Love it or hate it—and the divisive reaction is strong—brutalist architecture remains one of the most contentious architectural movements of the modern era, frequently evoking strong feelings of both like and dislike. Brutalist architects promoted socialist utopian ideals which were often linked to the style, along with its simple and stripped bare aesthetic of unpainted concrete or brick, along with steel, timber, and glass. Emerging in the 1950s after the second World War with simple structures many claimed were meant to house and provide shelter, brutalism particularly featured the recycling of concrete materials, which was one of the driving forces behind the movement. In fact, the word brutalism comes from the French “béton brut,” meaning “raw concrete.”

In keeping with the modernist movement, which placed a strong emphasis on removing superfluous decoration, brutalism completely eliminated ornamentation, eliciting strong public opposition as it was considered an unsightly eyesore on the landscape, according to Aotea (www.aoteamade.co.nz/blogs/journal/saving-concrete-a-look-at-brutalist-architecture).

Detractors often argue that the harsh, unvarnished appearance of brutalism is linked to a lack of insight and inventiveness, with brutalist buildings often portrayed as ugly blocks of university and college campuses that seem to be abandoned or in disuse, or depressing apartments with poor architectural design.

But brutalist structures aren’t inherently disliked. According to Aotea, students adore the numerous brutalist or semi-brutalist residential buildings at the University of North Carolina, as well as the university’s two brutalist libraries—one brick and one concrete.

Designed to boldly go against the grain and permanently alter cityscapes and skylines around the globe, the fundamental characteristics of brutalism architecture include unreserved use of raw concrete, geometric shapes, and an unwavering dedication to practicality, according to Indovance (www.indovance.com/knowledge-center/brutalism-architecture-a-bold-approach-to-building-design/), and while some may find its starkness inspiring, others consider it an acquired taste. However, the distinct charm of brutalist architecture is what made it so well-known in the 20^th century. Recognized for celebrating unapologetically exposed structural features, its design helped cement its reputation as a movement that upholds the inherent beauty of unusual materials and unwavering functionality.

Gaining popularity through the 1970s as a living example of how raw concrete can transform a space, brutalism is a very different architectural style from the elaborate ones that came before. Centred on embracing exposed concrete in its most unadulterated state, brutalist architects championed an unapologetic, raw beauty in urban construction, emerging as a reaction against earlier ornate and decorative architectural styles. French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier is credited with giving rise to the movement, says Architecture Courses (www.architecturecourses.org/learn/distinctive-characteristics-brutalist-architecture), with one of his greatest works of art, la Cité radieuse in Marseille, regarded by many as the first instance of brutalist architecture. Concrete’s natural strength and durability convinced Le Corbusier it was the best material for creating contemporary cities with buildings that emit strength, simplicity, and order that naturally weather over time.

Designed with purpose in mind, brutalism’s practicality puts function and utility first, and while they look imposing, the buildings frequently mesh well with their natural surroundings by incorporating landscaping and green areas that permit architects to create a symbiotic relationship between structures and surroundings, making often harsh concrete landscapes more serene via integration with nature.

While there are many examples of brutalist architecture around the world, one of the most famous is Montreal’s Habitat 67 designed by Moshe Safdie, which subverts preconceived ideas about what it means to live in an urban setting by assembling modular concrete units in an eye-catching, asymmetrical pattern. Every apartment has a private terrace, and the buildings’ connections foster a feeling of neighbourhood among the concrete surroundings. Hugely famous and widely regarded as the shape of things to come according to Curbed when it made its debut at the Expo ‘67 World’s Fair, the apartment complex is made up of 354 prefabricated concrete modules that are stacked over a total of 12 stories in different configurations along with elevated walkways and rooftop gardens. Safdie intended for Habitat 67 apartments to provide seclusion and outdoor living areas in addition to promoting a feeling of community, and the design has influenced construction projects around the world, according to Architecture Courses, including the Barbican Centre in London, which is home to a theatre, concert hall, art gallery, and residential buildings, and is proof of how versatile brutalist architecture can be in areas with multiple uses, with concrete towers and elevated walkways creating a distinctive urban ecosystem that combines living, culture, and nature.

Boston City Hall, created by the architects Kallmann, McKinnell, and Knowles, is considered a controversial example of American brutalism with its stark, angular façades and excessive concrete, representing the movement’s dedication to functionalism in public structures, while The National Theatre located on London’s South Bank is a well-known landmark on the Thames River, featuring exposed concrete surfaces, connected terraces, and dramatic fly towers. Since its founding in 1976, the National Theatre has served as a focal point for the performing arts in the United Kingdom.

The Geisel Library in San Diego features striking concrete structure and sharp angles, plus a library with an extensive Dr. Seuss collection. Cameron Offices in Canberra, Australia, designed by John Andrews and completed in 1972, is a prime example of the global reach of brutalism, despite having been partially demolished. Built on a six-acre site, this government complex features precast concrete and repeating geometric forms, providing housing for about 4,000 public servants and demonstrating brutalism’s lasting impact outside of Europe.

Even if you don’t personally care for brutalism, there’s no denying its influence on modern architecture, particularly its practicality, which continues to inspire many modern architects who incorporate its ideas into their creations. The movement’s emphasis on exposed materials, geometric purity, and functionalism has had a lasting impact on the architectural community.

In fact, according to Architecture Courses, there’s a growing appreciation for the historical and architectural significance of brutalist buildings as they age. In order to maintain these buildings as an essential component of our urban fabric, preservation efforts are being carried out to safeguard and repair them. Because of their cultural significance, organizations and enthusiasts are putting forth endless effort to preserve brutalist landmarks for future generations as their audacious, unapologetic designs have irrevocably altered urban environments all over the world, upending preconceived ideas about what is beautiful and useful.

The distinctive qualities and goals of brutalist architecture are still valued today, which inspires architects and urban planners to reconsider how to plan, develop, and design cities with a focus on geometry, concrete, and functionality. And while architectural styles will never be loved and appreciated by everyone, brutalism is a truly unique and immediately recognizable medium of artistic expression that inspires a strong reaction. Despite an evolution of construction from brutalism to more elegant buildings that exhibit architectural grandeur and are filled with sustainable features that reflect modern demands, brutalism’s utilization of nature and practicality are still useful today, particularly during ongoing housing crises and climate concerns.

Despite being a relatively short-lived movement in architecture, brutalist supporters contend it’s an expression of unadulterated realism and an architectural power move. Whether you admire its distinct, potent, and raw aesthetic or scoff at its lack of pattern or colour and its ominous appearance of massive concrete blocks with blank façades, there’s no denying its long-lasting impact, with its unique aesthetics and unwavering approach to design that push society to appreciate the utilitarian as art, find elegance in the unpolished, and see beauty in the unusual.

The post Romancing the Stones<p class="company">The Bare Beauty of Brutalist Architecture</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

The company maintains a full line of concrete materials, thermal and moisture protection, and EIFS/Stucco products. In addition, it is a full-service custom rebar fabricator and concrete forming supplier.

Accompanying the company’s wide range of high-quality product offerings is its “customer first” approach, one where general contractors and do-it-yourselfers alike can enjoy the feel of a neighborhood store where the staff genuinely cares.

This was the vision of Allan Ward, a construction professional with years of experience, who opened the first store in Greensboro as a waterproofing supplier in 1964, because he believed that what was lacking “was a supplier who could promote specialty items to the industry and deliver on those items and services in a caring and efficient manner.”

Over the years, Guaranteed Supply expanded its portfolio and its presence beyond Greensboro but remained true to Ward’s original vision.

This is what drew Marketing Director Carlos Acosta, with a background in behavioral psychology, to the company a year ago when management decided it was time to expand its marketing reach through an online platform. “Allan Ward wanted to develop a company with a home-grown family feel, where every customer is known by name and not just a number on a spreadsheet,” he tells us.

And it is still that way at the third-generation family-owned company, with the tradition maintained by Ward’s three grandsons. Michael Ward assumed the position of CEO in 2009, when his father, Kirby Ward, who ran Guaranteed Supply for 20 years, retired. His brother, Scott Ward, leads the GS Forming division, while Jason Ward is President of JMS Rebar, which bears the initials of the grandsons.

According to Acosta, “The company is employee- and customer-focused, and it’s a great place to work. Everyone is very friendly, greets you by name, and is extremely accommodating, even though it’s now massive in size, with 500 employees.”

The team includes delivery drivers, warehouse staff, rebar fabricators, designers, estimators, accounting, sales, and management. The sales department is staffed by product experts who bring a wealth of industry experience, combined with materials training and education, to their conversations with customers.

“We do pride ourselves on finding the best in the industry,” Acosta says, “and we offer training to sales and management staff. They become materials experts and have up-to-date industry knowledge, so they can serve both customers and vendors and form trusted relationships with them.”

Company management believes that employees who feel valued will bring their best, and so makes work-life balance a priority. Each location is managed independently, and Guaranteed Supply offers a generous benefits program. “Some companies may shirk on this for lower level employees, but our drivers and our warehouse workers, all the way up to top management, benefit from a really good support system,” Acosta shares.

Guaranteeing the supply
When we ask general contractors and project managers across North America about the issues that most concern them, invariably they speak about lack of skilled trades and delays in the supply chain, both of which can cause a project to grind to a halt.

Guaranteed Supply can’t solve the labor shortage, but its strategically placed, well-stocked warehouses, and its own fleet of trucks which provide “just in time” delivery to job sites mean that customers are never left in limbo waiting for supplies to arrive; neither are they required to find extensive storage space or risk damage or theft to materials which are delivered too early.

“We are very conscientious when it comes to our stock and the logistics involved, and we do our best to always have what we understand to be top materials on hand. We work closely with our vendors to make sure the supply is always flowing, and our vendors and customers benefit from this,” Acosta explains.

“We have had issues in the past when specific vendors were having their own issues, so we will work with customers to provide alternatives that will suit their needs and do our best to expedite the process so general contractors can get their materials in a timely manner.”

Diverse offerings
Guaranteed Supply maintains distinct divisions. Division 3, for example, is a one-stop shop for concrete supply needs; Division 7 supplies thermal and moisture protection supplies such as insulation, joint sealants, wall coatings, and flashing membranes; and Division 9 supplies stucco and exterior insulation finishing systems. These provide a highly efficient multilayer barrier incorporating base materials, insulation, and drainage, and a textured, finished surface, guaranteeing a building that stands the test of time, with an attractive exterior.

Another division, Tools & Safety, provides general supplies for any size project, as none is too big or too small.

Divisions 1, 2, 4, and 8 are the divisions that truly set Guaranteed Supply apart from competitors, because they encompass a variety of services to help contractors optimize the products they purchase. “We assist with a project from its inception: with planning, detailing, and estimating; with sitework, setting up fencing, and paving; with masonry; and all the way to the end, with painting and decorating,” Acosta explains. “We’re not unique in relation to the work itself; we have competitors because it’s a hot market, but where we are unique is in what we offer in terms of comprehensive service and that personal family touch. I don’t know of any other company in the region that has that.”

Over the last dozen or so years, the company has further diversified, creating GS Forming and JMS Rebar, which have taken the company to even higher levels of service and produced new revenue streams.

Scott Ward, with experience as a contractor and expertise in concrete forming and tilt-up projects, has grown GS Forming into a successful rental business, with the forms delivered to the job site when needed, picked up when the concrete pour is completed, cleaned, and prepared for the next job.

Meanwhile, Jason Ward has grown JMS Rebar into another highly successful business by manufacturing customized, high-quality rebar in its fabrication shop according to the building engineer’s specifications. This division also supplies rebar installation materials: a rebar tie tool, tie wire, and rebar caps for exposed ends to protect against injury, and provides information about best installation practices.

Celebrating 60 years
At present, Guaranteed Supply Company is beginning its anniversary celebrations a month early, when it hosts a booth at the Charlotte Build Expo on December 6. Next, between January 23 and 25 of 2024, the company will be establishing a national presence with a big display at the World of Concrete convention in Las Vegas.

“There are still a lot of things in the background and changes coming to the company in a big way,” Acosta tells us. “I can’t give out information yet, but I am working closely with Willie Goncharow, President, and Chuck Nelson, Vice President of Sales, and we’ll have updates coming out soon about our online presence.”

Stay tuned!

The post Supplying Quality Construction Materials and Services for 60 Years<p class="company">Guaranteed Supply Company</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

A leading manufacturer and supplier of masonry, aggregates, concrete, hardscaping, permeable pavement systems, and sustainable solutions, the team at Ernest Maier, Inc. knows there are often better solutions to construction challenges than the status quo.

“Our customers are not numbers,” says Dr. Aaron Fisher, PhD, the company’s Vice President of Business Development. “Ultimately, we know what we are doing. We hire competent people, and then we enable those people to work with customers to get them what they need.”

Ernest Maier, Inc. has come a long way since it was founded by German immigrant Ernest Maier in 1926. Back then, the hardworking young man formed 72 blocks by hand every day on a Sears block machine.

Over time, Maier hired staff to help him supply building blocks for residential basements. Steadily growing, the company today operates from 13 locations and has a reputation for quality, service, and sustainable solutions.

As the sole concrete masonry manufacturer inside the Washington Beltway, Ernest Maier sets itself apart from others in the industry. Some suppliers view themselves as block manufacturers and providers of ready-mix but miss that construction companies, engineers, homeowners, designers, and architects across the Mid-Atlantic increasingly need—and would benefit from—other materials to build houses and other structures.

“Our approach is that we want to be a total building supply company. If you need it, and you’re on a construction site, we want to provide it to you,” says Dr. Fisher. “Part of that is giving people alternative materials and a good example of that is rebar.”

Typically made from steel, various types of rebar, or reinforcing bar, have been used in concrete for centuries. While steel rebar has its advantages as a building material—such as performing well under tension—it has disadvantages that include high cost, weight, and rusting.

For years, there were no alternatives to steel rebar. Searching for alternatives, Ernest Maier recently began to supply fiberglass rebar. As well as being lower cost, other benefits include zero rust, zero spalling, high performance in all climates, and no need for costly waterproofing. Nonconductive and nonferrous, it also has high chemical resistance, unlike steel.

Just 25 percent of the weight of steel, a single truck of MST-BAR® fiberglass rebar replaces four truckloads of steel. Since installation is faster and more efficient, it also offers up to 40 percent labor savings over steel alternatives.

“Historically, fiberglass rebar was a superior product, but at a higher price point,” says Dr. Fisher. “Steel got expensive, fiberglass got cheap, and the codes came into play where they now respect fiberglass.” Staff at Ernest Maier carefully explain to customers needing rebar that now there’s a durable, lighter, lower-cost alternative.

Some clients accept fiberglass, while others prefer steel, but “our goal is to make sure you understand what it is and understand the value,” says Dr. Fisher. “We have our customers’ interests and bottom line at heart.”

Together with advising buyers about materials and other options for their projects, Ernest Maier also looks out for them on the financing side. Realizing contractors don’t get paid until the job is done but still need to buy materials and pay their crews, the company is conscious of credit and the value of work and time. Since not all contractors have the time to walk into a bank and open a line of credit, Ernest Maier has a convenient online Credit Application form at www.ernestmaier.com/audience/contractors/credit-application/. “Our goal is to keep you in business, because if you stay in business, you continue to buy from us, and you are able to pay us back,” says Dr. Fisher. The company often helps contractors by scrutinizing their costs.

“So we’re looking out for our customers’ bottom line, and that’s why we’ve been successful. We know what they’re trying to do: it’s more than just buying materials, it’s making a living building.”

Many businesses talk about sustainability and the importance of ‘going green,’ but not all put their words into action. At Ernest Maier, the opposite is true. With a section of its website dedicated solely to sustainability (www.ernestmaier.com/inspirations/sustainability/), the company clearly states its position: “Ernest Maier views it as critical to ensure that we build to last, but that we also build in a way that doesn’t burden future generations.”

From products like CarbonCure, reducing emissions by using Lehigh Hanson’s EcoCem PLC in all concrete blocks, and the revolutionary PaveDrain permeable pavement system to crushing old concrete into aggregate and buying local, Ernest Maier is serious about sustainability. This extends beyond products to the company itself. Last year, the company generated 131,000 kWh of solar energy at its Bladensburg, Maryland campus (sufficient to power a refrigerator for 180 years), and brought in reusable water bottles and an inline reverse osmosis system, eliminating plastic bottles.

“Sustainability and resiliency are things you do because they save you money, and that’s the way we approach a lot of it,” says Dr. Fisher of the company, which also stopped sending paper invoices. “If a customer wants to be sustainable, we are more than happy to talk with them about ways they can truly be more sustainable. And it’s not just a ‘paint it green’ kind of thing—there’s no greenwashing here—this is really what we do.”

One of the biggest issues facing the world is resiliency, and this is another area where Ernest Maier advises customers. Sometimes, clients come to the company believing that building structures out of lumber is cheaper than masonry; in many instances, the opposite is true, both in the short and long term. Buildings crafted from brick, stone, and masonry last longer than wood, have tighter building envelopes, use less energy, and emit less CO₂ throughout their lifecycle, making them more sustainable.

“It’s not just the wall, it’s also what you have to do to finish the wall,” explains Dr. Fisher, asking why some builders insist on wood when they could have made structures out of masonry. “I understand that a lot of people are going to rest on, ‘we’ve always built it that way,’ but just because we’ve always done it that way, it’s not the way we should do it in the future.”

Playing a vital role in the success of all its clients, the company recently took on some of its biggest works to date. This includes pouring 1,100 cubic yards of concrete in total in one day, with one pour alone of about 550 cubic yards. “We have grown from a small outfit to being able to service large jobs, and are proud of our capabilities,” says Dr. Fisher.

Although Ernest Maier has no plans yet for its 100^th anniversary in 2026, the company does intend to keep growing, and in particular, to focus on becoming involved with customers earlier on in projects. Design-build projects have become popular, and Dr. Fisher says that Ernest Maier wants to come on board at the same time as the architects, contractors, and engineers to successfully deliver projects.

“Material costs are a fraction of the overall cost,” he says, “so many of these project teams miss out on things. They miss design elements and use old knowledge. They just don’t use the latest and greatest, not because they don’t want to, but because they aren’t aware of it. We bring a lot of knowledge and awareness to the table. I want our reputation to grow to the point that companies engage with us through the bidding process and the design process in a way they haven’t done to date,” he shares.

“If the owner wants sustainability, you’ve got to deliver on that—not at the eleventh hour, but in the first hour. It needs to be a part of all questions, and they need to make some early decisions, and that’s where we can help a lot.”

The post Doing It Differently… and Better<p class="company">Ernest Maier, Inc.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Serving a clientele that includes the biggest and most well-known industrial contractors in the country in addition to do-it-yourselfers and residential and commercial contractors, Delta’s continuous technological investments allow its team to offer precise batching, prompt delivery, and information on the status of every job.

A family-oriented company from the start, with an initial focus on concrete, Delta has also worked in a number of related businesses such as aggregate mining, lightweight mining, and concrete block, along with some unrelated sectors like catfish farming in the Mississippi Delta.

“We’ve ended up with concrete, aggregates and some related construction materials as our primary product lines. It’s morphed and changed over the years,” explains CEO Lance Bonner. “Two of the founding families are represented on our board, grandsons of the original founders.”

Bonner stresses one of the biggest reasons behind the company’s success. “Our people are what make us different,” he says. “We’re in a commodity business selling concrete and aggregates, and so are a lot of others, but we focus on service and professionalism: being on time, thanking the customer for their business, and treating them with respect and fairness.”

The company’s enduring success has stemmed from its focus on the customer—and very much on its employees as well, including numerous 30- and 40-year employees choosing to spend their whole career with Delta.

“That makes a huge difference because they have a wealth of institutional knowledge and loyalty and they buy in to our business approach,” Bonner says. “They know our customers and customers know them.”

One of the concerns Bonner has had as the company has grown is not wanting to lose the teamwork and connectedness everyone has in a culture that has developed to being highly focused on exceptional customer experiences.

“It’s a challenge to grow and maintain connectedness and a family feel. Simultaneously, we aim to innovate, improve, stay customer-focused, and achieve high-level results,” he says. “I’m not claiming perfection, but we’ve found a way to manage both aspects, and it works for us.”

Taking the time to train employees properly is also extremely important, teaching them what’s expected of them and supporting them through that training as well.

“We have something we call the Delta Difference, an acrostic that spells out our name Delta, that describes our culture emphases,” Bonner says. This Difference embraces a focus on consistent quality excelling in customer service; love to communities, employees and families, with involvement in the broader community as well; and reaching out to employees’ families to bring them into the organization.

“I think that’s critical—family members being part of and supporting their work with our organization,” Bonner says. “One that really resonates is the T in Delta in our acrostic: Treat others with respect and fairness. We consistently discuss the values of integrity and honesty in our actions, ensuring that everyone is treated with respect—customers, coworkers, vendors and suppliers. This message strongly resonates with our employees.”

Indeed, Delta is committed to telling its customers the truth every time. “If we didn’t do it right, we tell them upfront, and then we talk about a solution,” Bonner says. “In instances where things aren’t going perfectly, such as falling slightly behind schedule, we are proactive. We call them ahead of time and let them know what’s going on. Our employees buy into that approach.”

Part of employee engagement with Delta involves taking pride in being accountable for one’s work and ensuring it’s done correctly. Delta places a strong emphasis on its commitment to safety and secure operations. “It’s really about us all caring about our fellow employees, our communities, and our families that live in those communities,” Bonner says. “I don’t want to go home injured; I don’t want anyone going home injured. In that sense, I am my brother’s keeper.”

The company has strongly promoted the idea that safety is a team effort. “Sometimes you don’t see for yourself what’s happening behind you or around you, but maybe your teammate does. So, we look out for each other. And that’s a critical focus that’s essential for our success.”

As for future growth, the company grew slowly over many years, exercising a “very cautious” approach to ensure that its ability to deliver on its service commitment to customers never wavered. Delta never overextended itself, and now has all the necessary infrastructure in place for ongoing growth.

“We’re looking strongly at growth in a number of new markets, but the key to that is having the right selection, training, and culture programs in place where we can replicate what we have now,” Bonner says. “We’re not going to put our name and our brand out there if we’re not certain we can fulfill our commitment.”

Growth includes expanding the company footprint—perhaps fairly significantly—from its base in Jackson, Mississippi across the South and Southeast over the next few years, as well as moving into some complementary product lines, most notably the sand and gravel mining sector.

Being in a cyclical and seasonal industry presents its share of challenges, but right now, everything looks good, including a few years without a recession, says Bonner.

“We learned valuable lessons from the events of 2008, and when COVID hit, we took a pause to conduct a multi-tiered assessment. We asked ourselves, ‘What if this scenario plays out? How do we ensure the well-being of our people, as we value our loyal, long-term employees?’ Simultaneously, we recognized our duty to shareholders, aiming to prevent substantial financial losses. Through this process, we developed strategies that, I believe, assist us in scaling up and down effectively without disrupting people’s lives any more than necessary.”

Facing various challenges such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other storms in the last four or five years, Delta has consistently embraced proactivity. Lessons learned from these experiences emphasized the importance of proper preparations and reinforcement of its plants, including the construction of resilient batch offices to withstand storms. Delta remains steadfast in its commitment to providing customers with high-quality service, regardless of the challenges it encounters behind the scenes.

“It’s just part of the business that we hope our customers don’t have to dwell on, but we engage in open conversations when they do,” Bonner says. “For instance, fuel prices spike occasionally. We may need to discuss a slight adjustment in the fuel surcharge to manage the impact. But our goal is to never surprise the customer; we prefer to talk it through with them and make sure they understand why. We approach it as a collaborative effort, refraining from any attempt to recover all of the cost on such matters. We’re in this together.”

Delta’s future plans also have room for some impressive projects, like the ones it has done previously for St. Jude in Memphis, and as primary suppliers on a Nissan automobile manufacturing plant located in the Jackson area and the Continental Tire plant in Clinton, Mississippi. Delta is presently supplying concrete to the largest concrete project ever in the state, a new aluminum mill being built near Columbus, Mississippi for Steel Dynamics and their subsidiary, Aluminum Dynamics. “It’s an impressive project. We’re excited about the partnership and the impact it will make on the surrounding community,” Bonner shares.

Despite all of its impressive success, however, one of Delta’s biggest accomplishments is having employees who love to work at the company for their entire career. “That speaks to me,” Bonner says. “I think that’s great and I love seeing that.”

That employee satisfaction has indeed led to exemplary customer service and satisfaction as well, and Delta aims to maintain that in the years to come. “We’re continually trying to improve how the customer relates to us, and that includes adopting new technology, honing our training programs, and holding customer panel forums for direct feedback and relationship building,” Bonner explains.

“I think what sets us apart is this fanatical focus on customer experience. Most people in our industry are focused on their own capabilities, and their plants are good and their trucks are maintained, and that’s important,” Bonner says. “But ultimately, to meet customer expectations, you have to be there with the right product, at the right time, every time—that’s the Delta Difference.”

The post All Together Now – Where Customers and Employees Feel Like Family<p class="company">Delta Industries</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

“We used to get concrete finishing tools for Christmas. That was always a nice surprise,” he says.

Respecting his father’s skills and strong work ethic, Justin knew he’d travel a similar career path, with one exception: the projects he would oversee would be much larger.

In 2001, Stein was one of the first set of three interns at Denver-based Concrete Frame Associates (CFA). Familiar with Colorado from family ski trips over the years, the opportunity was a dream come true. CFA was happy with his work and offered him a full-time position after he completed his studies in Construction Science and Management with a minor in business. Two years later, after graduating with his Bachelor of Science from Kansas State University, Stein started with CFA as a project engineer, working his way up to Vice President of Operations.

Nothing left to chance
When he became Concrete Frame Associates’ President in January 2020, Stein was excited, with good reason. The company had a record 2019 and looked forward to an even better year. Three months later, however, COVID hit, and the world practically ground to a standstill in mere days.

“Everything turned upside down, and it was a whole lot different than anticipated,” he says. Although CFA was deemed essential and the team never stopped working, there was a definite impact on business. Some projects contracted, others were shelved, and a few—including the large concourse expansion at Denver International Airport—were crucial and kept going. And even though CFA’s office shut down for about eight weeks, Stein and others on his team came in every day. “We were lucky to be considered essential and to continue to keep the doors open and keep working through all that,” he shares.

Operating throughout Rocky Mountain West, CFA takes on concrete projects in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Active in the multifamily, office space, and hospitality sectors, the company’s turnkey solutions encompass pre-construction planning, and construction/operations. These include design assistance, forming system selection, structural system selection, budget and schedule development, and constructability support, to name a few.

To ensure successful projects from the start, CFA uses Revit to create pre-construction line drawings. CFA’s project engineers take these structural and architectural drawings and create 3D models before any concrete is poured.

As the largest concrete-former construction company in Colorado, some assume Concrete Frame Associates takes only big commercial concrete jobs. This isn’t the case, according to Stein. “We do anything from $50,000 and $100,000 up to $30 million. If it’s concrete and needs to be formed, or is elevated off the ground, those are the types of jobs we want to do.”

A strong team
At CFA, all work is assigned to a trained project team. This includes a project manager, project engineer, superintendent, and the field team. And if the company is performing a turnkey job—or as they call it in the market, a frame project where they are carrying the concrete for the package—a field engineer is added to the team.

With a team of about 350, labor represents CFA’s biggest investment. With an in-house labor tracking system, the company manages and monitors labor productivity. CFA also uses a short-interval planning (SIP) program. This helps assess what work needs to be done in the coming week, and what staff are required. “If our SIP says we need 20 people and we’ve got 25, we’d better execute more work or cut loose five guys,” says Stein. “So we track labor extremely closely on our end.” Managing project schedules closely, the company works hand-in-hand with clients to measure progress, hit certain deadlines, ensure they have enough workers, and track productivity and costs.

“The goal is to continue to grow, year by year,” Stein says, and the company, like all construction firms at the moment, faces challenges in finding staff. “It takes a very specific person who wants to do this type of work,” he says. “Day-in, day-out, it’s always going to be an issue when it comes to this type of blue-collar work. It’s about the elements: it’s hot, it’s cold, it’s rainy, it’s snowy.” By using productivity tools and creating better processes, the company is able to do more with less.

Safety first
Although safety measures have always been important, CFA made a company-wide shift in its philosophy of safety about seven years ago, stepping up its commitment to a safer workplace. “We’re proud of how far we’ve come with our safety numbers and metrics,” says Stein.

Last year, CFA finished with an impressive, world-class Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.79. “For the type of work we do, the industry average is between four and six, so for us to finish below one is outstanding,” says Stein. “In the previous four years, we had finished in the twos. We are extremely proud of what we’ve done in the last five years when it comes to safety.”

Along with a six-member-strong safety team—a Director of Safety with five Safety Managers under him—the company provides all personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff. While this might seem standard, the quality and comfort of the company’s harnesses and other PPE are top-notch. “We know there are cheaper ones out there, but we want our people to feel comfortable working day-in and day-out.”

This commitment extends to other safety gear as well. Soon after becoming President, Stein pushed a “hand safety” initiative, knowing the most injured parts of the body are fingers and hands. This initiative included hand placement and hand awareness, with the company providing a variety of gloves, including cut-resistant, impact-resistant, and gloves for warm or cold weather.

“We spend a fortune every year on gloves, but we know it’s the most important thing we can do to protect our employees,” he says. “It’s become part of our business structure, how we look at safety, organize it, and treat it. We want to have the same numbers every year and continue to go forward.”

All projects are audited every month by safety team members, and CFA has a top-down approach where project managers, project engineers, and safety specialists review jobs and make sure they are getting all necessary information to their workers. “It’s important we treat [safety] at a high level,” says Stein.

Shaping the community
Over more than 30 years in business, CFA has been an integral part of many projects that define the Colorado skyline. These include the Four Seasons Hotel, the twin 35-story Country Club Towers luxury apartments, and the Westin Hotel near the Denver International Airport. For the new Colorado State University (CSU) football stadium, the company took on the challenge of creating large concourses for fans to walk around, high decks, and other intricate work.

But it’s not all about work and nothing but at CFA. About six years ago, the company took note of the various fundraisers and community service events being promoted by its customers. Participating in these events, CFA asked itself why it wasn’t doing something similar in-house.

This led to internal efforts helping charities, often those benefiting kids such as building bicycles, and the creation of the “It’s Not About…” annual fundraiser. “In the past two years, the company has invited our industry partners to become part of our group, including general contractors, suppliers, and vendors. Last year, CFA raised money for the Children’s Hospital in Denver; this year, efforts will go toward another group to help them get their foundation off the ground.”

Growth ahead
In the years to come, Stein sees Concrete Frame Associates continuing to grow. Among its services, the company has rebar and shotcrete operations and is investigating other product lines. Presently, CRA plans to continue to expand the organization within Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, doing more volume than before, and targeting Southern Colorado, mountain areas, Northern Colorado, and other geographic markets that make sense.

“We have a plan over several years to grow the organization to a certain metric when it comes to financial numbers and financial goals,” he says. “Once we get to that, we will be looking to plant our flag somewhere else.”

The post How Total Teamwork Takes You to #1<p class="company">Concrete Frame Associates</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

The history of Bloomsdale goes back to 1946. Founding the company soon after returning from World War II, Marvin Drury named the business after the southeast Missouri town where it is located. Excavating gravel from creeks and delivering it to local farmers soon led to Drury taking on bigger works, including digging basements.

Once joined by his brother Ralph, the two began taking on municipal utility projects, such as drilling wells and installing public water supplies and sewage collection systems in Missouri’s central and southern areas.

Now in its third generation, family-led Bloomsdale’s Scott Drury and team of about 150 remain humble about Bloomsdale Excavating and its many achievements over the years.

“It’s important for us to stay grounded, and not put ourselves above others,” he says, adding, “I don’t even like using the word ‘employees,’ because I don’t view the people I work with every day as our employees; they are just family members. I don’t treat anyone here any differently than I do my siblings.”

Some of the highest praise Scott Drury has received about the company has come from others who left other businesses to work at Bloomsdale. Recently, too, some contractors came to the company’s office for a meeting. “They all commented on how they could sense our culture,” Drury smiles. “Some of them even said, ‘If you are ever hiring, call me, I’d love to work here.’”

Barely out of his teens when he started with the company, Scott has spent 32 years with Bloomsdale, taking on roles including Vice President of Operations, Regional Manager, and General Superintendent of Grading and Utility Construction. Today, as President, he’s proud to be responsible for Bloomsdale’s vision, core values, and the reputation of the business and staff with customers.

Like others in the company, he is active in the community and industry organizations. These include membership in the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC)—including serving as 2021’s Chairman of the Board (Missouri)—the Sustainable Ozarks Partnership, the Missouri Limestone Producers Association, and supporting Pony Bird and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, among others.

Expanding its services through the years, Bloomsdale’s work includes excavating, grading, demolition, concrete, site utilities, and mining services. Known as the Midwest’s premier excavation and grading contractor, Bloomsdale’s footprint encompasses its home state of Missouri as well as Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

No matter the project type—commercial, residential, energy, environmental, public, federal, project development, or mining and quarrying—all works are carried out with the highest degree of safety protocols. Drury remembers his father Tom Drury’s work in the late 1990s, when he used a safety program to unite the company. Back then, some crew members wore hard hats while others had ball caps, and safety vests were a rarity.

“We were one of the first in our region to initiate a full-time hard hat and safety vest policy company-wide,” says Drury. “This turned into providing the folks in the field with orange or yellow t-shirts. We were known as the ‘people in the orange coats’ in the wintertime. This was noticed by others and quickly became a trend on projects we were working on.”

Historically working in the mining industry, Bloomsdale became the first contractor to have a partnership with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). In fact, Tom Drury has a contractor award named after him. “This is not an active partnership any longer, but it worked,” says Drury.

One of Bloomsdale’s partnerships today is with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a relationship that supports the company’s training needs regarding Department of Transportation (DOT) standards, recognizing impairment on job sites, and holding drivers accountable. “This partnership helped produce our Vehicle Safety Policy, which I have shared with numerous companies throughout the years,” Drury shares.

Bloomsdale’s current main initiative is the reintroduction of a safety committee which represents the entire company, including laborers, equipment operators, mechanics, and supervisors. It is headed up by Safety Director Brian Bauman. It is a concept the company had success with many years ago, and helped bring its safety culture to where it is today.

Committee members are recognized on projects and meet as a committee quarterly. “We have an abundance of new hires not familiar with our philosophy on safety, our history, and expectations,” explains Drury. “We felt it was imperative to indoctrinate the future of our company properly and this is the method we have chosen.”

Safety pays off, as Bloomsdale Excavating’s safety performance is known as one of the best in the industry. According to the company, its Experience Modification Rate (EMR) has consistently remained below .77 for the past five years.

One of Bloomsdale’s largest recent projects is the Fort Leonard Wood Hospital replacement where it’s working as a subcontractor for JE Dunn. The massive project is next to the existing hospital in Missouri, which will be demolished, and is nearing completion.

Over the past three years, Bloomsdale’s scope of work on the hospital has encompassed mass excavation, structural excavation for the building, grading, utility installation (sanitary, sewer, water), and concrete flatwork.

“A long project for us is 18 months to two years; we usually turn things over in six to 12 months,” says Drury. At present, the company is completing a runway rehabilitation project at St. Louis Lambert International Airport as a subcontractor to Millstone Weber (MW). “This project had an aggressive schedule. Our scope of work was removing the existing runway, grading, and storm sewer installation.”

From excavation to grading, and mining services to demolition, the team at Bloomsdale believes in treating all its customers with respect. For the company, respect begins with hiring people who uphold Bloomsdale’s Core Values. These include checking egos at the door, setting the bar, a positive attitude, and “figuring it out.”

As President, much of Drury’s time is spent ensuring this company culture is maintained. Of all Core Values, he says, number one is critical. “If you are not a humble person and all we hear, is ‘I, me, my, mine,’ then you will stick out like a sore thumb here,” he says. “You likely won’t succeed in our company if everything you do and say is motivated by your ego. I strive to have a drama-free workplace and a large ego will always breed drama.”

Continuing to maintain its commitment to service and upholding its values, Bloomsdale Excavating will remain family-owned. The future, says Scott Drury, holds organic growth. Unlike in years past, the business doesn’t have any expansion plans and wants to be profit-driven, not revenue-driven.

“We are enjoying being selective with what projects we pursue and targeting our sales efforts to the clientele we feel make the best fit for Bloomsdale Excavating and that client,” shares Drury. “I have watched our competition hit the road and travel all over the country in recent years, something we did many years ago when no one else locally was traveling. We will travel for the right project, and the right customer.”

The post Founded on Family Values<p class="company">Bloomsdale Excavating</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Leading with a clear vision and a dedication to singular, premium quality delivery, the group prides itself on pioneering new concepts. When not serving local governments, it dovetails its companies’ services with general contracting and construction management services for civil works and private customers.

As Peter Luizzi & Bros Contracting, Inc. expanded into Luizzi Property Management LLC and Luizzi Construction Services and Development LLC, the company’s presence has been a force to witness. Established by founders Carol and Peter Luizzi Sr., and following years of success in the civil arena, the Luizzis added the property management division to their original offering toward the end of the 1980s, as market demand created an early opportunity too good to ignore.

Property management in focus
This upstart addition started gaining momentum in the 1990s when the company began acquiring real estate. It was Peter Luizzi Jr.’s arrival in 2000 that heralded the turning point for the company’s property management arm, changing its trajectory forever.

Luizzi Jr. invested considerable time and effort transforming the property management division into a fully-fledged management company by adding residential properties to an existing portfolio of land, warehouses, and other industrial real estate. Walking bravely in his parents’ footsteps, the young leader spent the next 13 years growing the company to where it could erect its first luxury apartment community in 2013.

That was followed by the Starbuck Island Luxury Apartment Community in Green Island, New York, a $64 million-plus development comprising commercial and residential units built on repurposed land over an old oil landfill at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers near Troy, New York.

The achievement is a first-class development based on a condominium-type, premium lifestyle approach. The timing could not have been better, either. “It gives people that feeling of being in their own space, but it is maintenance-free; it is luxury,” says Olivia Metchick, Marketing Manager, of what customers describe as a singular living experience.

Loving the lifestyle
Naturally, the Luizzi Companies’ vision is not simply to create luxury but instead to establish human-friendly living spaces where people love their lifestyle and flourish. Evidence of this is the recent addition of a garden to one of its projects—which didn’t have one in the original plans—at the request of a resident living in the development.

“Peter is a forward thinker. He’s always trying things that haven’t been done before. It gets attention, and then that becomes what everybody else tries to do,” Metchick says. “He is very visual; he’s a true visionary. He’ll take abandoned, deserted properties where nobody sees potential and has a way of completely flipping it. It really helps the economies of such areas,” she notes.

Working hand-in-hand with BBL Construction, a trusted construction partner of several years, on key projects like Starbuck Island Luxury Apartment Community and Rivers Ledge of Niskayuna in Schenectady County, New York, Luizzi Companies is proud to be associated with an industry stalwart such as this. “We have a really good relationship with BBL Construction. We foresee their role to continue for years to come,” Metchick adds.

146 Marketplace
Luizzi Companies’ next big game changer is 146 Marketplace, a project that promises to deliver the kind of community-based living the area has never seen before. “146 Marketplace will be like nothing we have in upstate New York. It is going to be all-encompassing. It is taking luxury and convenience to a new level.”

With around 300 apartments in a series of buildings, with restaurants, onsite shopping, and entertainment, the development is set to become the first of more communities of this type that Luizzi intends to establish. The company is selecting existing businesses to move to the premises to achieve this vision and help create a sense of familiarity alongside convenience.

“Peter likes to do things full-throttle and give people the highest quality,” Metchick says. “We stick to our values, but we do not say no often; we are open to a lot.”

Naturally, unlike in its private projects, the company’s civil contracts for public entities such as municipalities require it to adhere to carefully prescribed agreements where the team has to work within the set principles and agreed scope of the work according to established guidelines. In its own offices, however, the sky is the limit.

Luizzi Companies moved into its sophisticated new facility around 18 months ago, giving it the tremendous benefit of having one of its commercial developments right next door. That means having a convenient, walk-in portfolio displaying the team’s deep design insight and capabilities while showcasing the benefits of working with its team of industry experts and the novel ways it leverages technology.

Worth showing off
A proud member of the American Concrete Institute, the company has won many awards in its time—and so have its projects.

Recently, the American Public Works Association (APWA) honored the company with the 2019 Project of the Year Award in the ‘Emergency Construction Category under $5 million’ for its sterling work on APWA’s Sage Avenue Emergency Project, where it acted as a lead service provider on repairs alongside roadways in Troy, New York following a destructive storm.

In 2019, the company received the Hot Mix Asphalt Showcase Award for work on the Walmart Supercenter in Clifton Park, New York.

Luminary members of its team also regularly garner recognition for outstanding performance. Peter Luizzi Jr. received the ‘Albany Business Review Power 50: New Momentum’ award for leaders in the region, while Chuck Pafundi Jr., Project Manager and head of real estate development, made it onto the ‘Albany Business Review 40 under 40’ list for 2023.

It’s no surprise, then, that the company was named ‘Business of the Year in 2022’ by the Albany Business Review.

A sense of family
The legacy of caring about the details and its people that was first established by Luizzi Sr. is continued today by Peter Luizzi Jr. and his wife, Laura.

“You get that sense of family here. They do things for us that you don’t get from a corporate or national company. It’s something that has helped us get those awards,” says Metchick of the generosity and care the Luizzis show their staff, which numbers around 100.

This family atmosphere is supported by regular events like employee appreciation events as well as team lunches where everyone gets to break bread together and engage on a more personal level. “The Luizzis do a lot of little things that make a difference. They’re things you don’t get everywhere,” she continues, underscoring how this generosity cultivates employee loyalty and strong morale amongst team members.

Thriving in this focused care from the Luizzis, the team also likes to do its part to share its appreciation beyond office boundaries and project sites. Each year it supports various charities in their missions, participating, for instance, in the Breast Cancer drive in October alongside a raffle for the local Alzheimer’s Association.

Whether the team donates time by physically attending charity events or contributes financially, giving back is a big part of its identity as a group dedicated to the greater good and the future of the communities in which it operates. As property trends lean increasingly toward low-to-no-maintenance and as apartment and condominium-style housing becomes more popular, Luizzi Companies is positioning itself to answer the growing demand for more.

Poised for consistent growth across the region, Luizzi Companies is working to become the go-to partner in the area, delivering practical high-end construction and property management. Whether the rest of New York State knows it yet or not, it soon will. This proud Albany team is clearly readying itself to make big waves.

The post Building Inspiration Into Property Management<p class="company">Luizzi Companies</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

At BW Manufacturing, quality and durability are built into every piece of equipment crafted to handle shot blasting, scarifying, diamond grinding/polishing, dust containment, and more. Not only are BW’s products designed and built better, they’re also backed by experienced customer service and outstanding technical support.

Before founding BW in 1996, Bruce Williams dedicated his career to the floor coating industry. Unhappy with the existing equipment and its constant breakdowns, Williams knew he could do better. Building machinery in his garage, the mechanically inclined Williams’ experience led him to what worked and proved to him what didn’t. He observed that much of the current machinery was confusing to use and proprietary, making replacement parts expensive and hard to find.

His ambition was to make user-friendly products, simpler to service and operate. One of his biggest achievements was ride-on machines with interchangeable heads, a first for the industry. This led to the company’s tagline: Long-lasting, easily serviceable.

“He set out to do two things, and he was wildly successful in both of those,” says Nick Johnson, Sales Processes and Marketing Manager. Bruce set out to achieve, and accomplished, building the most reliable concrete equipment in the industry. His other goal, which he achieved, was to make contractors more profitable by providing affordable equipment that worked more efficiently by having less downtime while getting more work done in less time.

“The initial goal of ‘long-lasting’ equipment is still being tested today,” says Director of Sales and Marketing, Randy Shanks. “It’s not uncommon for us to see machines that are 20 to 25 years old still in existence. As for the lifetime of the chassis, we have yet to figure that out, since most chassis we’ve built are still working on surface prep jobs,” he says.

“Our dust containment systems are built with the same level of durability. For example, the largest concrete contractor in the nation has dozens of our A-404 vacuums in their fleet. Contractors contend that BW Manufacturing’s vacs last longer and require less maintenance than any others available. Our pulse system allows them easier filter maintenance, which saves them even more time and money.”

When customers buy from BW Manufacturing, they get more than superior-quality concrete equipment; they also get years of industry experience.

Offering a full line of walk-behind shot-blasters, scarifiers, and grinder/polishers, the BW team advises clients on the best solutions for their needs, including job size, type of space, and surface prep. Vacuums sold by BW range from its smallest, the B-101, with a capability of 205 cubic feet per minute (CFM) to the A-404, the largest at 1,175 CFM.

As revolutionary as the day it was released, the D-1800-FT4 chassis remains the company’s flagship product. A ride-on multipurpose, the D-1800 chassis offers a new and improved version of BW’s interchangeable attachment design, allowing for high-production shot blasting, scarifying, and diamond grinding on one chassis, Johnson explains. “It’s the ideal machine for industrial floors, line stripe removal, bridge decks, airport hangars, parking decks, and highways.”

The result of meticulous research and design, the D-1800 has user-friendly controls, a tilt-up hood allowing easy access to the engine compartment for service and maintenance, and a seating position that gives the operator a better view both in front and behind the attachments and preparation path. Each attachment can be swapped out by one person with minimal tools in less than 20 minutes. The D-1800 also features a state-of-the-art dump system, allowing operators to dispose of the acquired silica dust while working quickly and safely.

The D-1800 boasts other advantages as well. As a shot blaster, it can do 3,000 to 7,000 square feet per hour. Its feathered blast pattern provides a smoother-looking finish and faster operation while fully replaceable inner liners increase housing life.

As a scarifier, the unique head attachment is self-leveling, automatically adjusting itself to different contours of the floor or pavement. “You’ll achieve an accurate removal of thin mill coatings to ¼-inch overlays,” says Johnson.

As a diamond grinder/polisher, floating grinding heads and a specially designed shroud aid in removing all material from the floor, cutting cleanup costs while keeping the machine virtually dust-free. “Why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars when one chassis can quickly and easily do all the jobs you need?” asks Johnson.

“I truly believe in our equipment, and I think our D-1800-FT4 chassis is the best piece of equipment on the market,” he says. “From a sales and marketing perspective, it’s easy to sell stuff that you truly believe is the best. It makes it easy to do my job.”

Coming on board BW after graduating in 2018, Johnson has been an important part of the company’s growth, especially as its internal and customer service team and its marketing department grew. Today, he manages BW’s inside sales, customer service, and marketing. “I started here while in college and decided I did not want to leave after graduation.”

Although BW has the resources of a large company, it maintains the culture of a smaller business. Everyone—from the ownership group to day-to-day employees—has an entrepreneurial spirit and mentality, and truly believes in the quality of all products. At BW, this positive and powerful attitude drives success.

“Our internal culture spills over to our external culture, which is why I believe our customers love us,” says Shanks. A veteran of sales management for over three decades, Shanks started with BW in January of 2023. He has put together a comprehensive employee engagement and retention program and says much of the company’s success comes from hiring the right people. “What I realized is, people don’t leave companies, people leave people,” he says.

From an internal perspective, BW has a very strong company culture which includes working as a team, winning and delivering results, working hard, striving for excellence in communication both internal and external, and relationship-building. “By working as a team, we win together,” he says. “We help each other professionally, we care about each other personally, and we’re a tight-knit group.”

Passionate about his work, Shanks says there is work, and then there’s hard work. “You have to define what it is to work hard,” he says. “Everybody does 40 hours a week, but to outdo the competition you need to do more. There will always be people out there that are smarter and more talented than us—but there’s never an excuse for anybody ever outworking us. So our culture is that we work hard.”

Treating staff and customers with respect keeps paying off for BW, which is known for its unwavering commitment to service and quality. Getting feedback from clients who use BW equipment every day provides the company with much-appreciated insight into how to be even better.

“Industry professionals have a deep understanding of the challenges they face and what it takes to overcome them,” says Shanks. “BW Manufacturing recognizes that tapping into this wealth of knowledge is crucial for driving innovation.” Through well-structured customer surveys and polls, BW Manufacturing collects feedback on various aspects of its equipment, such as performance, durability, and ease of use. “We ask our customers about pain points, specific needs, and areas where improvements can be made. This invaluable input forms the foundation of our refinement and innovation efforts.”

By focusing on what matters most to actual users, BW ensures refinements and new machinery align with the actual requirements of the concrete restoration industry. “This customer-centric approach sets us apart from competitors who may rely solely on internal brainstorming.”

Taking feedback from customers, BW combines information and suggestions with years of experience. This sees the company’s engineers, designers, and product development teams collaborate to translate client insights into concrete improvements and innovative machinery, resulting in superior products.

“By continually refining existing products and developing new machinery based on customer feedback, BW Manufacturing empowers our customers to perform at their best, tackle challenging projects with confidence, and ultimately, increase their bottom line,” says Shanks. “It’s this unwavering commitment to our customers that solidifies BW Manufacturing’s position as a leader in the concrete restoration equipment industry.”

The post Simply Better Concrete Machinery<p class="company">BW Manufacturing</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

One of America’s best-known suppliers of concrete, aggregate, and precast, Bryan Materials Group (BMG) has been part of some of the most notable construction projects in the history of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from the Jenkins Arcade Building in 1915 to the current terminal modernization of the Pittsburgh International Airport.

Bryan Materials Group is proud of the outstanding products and services the company has provided contractors big and small over the years. “I think our biggest contribution to Pittsburgh has been our consistency in providing products and services that our customers can rely on,” says Justin Bryan, who—along with Josh Bryan and Caleb Bryan—represents the fifth generation of this family-owned business.

“We’re not the biggest, but we continually strive to improve our products and services to meet the needs of our customers,” he says. “We have attempted to advance the ready mix concrete industry by focusing on what we do and doing it to the best of our ability.”

Hard work works
Almost a century and a half after its creation, Bryan Materials Group continues building on the success of its founder.

Back in the 1880s, Pittsburgh was booming, thanks largely to the iron and steel industry. Seeing opportunity, Frank Bryan started his own excavation company with a horse, a cart, and a shovel. According to the company, Frank “moved earth, one shovelful at a time, for foundations and roadways. His stock in trade was hard work and value.”

As a respected Western Pennsylvania construction materials supplier, the business continued finding success from one generation to the next, all the while maintaining Frank’s values: honesty, hard work, and relationships. The fourth generation was spearheaded by David Bryan, Matt Bryan, and Thomas Bryan III.

Before his passing in 1998, Thomas (Tink) Bryan served as a bridge between the third and fourth generations. A true leader and visionary, he led the business on an even greater growth trajectory and helped lay the foundation for Bryan Materials’ future success. According to the company, “The values and work ethic he embodied will be passed down to future generations.”

Family values
Although the world has changed immensely since Bryan Materials Group was founded, the company’s mission and values have remained consistent. All customers, vendors, and staff members are treated with respect. Providing professional services and valuable products for so many years, Bryan Materials Group is—literally—part of the foundation of Pittsburgh’s past, present, and future.

To keep up with customer demand, BMG has developed into a multi-disciplinary business, involved in concrete manufacturing, distribution, and construction. As specialists in many areas—including concrete, aggregate, precast, and marine transportation—the company’s entities include Frank Bryan Inc., BMG Marine, Georgetown Sand & Gravel, Neville Aggregates Company Inc., Concrete Concepts Inc., Riverside Concrete, Tri-State River Products, Quality Concrete Inc., and others. Including its concrete, precast, aggregate, and marine operations, BMG is now at 10 locations.

Amidst such growth, the family is quick to credit its dedicated staff for much of the success of the Bryan Materials Group of companies.

“Our biggest strength is the people who work for us, they’re all family,” says Justin. “Without their time and dedication, we would not be here today. This core value has transcended all of the previous generations of family members who have been involved in the business. Our company mission statement is to value equally our employees, our vendors, and our customers. It’s a three-legged stool,” he says. “Without one of those components, we could not achieve anything.”

At BMG, every employee has a specialty, including drivers, technicians, accounts, mechanics, and plant maintenance workers. “It’s our job to provide them with the things they need to do their job to the best of their ability,” says Justin. “We strive to empower all of our people to make decisions on their own and to support them in reaching our common goal of being a very good service and product supplier.”

Sustainability matters
While “green” and “sustainable” have become buzzwords in myriad businesses today, they lose their meaning unless backed up by action. At Bryan Materials Group, sustainability and corporate responsibility have been integral to the company for many years; in fact, the company has an entire section on its website dedicated to ‘Responsibility.’

Taking environmental action is never a one-step solution, and at BMG, the view of sustainability is a broad one, encompassing recycling, reuse, methods of production, and logistics—how and where materials are sourced and how they are transported. The future of the planet is something to be taken seriously, and BMG is known and respected for its environmental leadership while providing the core products our society relies on.

“Our key focus related to sustainability is in the use and reuse of post-industrial and consumer products,” says Justin. “A lot of our concrete contains at least 35 percent post-industry by-products as part of the design. We also recycle our by-products into other materials that can be used in construction. Our aggregate yards routinely blend materials to be reused in commercial applications, still meeting the rigorous requirements outlined in commercial building standards.”

Many projects require unique concrete mixes for unique applications. An emergency repair to the deck of the Fort Pitt Bridge, for example, necessitated 4000 psi in 12 hours, while the Allegheny County Jail needed 14,000 psi columns. Others, like the UPMC Mercy Hospital, saw 10,000 yards of 10,000 psi structural concrete, while PNC Towers needed 13,000 cubic yards of 113pcf Lightweight Concrete pumped 40 floors (more than 500 vertical feet).

All materials are sourced from within 500 miles of its facility, and concrete mixes from Frank Bryan Inc. usually contain a minimum of 20 percent recycled content. This is achieved by using “Pozzolans—fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace cement (GGBFS), and silica fume in place of portland cement,” according to the company. “This can replace up to 65 percent of the total quantity of cement used.”

Additionally, recovered surplus concrete is separated into its constituent components and reused, and water from surplus concrete is reclaimed, minimizing waste.

Along with product manufacturing, another key area for reducing carbon emissions is product delivery. BMG has strategically located facilities on inland rivers and transports most of the aggregates to these facilities on barges. “River barged materials use a fiftieth of the fuel that over-the-road trucked materials use,” Justin explains. “This is somewhat unique to our business model in this region… Reinvesting in our delivery fleet and marine division is costly, but it provides us with the most up-to-date fuel-efficient modes of transportation available.”

In addition, the company bids on and supplies projects close to its manufacturing hubs. “We avoid supplying projects that are not regional to our hubs. Maximizing the number of yards of concrete we can supply ‘per hour of delivery truck time’ is a key metric in our attempt to become a ‘greener,’ more efficient supplier,” says Justin.

Time to celebrate
To acknowledge its anniversary, the team at BMG designed a special 140^th logo and is making t-shirts and sweatshirts. “We’ve seen them out and around the city and it’s been exciting to see all the engagement,” says Justin.

Despite its decades of success, he adds, there is still plenty of work to do today, and in the years to come.

“Someday in the not-too-distant future, they’ll be reading about Bryan Materials Group celebrating our 150^th and 175^th anniversaries. If we and future generations stick to our core values of honesty, hard work, and dedication, it will happen.”

The post Written in Concrete – 140 Years of Success<p class="company">Bryan Materials Group</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

ChemMasters is a leading manufacturer of construction chemicals intended to cure, protect, and keep concrete looking good—and ultimately extending the lifespan and luster of all things concrete.

Balancing itself artfully between being big enough to deliver outstanding value yet small enough to care, ChemMasters’ quality, service, and innovation come together in a seamless product offering and customer focus that has some of America’s best-known companies in a wide range of fields calling its facility in Madison, Ohio, to enhance their product lines and services with trusted, time-honored science.

The team’s products are meticulously tested to ensure they do what they promise—and then some. ChemMasters has also significantly expanded its raw materials capacity recently alongside its paint and production offerings. In addition, clients benefit from the company’s in-house laboratory, which provides research and development, top-rated quality control, and sophisticated product support.

People first
With tangible metrics underpinning its value proposition, ChemMasters openly confesses to being driven by people and technology rather than machines. Here, transparency is key, as are thriving relationships.

“Over 30 years ago, someone I admired taught me that people don’t do business with companies; people do business with people. And that’s what all of us at ChemMasters strive to embody every day,” says John Fauth, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, who collaborated with the company as a business owner before joining its ranks in 2009.

“I have never a day in my life regretted joining ChemMasters. These are wonderful people to work with. We are a people-oriented company. That is how we achieve our goals of quality, innovation, and service,” he says, underlining the incredible value this humming work environment offers its team of around 40 and its customers alike. Chock-full of employees with multi-decade tenures alongside two and three generations of the same families, the company is rooted in a culture steeped in tradition and craftsmanship.

As a result, ChemMasters leads with truly modern, proprietary formulations backed up with outstanding service.

Treating concrete well
Some of ChemMasters most popular formulations are “one-step” sealers that combine the curing abilities of film-forming sealers with the added protection of penetration sealers. Its proprietary Silencure™ range does just this, affording users the ease of a single, simple-application product instead of two separate products, avoiding the time-consuming preparation and installation that can take over a month to work through.

Of course, the single-product route is also much more cost-effective, requiring less labor and time. In addition to Silencure products, ChemMasters’ Certivex® Guard lends a beautiful, durable acrylic finish to cured decorative concrete, which Fauth describes as a “silane water repellent with high aesthetic acrylics.”

Then there is the PowerSeal® range of penetrating water repellents, which use water-based technology. “We also partner with raw material suppliers to develop advanced materials designed specifically for our customer needs,” Fauth explains.

While modern technology allows the industry to turn acrylics into high-performance coatings, the longevity of such a product depends first on the proper composition and installation of high-quality concrete, correctly cured. “Often, in concrete, things have to be done in sequence. Those sequences take time, money, and labor. Make that a one-step product and you have saved everybody a lot of time and heartache,” Fauth says.

In addition to these products, ChemMasters is diligent in ensuring the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of its “low-VOC” products are in line with federal, state, and local regulations while remaining easy to use. One of its bestselling formulations, Polyseal™ EZ, was the company’s first product of this type.

The importance of using low-VOC products revolves around air quality, as VOCs heavily contribute to contamination in the atmosphere. “ChemMasters is committed to sustainability and being a conscientious environmental steward,” Fauth remarks. He notes that, “solvents that are considered exempt from VOCs are often very difficult to use due to fast evaporation, bubbling, and whitening,” but this is not the case with ChemMasters products.

Another notable and popular product, Crystal Clear, is a high-gloss, clear-coat acrylic that outperforms the gloss and durability of its competition. The original idea for this product—a siliconized acrylic for improved performance—came from the automotive industry, where a similar formulation protects the paint on cars. ChemMasters is no stranger to looking to other industries for product inspiration.

Illustrating the company’s versatility, one of its recent products, SpeedPatch™ 2.0, a sophisticated mortar repair material lauded for its super-fast curing action, is fortified with high freeze/thaw durability, making it ideal for use in areas with extreme weather changes.

Setting service standards
By understanding what clients need and how to provide it, the company has taken service to the next level. “We service the heck out of our customers,” Fauth laughs. “We provide a level of personal attention and service that many of our competitors do not—particularly in this industry which has undergone an awful lot of consolidation.” In these times in the industry, where being unable to engage with a responsive live person rather than a recording is quite common, the result is often a regrettable distance between company and customer. Fortunately, this is not something that happens at ChemMasters.

Speaking of the present day, ChemMasters handles everything from the concrete treatment of bridges, sound wall barriers, road surfaces, and similar for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to concrete in commercial and residential spaces. But the company doesn’t like to forget its past.

“We’re very proud to have supplied material for rebuilding the Pentagon after the 9/11 attack,” Fauth says, “and our products have been used on many recognized commercial and DOT projects, highways, and bridges.” Its most recent Ohio flagship project, Metro Parks Glass City Riverwalk in Toledo, promises to be a historic success too.

The company’s customer service team takes care of customers throughout the country, while sales management and local representatives serve its well-respected distributors and contractors. It also provides expert advice and troubleshooting, while a dedicated technical service team is always on standby to lend a hand to customers who reach out with questions and quandaries.

A force in the industry
As a member of several prestigious industry institutes, ChemMasters ensures that the expertise it brings to its customers, as well as its contributions to the broader industry, are meaningful. Its membership in the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC), the American Concrete Institute (ACI), and the International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) means that the team has access to a phenomenal network of industry knowledge and experience.

Furthermore, Fauth is the acting secretary of the Manufacturer’s Advisory Council of ASCC and a voting member of nine ACI technical committees looking after aspects such as concrete curing, protection, and repair.

These supporting bodies are also the source of the guidelines and specifications governing concrete (and related products) and its application and sale in the United States and beyond. “Both the ASCC and the ICRI work closely with ACI. ACI, to a large extent, creates the ‘bible’ for the concrete industry worldwide,” Fauth explains. And his presence—as secretary and chair in two different divisions—in these groups, which bring together a range of professionals from architects to contractors, gives ChemMasters a resonant and respected voice within the industry.

Fauth is a tireless advocate for ChemMasters, showing his sincerity by leaving his own business to join the company. At all levels of operation, the company contributes to this enthusiasm among its people and their development by acknowledging their accomplishments, and through internal promotion, training, and support.

ChemMasters is committed to giving back to the local community and being a good corporate neighbor. The company supports causes outside its ranks, including Honoring Our Heroes, which supports retired veterans; Cleveland Women’s Shelter; Boys & Girls Club Race for Kids; Madison Historical Society; Village of Madison Concerts in the Park Series; the Madison Food Bank Christmas fund; and the Village of Madison Christmas in the Park and Parade.

Deep roots, bright future
When the company that is ChemMasters today began in 1957, it was as a division of the Murphy Phoenix company. The founder, Murlan (Jerry) Murphy, also the founder of Murphy’s Oil Soap, launched it all when he stopped a highway crew in the 1950s and asked them what they were putting down on fresh concrete.

He returned to the plant and mixed up his own—better—curing compound. He called it Spray Cure, the first of a vast range of proprietary formulations that followed.

The Murphy Phoenix Company later sold its Murphy Oil Soap brand to Colgate-Palmolive and was renamed JTM Products to reflect its shifted focus: producing lubricants for pipe joints, tire mounting, and soap bases for a wide variety of industries. Meanwhile, the Spray Cure company continued developing and selling products intended to cure, repair, and protect concrete.

In 1995, the Spray Cure Company changed its name to ChemMasters. Today, it remains the property of the Murphy family—the sixth generation, to be exact, both a tremendous unlikelihood and a considerable achievement in any modern economy. ChemMasters’ legacy is one of family ownership, American-made products, and commitment to innovation of products and manufacturing processes.

Backed by some of the best minds in the industry and a sterling track record, ChemMasters is leveraging the trend to mergers among its competitors to its own benefit as it continues building personal relationships with customers. “ChemMasters’ attention to customer care is a refreshing contrast to the trend of an industry of sustained consolidation,” Fauth says, confident of a bright future ahead.

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