of training directors from across the country who have identified areas in need of improvement that we can address virtually, making the trades more accessible to all.”

Wearables and digital biomarker apps collect physiological data. An employee can use their smartphone to report on their mood at any given time or record their voice to determine their emotional state. Smart watches can monitor heart rate, body temperature and electrodermal activity to determine their current state of well-being.

The employment of drones to identify dangerous terrain can improve jobsite management and safety by eliminating an employee’s risk of exposure to dangerous environments before projects begin. Drones ensure that construction companies engaged in a high-hazard industry are implementing high safety standards.

Drones also enable a company to get an idea of how projects are progressing and make sound tactical decisions based firmly on data. Drones equipped with laser sensing and ultrasonic radar can detect site irregularities, providing contractors real-time information and reducing the risk to employees’ safety.

In large scale construction such as skyscrapers, for example, drones can regularly inspect for maintenance requirements and identify emergencies if they should arise. Sending employees to do this task can put them at risk, something every contractor wants to avoid.

In conclusion, a culture of caring for employees’ mental health and well-being, through various initiatives, is a business imperative for any industry, especially that of construction and its trades.

These initiatives need to come from sound leadership enabling employees to feel psychologically and physically safe at all times of the workday. Everyone wants to arrive home safely. They have every right to expect that.

The post Building Well-Being<p class="company">Mental Health and Wellness in the Trades</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Started by the acting president, Bryan Green nearly thirty years ago, Greenferd Construction achieves office renovation excellence by asking the right questions first. Is the client happy? What is the definition of success for each key stakeholder? Are their expectations being met? These are the questions that set the stage for every new project here.

“Greenferd not only builds exceptional office spaces; we also build and manage the high-performance teams that do,” says Scott Hledin, partner. As a result, there have been many proud moments over the years, such as completing Golder’s new 150,000 square foot office in a new LEED building, or the Globe and Mail’s new 81,000 square foot head office at 351 King Street East at 81,094 square feet, or Aviva Insurance’s new 275,000 square foot head office in Markham. Currently Greenferd is completing three floors for the Senior Executives of a major financial institution along with a mix of other exciting projects.

At the heart of this office renovator‘s success lies an approach to communication that drives everything in the firm. “We manage and lead high-performance teams, both internal Greenferd teams, as well as the teams of trades and professionals that are involved with all our projects. [They’re] diverse in terms of their make-up. Not just racial and gender-based diversity, but also of skillsets.” Hledin points out that the company’s diverse knowledge and skills base provides a fresh perspective on every project. It makes “sure that everybody’s ideas are heard because that’s how you get the best innovative thinking, teamwork, and collaboration on a project,” he says. “We call it, ‘The Collective Perspective.’”

To support the effectiveness of its approach, the company offers its staff comprehensive, formal leadership training. “Many of our competitors use the same trades. You wouldn’t be able to distinguish the end product that Greenferd built versus one of [our] competitors. We don’t design the offices; we only build them. Because of that, what we focus on is moving the client from today to project completion and the experience they have throughout that process,” he says. “The stakeholder experience is what sets us apart.”

Building the ultimate team is like an art form, one that the company has perfected over the years. The logic behind this becomes clear considering that, when projects hit a rough patch, everyone on the job is quickly tarred with the same brush. “No one’s going to say the project didn’t go well, but the electrician was terrific. That’s not going to happen. So we need the electrician to be thinking, ‘I need to do my best work and be timely so that the drywaller can come behind me and close up the walls on time, so that the painter can come in and finish his job on time.’ And then the overall project will be considered a success,” Hledin says. “Everyone succeeds together.”

Commitment to quality and effective communication are what the integrity of this entire process pivots on. The goal of each project has to be understood fully by each contributor, and this goal differs for every project. Some clients have precise deadlines, while for others, budget constraints override this, and they might prefer moving in later if that ensures cost savings. Other project owners value a hands-off experience that allows them their time and freedom to focus on running their own businesses, while others prefer to be intimately involved throughout the process.

“Understanding from the outset what a successful project is to everybody is important. A common goal is important on any team. It focuses the efforts and directs the actions of all the team members.” Hledin highlights the fact that, unless goals are communicated clearly and continuously, it is easy for trades and other project contributors to focus solely on their scope of work and not the overall success of the project.

By the same token, the spirit and enjoyment of projects are treated as crucial to achieving successful outcomes. Regularly focusing the team on the common goals is done in a motivational way that keeps contributors engaged and positive about the company’s projects. “Most of these trades work for my competitors as well. I want them to be excited to come to my team’s jobsite because they’re excited and motivated by my site manager. They know that they’re professional. They know that they’re going to build a team-oriented environment and be well-scheduled, working in a safe and clean environment so they can do their best work,” Hledin says proudly.

The company’s attention to even the smallest aspects of its projects is impressive. Greenferd Construction’s office staff is as attentive to the details that ensure optimum collaboration as its team members are working in the field. That includes taking into account exactly how clients prefer their invoices to be set up to avoid document returns and payment delays. Setting clear guidelines for speedy processing on clients’ information requests is just one of the secrets to running a smooth operation and something that this dynamic leader feels especially strongly about.

Comprehending the speed of information processing at the start of a project may seem simple but is important since establishing parameters help manage expectations and everyone can agree to these from the beginning. This acute awareness of and attention to the client experience also means that the entire process is made to be as transparent and seamless as possible.

Greenferd’s team of forty is the mainstay of its operation and also what sets it apart. It includes around seven project managers, twenty site supervisors, four project coordinators, five finance professionals, and an ever-growing close-out/customer experience team. Its values are based on being reliable, accountable, passionate about both life and quality construction, inquisitive, and caring about self and others. These are all people invested in making the world a better place.

As caring is a significant part of its ethos, the firm also helps where it can outside of its walls. One of its beneficiaries is the Pinball Clemons Foundation, a group that focuses on providing guidance, support and mentorship for Greater Toronto’s youth facing economic and social challenges. Some Greenferd team members even offer their time to be mentors, and in turn, Pinball Clemons himself regularly takes time to talk with the Greenferd team on how strong teams build strong communities. Additionally, Greenferd is also a proud Employer Partner of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion to further inspire inclusive work environments that mobilize the potential of individuals – and of teams.

Greenferd Construction also focuses on the future and is an early adopter of globally significant trends, like utilizing technology in construction to enhance communication for all stakeholders. That includes investments in OpenspaceAI technology at the onset of the COVID-19 restrictions. This technology comprises cameras that document and deliver on-site information to collaborators and project owners who may not be able to access the site. Very much like an intuitive “Google Street view” for your jobsite. This seamlessly integrates with specialized construction project management software called CMiC to facilitate information management among project stakeholders.

In addition, the company is also serious about the environment. Greenferd’s operations were certified carbon neutral in 2013 and the team also delivered the greater Toronto area’s first LEED Platinum commercial interior project over a decade ago. Even when clients are not aiming for LEED certification, the company still prefers to focus on best practices prescribed by the certification standards. Its openness to embracing new ideas makes it the darling of office designers that optimize work environments to obtain the best employee wellness, satisfaction, and engagement.

The business has enjoyed consistent and steady growth, even over the past few years of COVID-19 affecting markets. “We are constantly being introduced to opportunities to work with new companies. Our goal is to bring them into the fold and have them become repeat customers and deliver their version of success,” says Hledin. To this end, the company is continuously and selectively handpicking new team members. Greenferd seeks out new team members who are committed to unlocking their own potential, so they can lead and inspire high-performance project teams.

“As in many industries, consumers are becoming more discerning and have more choice than ever. That is why we feel that this personalized service of understanding what success means to each stakeholder and delivering that is essential to winning and creating new business moving into the future,” Hledin says.

By focusing on customer needs and establishing clearly communicated goals, project teams can deliver clients’ desired outcomes, and Greenferd Construction will continue to deliver next-generation office spaces for many decades to come.

The post These High-Performance Teams Win Client Loyalty<p class="company">Greenferd Construction</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Working primarily in its home province of Nova Scotia, the Dartmouth-based business also performs jobs in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. A general contractor focused on lump sum commercial, hospitality, and retail work, Seagate has honed a reputation for quality, professionalism, and on-time/on-budget project delivery.

Seagate was founded in 2004 by Robert Scammell. Co-owners today are John Fredericks, with Seagate since 2004, and Steve Harris, joining in 2011, who between them took over the privately held company in 2018.

Since then, the company has grown steadily, with the co-owners overseeing estimates and project management. As a general contractor, Seagate’s staff of 13 – including project managers, site superintendents, safety officer, administration and accounting – handles all aspects of every construction or restoration, ensuring works create minimal interruption and are completed to meet client schedules.

Loyal staff, loyal clients

“Robert [Scammell] was set to retire, and both John and I were long-term employees, so it was a logical transition,” says Harris.

“Everybody who worked with the company the day the ownership changed is still here. Since then, we’ve added to that staff. But we were left with a great, very qualified team of people, and they stayed with us. We’ve added to that staff with similar-type people who we feel are compatible, experienced, and are helping us grow.”

Building on the foundation they’d been given working with the previous owner, Harris and Fredericks continue to uphold the values they learned from close communication with clients, discussing projects, and building mutual confidence as they set scheduling and time frame targets.

They came to believe in the power of cooperation and collaboration; of addressing potential issues before they became problems through pre-construction consultation, meticulous design-build processes, and superior construction management.

“It was a very good, planned approach to the industry by the previous owner. We wanted to continue with that, and we feel we are. We’ve built a strong reputation in the industry, stepped up the volume a little bit, built some larger-scale projects, and are continuing to grow each year.”

Relationship building

Some general contractors do their job, and nothing more. The opposite is true at Seagate Construction, where Harris and Fredericks work non-stop at their relationships with clients, which sees them taking on work with the same customers repeatedly.

“The majority of our clients are repeat clients, people we’ve worked for in the past, and they are comfortable with us,” says Harris. “We have a strong reputation in the industry of being fair to deal with and producing quality work.”

The Murphy Hospitality Group, Value Village stores, Loblaw Company Limited, and many others have praised Seagate’s professionalism and respect for budgets, their work under tight deadlines, and their ability to handle the unexpected.

Prince Edward Island-headquartered Murphy Hospitality Group has retained Seagate for several projects, including the Gahan restaurant, Pickford & Black, and the Barrington Steakhouse & Oyster Bar. “Based on their experiences with us during those projects, they asked us to help them with the Nordic spa in PEI,” says Harris.

A work in progress, the Mysa Nordic Spa & Resort (https://mysanordicspa.com/about-us/) will become PEI’s first Nordic spa and resort. Built on 18 acres on St. Peters Bay, the project is slated for completion by early summer.

Renovating an existing resort with a lodge and some cabins, Seagate Construction is involved in many areas, including a new hot pool, cold pool, relaxation building, spa building, and more.

Why Seagate?

Clients seeking companies to handle commercial, hospitality, retail, industrial, institutional, and historic renovation works come to Seagate Construction for many reasons, including accountability. Taking on jobs valued from $10,000 to $10 million, Seagate prides itself on being responsible, professional, and able to face the challenge of working in and around occupied spaces.

“You have to be pretty cautious of everybody else in the area, tenants and whoever we are working around,” comments Harris. “Our goal with that is to minimize issues for our clients. If we’re not paying attention to the needs of people in an occupied space, it can cause a lot of problems for the client, and that rolls downhill.”

Known for its methodical planning, project coordination, and communication, “Seagate Construction approaches every project as an opportunity to create long-term relationships,” according to the company. From the first meeting, to discuss project outcomes, to scheduling and completion, Seagate works with clients every step of the way.

Citadel Hill Town Clock

A classified federal heritage building owing to its historic significance and associations, the Citadel Hill Town Clock is one of the most recognizable structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As an example of Palladian architecture, Parks Canada has described it as “characterized by a symmetrical and balanced composition, monumental scale and elegant proportions.”

An important part of Canadian history, the famous clock has been fixed-up over the years but hasn’t had a total renovation since the 1960s.

Seagate took on the renovation of the structure, including painting the entire exterior, attention to some copper roofing, and adding gold leaf to the ball on top of the clock.

For the clock restoration, the company retained the services of a local horologist to disassemble the clock and ship the parts away for re-plating and refinishing with 24-karat gold leaf on the hands and numerals. Completed in 2019, this important work took about a year from start to finish.

Building on trust

Aware that Seagate is only as strong as its people, the company works with its own tight list of qualified subcontractors when it bids on projects. “We typically do 40 to 50 projects a year,” says Harris. “Some are smaller jobs. In 2021 we did 43, and in 2020 we did about 30.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the construction industry was deemed essential. Although the pandemic created challenges, it also saw the company at its busiest in years. “I think once everybody realized the safest way to do things, we all moved forward as an industry, and I don’t feel that it slowed our industry in Nova Scotia.”

Growing at a controlled rate that’s acceptable to management, Seagate is bringing new staff to the business in the right numbers to ensure that the company can keep its performance steadily moving ahead.

“We’ve had a little growth bit by bit each year and we want to continue that,” says Harris, “but again, we want to do it smartly. It’s easy with the way the markets are right now. Volume-wise you can grow as much as you want because there’s ample opportunity. But if you get it, and you become too busy, then you don’t do that work as well as you should, which also has financial implications.

As we grow, we keep adding, but not taking huge jumps at a time – we’re trying to be strategic about it all.”

The post Serving Atlantic Canada<p class="company">Seagate Construction</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Russell currently has a labor presence in more than fourteen U.S. states, building industrial and federal government facilities, schools, hotels for multi-national chains, and much more.

President Caitlin Russell describes the company as a “customer-centric solutions provider in the built environment space. We provide anything to help make [projects] happen,” she says.

This means that the team identifies clients’ exact needs, whether that be suitable land, scrupulous real estate brokers, or building plans. “We differentiate ourselves by [leaving] the box. We are very partner-based throughout our organization,” a key element in any project’s success, Caitlin adds. The company offers real estate development, Virtual Design & Construction (VDC) technologies, and more, including experience in LEED-certified and Green Globes construction, giving the team a thorough understanding of environmental stewardship on mainstream commercial and federal projects.

At present, Russell is celebrating several recent mergers, including the acquisition of a St. Louis-based contractor with a 100-year legacy almost two years ago. In January 2022, Russell acquired Olathe, Kansas-based Merit General Contractors, founded by Don Crabtree in 1991. Russell also added several key players from Manning Construction to its Kansas City outfit only a few weeks ago in a bid to continue expanding its presence throughout the Midwest. “Looking to provide [opportunities] for our people is what it comes down to,” says Caitlin. “We have a strong team member base, and they [always want] to do more and grow themselves. We feel that growing as an organization gives people opportunities for individual and [professional] growth.”

Russell was founded in Iowa in 1983 by Caitlin’s father James Russell, who is also father to Sam Russell, the Director of the Kansas City operation. Company legend has it that the firm’s accountant counseled caution after its first five years in business, nudging Jim Russell to move onto perhaps more lucrative pursuits. Luckily for the company, Jim Russell would hear none of it and persisted in following his passion.

Today, the company is proof of what faith, commitment, and determination to succeed can do for anyone with a dream. It also helps to have a team behind you. As it happens, Caitlin and Sam’s grandmother was their father’s first member of staff, helping out both in the office as well as financially, in the early months.

To “grow the firm, we had to take on projects outside the Quad Cities. We travel for work and our clients, and we are very proud of [our repeat client] metric,” says Caitlin, pointing out that today, as much as forty percent of the company’s revenue is earned in areas beyond the borders of its hometown.

The secret to its flourishing trade is deceptively simple. “It’s important to have cultural alignment with the client. We always want to bring the right team members to the table to best serve each client,” she adds.

Considering this robust and transparent approach to meeting clients’ needs, it is no wonder that clients report an appreciation for Russell treating their money as if it were its own. “That’s impactful to me because that’s how we want our clients to feel. We want them to feel like we are an extension of them. We have their best interest in mind, and we’re there to provide them with the opportunity to make decisions. It’s not our end product. This is their money and their product. We’re there to help them through that process,” Caitlin says.

The result is that large companies like Cargo Largo, a 65-year-old player in the City of Independence’s local retail and e-commerce market, trust Russell to build the infrastructure they need from which to expand their commerce and territories. As director of the Kansas City operation, Sam Russell shared some of the features of this most recent flagship project with us.

Measuring in at around 630,000 square feet, the facility’s design for its handling and conveyor systems is impressive. It includes distribution spaces, warehousing, call center capacity, light manufacturing, functional areas for retail and e-commerce, enough room for auctions and business-to-business / business-to-consumer sales venues, plus ample and organized car and truck parking lots.

The Cargo Largo project “is a built-to-suit building for a unique client that [resells] retail, repackaging and then selling unopened boxes to the general public,” he says, adding that the team broke ground “just over two months ago. The expected completion date is in March of 2023,” showcasing the great speed at which a project of this size can be completed by the team. Dee Pack, the owner of the Cargo Largo project, could not be happier.

“It’s all about performance. Russell/Cargo Largo is consolidating six locations into one [to expand] our capacity to serve. The stakes are high,” says Dee. He is especially satisfied with the team’s flexibility, knowledge, and that everyone is committed to finding solutions to challenges. “We need a partner who can deliver the job on a basis that allows us to maintain the high service levels we provide [to] our audiences. We chose Russell because of their personnel’s proven track record delivering similar [buildings] to quality, timeline, and budgetary expectations,” he adds.

Finding the right people for every position throughout an organization is the goal of every good company around the globe, and Russell attracts and retains innovative team players with integrity. In return, the company offers a flexible work environment where accountability and engagement rank high. Caitlin’s father “deserves a lot of credit for being adaptable and looking forward to change. That is what allowed us to grow and take on new projects and add team members,” she adds.

Universal paid time off is also flexible, allowing “adults to be adults,” as the president puts it. She also remarks that staff members do not take enough vacation, despite having the freedom to do so.

The company believes in making the recruitment process smooth to get new employees trained, on the team, and working as soon as possible. “Team members are a reflection of us. They are the people that repeat clients come back for. When you think of Russell, it comes down to our people. They’re the ones making the impact on all these people,” says Caitlin.

To support its people, the company gives them what they need to thrive so that clients will have the best experience when working with the company. “Giving people the autonomy and the tools to be effective is key to our success,” she adds.

Taking care of its people’s safety is also a big deal for a company that works to ensure its customers’ and its staff’s well-being on every project. “Safety is our number one core value. [It] is above all else when it comes to what we do. [We make] sure that everybody’s going home, and that everybody’s working safely,” says Sam.

This is about more than the physical safety of staff and site visitors. Russell recently started putting increased importance on good mental health and wellness. “COVID highlighted the challenges [that] the mental state can have on safety. We just recently revamped our core values, and that was one of the things that we as a team thought was important to add,” says Caitlin.

By paying for any type of counseling that any members of staff or their families may need and by providing an in-house coach to support professional growth, the company is exhibiting a genuine commitment to the future and happiness of its team. Because, after all, recent years have taught us that unhealthy mental states can cost people their lives, and this is simply too high a price to pay when intervention is readily available and free of the stigma that historically hounded those who received counseling.

The company encourages people to make sure “that they are taking care of their mind as much as they are of their bodies,” Caitlin says. She proudly illustrates that the team’s much appreciated “desire to innovate and be better than they were the day before,” are stand-out traits that make the Russell team tenacious and dynamic which meant a lot when COVID-19 raised challenges.

However, COVID also provided an opportunity to prepare the company for any similar situations to come. Thanks to being on top of all the latest technology that makes remote work possible and the personal commitment and drive of each team member, the company could trust each employee to help pull through what was, and remains, arguably the toughest economic challenge of the past decade.

The experience has also led to Russell future-proofing its operations in ways that enable it to responsibly grow its stakes in the United States’ construction market. Now it is set to continue growing its teams and providing them with everything they need to continue providing customers with the best service.

The post This Contractor with a Difference Makes Projects Happen<p class="company">Russell</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Founded by Craig Bromell with the sole objective of improving the lives of men and women in the construction industry, the Union’s mission is to protect, develop, and strengthen the professions of its members while emphasizing the importance of safety and working conditions. This also involves growing as an organization through involving members at all levels, and representing all members by advocating for legislation that affects their working lives in a positive way.

“The Building Union of Canada was created to be a real alternative to the big unions that have dominated the construction industry in Ontario,” says Dannis Koromilas, Director of Communications. “Although public unions in Canada get a lot of attention due to their massive numbers, the construction industry is also an integral part of our economy, and historically, the 100-year-old unions that represented the trades ushered in landmark changes to our industry, which built our cities and made Canada what it is today.”

With an aim to bring back a balanced relationship between the owners/builders and the men and women who actually perform the work that’s essential for bridges, roads, buildings and homes, the BUC was officially certified as a wall-to-wall Trade Union In 2012, meaning it was legally allowed to represent all trades.

“This did not get a lot of notice, as many industry skeptics and some major unions predicted we wouldn’t survive a year,” says Koromilas.

In reality, the BUC just proudly passed its 10-year anniversary on March 27, 2022, and is growing its numbers every month.

“This hasn’t been a meteoric rise for us at the BUC, but simply organic,” adds Koromilas. “Every company that has joined us, whether they have eight employees or 128, has committed to being represented by us with a very intense transparency and frank negotiations; as they, the owners, realized, their employees have a voice and the will to determine how to improve their lives.”

The BUC has defied many odds over its first 10 years, he adds, and its track record at the Ontario Labour Relations Board supports the Union’s claim of conducting itself honestly.

“We have never wasted our members’ money in frivolous exercises for the sake of stalling legal votes that our members have executed to prove their conviction to become members of the BUC,” Koromilas says. “I’m sure a lot of unions that dwarf us in size can’t make that claim, and their legal departments can’t offer any support that they do the same.”

The BUC strives to achieve the best for its employees, whether in terms of working conditions, income, equipment, or retirement benefits, and conducts business in accordance with the ideals vital to the union’s existence and future development in all actions and operations. Its message emphasizes these ideals, and every union decision, action, or endeavour is shaped by them, including total transparency in corporate operations and recognizing and valuing the uniqueness that each of the organization’s members brings.

To that end, members are involved in the planning and running of the union’s operations, and members of the Executive Board are held responsible for their acts or inaction. Above all, the BUC teaches members they are a part of something larger and more powerful than themselves.

Offering a pension fund, a benefit fund, and trustees, the BUC also doesn’t have any outstanding debt, unlike some other unions. The BUC approaches negotiations in a pleasant and proactive manner, building on the organization’s reputation and experience to achieve desired outcomes for all parties concerned. However, when fighting for the best interests of the union members, leaders won’t back down. The BUC also guarantees no strikes and no labour disturbance, preferring to embrace the mentality of working issues out with owners.

Growing from a few hundred members to more than 1,000, the BUC has a lot of room to effect change while also growing its membership, and aims for non-union businesses that have shown an interest in making changes that will benefit from the BUC’s services. The union has also made it a goal to develop in a scalable manner in order to ensure the organization’s future strength and viability without taking on debt.

Perhaps the BUC’s greatest victory on behalf of its membership came at McMaster University around 2014. While the cleaners and custodians of the university were way behind contemporary rates of pay, says Koromilas, more concerning was that the female employees were being compensated approximately 30 percent less than their male counterparts.

“One of our directors, Peter Foulds, met this challenge head on and we succeeded in rectifying this glaring inequity,” he says. “More than 100 employees were awarded not only back-pay, but between 30 percent and 44 percent wage increases in that battle. That might be a high-water mark for us as a union,” Koromilas shares.

“I just want to add that the majority of the workers we went to bat for were single mothers, Eastern European immigrants that were historically intimidated or ignored into never raising a voice of dissent or opinion,” says Koromilas. “I remember that even our President, Craig Bromell, delivered a very direct speech to the entire workforce, and basically told the male employees that if they had a problem with the campaign at hand and what we were trying to accomplish, they could leave then and there.”

Challenges abound in any industry, but for the BUC, one in particular is known as Open Season, when between March 1 and April 30 all unions are allowed to “raid” the memberships of competing unions.

“We feel this is a very negative and toxic exercise, and would welcome a better format for skilled people, or even those just entering the workforce as labourers, to determine their fate,” Koromilas says. “The Building Union of Canada would support any new framework that empowered the members of any union to instigate or at least explore a change in their union representation.”

As it stands, he says, for two months of every three-year cycle, absent or invisible union reps appear on job sites which they have not been present on for 2.5 years, and either promise unrealistic things, or worse, threaten their own members who might consider other options.

“It becomes very clear, and heavily documented year after year, that the Open Season breeds too much unnecessary conflict and intimidation, and ultimately is a waste of time, union resources and money for the sake of keeping the status quo, regardless of the satisfaction or true happiness of those men and women in the field.”

The pandemic has also negatively impacted the industry, and the BUC is determined to help address that going forward.

“Depending on what studies you read in respect to the state of the industry, Ontario alone will need between 175,000 to 300,000 workers to catch up with the need of housing and development, let alone to sustain it right now,” says Koromilas. “So the one thing that all trade unions share now is the lack of a labour force to keep up with the realities of a world-class city like Toronto, let alone the surrounding cities that have been developing faster than at any other time since the 1950s.”

Several other unions have approached the BUC over the years to express interest in forming a coalition in the future, recognizing the BUC’s strength and influence in the industry and its ability to get a better deal for men and women in the trades by creating working connections with its partners. Not only does the BUC save time and money for builders and contractors and improve working conditions and the bottom line for all parties involved; it also saves money for the taxpayers by being able to bid lower to win contracts on government projects.

Rather than fighting with builders or other unions, the BUC believes collaboration is key, an approach that is definitely garnering attention as the organization works to make worker safety a priority while improving salaries and pensions.

“The Building Union of Canada has always prided itself on defending and protecting their members throughout the course of their collective agreements, week by week, month by month,” Koromilas says. “We are small and perhaps boutique, but our members vouch for us, and we have survived and thrived because of the loyalty and faith they have shown us.”

The post State of the Smaller Union – Bringing Balance, Safety and Strength<p class="company">The Building Union of Canada</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

“We’re focusing on the same thing we’ve always focused on for the past sixty years, which is customer satisfaction and continued success,” states Daniel Pereira, Director of Tenant Fit-ups and Renovations.

The company serves clients from “Kingston to Petawawa to Cornwall. That little triangle of Eastern Ontario is predominately where we work. We do occasionally cross over the border into Gatineau, Quebec,” he continues.

Commercial work, which can involve offices and retail, and institutional work, which can involve hospitals and universities, bring in the most revenue at present. The company also serves the residential, industrial, and multi-family markets.

The firm has three main divisions: tenant fit-up and renovations, building restoration, and environmental services and disaster recovery.

The tenant fit-up and renovation division covers general contracting and construction management. The latter involves managing on-site operations and serving as a liaison between the trades and the client. Construction management assignments typically involve “larger-scale projects—usually over $5 million.”

Services rendered by this division include estimating, scheduling, budgeting, site safety, design-build, computer-assisted design, site management, risk management, and environmental work. Anything involving drywall, flooring, electrical, or mechanical is usually subcontracted out.

Building restoration involves concrete forming, finishing, placing, and restoration. This division excels at structural repairs, cladding restoration, waterproofing, parking garage restoration, building envelope repair, caulking, and masonry. For the most part, these services are done in-house. “On the building restoration side, we pretty much self-perform everything,” says Pereira, noting that the company has “multiple crews.”

Most services performed by the environmental services and disaster recovery division are also self-performed. This segment deals with burst pipes, drain and sewage back-ups, wet or flooded areas, water-damaged floors (including carpets, concrete, and hardwood), mould inspection/testing/remediation, biohazard cleanup, emergency roof repair, air duct cleaning, demolition, rebuilding, and more. Working closely with insurance companies, staff members provide a twenty-four-hour emergency hotline and speedy response time when contacted.

“A lot of the workers we have within that division are fully trained for any type of [hazardous material] they might run into—asbestos, silica, lead,” he says. “We’re fully trained and certified to handle pretty much anything in the event of a disaster.”

With its comprehensive capabilities, Bassi can provide start-to-finish service. “We’re vertically integrated. We’ve been involved at the inception of a project before there’s any physical construction happening. We give feedback to the engineers, to the consultants, architects, and ultimately, the client. We pride ourselves in adding value to our customers, to make a project cost-efficient and feasible,” Pereira states.

Highlights of the company’s portfolio of work include a big project at 473 Albert Street in Ottawa that involved gutting a former commercial site and transforming it into a residential building. Another high-profile project took place at 99 Bank Street, Ottawa. This twenty-two-week initiative involved demolition work and the construction of new office space for a high-profile accounting firm. “It was a good project,” recalls Pereira, of the 99 Bank Street assignment.

Winning such work is even more impressive given Bassi’s very humble origins. It traces its roots to 1957 when Mario Bassi immigrated to Canada and began working as a mason in Ottawa. A few years later, after establishing himself in his field, he decided to launch the company that bears his name. Control eventually passed to Mario’s son, John Bassi, as the company continued to expand.

In late 2016, Bassi partnered with Mosaic Capital Corporation, an investment company, to further strengthen the company’s growth. The continued success of Bassi is built on its focus on personal relationships and excellent service.

“A lot of our customers have been repeat clients from Mario Bassi’s time,” states Pereira, adding, “We find the same repeat customers coming to us because we ensure a high level of customer satisfaction. Trust goes a long way. Repeat clients are really our key to success. Our slogan is, ‘Built on a tradition of trust’ so that goes hand in hand with factors for our success.”

Bassi Construction is bonded up to $125 million, and all of the company’s employees are insured and licensed by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario.

The firm has met stringent requirements established by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration (IICRC), a Vancouver-based non-profit group that sets industry standards. It currently has IICRC certification for several positions including water restoration technician, fire restoration technician, and applied structural drying technician.

Like every other company in North America, Bassi had to cope with the unexpected scourge of COVID-19. The company lost some work in the commercial sector due to the virus.

“COVID was obviously a bit of a hurdle for the past two years,” he says, adding that the company was fortunate in “being able to pivot towards institutional work, which we didn’t have five to ten years ago. We have a good footprint now in the market here in Ottawa. It definitely kept us going through COVID.”

When the pandemic struck in early 2020, Bassi Construction became one of the first in Ottawa to adopt physical distancing rules. Sanitation efforts were enhanced, COVID self-assessment tests were implemented for employees starting their shifts, and masks were introduced. The firm did not lay any employees off, although some staff took reduced hours.

“We had a cohort of people working half-time. Everybody was on board. We all understood the financial stress this disease was bringing to the industry,” notes Pereira. As a result, “Ontario’s Ministry of Labour identified early on that Bassi’s protocols were industry leading and have used them as an example for other construction companies to follow.”

The company has roughly 150 employees, up from around 130 to 140 this time last year. When it comes to new hires, it prefers hard workers with a construction background and a dedication to doing their best. It helps if potential hires are familiar with smartphones, laptops, and other electronic devices. “Over the last twenty years, there have been significant advancements in technology in the construction industry. Emails and streamlined electronic platforms and software—you can address issues and problems much quicker now with your project team,” he says.

Bassi Construction tries to instil a safety-conscious mindset in everyone it hires. It is implementing tenets of the Certificate of Recognition (COR) program—an initiative run by an Ontario organization called the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA). The COR program involves strict health and safety management protocols. Some Ontario municipalities have established COR registration as a prerequisite for contractors who want to bid on projects. The company’s goal is to reduce or even eliminate workplace injuries.

“It’s difficult to get [zero injuries] in construction—accidents will always happen but how we mitigate risk and control hazards is key. Educating employees is the biggest contributing factor to minimizing lost time at work due to injuries,” notes Pereira.

He describes the corporate culture as family-like, befitting its heritage as a family-run company. This family ethos extends to involvement in community and charitable events. The company has made donations for a children’s hospital initiative designed to replace communal toys for kids in recovery with single-use activity books as shared hospital toys have become a no-no, due to fears of COVID transmission. The company also supports food banks, and at a special Easter fundraising event earlier this year, staff who donated non-perishable items were invited to toss an egg at the company director of their choice.

The firm also strongly advocates for raising the number of women working in construction. “Promoting women within our company as well is a big priority for us,” he adds.

COVID fallout remains an ongoing challenge that “affected the entire industry. Right now, we’re still feeling the after-effects, especially in the supply chain. Cost-of-material increases over the past two years have definitely been above the norm when it comes to wood and steel. Materials that used to take six to twelve weeks turnaround are now taking twenty to twenty-six weeks to receive,” he says.

For the next few years, the plan is to maintain evenly-paced growth, with a focus on Ontario markets and stellar customer service.

“Growth is great. Exponential growth is scary, especially if it’s not controlled. We know what works. We’ve done very well to last this long. I don’t see myself going Canada-wide within the next five years. We want to keep delivering excellence to the core group of clients we have. Word of mouth gets out quick. Our client base will slowly expand, and we’re perfectly fine with that,” states Pereira.

The post From a Small Family Firm to a Vertically-Integrated Enterprise<p class="company">Bassi Construction</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Champion Bridge Company credits its employees for the company’s remarkable longevity. Estimator and Project Manager Noah Dell emphasizes “how appreciative we are of all the employees that we have working here now and all the employees that have participated in our hundred and fifty years. It really does come down to the people that have been here and the people that are here now. We are very grateful for them. That especially starts with my dad [and Champion owner] Randy, who has been here since 1977. Definitely a core figure in the company.”

Champion is ringing in its 150^th with a complete rebrand, updating its logo and colors and creating anniversary-specific materials to market and commemorate the momentous occasion, including producing a book to preserve and showcase Champion’s story, complete with photographs. The book will give a snapshot of the company’s history with a focus on the last fifty years. “It should be a nice publication that we’re going to put together,” Dell says.

In September, Champion will host a big open house with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the community, subcontractors, and suppliers to attend. The anniversary celebrations will culminate at the end of the year with a company dinner where the team will reveal the 150^th anniversary book and hand out awards. The goal will be to acknowledge “individuals in the company that are exhibiting core values to a high degree, that are setting the bar for us,” and to encourage the team to maintain those core values “for the next one hundred and fifty years,” says Dell.

After a century and a half in business, Champion has plenty of projects to highlight. One of the most remarkable is the Martinsville Covered Bridge. Built in 1871, the quaint, wooden bridge is still in use today. “They’ve done a good job preserving the history of that bridge,” Dell says. “It’s neat to know that there’s still some bridges standing that are that old.”

Champion completed the Snow-Reed Swing Bridge in 1925 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “They’ve also done a great job of preserving that one, and it’s a historic landmark in Florida,” Dell says. “This bridge is actually still operational, where they can actually turn the bridge, pivot the bridge, so boats can go down through the canal and then it can rotate back to allow for traffic.”

After constructing historical landmarks as well as lesser-known bridges for its first century in business, Champion’s focus transitioned to structural steel, primarily supplying contractors throughout Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus, Ohio. “We pretty much got out of bridge-building entirely by the 1970s,” Dell says.

The company has a proud track record of commercial building fabrication over the last fifty years. One noteworthy recent project is the Laurel Oaks school addition with Dugan-Meyers/Megen Joint LLC. The construction required 360 tons of structural steel. Champion’s sixteen-person team was particularly enthusiastic about this project because it took place in their community.

“It’s right here in our hometown,” Dell says. “Community development is a big deal for us so it’s always great to have local projects.” Located “just a couple of miles down the road,” some of the company’s welders have even attended the school. “So to be able to participate in building their school was a fun project to be a part of, and architecturally, [it] is a very unique job that really stands out, is very attractive, and really shows off the craftsmanship that our guys can do today.”

Champion also supplied structural steel for Kinetic Vision’s new, custom-built $11 million facility in Cincinnati, which was inspired by Northwest architecture and combines large expanses of architectural metal panel, porcelain tile, and traditional brick. This was “a large job, unique job, and a very pretty job,” Dell summarizes. “It exhibits the type of stuff we build.”

A large project currently in progress is for the new Mercy Health hospital, which will require over 400 tons of structural steel, and an even bigger project is on the horizon. It “is a job that we are going to be doing this fall and it’s over 900 tons of structural steel [for] a large cardboard recycling plant that’s going in down in Kentucky,” Dell says. “That’s by far the largest contract that the company’s ever done. It’s so neat to get that one booked and will be a fun challenge this summer to get all the work done.”

Champion embraces the latest technology to ensure the best outcome on all the company’s projects, and 3D software is just one of these technologies. “One thing that we definitely are taking advantage of more and more is all of our projects are designed three-dimensionally in 3D software before they ever hit the shop floor,” Dell explains. “Historically we get the design drawings in a 2D format, and then we create the three-dimensional model, and then it goes back to two-dimensional for our shop drawings.”

Now, however, the company is making the 3D model a priority, and, the team is sending the 3D drawings into the field along with the standard 2D renderings to give contractors, subcontractors, and employees “a much quicker and better feel for what it is we’re building than just looking at a two-dimensional piece.”

The impact is noticeable and immediate. “Utilizing that model definitely has advantages,” Dell says. “Just today I was looking at a project that is in process and I was looking through the model and I realized that they had some connection design that I really don’t like, that I would rather go with a different option, and to be able to just quickly glance at the model and note those differences and be able to see it and then talk to detailers about changing it before it goes to fabrication—it is definitely very helpful and it has a big impact on what we do.”

Currently, Champion is in the process of transitioning to fabrication management software. “The goal is to have it completely implemented, released in the shop and throughout the business operations, this year,” says Dell. “That’s going to enable us to have a lot more real-time production information, so we can keep track of schedules and keep track of material and do a better job of recording the time it takes, so our estimating becomes more accurate and then our schedules become more accurate. And that software also really ties into and works well with three-dimensional design software that we use.”

After a century and a half in operation, the team is eager to keep the business moving forward. One major goal is to expand the company’s workspace. “We’ve been in the current facility since 1893 when we built it,” Dell says. “We’ve tripled production over the last five years, and I feel like we’ve really kind of hit that ceiling with the current facility as it is. We just don’t have more room to get more and more steel out the door.”

The team is currently considering “the quickest, most affordable way to expand our capacity,” with the goal to “keep growing and keep serving our customers.” With such a long and storied history to build upon, the company certainly has a lot to look forward to, including huge potential for ongoing growth.

The post 150 Years and Counting<p class="company">Champion Bridge Company</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

ProPart Modular’s answer to the challenge of keeping quality construction affordable and fast is System 40™. This versatile and patented wall system is environmentally friendly, clean, and offers major cost savings. This means that the end of one configuration or project is simply the beginning of another.

From its base at a modern 25,000-square-foot facility in Burlington, Ontario, ProPart Modular has operated mainly in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) area for forty-one years. The company has also sold its ready-to-assemble kits to several industries internationally, and it is now looking to team up with industry partners from all over North America.

Requests for the company’s ingenious System 40™ started rolling in from across the continent catapulting it from a thriving local modular construction outfit to a modular wall system manufacturer to watch in as little time as it took COVID-19 to disrupt supply chains across the United States and Canada.

“Through the pandemic, we had quite a few companies reach out [due to] material shortages and supply chain issues. We started shipping our product to various customers in New Brunswick, British Columbia, [and elsewhere] just in kit form, and then they found local installation services,” says President Ryan Frankland.

This new demand became a growth opportunity that allowed the company to expand its reach.

Keeping the wolf from the door during times of transition all comes down to planning, as one longstanding automotive fabrication client could attest when its in-house floor space requirements dropped significantly due to technological advances in its manufacturing systems. The ProPart modular team was at the ready to reduce the number of walls to suit its needs, while the salvaged materials were repurposed elsewhere.

“There are a lot of cost savings over the lifespan of a business. Things are going to change, and it was highlighted by this pandemic,” Frankland says.

The company’s products are incredibly versatile. From office partitions and interiors to industrial plant solutions, controlled environments, and prefabricated buildings, System 40™ is fast becoming the favourite of architects, designers, and engineers across the continent. Currently, clients in Ontario benefit from comprehensive services that include design, supply, and installation, while trade partners further afield can order complete System 40™ kits for self-installation.

“We provide material and support around the clock for a seamless installation. We received high accolades in reference to saving the customer much time, money, and potential hardship,” Frankland says proudly.

The product is easy to order and lends itself to smooth design and project management. Of its current projects, about sixty percent focus on re-configuring systems installed in the past. This includes a client that is reconfiguring existing modules and expanding into a new 8,000-square-foot modular cleanroom.

The product “is green, clean, reusable,” says Frankland, and since it lasts, “It also brings great connections with customers.” In the process, trade partners now can offer their customers a state-of-the-art modular solution that performs to top standards.

“I call it a win-win relationship. They have a new avenue of business, and we have more people we can help. The goal for us is to expand our geographical reach through partnerships,” Frankland adds.

The company works hand-in-hand with clients to create the perfect fit for each modular construction it installs. Its system is easy and clean to erect, without the rubble and dust generated by conventional construction and drywalling; therefore, customers can be back in business in no time.

As all construction elements are provided by ProPart, there are no trade-related delays either. Its fast-to-erect panels are joined with no mechanical fasteners. The corners offer airtight seals, making it perfect for clients that require standards as demanding as the International Standards Organization (ISO’S) Class 7 certification for cleanrooms, for instance. The panels are treated to keep contamination build-up as low as possible while having a fire resistance of at least one hour.

For North American businesses that value environmental stewardship, the SYSTEM 40™ is surprisingly ecologically-responsible and is deemed a sustainable building method. It takes the metal from only eight recycled cars to erect sufficient metal framing for a 2,000-square-foot construction.

Frankland joined the company in 2007, starting in the sales department and advancing from there. With the sad and sudden passing of his father around nine years later, he took over the president’s chair in November 2016 and is grateful today for the lessons learned back then.

The company itself is the direct result of System 40™. The product was developed toward the end of the 1960s but the company took over the wall system when it opened its doors in 1981. Its legacy of teamwork survives to this day.

The ProPart team is a tight-knit group of nearly thirty dedicated industry experts, and that dedication shows in the length of tenures that typically stretch over several decades. “We follow our values. Growth, respect, integrity, and, the most important one: teamwork,” says Frankland, who notes that the company fosters a “very family-like,” atmosphere since “everyone’s been around each other for such a long time.”

He also points out the importance of hiring to support and deepen the culture of a business. One of the firm’s secrets is the amount of work that goes into understanding its people’s personalities and how they work together best. The company wants to set itself “up for success, so culture is very important,” he adds.

That includes its continued culture of embracing change. As the construction industry rallied to mitigate the effects of supply chain issues, ProPart Modular proved that thinking out of the box is vital in responding to current markets. The company will continue honing this aspect in the same way its systems allow clients to be flexible, passing on benefits and growing alongside them.

Any architects, engineers, general contractors, integrators, dealers, et cetera that are interested in a potential partnership, please reach out directly to Ryan Frankland @ partners@pro-part.com.

The post Durable, Fast and Flexible: A Modular Wall System That Embraces Change<p class="company">ProPart Modular</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

The company traces its roots to German founder Sabine Presch, supported by her father Peter, an early leader in German polyurethane chemistry. After operating and growing the business for twenty years, Vancouver-based Pender West Capital Partners acquired the business from Sabine in 2008.

Dinoflex has continued expanding its product lines to cater to multiple markets around the world. Although there have been bumps along the way, the market appears to be solidly embracing its business model of sustainably sourced rubber. “2020 did not come without its challenges given the COVID pandemic; however, our strategy enabled us to emerge from it quickly realizing significant growth in 2021 and now halfway through our fiscal 2022 year,” states Chief Executive Officer Mark Bunz.

The company’s primary advantage is in its manufacturing process. Unlike most recycled rubber products which are manufactured in cylinders, the company’s products are fabricated and molded in block format. Rubber’s natural elasticity causes cylindrically-formed rubber to continuously want to revert back to its original form, but as a result of Dinoflex’s manufacturing process, that never happens. The company’s ‘Made Flat, Stays Flat’ guarantee ensures rapid installation and that the product will never curl for the life of the installation. “This gives our customers peace of mind that for the life of their Dinoflex flooring they will not have the liability of curling edges or corners which can cause significant injury,” explains Bunz.

Dinoflex’s stringent sourcing of its materials has helped it manage production costs despite rising prices. “Our investment in automation and our relentless focus on continuous improvement has enabled us to limit what we pass on to our customers while keeping our business viable,” Bunz says. “We have also engaged alternate sources of raw material supply that meet our specifications, which has created some relief on increases simply due to a more robust competitive landscape.”

Dinoflex can work with a wide array of clients through its custom solutions capability. Typically, a rolled good manufacturer requires a minimum of 2500 to 5000 square feet for a custom order. At Dinoflex with block manufacturing, clients can create a custom colour for as little as 300 square feet.

“The water jet cutting of material also allows the company to cut logos and patterns, further demonstrating its versatility. It can even match speckled patterns, creating custom flooring guaranteed to fit with a client’s existing flooring with minimal variation.

As a result, the company has gained valuable contacts among architects and designers worldwide and is able to work with clients of all sizes. The company’s Colour Innovator is tailor-made for these professionals, allowing them to create their own inspired flooring designs using over 60 different EPDM color pantones along with its black rubber crumb.

Whether curated or custom colours, the result is a diverse product catalogue suitable for all manner of applications. Products can be installed for indoor and outdoor use and have earned their reputation through their durability, combining the ruggedness of harder materials with the pliability and comfort required for high foot traffic.

A recent development, the Vulca-NO! product line provides a non-vulcanized flooring solution with all the durability and quality of vulcanized rubber. Being non-vulcanized, it is also LEED credit generating and FloorScore-certified, ensuring clients share in Dinoflex’s commitment to sustainable manufacturing. FloorScore is an indoor air quality certification that was developed by SCS, a sustainability standards organization, and the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI), a flooring manufacturers and suppliers industry trade association.

Other product lines reflect the company’s tradition of creating flooring for high-intensity areas like gyms. Its Stride, Sport Mat, and Next Step lines particularly suit the high shock absorption and fluid repellent properties required in such venues. For less intense applications, Nature’s Collection blends reclaimed rubber with sustainable cork to provide depth and texture, and Evolution brings together all qualities into one tile: sound dampening, durability, traction, and comfort.

Dinoflex’s outdoor product lines are no less robust. PlayTiles reduce injuries in outdoor play areas with a fall height of up to 12 feet, and NuVista is an esthetically pleasing rubber paver tile that provides year-round durability making outdoor spaces more liveable.

A recent example of Dinoflex’s versatility and precision manufacturing is a new wing at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Arizona. Being a hospital, it required flooring capable of accommodating massive daily foot traffic, and the designer selected a custom design incorporating many colours and shapes to cheer its young patients. Thanks to its custom capabilities and wide product selection, Dinoflex provided a highly customized floor that undoubtedly will last for decades.

Now, it is continuing its commitment to sustainability with new product offerings made from its industrial by-products. No manufacturing process is perfect in any industry, and waste is inevitable. Post-industrial waste is being used in the creation of rooftop tiles and impact-resistant backing material for its Next Step High Impact line, further enhancing its durability while preventing more rubber from reaching landfills. Additionally, the company is using its by-product rubber as a base layer for pour-in-place playgrounds, an internal idea. “It’s creative thinking from our team that keeps us on the forefront of sustainability and helps us eliminate any post-industrial waste from entering our landfills,” Bunz remarks.

Dinoflex will be introducing new underlayment and cargo containment product offerings this summer which will be available in a 4’ x 6’ format with thicknesses of three and five millimetres. The underlayment is designed to provide support under carpet, luxury vinyl tile, or other rubber floorings. Combined with its robust product line, it is sure to continue the company’s track record of solution based, high-quality products.

All research and product development is done entirely in-house, as Dinoflex’s talented team uses its skills to create new and better products. Haskell says the process reflects the company’s commitment to quality and precision. “It’s very methodically done at Dinoflex, to make sure when we launch a product, it’s a good launch with a quality product,” she says.

Modernizations and investments in automation at the main plant will boost productivity and improve worker safety now and into the future. The company has been investing in automation since 2018 when new investment incorporated robotics and automation into its manufacturing process. This allowed Dinoflex to increase capacity to meet market demand and create opportunity for a more diverse workforce throughout the organization.

The company “will continue to do whatever it takes to meet current and future customer demand while being true to our core values; Safety Above All, Customer Intimacy, Business Innovation and Extreme Ownership,” Bunz says.

Haskell elaborates that advances in automation continue to boost production while maintaining staff levels and significantly reducing potential workplace hazards. “For Dinoflex, it’s all about safety,” she says.

As Dinoflex looks toward another thirty years, the company is assured of its position due to its long history, unique product line, and thirst for innovation. As Bunz reports, the company intends to stay true to its values and become a globally recognized brand. But beyond the business focus, its team enjoys being part of a new, more sustainable economy.

Haskell says that Dinoflex is graced with exceptional business partners around the globe, and everyone on staff relishes the opportunity to go beyond merely making money to generating a positive impact. “It’s a wonderful feeling to work for a company with such a far reach that’s doing some good for the environment,” she says, “because everybody appreciates that.”

The post A Better Floor for a Better Tomorrow – Sustainably Sourced, High-Quality Rubber Flooring<p class="company">Dinoflex</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

This was the environment Alex Dabelstein stepped into when he began selling safety helmets seven years ago for the Italian-based manufacturer KASK. “There were basic $15 construction hard hats or $130 safety helmets, and virtually nothing in-between in the North American market,” stated Dabelstein.

A lot has changed in head protection over the years and customers now have a broader variety of products at their disposal. New companies, who saw the gap in products, entered the category, some developing helmets for the first time. “While choice is good, there are many new entrants who do not have the breadth of knowledge that KASK has. They focus on the market opportunity, where we focus on getting workers home safely,” continued Dabelstein.

As Vice President of Sales for KASK Safety in America, Dabelstein knows firsthand the amount of research and development that goes into every KASK helmet. Becoming a leading provider of head protection didn’t come overnight for KASK. It was years of research, learning from other categories, investing in new materials, and continually refining products based on a passion for understanding the needs of the end user. “At KASK our sole focus is head and face protection. With three offices worldwide, we get entrenched in local markets, and this requires us to be experts in the relevant safety specifications, and also requires us to understand the demands of the wearers of our products,” commented Dabelstein.

Known worldwide for its unsurpassed quality, impeccable design, and commitment to innovations that benefit their users, the KASK brand has become synonymous with the finest head protection available. Founded 2004 in Italy, with a focus on performance helmets for cycling, KASK officially launched a Safety Division in 2009 – a natural evolution as that was the original background of its founder. A year later, to better address the need for better head protection in North America, the company created KASK America Inc. As of 2020, KASK sold over 1 million helmets, has over 20 patents for helmet innovations, and can be found on every continent in the world.

In the safety category, KASK helmets like the Zenith X and the Superplasma are used by workers in a variety of demanding work environments for daily head protection, and more importantly, to protect against slips, trips, and falls – a common cause of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) and the leading causes of death on American construction sites. Additionally, KASK designs helmets that recognize the diverse needs that construction workers face every day – for example, the differences between someone working in construction on the ground versus on a tall building where weather, wind shear, and even ‘helmet whistle’ are issues. “If you’re doing a concrete pour 20 floors in the air, how wind and weather interact with that helmet is a big deal,” remarked Dabelstein. “KASK is investing the time and resources to figure out how these pieces come together.”

Unlike other helmet manufacturers who produce limited types of helmets, KASK is active in both the sport and safety categories. The company’s sport division designs helmets for cycling, skiing, and equestrian athletes – such as the Protone, Khimera, and Dogma lines. KASK draws on research from all these product lines to bring innovation to the safety market. In cycling, summer races demand solutions for heat and sweat management. When racers go down, they are more likely to experience side impacts. Skiing is high-wind, and low temperatures. Skiers are more likely to be subjected to sustained impacts to the front of the head. Both cycling and snow sports are high-speed and high impact activities. Additionally, the intersection of aerodynamics and wind shear affect performance in significant ways.

Other lessons for KASK came from the equestrian line. The activity of riding a horse is highly dynamic by its very nature, thus it requires a sophisticated retention system that is still comfortable to wear. Additionally, equestrian athletes may fall from a much greater height. Once on the ground, riders may be subjected to the focused impact of a horse’s hoof. “Looking at different helmet categories and learning from them allows KASK to protect people across a number of performance environments. Whether you are winning medals inside a finished stadium, or hanging iron to build that stadium, you’ll find KASK. From ‘Medals to Metals,’” stated Dabelstein with a grin.

Sometimes these cross-category innovations have allowed KASK to launch updates of existing models. In early 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, KASK made the move to update the flagship Zenith helmet. Although the team received some pushback from customers, many of whom were ardent Zenith fans, they pushed through with the Zenith X. “Our customers told us ‘don’t fix what isn’t broken.’ But we simply couldn’t help ourselves. Over the years, we discovered some improvements that could make the Zenith exponentially better. Tradespeople build the world around us. We owed them the best helmet we could make,” said Dabelstein. At the time, the Zenith was the best helmet in the market, but that was not enough for KASK. The team wanted to make the best helmet possible.

For KASK America, under the leadership of CEO Fabio Cardarelli, even the smallest details matter, since they affect the performance of both the helmet and the user. Cardarelli stated, “KASK thrives in performance environments where details matter and seconds count. Enabling performance, especially in high-risk environments, requires special attention to the safety, comfort, and design details of our helmets.”

This is especially important in construction, where men and women wear safety helmets for hours at a time. Long days mean greater exposure to hazards, and a greater need for the product to be comfortable. KASK believes quality design delivers a product that users want to wear, while also reducing the total cost of ownership for companies. To drive value to customers, KASK has worked to make the helmets as modular as possible. An example of this is how the company has refined how accessories are attached so they can be easily replaced, realizing they will be subjected to sand, mud, aggregate, and other abuse.

“We owe it to our customers to create a modular design that allows for pieces like visor attachment points, headlamp clips, and inner paddings to be replaced easily,” said Dabelstein. “You can’t expect someone to throw away a helmet because they can no longer attach a visor or headlamp to it.”

The modular design strategy on the company’s helmets is also used for KASK’s accessories. Users can choose from numerous accessories from categories that include eye protection, face protection, hearing protection, and weather protection. Many of these can be purchased as kits or as individual pieces, further lowering the total cost of ownership while increasing worker performance.

“We continue to learn and adapt every day. We are always asking questions and seeking feedback. When you have a clear mission – in our case enabling performance while preventing traumatic brain injuries – magical things can happen,” explained Dabelstein.

The pandemic did not change KASK’s mission or strategy, but it did impact their Made in the USA project. In 2019, before the pandemic, KASK began working on adding a production facility in Chicago. “It was a very strategic decision. It is an ideal location from a geographic standpoint, but it also gives us access to a great deal of manufacturing talent – which is essential as we continue to grow our product offering throughout the region,” said Diego Zambon, General Manager of KASK. Plans to get the Chicago facility up and running by early 2020 were unfortunately delayed in the face of supply chain disruptions and logistical concerns.

This April, KASK announced that the Zenith X safety helmet is now proudly being made in the USA at its Chicago facility while the Superplasma will be a product of Italy, assembled in the United States. This is a key point of difference for KASK, which remains committed to transparency – the same cannot always be said for the competition, who say their helmets are ‘Made in the USA,’ but with global materials. “It was important to us that the Zenith X was actually Made in the USA,” explained Dabelstein.

Looking ahead, KASK committed to continue developing superior-quality head and face protection products to meet the highest of safety standards – and making more of them in Chicago. “Though new products and new competitors will come and go, KASK will be here, continuing our core message and trainings about slips, trips, and falls, which are the leading causes of death on American construction sites. Sadly, a lot of these still come from traumatic brain injuries,” concluded Dabelstein. With more than 25 new models launched in the last five years, and more on the way, KASK will continue to manufacture products that raise the bar for the industry.

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