Safety is always an important issue in construction. This field consistently falls in lists of the Top Ten Most Dangerous Jobs, so safety can’t just be a buzzword that comes up every once in a while. Along with delivering quality projects, meeting expectations, and fulfilling warranty obligations, construction companies must build a reputation of safety to win contracts.

The physical risks to workers are real and result daily in painful, costly injuries from falls, dropped objects, struck-by accidents, and the like. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed earlier this year that occupational fatalities in construction were up in 2020. So how can you avoid being part of this trend?

Redefine the meaning of team
Any employer or supervisor knows the value of teamwork in accomplishing goals, whether it’s to meet a tight deadline or raise money for a local charity. When a group works together with the common goal that everyone goes safe home at the end of the day, you’re very likely to see a decrease in injuries, not to mention a boost to morale and productivity. Have you ever stopped to think that the people you consider as part of your team can go beyond the people who work for you?

It’s becoming prudent to include your suppliers as part of the team you count on to maintain safety on the job. When choosing suppliers, seek out qualities in them that you look for in any people that you hire, like experience, efficiency, and availability.

“You don’t compromise on your workers’ safety. Your suppliers should respect that and do what they can to help you maintain it,” says John Mazzarato, Construction Vertical Manager with Würth MRO, Safety & Metalworking (MSM) Division, who’s been working with the construction business for thirty-two years. “Würth MSM is that supplier, the one with solutions and success stories to back it up.”

Expect know-how
Experience matters in construction. There’s no doubt about that. Projects are varied and getting more complicated every year. When you have a supplier who understands your job and its challenges, you’ll have more than a supplier; you’ll have a partner. Look for someone who has successfully contributed to projects like yours to be part of your team.

Würth MSM has had contracts with construction projects for decades. As part of that, they’ve been lending their expertise to assure their customers have proper, OSHA-compliant personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep their people safe on their jobsites. This is only made possible by keeping up with best practices, which MSM’s team takes seriously. Their SafetyCheck® Hazard Prevention Program’s Safety Assessment Team works with companies to create healthier, more productive workplaces. Their comprehensive approach brings them to the customers’ sites to do training, identify risk through exposure monitoring, and perform job safety analysis. They can address specific concerns like fall protection with leading-edge PPE or collaborate with management on a corporate-wide campaign to improve safety culture.

Additionally, being a member of the Würth Group, the world’s largest industrial fastener distributor, means that Würth MSM is part of a global network that includes Würth Construction Services, a division of Würth Industries North America. They have manufactured and supplied fastener components for building structures like the new World Trade Center in New York City and the Salesforce Tower in Chicago.

Ease the supply chain
Hiccups happen. Is your safety supplier ready? Can you depend on them to assist? If you don’t have the PPE that you and your crew require, that causes a barrier between your team and their goal to work safely. To be a member of your team, your supplier should be able to ship you a dozen visitor hard hats ASAP when you find out that there’s a corporate entourage coming to the site. A distribution center that’s well-stocked and nearby gives you confidence that they’ll be able to send you what you need when you need it. Recognizing this demand, Würth MSM continues to expand its nationwide footprint with warehouses coast to coast.

At a time when it feels like we’re all doing more during the workday, it’s crucial to seek out advancements in purchasing technology to help you save time. In their DirectConnect™ Inventory and Procurement Solution, Würth MSM offers customizable online ordering platforms that are designed to meet the diverse business needs of construction companies, large and small. They’ll put all of your requisite, pre-approved products on a custom website for you, which you and your designated buyers can view with your quoted pricing. This isn’t a catch-all list of your frequently ordered items; you can have as many custom product collections as you need, for different departments, locations, trades, et cetera.

Ordering isn’t just easier; it’s more secure. This peace of mind is a major selling point for a reason. In case you’re uneasy about handing over some of your procurement duties, you can implement order approvals for dollar amounts that you deem higher than normal. You can further schedule order eligibility. For example, employees are eligible to order footwear on a yearly basis and gloves every three months.

Along with time-saving efficiencies, your vendors should provide technology solutions to ease your recordkeeping duties. In response to their customers’ varied business requirements, Würth MSM created DirectConnect’s Analytics Solutions. This software, backed by SAP and Power BI, eliminates many traditional spreadsheet tasks like monthly purchase totals and year-over-year purchasing variance. With this customized data reporting, which is automatically emailed monthly, you can better monitor spending, spot trends and anomalies, and avoid budget overruns.

About those visitor hard hats, Würth MSM’s Custom Express Printing program can add your logo or safety message to hundreds of safety products, including hard hats. Their professional in-house team can perform pad printing and screen printing along with embroidery, signs, and custom decals. While other vendors take weeks to send out orders, they can deliver in days.

On budget and available
As inflation continues to jeopardize budgets, you should be able to count on your vendors to provide opportunities to save money as much as possible. Controlling your PPE costs is easier with Würth MSM’s exclusive NSI® Brand Products, which span nearly twenty product categories and include construction staples like disposable coveralls, cut-resistant gloves, and high visibility safety vests. Their studies show that customers save around 25 percent when they choose this proprietary product line. Launched two decades ago in 2002 with a vision of providing quality at a more economical price, NSI® Brand Products are used by 70 percent of their customers. In the last few years, the line has expanded beyond PPE to include janitorial supplies, tape measures, and slings.

NSI® Brand Products not only deliver value but are another vehicle to minimize the worry of today’s prolific supply chain. Würth MSM has a dedicated Procurement Team for this product line. They keep a watchful eye on inventory levels and are cognizant of world events to help them monitor variables like raw material availability with the goal of keeping their nationwide warehouses full and ready to ship.

It’s well known that employees appreciate the value that their company places on their safety. As it gets more and more difficult to find qualified trades to be on site, going the extra mile in safety is a smart way to keep good people. Unsafe conditions are a huge red flag to someone who’s counting on a 40-year career. A seasoned tradesperson can easily take their skillset to an employer that understands the value of reducing accidents on the job. Again, it’s good business for construction companies to promote safety and that’s more easily accomplished when the entire team, suppliers included, contributes.

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And, like most industries across the board, technological advances are changing how construction sites operate.

One of the most fascinating developments is the field of wearables for safety and precision. Smart watches have been around for a few years, but there are other wearable items coming to market. Exoskeletons—sometimes called “bionic suits”—may play an increasing role as the construction workers age, for example.

These bionic suits, first developed by the military, comprise metallic frames that workers wear to provide support during strenuous tasks and help prevent injuries. Imagine workers that have near robotic strength, making lifted objects feel much lighter and easier to maneuver.

The frames are also set up with mechanical muscles that mimic a person’s skeletal and muscle structure, designed to move the way we do when we’re doing any physical job. In healthcare, the suits have been used to help with stroke recovery, so patients wearing them during physical therapy can regain limb strength training on a treadmill. More advanced suits can even help people who are paralyzed with walking and mobility.

New measuring tools have also been appearing and making an impact on construction sites for years. A tool that can now be commonly found is laser levels. By using light emitted from one end, laser levels create a visual chalk line that allows workers to quickly align and level areas as much as 100 feet away.

Some are also equipped with self-levelling sensors that boost accuracy. Ultimately, they shine a dot or a line (including a 360-degree one) for builders to lay out a site design faster and more accurately.

In an article for Electrical Contractor, Erik Charpentier, facilities instruments product manager of Fluke Corporation, talks about the advantages of these devices: “Laser distance meters make the user’s job faster and easier by performing a number of math calculations for the area, volume, addition and subtraction of measurements, minimums or maximums, Pythagoras calculations, and saving the results, eliminating transcription and reading errors.”

Construction tools are not limited to those found on the ground. Drones are now being put to work on construction sites. From above, they map out construction zones, cutting down on a significant amount of time by sweeping the topography of a particular site.

Also, from their vantage point, drones are positioned to do an overhead inventory of where all equipment is located on a site. Beyond these uses, drones can play a role in structure inspection, photography, and worker safety.

Another important tool is the video camera. An alarming stat from the National Equipment Register is that more than $300 million worth of construction equipment is stolen each year. Cameras providing constant surveillance help reduce instances of theft, and by adding artificial intelligence (AI) to the equation, cameras can identify suspicious activity around equipment on a site and alert security.

The planning stage of a project needs to be thorough and detailed before any construction takes place. But there is a real challenge in translating plans, models, and schematics into an actual building. That’s where building information modelling (BIM) can make a difference. This is a process that incorporates digital representations of buildings with 3D models that allow everyone involved to see the end goal they’re all working toward. In addition, changes can be made to the model in real time and sent to all team members for feedback and updates.

To make the most of this process, virtual reality (VR) can also be used to assess how a project is shaping up on a construction site.

A California Polytechnic State University case study looked at West Coast general contractors BNBuilders using VR to visualize the builder plans, correct any potential errors in real time, and keep costs down during construction. According to Senior Project Engineer Evan Horn, it’s clear that virtual reality models are especially helpful for the type of work being performed. “The model saves the project thousands of dollars because it eliminates the need for full-scale mock-ups of the workspaces.”

In addition, the authors say, “The model provides a detailed representation of what the workspaces will look like and have the specified equipment loaded into it. It gives the end user the opportunity to be involved with the design process and see if any component will be a problem in their day-to-day activities.”

AI is becoming more common in the world around us, from healthcare to cars, and the construction industry is well suited to benefit from AI because of the importance of data. Through all the steps that go into a building project, there are a series of decisions that take place from planning through execution. The power of data through AI can make the decision process more accurate and efficient.

While AI is continuing to evolve, it offers many potential benefits to the industry. One of the more intriguing benefits is how it can reduce waste and improve efficiency.

In an article by the consulting firm Deloitte, the company comments on the use of AI specifically in the construction and infrastructure industry: “The last five years have seen AI and advanced analytics gain traction in the industry. Investment in data analytics has the potential to realize value throughout the project lifecycle.”

The lifecycle includes design, bidding and financing; procurement and construction; operations and asset management; and business model reinvention and transformation.

As Deloitte explains, AI and advanced analytics provide real-time insights that help negotiations with suppliers through image-recognition algorithms delivering on-site measurements. You can avoid costly slowdowns due to errors in calculations of materials.

The technology can also manage the organizing of tasks and prediction of risks with real-time models for events such as localized storms. If you know ahead of time what’s coming, you can prevent damage to equipment, structures and materials. As American architect Frank Lloyd Wright famously said, “You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledgehammer on the construction site.”

Beyond efficiencies, AI can also be used to reduce risks and improve overall safety on construction sites. Cameras can maintain an unblinking eye on the site. When combined with AI they can detect unsafe behaviour and alert people to potential hazards before an accident occurs.

Not only does technology change how construction sites work, but changes to construction machinery are also having an impact. While many will walk past a site, see a bulldozer, and believe it’s basically the same machine they would have seen on a construction site some 30 or 40 years ago, that’s far from the reality.

Today’s machines are remarkably more sophisticated, precise and efficient. Forbes magazine notes how advances in machines are changing how construction gets done: “Increasingly modern machines and equipment are adding various sensors to help with overall function and operation of complicated and expensive machinery. These sensors can monitor a variety of different conditions relevant to construction such as temperature, engine condition and aspects of application of materials.”

The sensors also combine with AI to monitor the machine itself in real time. They provide data that are processed and used to predict potential problems, delays, and even potential malfunctions. This all means less downtime, deadlines achieved, and project costs saved.

In comparison to other industries, construction may have been a latecomer to incorporating technology. But innovations and advancements are now reshaping the industry, from planning to building. And as construction companies continue to invest in technology solutions, the industry will accelerate its productivity, become safer, more cost-effective, and better for us all.

The post Bionic Suits, Drones, and Laser Beams<p class="company">Welcome to the New Age of Construction</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

While there are countless contributors to the construction of any project, subcontractors are responsible for the actual construction activity. They provide the labor, the materials and take on much of the risk to bring projects to completion on time and on budget.

Richard Bright, Chief Operating Officer of the American Subcontractors Association (ASA) notes, “Everyone thinks the owner funds the job when in reality, they’re certainly providing the initial investment but the subcontractors are the ones that go on and build the building and pay their employees for their labor and buy the materials ahead of time, so essentially our members are funding the job.”

Bright explains that, “Subcontractors are providing the labor to build the project and get paid after the fact, so we’re bidding on the future and waiting to get paid on the work we’ve done,” which can equate to a major strain on cash flow and can threaten the economic wellbeing of the company.

Strength through representation
Representing 34 chapters nationwide, including nearly 3,000 members and 6,500 contracts within those member companies, the ASA provides representation, advocacy and education for its members to ensure its vision of “better construction through fair construction” is realized. This means addressing the issues of the day and preparing for what is to come in the future.

ASA National President, Rusty Plowman, serves as Vice President of Delta Drywall, Inc. Plowman explains that currently, “Issues include ‘paid if paid’ clauses in contracts; slow pay as the economy is moving toward a recession; getting paid for change order work on projects; and the slow process of receiving written change orders from general contractors on projects.”

He adds that, “Some states need reform on retainage from ten percent of the total contract amount and the lengthy amount of time to collect it (sometimes over a year),” which impacts cash flow.

If that wasn’t enough, subcontractors are battling what previous ASA President Brian K. Carroll, a Board Certified® Construction Lawyer with Sanderford & Carroll, referred to as “The Big Three”: supply chain delays, labor shortages and price escalation of both labor and materials, matters that were exacerbated by the pandemic and rising gas prices.

As Carroll says, “There is zero certainty that when an order is placed that the delivery date has any chance of actually occurring. Suppliers are refusing to lock in prices and owners are refusing to agree to escalation clauses, which forces the subcontractors to carry the risk of escalation beyond what is included in their bid pricing.”

He adds, “As to labor, the market continues to be very tight with a premium for skilled and even unskilled labor in certain markets. This makes it challenging to take advantage of the amount of work available.”

Currently, members have a sufficient backlog, but as Bright notes, “The question becomes, as costs increase and delays happen because of supply chain issues or [labor challenges], do contracts get put on hold? Do they start to get cancelled because the cost of doing them is exorbitant? So, in other words, we’re busy now, but the worry is in the future.”

This is particularly challenging as some projects are bid on years in advance without price escalation clauses or force majeure language included in the contracts that account for increases in price that are beyond a subcontractor’s control. Through the provision of contract language, negotiating tips, and education, ASA works to ensure that its members are able to self-advocate and negotiate contracts to include things like price escalation clauses for themselves.

From Plowman’s perspective, “The ASA is instrumental in providing the advocacy and legislation to address all issues pertaining to poor contract terms and practices in the industry. Members have access to pre-written contract language to help them negotiate fair contracts and protect their best interests when undertaking projects.”

A voice at the government level
One of the most valuable resources ASA offers is the protection of its members’ interests through government advocacy. As Carroll explains, “ASA has had a number of victories this year in the advocacy realm whereby ASA is shaping the statutory and regulatory framework to allow for a more level playing field for subcontractors in the construction realm.”

The government advocacy work of the ASA is especially important given the passage of the historic $52 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS), which will have significant implications on its members and the industry.

“The IIJA includes substantial funding for federal highway, transit, highway safety, and rail programs, along with investing in new infrastructure projects across the nation,” notes Michael T. Oscar, the ASA’s Director of Government Relations. Additionally, the IIJA included an ASA-supported provision directing the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to ensure public-private partnership (P3) projects using Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act (TIFIA) financing have appropriate payment and performance security bonds.

The same can be said about the CHIPS Act, though it is less substantive in scope and reach. It will lead to the construction of facilities that will mitigate the shortage of semiconductors and the impact it is having on supply chains globally, and again, will put ASA members to work.

“Beyond our legislative efforts at the federal level, ASA supports its chapters at the state and local levels of government.” For Oscar, “We believe if we can effect change at the 30,000-foot level—that is working with the federal government—then that precedent will eventually trickle down to the state and local level impacting our chapters and membership.”

Whether it is a retainage issue in Colorado, prompt payment matters in Pennsylvania, or concerns about public-private partnerships in the D.C. Metro Area, ASA stands up for its members wherever they are.

Looking forward
For Bright, “Looking forward and having the ability to look forward is important,” and this is especially true as the economy enters a technical recession. As such, ASA is already getting ahead of the curve to prepare its members to navigate potentially challenging times.

Beyond economic challenges, Carroll notes that, “Going forward, it will take some of the best and brightest to take the industry into the future as we continue to evolve with environmental concerns, population growth, and innovative new construction technologies,” and luckily, ASA will steadfastly be there to represent its members regardless of the challenges they may face.

“We’ve overcome many legislative, regulatory, and political hurdles in the past and we’ll continue to overcome them in the future,” says Oscar, with optimism backed by confidence that the Association’s members are poised to ride out the challenges and make the most of the opportunity before them, with the resources and support of the ASA.

The post Bidding on the Future<p class="company">American Subcontractors Association (ASA)</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Canam Steel Corporation (CSC) fabricates the largest selection of steel joists and decks of their kind in the industry for clients like steel fabricators, general contractors, developers, and project owners, completing around 4,500 projects annually. Steel joists are used to span long distances and create wide open spaces for both roof and floor structures. Steel deck is used on top of joists, beams or other structural members to support the roof system or floor slabs. Both the joist and deck components are custom designed for each customer as loading and geometric requirements are unique to each project.

The company’s premium steel fabrication work graces the roof structures of many of America’s largest retail spaces, warehouses, and distribution centers, making it an integral part of nearly every American’s shopping experience.

Headquartered in Point of Rocks, Maryland, CSC’s six fabrication locations include facilities at that site and in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, and New Jersey from which it serves every U.S. state. “CSC is a U.S.-based company with 100 percent of our fabrication at six U.S.-based manufacturing facilities. We are 100 percent focused on the U.S. market and are creating American jobs as we continue to grow to support continued development throughout the U.S.,” says Michael Martignetti, Vice President of Sales. He has been with the company for twelve years, working his way up after starting in the engineering department.

The original company was founded in Quebec, Canada, in 1961. Back then, its joists were shipped to New England while the company grew quickly thanks to the dedication and hard work of its owner-family. In 1984, Canam was listed as a public company on the Canadian stock exchange. Robust growth through acquisitions and expansions followed. Until it returned to being a private company through American Industrial Partners (AIP), a private equity firm headquartered in New York City.

In 2020, the company’s founding family and some Quebec investors opted to buy the Canadian operation from the now-parent company, leaving AIP with full ownership of the United States business. That is how there came to be two Canams, causing misunderstandings for some. This split resulted in a name change, making CSC (Canam Steel Corporation) the recognizable American company operating entirely independently from Canam Group in Canada as a fully-fledged competitor in its own right.

Today, says President and CEO Taylor Cole, “CSC drives the development of the commercial building landscape across the United States though custom engineered and manufactured open web steel joists and deck products. We do this through the adherence to our key values of industry safety leadership, quality in all that we do, respect for all stakeholders, integrity in our actions and a relentless pursuit of continuous improvement.”

Since supply chain shortages mushroomed across the globe in the wake of COVID-19, Martignetti confirms that “the construction of warehouses has just absolutely boomed.” Some of the reasons he notes for this phenomenon is the rapid growth of e-commerce which he believes to be set for another ten to twelve percent growth moving toward 2030. This comes as retailers now strive to meet the consumer’s demand for quick home delivery despite fragile supply chains.

“For every billion dollars of e-commerce sales, you need about one million square feet of warehouse space, so that sector is growing significantly. Our industry, in terms of demand… doubled overnight shortly after the COVID lockdown started,” he adds. This sudden turn of events brought tremendous growth along with it for CSC.

As the reshoring of manufacturing feeds overall growth of local manufacturers in many places across the United States, the demand for large manufacturing facilities with wide open spaces continues to increase. Despite the supply shortages of 2021, CSC is still thriving thanks to the fact that it has strategic relationships with most of the U.S. steel mills. This turned out to be a tremendously powerful strategic advantage that has stood the firm in good stead, giving CSC the flexibility to choose where to procure the optimum steel for their production. Today, material supply issues are, for the most part, a thing of the past, with extensive backlog being the only current challenge.

As fortune would have it, however, construction schedules are somewhat transient, often freeing up stock and time at unexpected intervals, allowing the team to increase their flexibility to meet customers’ shifting demands. The company’s operations and employee count have also expanded rapidly over the past two years.

“Like in most industries, people have been the hottest commodity,” says Martignetti, noting that a great deal of effort goes into “recruitment and compensation. We put a lot of focus on how we can attract people, improve the work environment, and provide opportunities for career growth.” The effort is yielding results as the company has grown its staff count from 800 to 1,200 in only twenty-four months.

“Over the past 18 months we have made substantial investments in our people and facilities,” agrees Cole. “The competition for people is unyielding and these investments have been crucial to us being able to attract talent in a very tight labor market. Without this focused effort to be the employer of choice in the markets where we operate, we would not have been able to meet our customers’ expectations over the past two years.”

Martignetti describes the company’s team as one big happy family, and the significant length of most people’s tenures stands testimony to the fact. That, of course, contributes to its expertise pool that benefits clients in the best of ways. “They have a wealth of knowledge and have a lot to offer our clients and the design community. [Our team] has also been very adaptable during COVID. We did not miss a beat. They were very flexible, working remotely,” he says.

To continue yielding the same quality results that made it an industry leader in the first place, the firm is finding its sweet spot between having experts on site when needed versus being off-site when not necessary.

CSC designs, engineers, and constructs significantly more than just retail spaces and warehouses. It also does complex roofs and ceilings for churches, schools, and other buildings that sometimes require steel joists with unique geometric shapes or oversized depths and/or lengths, with some being over 10 feet deep and up to 200 feet long. It quickly becomes evident that challenges in engineering, design, and fabrication do not deter this team of industry experts.

Martignetti highlights another plus for CSC as, unlike a steel mill subsidiary, there is no urgency for it to sell as much steel as possible. Instead, its mission is to add as much value as possible to the steel it buys from steel mills while maintaining the high standards set by industry organizations such as Steel Joist Institute (SJI) and Steel Deck Institute (SDI). The company is a certified member of both. CSC is known for doing business with environmentally responsible steel mills. It also ensures that its cutoffs and steel scraps get recycled.

The team is as adept at collaborating with designers from a conception phase as it is with getting involved in ready-to-build designs. It is as much “an engineering services company as a steel products manufacturer. Each project requires products that are custom designed for the specific loads and geometric restraints of the project. We have a team of over one hundred engineers and drafters. [Several] of whom have been in the industry for many years. CSC is not afraid of complex projects,” says Martignetti. The team is well-versed in assisting customers with achieving their desired outcomes within their budgets.

This unwavering commitment to customer service has led to some impressive projects. These include high-rise towers, of which One Vanderbilt and Manhattan West in New York City and 110 North Wacker, and 320 Canal in Chicago are prime examples. It has also contributed to stadiums and event centers like the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta and American Dream in New Jersey. Then there are the structures CSC has completed for well-known automakers, electric vehicle fabricators, and other goods manufacturers.

Considering the next few years and how it will take on the future, the company’s leadership agrees that growth will remain strategic with a focus on its American customers and their needs. “First and foremost,” says Cole, “is helping fuel the expansion of the nation’s infrastructure that started in 2019. Reshoring of manufacturing, increased needs for more logistics hubs / warehouses due to the growth in e-commerce and new construction of public and private commercial buildings are all exhibiting a trajectory that extends well into the future. That projected growth drives us to be better every day through the continued development of our teams, improvements in operating equipment and efficiency gains to streamline our operations.” CSC will continue to take on complex design challenges to offer steel solutions to building America’s future.

The post Raising the Roof – Proudly American and Growing<p class="company">Canam Steel Corporation (CSC)</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

President and Chief Executive Officer of the Alabama-based company, Claborn and his trusted team, including wife Monya, brothers Shannon and Stephen, and children Heath and Heather Lang, have taken Cornerstone from what was essentially a broker in the early days to an industry leader with a staff of over 40 within just five years. Key hires have included COO Joseph Hargrove and CFO David Watts. “They have been a driving force in our growth,” says Claborn. “Their leadership and our vision have allowed us to grow and maintain our focus.”

Key acquisitions
Of the early days, Claborn says that, “We didn’t make anything; we would purchase various parts, then engineer and install those items.” Soon, it made sense to Claborn that the company should grow through a series of strategic acquisitions of businesses that aligned with Cornerstone’s goals and vision, including lock companies, electronics integration providers, metal fabricators, and more. These acquisitions include electronics security company E.O. Integrated Systems, Inc. (EOISI); precast concrete products manufacturer RW Modular; security electronic company Com-Tec; and CM Security Windows. In some instances, acquisitions have included companies under the same umbrella, such as Norment Security Group, Inc., based in Montgomery, Alabama. The acquisition of Norment—which specializes in security electronics integration and detention equipment—also included lock manufacturer Airteq and security electronics division Trentech.

Through its sister company, Claborn Manufacturing, the company provides comprehensive products and solutions, such as custom-designed and manufactured hollow metal doors, ceilings, frames, windows, security furniture, and more for detention centers. And just last year, privately held Cornerstone gained RW Modular, LLC, a well-established and respected contractor and manufacturer specializing in precast concrete products. Often, Cornerstone’s acquisitions also include staff, and Steve Weirich, previous owner and President at RW Modular, joined Cornerstone as Executive Vice President of its new modular division.

For Cornerstone, the purchase of RW Modular made good business sense, as the two worked together for years on detention construction and installation projects. Cornerstone’s “most impactful acquisition,” RW uses molds and fabricates concrete cells on site, up to large quad cell modules, which include four cells in one pour. “They are precast on site, and we set them with a crane,” explains Claborn. “They are not cast-in-place; these are molds we ship from job to job.”

A breadth of expertise
Steadily growing organically and through acquisitions, Cornerstone recently expanded into its new headquarters complex in Tanner, Alabama. Featuring modern offices and new technology including robotic production lines, the facility is where state-of-the-art equipment works alongside the company’s staff of about 280, which includes electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, project managers, construction managers, project coordinators, schedulers, programmers, and welders. Where dozens or even hundreds of the same metal door are being manufactured, robotic welders are used, which speeds up the process.

Working on federal and private prisons across America including state and county men’s facilities as well as facilities for juveniles and women, the company’s portfolio encompasses all manner of correctional and mental health facility projects. For clients, the fact that Cornerstone Detention is responsible for all aspects of construction helps streamline overall operations. “We’re not asking questions of the guy that’s providing the doors and frames—we are already providing them—so we know what we need to do and how to coordinate it,” states Claborn. “It saves the client money, and hopefully puts us in a better position to win more work.”

Indeed, the entire process of building today is different than it was 20 years ago, says Claborn. In the past, owners would hire architects, tell them what they want, and the project would be put out for hard bid. The United States government shifted toward design-build work, which has progressed even further to design-assist. “The reason for that is, the traditional way takes years to bring a job to fruition,” shares Claborn. “With the design-assist method, they can bring a job to fruition and be bidding it or construction getting underway within a year. When interest rates were dropping for years until recently, owners were trying to take advantage of this and get their jobs built while conditions favored them financially. I would say more than 50 percent of the jobs today are design-build-assist or design-build.”

Projects large and small
Taking on large-scale projects including the San Quentin Prison in California’s Marin County, work for the Dallas County Jail, and the 525,000-square-foot Toronto South Detention Centre, Cornerstone is a one-stop shop. Also handing small renovations and ongoing maintenance, Cornerstone has regional offices across the United States, including in Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

“Cornerstone is focused on new construction, but we have regional service and supply groups doing the follow-up calls, replacement parts, and small renovations,” Claborn explains. “We do a lot of local renovations. We may come in and replace three doors for them with that service group and have a national service and supply organization taking care of the customers after we build the job initially.” For example, the company has been handling the maintenance contract for the Arizona Department of Corrections for the past 25 years and has embedded technicians going to some facilities every day.

Since 1998, Cornerstone has nurtured relationships with many of the world’s top construction companies abroad and at home, including Balfour Beatty, J.E. Dunn, Caddell, EllisDon and Bird Construction, Inc. One of the most recent projects between Cornerstone and Bird Construction was the accelerated build at the Kenora Jail and Thunder Bay Correctional Centre in Ontario. Recently completed, the project took about 18 months from start to finish.

Cornerstone is also involved with the construction of the New Toronto Courthouse project, just north of City Hall. Amalgamating six Ontario Court of Justice criminal courthouses into a single location, the 17-storey structure will feature state-of-the-art audio and video conferencing systems in a barrier-free environment. Working with EllisDon once again—the two teamed up for the Toronto South Detention Centre—the project reflects the respect both companies have earned in the construction industry. “There are a few companies in Canada that do what we do but they are smaller, so when there are large projects in Canada, we get called in,” says Claborn. The company is so specialized, it was recently called upon for a lock project in Egypt for two prison facilities.

Closer to home, Cornerstone is busy with other works, including modular jobs in Alabama, and another in Missouri’s Jackson County, which the company feels will accelerate its growth trajectory and enable it to make additional acquisitions.

Looking ahead
Continuing to earn new and repeat business, Cornerstone’s reputation speaks for itself. Listed on the Inc. 5000 for the past several years and recognized as one of the top subcontractors in the state of Alabama, the company keeps growing. A fully active member of the American Subcontractors Association, the company also benefits from the support the ASA provides.

As for the future of Cornerstone, its founder says the sky is the limit. Like many types of construction, corrections is a sector that is evolving to meet the needs of tomorrow. “We are seeing a meaningful transformation from our correctional facilities into mental health facilities,” states Claborn. “I think it’s long overdue.” The transformation, he says, is taking place in new design-build projects, specifically in Canada. “They are trying to normalize buildings, take away the institutional look, and give it more of a normal look—even though it’s secure—to kind of change the mindset of the inmate or patient. There’s something wrong if you want to commit a crime, so it starts with mental health, so there’s a big transformation into that field. But at the end of the day, my job is to protect the people who work there along with the patient. We want it to be a safe working environment where they get their treatment.”

Looking forward to 2023 and the 25^th anniversary of Cornerstone Detention, Claborn says plans are in the works. He still vividly recalls the company’s 10^th anniversary, held at the NASA museum in Huntsville, Alabama. The space boasts a large mural of the moon on the floor. “So we danced on the moon that night.”

The post Industry Pioneers<p class="company">Cornerstone</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

ERW specializes in value-engineering site development and is quite literally a one-stop shop for just about everything that needs to be done to prepare and maintain a site: retaining walls, screen walls, hardscape, fine grading, slope control, erosion control, job site cleanup, landscape irrigation, and landscape maintenance.

This multiplicity of abilities is the result of a series of thoughtful acquisitions in which ERW sought out the best of the best companies in Texas.

To learn how the original ERW company grew from one which specialized in the construction of retaining walls—valued at a respectable $20 million seven years ago—into a company with projected revenue of $250 million in 2022, and which today offers a clean sweep of construction-site solutions, we spoke with Joe Stewart, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

An opportunity
Larry Barnett established the original ERW company 30 years ago to deal with issues building owners were facing when the original retaining walls, which had been constructed with railroad ties, began to fail.

He spotted this as a promising business opportunity and began ripping out these disintegrating wooden walls and replacing them with stone ones, along the way building vast expertise in the construction of retaining walls that were fail-proof.

According to Stewart, it’s what is behind an attractive fieldstone exterior facing that’s key to a retaining wall’s success. What is essential is engineering which provides the design for a ‘junk rock’ wall that is half as thick as the height of the wall, and an efficient drainage system that will guarantee structural security for the building.

“If a wall starts to buckle,” he says, “it’s considered a global failure and is likely the result of water building up behind that wall. But if it’s built properly, there should be a drainage system with weep holes at the bottom to prevent water from building up and pushing the dirt out into the wall. Once that starts, it won’t stop, because it is already compromised.”

Out of sight
Over 30 years ERW has built many, many walls, all of which are silently playing critical roles in maintaining the structural security of the building site, and where visible, making an attractive addition to the landscape.

All retaining walls, however, are not visible. For example, there’s the Toyota Music Factory in Los Colinas, on the west side of Dallas. It’s a high-profile entertainment complex that hosts live concerts, sponsored by Toyota which opened its North American headquarters there in 2017.

“This is one of the largest walls we have ever built, and you don’t even see it, because it is supporting the interior and an interior walkway for maintenance. There are some exterior walls, but the big one is inside.”

Another very large—but visible—wall is one ERW did right in downtown Fort Worth; at over 40 feet tall, 22 feet thick, and more than 100 feet long, it holds up a five-story apartment complex.

Then there’s Globe Life Field, home to MLB’s Texas Rangers in Arlington. The $2.2 million project started in 2019 and carried over into 2020. It was the first time Stewart was involved with the process.

“We worked with Manhattan Construction, and it was impressive to work with their project managers and see how organized they are,” shares Stewart. “I think there are only certain GCs who can take it to that level. They are top-notch professionals. It’s a project we’re proud of, and one which anyone coming to the games can see.”

Currently, ERW is in the middle of a project for the Professional Golf Association, which has relocated from Florida to Frisco, TX, and is building the walls for the OMNI hotel which will become PGA headquarters.

Building for the future
When founder Larry Barnett passed away in 2013, Randy O’Neal, his stepson, took over the reins as president. By 2015, Stewart says, O’Neal realized he needed recapitalization to help the company grow. He took on a partner, Jack Matz, who became the CEO, and together they began building for the future.

Stewart, who grew up in Texas, but spent years living in St. Paul, Minnesota and travelling the country for 3M, was set to retire when the opportunity arose to return to Texas, “where the people are great.” In 2017 he joined the board of directors of ERW, and the following year joined the company “to help with the growth, sales, and marketing side of it, to take the business to the next level.”

In 2019 ERW purchased LandTec, based in Austin, a premier provider of turnkey commercial design, irrigation, and maintenance landscape services throughout Texas and the southeast U.S. In keeping with environmental concerns, LandTec, now marketed as an ERW Site Solutions Company, offers clients the option of using native plants which require less water to maintain.

“It was a $3 million acquisition, and that company is now doing about $15 million worth of business,” Stewart says, “so in three years we’ve had good success and been able to grow it.” In addition, in January 2021, ERW purchased Gourmet Grass, a small landscape and maintenance company in Dallas and rebranded it under LandTec.

Meanwhile, in September 2020, ERW had purchased the professional engineering firm DesignBuild from Scott Miller, with licenses to design retaining walls in 31 states, and this is proving to be a game changer. “We needed that engineering expertise,” Stewart says. He tells us that subcontractors who bid on retaining walls are the only ones that don’t have engineering work done prior to a contract.

“So, after a customer had received our proposal and accepted it, they would give us an LOI (letter of intent) and that’s when we’d go and get engineering design done. But it was very risky because we didn’t know how much the engineering would impact the cost,” he shares.

“Prior to purchasing DesignBuild, we were absorbing a lot of the cost and it became too much of a financial risk to bring in an engineer late in the process. Having our own company engineers means we have been able to close that gap and reduce the cost of the engineering impact significantly.”

Where it all starts
Since everything starts with the foundation, Stewart says it’s important to be at the table when conversations begin. For years, he says, the dirt contractors worked at the front end, telling the owners what they thought about hauling earth away or bringing it in.

“But that may not always be beneficial to the customer as the dirt contractors are not considering what retaining walls can do,” says Stewart. “There’s a significant cost to loading and hauling dirt away, when we could utilize it to provide the backfill. There are lots of things we can do to help stabilize and balance the site if we’re on the front end, but historically we haven’t always been there.”

Now, however, with its growing portfolio of best-of-the-breed companies, ERW has gained traction as a single source for all site solutions, pushing the company to the forefront when GCs begin negotiations with clients.

Not only does ERW provide value engineering, retaining walls, and landscape options, recent acquisitions are allowing it to offer even more services and solutions. In May 2021, ERW purchased Ratliff Hardscape, based in the Louisville area of Dallas.

Ratliff Hardscape is a long-term, established hardscape construction company offering an array of services for all civil and hardscape projects, including single family, multi-family, commercial, municipal, state, and oil and gas projects, which include screen walls, monuments, sidewalks, patios, and other flat works.

“It was a significant acquisition,” Stewart shares. “Ratliff was doing about $40 million in work and this year it’s looking like it will be around $65 million.”

Then this past August, ERW closed the purchase of another company, Kaufman, which specializes in poured concrete for foundations. “Kaufman brings us yet another addition to the portfolio that we’re developing as we expand our footprint—with the goal of providing full services to developers and contractors—all under one contract.”

The power of one
Stewart likes to talk about the power of one—the importance of streamlining the structure of ERW so that developers and contractors deal with only one contact person and one contract.

“The goal within the next year is to bring all those companies under the ERW name,” he says. “It has the longest history, spans both north and south Texas, and it will allow us to mobilize in other states. We’ve retained the principals in each of the companies, except for the original owner of Ratliff, who sold it as he wanted to retire, but we were able to retain his top people and they’re valuable resources. We don’t pretend we know landscape, hardscape, or foundations like they do, so we’re allowing them to run their businesses and we’ll not be disruptive, as sometimes happens when one company acquires others,” he explains.

“I think the biggest challenge anytime there’s an acquisition is adapting to the new culture, so we’re purposely allowing them to continue with the way things were prior to the acquisitions while giving them the resources they need to grow their customer base. They have access to ERW’s customer base, and we have access to theirs, so it’s mutually beneficial. That’s how we’re seeing organic growth,” says Stewart.

“As a result of our acquisitions, we’re positioned to return to our customers and show them what we can do. It simplifies the process as they deal with only one contact person and one contract. They can see for themselves how bundling all this together is financially advantageous and will allow the project to run seamlessly.”

So far ERW’s growth strategy is working. “There’s lots of new construction happening in Texas,” Stewart says, “and we have a backlog that takes us into 2023. Despite all the rumors of the economy slowing down, we’re not seeing it, and I don’t think Texas will be affected even if the economy does slow down.”

The post Getting a Site Just Right<p class="company">ERW Site Solutions</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Founded in 1981 by Mr. James White, JWC has grown from a company with roots in rural and suburban custom-home site work and small commercial projects to include larger, more complex commercial, residential, and industrial, site work, and utility construction, a legacy that will be preserved by the next generation at all costs.

“That legacy gives us another level of care, a legacy that you have to protect. That brand is not something that you earn, it’s something that you live up to and being that his name is on the door and will continue to be on the door, we wear that as a badge of honor,” says owner Dan Hankins, who assumed leadership of JWC in March. “That guides our every decision.”

Highly regarded for its keen leadership, astute attention to detail, and solution-based management, JWC is equipped with a full complement of resources, crews, knowledge, experience, professionalism, and wherewithal to get even the most complex job done on time, on- or under-budget and to a client’s satisfaction. Repeat and referral business is what keeps the firm busy year after year.

“We’re negotiating most of our work from repeat business or referrals from other general contractors and developers who enjoyed working with us and appreciate our work,” says Hankins, which is why the company has enjoyed such a long, rich, and successful history.

Being the first on site, JWC sets the tone for a project in terms of standards of quality, safety and timelines, something that the company’s leadership takes seriously. To ensure the strength of the company and the ability to deliver consistent results, its capabilities grew out of necessity. Resources were added and services were expanded to overcome challenges and ensure optimal project outcomes.

As Hankins notes, “It was a real impediment for us to get our utilities installed. Sewer and water are the first two things to go in on a site, and for a company our size to get subcontractors to get on schedule or even quote was very difficult.” As a result, JWC added a utility division to better control project timelines and reinforce the reputation for quality it has earned over the last four decades.

JWC is one of the few firms left in the Charleston area that can deliver stormwater systems that meet the highest standards when they’re put under the microscope, and that’s because of the time, care, and effort JWC takes to succeed, regardless of the challenges of the project.

“We know intense municipality / agency scrutiny is going to impact our schedule and we take a six-sigma approach to doing things safely and correctly the first time. Do it right—sleep at night,” says Hankins of JWC’s commitment to quality and safety.

To ensure projects are completed to the highest standards possible, JWC relies on GPS location technology, machine-control technology, and total station LPS technology. Keeping technology up-to-date is key to the company’s success and competitiveness. Technology, communication, and skilled onsite field personnel minimizes potential punch lists and unnecessary re-work.

“That’s brought us a lot of work where other people just won’t bid it. They’re too big to manage the small things and we’re small enough to listen and big enough to perform,” says Hankins. This has allowed the company to carve out its own niche in the market for its solution-based construction services.

This year, JWC celebrates 40 years in business, an impressive feat. Surviving numerous economic downturns, it has proved itself recession-proof, backed by the integrity and legacy that Mr. White spent decades building. Though Mr. White has taken a step back, retiring in March of this year, he is still present and available—an invaluable resource.

Taking the company into the future, Hankins is committed to paying homage to past success and building on the legacy of his stepfather, preserving the name, the brand, and the reputation JWC has earned throughout the last four decades.

Having grown up around the business, first during summer breaks, weekends, and holidays as a child, and later as an adult, he took time out to tread his own path, but later found his way back to JWC, something that’s very meaningful to him.

“I jumped at the opportunity,” says Hankins of being asked to join forces with Mr. White. “There were a lot of great synergies with what I had grown up doing and it gave me an opportunity, in a legacy business, to help my parents and all the customers that were involved with the business, and perpetuate it.”

Hankins saw it as a perfect opportunity to build a team and grow a company that had provided him so much, and it’s his long-term intention to grow that success and afford that bounty to generations of workers to come.

The company lives out its mission every day: “We build people that build jobs.” The people at JWC do what they say and stand by the work they do, a level of integrity that stems from the foundation Mr. White instilled.

The team at JWC understands that they have a hand in building the place they call home. Everyone is local to the area, generating great pride when a job is completed safely and to the highest standards. This is the drive that fuels the company’s exceptional performance.

“We want to be proud of the work we do and be able to take our kids to it, show them we did it and then go and do twenty more,” says Senior Vice President Jamie Lewis. For the team at JWC, it’s about more than just construction; it’s about doing good work on and off the job site.

JWC does a lot more than just provide construction services. It works to make the world a better place, inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s “Citizenship in a Republic” speech, which is better known as “The Man in the Arena.” Service above self is an attitude present in all that the company does, and also present is the belief that Mr. White, himself, was the Man in the Arena.

As Roosevelt intoned, “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

The approach to life that Hankins was taught runs deep at the company: “Doing good, planting seeds, tending to our crops, and appreciating the rewards of the harvest that we get. That tenfold blessing that we treat people by, we believe it comes back. We always trust people. We try not to be cynical. We try to understand that family is first, and we lean that way. Obviously, there is a job to be done but God is first, family is second and JWC is third,” he shares.

As a firm with 40 years behind it, JWC is astutely aware that it needs to evolve with the times, from a technology, workforce, and market perspective. The goal is to remain a top employer, stay ahead of the market in terms of skills, wages, and technology, and continue to deliver exceptional results on every project undertaken.

“Obviously, the long-term goal is to perpetuate the legacy of Mr. White,” says Hankins of the man who raised him, the Man in the Arena who set the foundation for the culture, and the brand that has become synonymous with quality, safety, excellence, and a love for humankind. “His essence is the legacy. He has run this with dust on his brow, with busted knuckles and hard work, and all the things that go into making the effort to have something,” Hankins says.

“We’re upholding a culture that he’s created. It’s our turn to carry the torch, but we’re standing on the shoulders of giants and he’s the catalyst to all of that,” concludes Hankins, clearly proud of how far JWC has come and optimistic about where it will go under his leadership.

The post Building on a Legacy<p class="company">James White Construction</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

No matter the challenge of the job—whether a window repair, the installation of a shower enclosure, a storefront, a curtain wall, or the restoration of a landmark historic building—the company’s business philosophy remains constant: “We stand by our word.” And standing by that are customer reviews that confirm the company’s determination to go beyond expectations.

It was our pleasure to speak with Barry Livengood, A Glasco’s President and Founder, and his daughter Kristie Rehberger, General Manager, to learn more about the company, which, while celebrating its 30^th anniversary, can still enjoy the benefits of Livengood’s 45 years of experience.

How it began
Following military service in Vietnam, Livengood interviewed for the position of manager of a glass company in Cincinnati. Asked by the owner what he knew about glass, he said, “It breaks!” Liking his answer, the owner replied, “You’re my man!” which led to eight years in the company’s management.

“I started backwards in the industry, as a manager, and then I went out in the field to learn the trade as I knew nothing,” Livengood admits. Eventually he returned with his wife and young family to his roots in the San Diego area and started his own glass business.

“I was working out of the backyard and started getting busy,” he recalls. “There was glass piled up all over the place, until one day my wife told me, ‘You have to find a place to work or stop this nonsense. So we moved to Spring Valley and opened a shop, but there were still lots of ups and downs.”

It seems, however, that there were more ups than downs because by 1999, A Glasco Inc. had been listed with the Better Business Bureau, achieved several certifications and accreditations, and enjoyed steady business with satisfied customers.

By 2001 it was attracting potential buyers. One “came in and offered me cash,” he recalls. “Kristie overheard and when he left, she looked disappointed and asked, ‘Are you serious about selling?’”

All three of his daughters had worked at the shop but until then he had no idea that any of them would be interested in taking over its management. He refused the offer, and today is glad of his decision and equally proud of his daughter, who, he notes, has taken the business to a new level in the last 21 years.

Kristie Rehberger is determined to make what she calls a good company into a great one, Livengood says, while remaining true to her father’s principles of putting customer service first and doing what you say you will do.

Good becomes great
Rehberger picks up the narrative. “I started working at age 16, sweeping, cleaning glass, answering phones, trying to help customers, and learning the business. My dad would take me into the shop, where our cutting table is, and show me how to handle and cut glass properly and explain the difference between types of glass; mirror vs. plate, tempered vs. annealed.”

Her opportunity to show what A Glasco could do came in 2003 when she decided to bid on the restoration and refurbishment of the 1,300-seat Balboa Theatre, built in 1924 in downtown San Diego as a movie palace and vaudeville venue.

Livengood recalls they went to look at it, and “her eyes got big, but I said, ‘No, no—restoration work is not what we need.”

Rehberger was determined, however, and prepared a bid which involved all customized work, including a storefront curtain wall with a rounded beauty cap, doors, and glass display cases, as well as replacement of the curved arched glass in the upper level where needed, along with aluminum frames.

When she and her father attended a meeting to submit the bid, there were few women in the room and certainly no one as young as Rehberger, who was in her early 20s. Instead of addressing her, the men questioned Livengood, to which he replied, “I don’t know, you have to ask her. She’s the one bidding on this,” he shares.

“She showed them the plans they were asking me about, and she answered all their questions. I think she shocked them and certainly won their respect.” The bid was accepted.

When the Balboa Theatre re-opened in 2008 as a venue for concerts, plays, and other live performance events, it garnered 16 awards. “After that, she started doing a lot of successful bidding, and it was soon noted in the construction business community that she was going to take over,” Livengood says.

Over the years, under Rehberger’s management, the company has successfully bid on commercial, residential, and public works projects. Some were major, including the largest one to date: a $1.5 million project at a retirement complex in Wesley Palms that included a storefront, apartments, a library, a fitness center, a pool, and solariums on the balconies. “We were so on schedule that the contractor had to tell us to back off because he wasn’t as far ahead as we were,” Rehberger says.

Another ambitious project in Carlsbad involved switching out blue reflective glass for green on a curtain wall consisting of at least 500 lengths of glass of different sizes. “We really had to figure out how to get that job done, taking on one section at a time and keeping everything straight from a project management and safety perspective. It was a big building for a company our size.”

The benefits, the challenges
There can be no doubt about the beauty that glass can add to a building. Architects love it, Rehberger says, because it enhances the exterior façade and floods the interior with natural light, beneficial to the people who spend most of their lives working indoors.

She cited case studies that show improved health benefits for both adults and children which have shown that natural light in the classroom can increase productivity by enhancing students’ ability to stay focused.

Another benefit is that triple-glazed glass, properly framed and installed, can help with sound reduction, mitigating the noise of jets taking off by as much as 75 percent. Because residential areas are so close to the airport in San Diego, the city has created a Quieter Home Project to benefit homes within a certain distance of take-off and landing areas, making homeowners in the affected areas eligible to receive funding to change out their windows for better noise reduction.

One huge challenge for glass installers is ensuring a watertight fit, something that can only be discovered after the windows are installed and have undergone a rigorous test of being sprayed at high pressure for 15 to 20 minutes. Rehberger recalls a hotel project which was split between three companies, with A Glasco doing the storefront on the main floor, and the other two doing a storefront on a balcony and the room windows above that, and only A Glasco’s installation passed the test without leakage.

“I felt extremely proud of my team. I’d created a PowerPoint presentation and gone over the installation instructions so they could understand both the fabrication and the installation. We worked hard to get the windows installed correctly according to the manufacturer’s guidelines and it was reaffirming, when we were the only ones to pass the test, to know that we were doing quality work.”

Another challenge all glass companies are dealing with is the concept of value engineering. Value engineering can be beneficial for the developer or building owner, when a contractor substitutes expensive finishes specified by the architect or designer, with less expensive ones, without compromising the integrity of the structure.

But when it comes to glass, value engineering may have detrimental effects on the success of the building. Rehberger serves on a committee of the National Glass Association which is examining the impact this is having on the glass industry as a whole.

“We’re finding that glass is one of those things being value-engineered out. Contractors may change the glass so it’s not as energy-efficient, or shrink the openings, and we’re working with glass companies to find solutions,” she says. “We’re also discovering some problems that could have been solved had we been involved in a project from the beginning. For a time, general contractors didn’t want to get involved with us early on, but recently there has been a move toward inclusion and asking for our input.”

Looking ahead for the industry
After 21 years as General Manager, Rehberger continues to be excited and enthusiastic about leading “a small business that punches above our weight,” while maintaining the value of superior customer service and satisfaction instilled in her by her father.

To this day Livengood says his greatest reward, “is seeing a customer’s smiling face and hearing, ‘I really like what you did.’ That’s what is truly rewarding.”

In the immediate future, Rehberger looks forward to being part of the San Diego Terminal 1 expansion and says she is working closely with the construction company that has been awarded the contract.

A Glasco has a Local Business Enterprise certification with the San Diego Airport Authority and for the past four years has been on-call to repair or replace glass at the airport. Before that, in 2013, the company replaced the glass in the existing air traffic control tower.

Rehberger’s interests, however, have expanded to embrace the wider community. In addition to her committee work with the National Glass Association, she is a board member of the National Association of Women in Construction, whose purpose is the betterment and education of women in the industry.

“It’s still common to be the only woman in the room. Women need the confidence to make sure their voices are heard and that they are equal players,” she says. She is currently organizing seminars that will help women business owners achieve the certifications they need.

Rehberger is also a founding member of the California Glass Association which is looking to address industry issues and train both women and men glazers. “We all need to understand what it takes to get the job done correctly the first time, and training is a huge part of that. We need more skilled labor and the lack has become a national issue. My hope is that the California Glass Association can bring other glass companies together to understand the problems and work on solutions for our industry,” she says.

“Our success at A Glasco is related to the success of all the other glass companies and we can’t succeed without one another. In fact, there are times when we depend on each other to see a project through. It may be borrowing labor, asking questions, or even having to purchase from one another,” says Rehberger.

“We are more tied together than a lot of us want to admit. Through this association, I hope to bring that to light so members recognize that everyone’s success matters. Companies are all independent, but we can still help each other get projects done.”

The post Thirty Years of Letting the Sun in and Keeping the Rain Out<p class="company">A Glasco Inc.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

But the full story of Fieldgate Construction is an impressive slice of history dating back more than 60 years.

It began with Fieldgate Homes, which has been creating renowned neighbourhoods and family dwellings in Ontario since 1957. Then in 2007, FCML (Fieldgate Construction Management Limited) was established to generate high-quality commercial developments intended to serve the expanding residential neighbourhood sectors. Dedicated to creating quality commercial, residential, office, and industrial buildings throughout the province, FCML is a firm that specializes in building lasting relationships based on trust with clients, contractors, and staff.

Whether it’s active adult retirement living, outdoor shopping malls, or a variety of commercial developments, FCML takes on numerous projects across diverse sectors. With a full team of project managers, coordinators, estimators, and workers skilled in collaborating for success on every project they do, the company brings robust expertise and an enviable reputation for finishing projects on schedule and on budget.

“Since 1957, Fieldgate Homes has been building acclaimed family homes and communities across Ontario, using our expertise in home building,” says Vice President Robert Alonso. “Fieldgate Construction Management Limited was created to develop commercial developments around these homes to service the growing residential neighbourhoods we were building.”

As an extension of the home construction division, FCML developed commercial properties across Ontario, expanding into commercial, residential, office and industrial buildings.

“We now have about 70 staff members, with a head office in Toronto where we grow a roster of satisfied clients who come back for more business each year,” says Alonso.

Today, FCML boasts a full schedule of exciting projects both on-the-go and upcoming, with a focus on automotive dealerships, storage facilities, retirement homes, and mid-rise residential. Continuing its strong relationship with the AWIN Group, FCML’s $28 million Subaru dealership project using JDF Architecture is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2023. This three-level underground/two-storey project on Yonge Street will total about 120,000 square feet. It will include a service centre, a detailing area, staff offices, and a spacious new vehicle showroom.

FCML has also recently completed both the Audi service centre and the Grand Touring automobiles project in downtown Toronto, marking the company’s third project with AWIN.

“It’s been a really successful partnership over the years,” says Alonso. Fieldgate has also acquired an exciting new client this year and is looking forward to working with the Policaro Group to build a ground-breaking new BMW dealership at Wickham Road in Toronto.

“This is going to be exciting as it’s a brand new prototype for BMW, with BMW corporate head office in Germany involved with the design as well,” Alonso says.

The $30 million dollar project comprises a two-storey, 74,000-square-foot dealership which includes a three-storey display tower above the second floor.

Storage facilities are also a priority for Fieldgate. Last year the company began its relationship with the Vaultra Group and is currently going into production on the sixth storage facility it’s constructing for them.

“It’s been a great relationship,” Alonso says. “We’ve completed one in Toronto, a $25 million, six-storey storage facility which is one of the biggest in Canada, with 260,000 square feet of total floor area.”

This year FCML completed another storage facility in Mississauga, the Vaultra at 3020 Lenworth Drive, a six-storey structure, along with a project in Ajax, a $14 million, four-storey, 8,400-square-foot structure.

“We’re also working on one in Markham for them, on Heritage Road, at $22 million and 160,000 square feet. We know their buildings extremely well and help them with value engineering without compromising on Vaultra’s vision and branding. It’s become a real collaborative approach to building their ideal storage facility.”

It’s a solid partnership, too, one that’s definitely flourishing, with two more projects in Scarborough and Welland starting shortly.

Retirement communities are another sizeable source of projects for FCML, where they develop active adult living neighbourhoods and provide environments that are both inviting and encouraging.

“Retirement homes are a big sector for us,” Alonso says. “We’re working right now on a 221-unit, $60 million home in Lindsay that’s about 191,000 square feet, and then we have another project in London that’s $80 million and 206,000 square feet that are both with Cogir. That’s further to the projects we did last year for them. They’ve been extremely pleased with the successful completions of both retirement homes and we’re moving forward with the above mentioned new projects,” he says.

“It’s keeping our existing clients happy that leads again and again to repeat work and referrals,” and FCML takes great pride in its success in fostering and maintaining these relationships.

“Every time we get a new client, we strive to make sure they become a recurring client. That’s our goal,” says Alonso. “And that’s exactly what’s happened here with AWIN, Cogir and Vaultra.”

The company is also committed to giving tenants and investors outstanding service through an impressive mix of industrial, commercial, residential, and retail properties, a portfolio that routinely outperforms comparable portfolios in the real estate sector.

Other exciting upcoming projects include the brand-new Deane condo development at 100 Deane Ave in Oakville. This $45 million, 126-unit project includes an atypical one-level underground parking garage with a car hoist system for all owners.

“It’s an exciting luxury condo,” Alonso says. “We are working with a new client, Rise Investments, and hoping to break ground this fall.”

In the meantime, the company is finishing up a project with another of its repeat clients, Starlight Investments, Sheridan Park rental apartments, a $40 million, 112,000-square-foot rental apartment with 138 units and 17 storeys.

“That was our largest multi-residential project to date. We completed a stacked townhome project for Starlight last year and based on the success of that project, we were lucky enough to be working with them on this second project in the hopes of more projects in the future.”

Lastly, FCML is working with another new client, Lancaster Homes, at 35 Red Arctic Drive on the Charing Cross condominiums, a four-storey project that they look forward to being as successful as the company’s previous projects.

“Commercial developments have definitely slowed down over the last few years due to the reduced demand for commercial spaces due to COVID,” Alonso says, although FCML has been fairly active with projects like the four-building development in Brooklin, which features a Longos grocery store, another big commercial plaza in Milton—a six-building development including some city roadwork—and a recently completed development in Shelburne: a five-building development for another repeat client in FreshCo.

All in all, satisfied clients are keeping FCML very busy, despite the ongoing issues of COVID, particularly when it comes to completing projects on schedule. Lingering supply chain issues concerning subcontractors and material delivery delays are still an everyday occurrence, says Alonso.

“It’s been increasingly difficult meeting deadlines and budgets with various suppliers and subcontractors issuing never-before-seen material and labour increases. Over the last few years we’ve seen substantial delays with respect to deliveries of materials as well as historic increases on the supply of those materials,” Alonso shares. Fieldgate has been able to mitigate price increases by pre-tendering some items in order to meet the client’s schedule, which has helped mitigate future delays and increases.

As for accomplishments, Fieldgate certainly can boast a little.

“I think it’s the success and ongoing relationships with our current and longstanding partners, Vaultra, COGIR, AWIN and Starlight properties,” Alonso says. “It’s been an honour working with them year after year with the continued growth on both sides of the relationship. I think we work well together because we function as an extension of our clients’ business and work with them very closely throughout the whole project.”

It’s not easy keeping clients happy year after year through different projects and challenges, he adds, and obviously, COVID has created never-before-experienced issues such as trying to stick to budgets and schedules despite delays. But the company is persevering and has plenty to look forward to.

Milestones, says Alonso, include continuing to develop in the mid- to high-rise construction department. “I still feel despite the current slow-down that this will continue to be a huge growth sector into the future,” he says. “We want to capitalize on that. That’s our biggest future focus.”

The company will also continue to develop the invaluable expertise it has gained across so many project types, and that benefits each new project.

“We’re innovative solution providers and construction specialists, and we work closely with all our clients to customize the right approach for every project,” says Alonso. “It’s worked well for us in the past.”

It’s this commitment to clients that defines Fieldgate’s clear path forwards. “When you evaluate how to make future partnerships more successful, you learn and adapt based on past projects to better construct their future ones,” Alonso says. “We really understand our clients and learn from them and that helps us to better construct the next project.”

The post Building a Bright Future<p class="company">Fieldgate Construction</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Construction in Focus profiled Paradise Exteriors last year and has sat back down with COO Anthony Beckner this month to hear the latest news and developments. The team has had expansion on their mind and the company’s new Tampa branch is thriving. Opened in 2020, the new location is the first step toward ongoing growth.

“We were looking to expand our company and branch [out] to the rest of Florida,” Beckner says. “That is our overall long-term goal.” But the team doesn’t plan to stop there; they want “to be able to serve Florida and eventually Texas and all the places that require impact products to be protected from hurricanes. This was the first branch in that mission that we have.”

The new location expands the company’s service area from Port Charlotte in the south up to New Port Richey in the north and includes Sarasota County, Hillsborough County, and Charlotte County. “The branch is still fairly new so it takes a little time to build it,” Beckner says. “We’re still in the building stages of it, but so far it’s going very well and we enjoy being able to help and continue to grow our clientele in Florida and help them be protected from hurricanes.”

Running the new branch has come with challenges, however, primarily because the opening coincided with the pandemic. These challenges affected the entire business, and the impact continues to some extent to this day. “COVID has definitely put a strain on the home improvement industry,” Beckner says. One issue was the inability to interact with customers face-to-face, so the team had to learn how to reach customers in new ways. “The sales process during COVID, a lot of that turned into a virtual process where we were helping customers via Zoom calls to place an order for their project,” Beckner remembers.

A much more challenging problem has been the unreliable supply chain that coincided with the pandemic. “Typically we could get products within a few months, and then that was extended out to become six to eight months to get products, so that really changed the installation time for our projects,” Beckner says. “And the other big difference we’ve had since 2020 is the price increases from manufacturers. Some of our products have actually more than doubled in price since 2020, so there has really, really been a big change since COVID in our industry.”

Even though business slowed down considerably since 2020 and the company has been forced to operate with a smaller staff, the team remains optimistic. “We are seeing business start to pick up again,” Beckner says. “People are buying.” With housing prices and interests rates rising, homebuyers are eager to buy now and lock in a better deal and a lower rate, he explains. And, of course, these buyers want to protect their investment with protective windows, doors, and roofs, in case of hurricanes.

Another positive for Paradise Exteriors is that supplies have become more available after two years of shortages. “We’re definitely seeing that suppliers are starting to reduce their shipping times,” Beckner says. The team is also reaping the benefits of relationship building during the lean times. “One of the things that we have had to do through the COVID era and the price increases is to work with and create new relationships with the manufacturers in our area to be able to offer more product lines where we could get products faster and at a lower cost for consumers,” he explains.

The team continues to cultivate these relationships to help reduce shipping times and keep prices down in order to pass those savings on to customers. “We developed new relationships with manufacturers in our area that offer affordable options for consumers, [providing] premium product at an affordable cost, so it’s an economical solution during these times of inflation,” Beckner says.

Florida has been welcoming a steady stream of newcomers in recent years—and the construction industry stands to benefit. “Florida has been the number one state that people are moving to, so there has definitely been an influx of new homeowners,” says Beckner. Many of these newcomers are unprepared for the sky-high insurance premiums. “In Florida, insurance companies are continuing to raise their rates faster than any time in history, so we find that it’s very important to let these homeowners that are from out of state know how much they can reduce their insurance by protecting their home with impact windows and new roofs,” Beckner says. “It is very important to have your home protected with everything the insurance companies are looking for to protect their investment.”

With business on the rise, Paradise Exteriors is working to rebuild its staff. “We are finding that it’s becoming easier to hire talent than it was in the previous few years, so we are actively continuing to build our staff back up,” Beckner shares. The company prefers to promote from within, training, encouraging, and rewarding in-house talent. For example, the Sales Manager in the new Tampa office started out as a Sales Representative and worked his way up over the years.

As the team works to attract customers in today’s business landscape, they have learned that it takes a new approach to marketing. “We’ve found it has changed,” Beckner says. The company used to work with third parties who gathered customer data from online home improvement surveys and questionnaires. “But we found that their production has slowed, so we are working to build our internal resources and marketing team.”

One thing that has not changed is the team’s desire to give back. As a family company, Paradise Exteriors has deep roots in the community and the family is eager to make a difference. One way they do that is by providing Thanksgiving dinners with all the fixings for underprivileged members of the local community.

“Right now we’re in preparation for our fifth annual Turkey Drive,” Beckner says. The company is partnering with the local police department and community organizations to feed 150 families this year. Turkey Drive partners provide vouchers that are redeemed at Publix for a turkey and they compile 150 packages with side dishes to create a complete meal.

When considering the future, the team is eager to continue to rise above the challenges that have hit the industry in recent years. “For the business climate we’re in right now, we’re just focused on keeping our costs down with our suppliers and overall,” Beckner says. The team will continue to keep a close eye on rising interest rates and supply challenges. “We’re watching to see how everything works out, focused on these two offices now. And once everything starts picking up again, we look forward to moving forward with our mission and opening up our next office, which would be Orlando,” he says. “Once things start moving forward again where it looks like expansion makes sense, then that will be our move.”

The post Shelter from the Storm<p class="company">Paradise Exteriors</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.