In the 1920s, North Carolina diversified into furniture, textiles, chemicals, and manufacturing, and by the late 1990s, industries such as tourism, government, financial services, and handicrafts in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont regions gained prominence. Key agricultural products include poultry, hogs, peanuts, corn, soybeans, and potatoes, alongside fishing, mining, forestry, and manufacturing.

South Carolina, meanwhile, became a hub for nondurable goods manufacturing and is home to major U.S. military facilities like Shaw Air Force Base and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island. The state’s economy also includes tourism, mining, manufacturing, forestry, transportation, and fisheries.

Both states have evolved to embrace new industries such as aerospace, biotechnology, IT, and financial services, while maintaining their traditional sectors. As right-to-work states, they allow workers to choose whether to join labor unions, fostering flexible labor markets.

In both North Carolina and South Carolina, the construction sector remains a key economic driver. Earlier this year, The Mountaineer reported that North Carolina experienced an impressive 12.6 percent increase in construction employment, the tenth largest increase in the country. Much of the growth comes from the outgoing Biden-Harris administration and its commitment to restore and rebuild much of America’s aging infrastructure, such as roads, highways, and bridges. Combined with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and the CHIPS and Science Act, federal funding for important infrastructure works totaled $552.8 billion as of June 2024.

In 2024, South Carolina saw several important works started or already underway. These include tech giant Google announcing construction of its Project Dawson data center campus. Partnering with the Dorchester County Economic Development Office, the Dorchester City Council voted to change zoning for the site at 1055 Research Center Drive earlier this year. According to media reports, Google intends to invest $510 million into the 231-acre site. At present, Google also operates a large data center campus in Moncks Corner.

With a combined investment of $3.3 billion USD, the move by Google will ultimately see the establishment of two new data center campuses in Dorchester County and the expansion of the existing Berkeley County data center campus. It is also believed that construction will create hundreds of new jobs, and 200 new operational positions will also be established.

At the time of the September announcement, South Carolina’s Governor Henry McMaster stated: “Google’s latest investment will strengthen South Carolina’s position as an emerging leader in technology and innovation. We are proud to support Google’s operations in Dorchester and Berkeley counties and look forward to the many opportunities our continued partnership will create for our people.”

The announcement also pleased others, including Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III. “We are thrilled Google has once again chosen to invest in South Carolina by establishing two new data center campuses in our state and expanding existing operations,” stated Secretary Lightsey in a media release. “The company’s significant investment of $3.3 billion will greatly benefit the Dorchester and Berkeley communities and beyond for years to come.”

Dorchester County Council Chair Todd Friddle was quoted in Berkeley Means Business as saying, “We welcome Google’s historic investment in Dorchester County and the transformative economic opportunities it will bring. This project will have a lasting positive impact on our county, providing new jobs, elevating our schools, and enhancing the quality of life for our residents. Google’s proven track record of empowering local workforces and strengthening communities, including right here in the Lowcountry, makes them an invaluable partner for our region, and we are excited to work with them to build a brighter future for Dorchester County together.”

The ongoing commitment by Google in South Carolina signals the company’s commitment to expand operations in the state and speaks to America’s growing demand for cloud-based services and artificial intelligence (AI), both sectors on the rise.

Unfortunately, in both South Carolina and North Carolina, the construction industry still faces its biggest hurdle, a near-universal one, it seems—namely a lack of skilled labor. While large-scale projects in both states are positive signs, the industry trade association, Associated Builders and Contractors, states that the sector still needs to draw more than half a million workers to meet current demand, and addressing this skilled labor shortage will remain critical to sustaining the area’s momentum.

The Carolinas, thankfully, are increasingly attractive to a range of business sectors, both established and emerging. In recent years, the Department of Commerce issued its Strategic Economic Development Plan for the State of North Carolina: Goals, Strategies, and Tactics for the New Economic Landscape. A comprehensive, 19-page document, the Plan outlined critical areas in the realms of workforce recruitment, supporting local businesses and industries, and building vibrant communities, including decreasing childcare costs for working families and ensuring that North Carolinians possess high-quality post-secondary credentials.

Since 2018, North Carolina has seen more than 73,000 new jobs created and has attracted more than $19 billion USD in private business investment. In recent years, the state has also invested about $200 million into its rural communities, renovated buildings slated for re-use, extended public infrastructure to industrial sites, and revitalized entire neighborhoods. Not to be outdone, South Carolina is also experiencing considerable growth, with its gross state product (GSP) reaching an impressive $271.8 billion this year, with 2.7 percent growth over the five years prior to 2024.

In both North Carolina and South Carolina, the construction sector continues to play a pivotal role in driving economic development and shaping the region’s future. From high-profile infrastructure upgrades funded by federal initiatives to transformative projects like Google’s multi-billion-dollar investment, the construction industry is fostering innovation, creating jobs, and supporting the Carolinas’ status as hubs for technology, manufacturing, and economic growth. By investing in workforce development and fostering partnerships between government, educational institutions, and private enterprises, the Carolinas have an opportunity to solidify their leadership in construction and broader economic resilience, ensuring continued prosperity for the region.

The post Building the Future<p class="company">Construction and Infrastructure in the Carolinas</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

The company’s impressive growth reflects its dedication to reinvesting in its capabilities and the commitment of its leadership to adapt and evolve for greater efficiency and impact.

By continually optimizing its systems and enhancing its services, Associated Scaffolding continues to meet the ever-changing needs of its customers across its growing market footprint without compromising on the high standard of safety and quality its customers have come to expect. It takes pride in the provision of durable scaffolding, accessories, safety equipment, and training, but even more in being a trusted name for the customers it serves.

Safety first, always
Associated Scaffolding endeavors to be a one-stop safety shop by carrying the supplies, equipment, and know-how that projects need to be successful, meeting and even exceeding OSHA requirements while being budget-friendly, a tall order that the team revels in the opportunity to fulfill.

With more than 14 product categories including full-service access equipment and safety training and supplies, Associated Scaffolding offers sales and rentals of scaffolding, swing stages, re-shoring, trash chutes, and fencing, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE), branded products, fall protection, and other jobsite supplies.

The legacy at Associated Scaffolding has been made possible because of its safety program. From its own people to the customers and projects its serves, there is a deeply rooted commitment to doing the right thing, especially when it comes to the delivery of responsive service and ensuring the safety of the people, the job sites, and the communities where it operates. Beyond upholding safety on its own, the company is also a Scaffolding and Access Industry Association (SAIA) accredited training center and can deliver training at each of its locations as well as its customers’ sites. With many courses to choose from including OSHA construction safety and health program training, suspended and supported scaffold training, fall protection training, confined space entry, first aid, and CPR, Associated Scaffolding is a recognized safety leader.

“Our branch manager in Charlotte has become an accredited trainer for the SAIA, so now we have two trainers accredited through them,” Branch Manager, Brian Hawkins, explains.

Safety is a large part of Associated Scaffolding’s value proposition, but so too is service, not just to its customers but to the communities it calls home. This was particularly evident in the devastating wake of Hurricane Helene when Associated Scaffolding stepped into high gear to provide disaster relief efforts for western North Carolina. Its Durham location became a drop-off point for donations which were delivered into the mountains by employees using company trucks.

The company also donated extension cords, ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), and fuel cans to support storm recovery efforts and ensure safety in those communities when they needed it the most.

A track record of success
From the state-of-the-art equipment Associated Scaffolding installs (both erection and dismantling), rents, and sells to the safety training it delivers, the specialized professionals within its ranks have the experience to design the safest structures for even the most complex projects. The Duke Chapel project, for instance, required a delicate touch and the specialization that only Associated Scaffolding offers, which is owing in large part to its longevity in the market and its familiarity with the communities it calls home.

“Our teams are familiar with the buildings, the structures, and how to access them; we know where we need to be because we’ve been around so long, we’ve likely already worked before on the same building,” explains Hawkins. This makes Associated Scaffolding the trusted choice for to deliver the desired outcomes on projects, especially those that are community landmarks.

“When they’re not building new construction in our areas, they’ve been renovating a lot of historic downtowns and converting them into apartments and shops and whatnot, so that’s been a good part of our work. We’ve been able to take advantage of that part of our business because there’s been pretty high demand,” Hawkins tells us.

He grew up in the business, giving him a unique perspective. His father, Tommy, is President of Associated Scaffolding, and the family’s commitment to the company’s success runs deep. The company was built on the tireless effort, hard work, and determination of the previous generations; now, the plan is to up the ante to ensure that it remains relevant well into the future.

Scaling its impact
To ensure Associated Scaffolding’s future is as bright as its past, it is scaling its own operations to sustain growth without compromising the core values that have been foundational to the company’s success. This means investments in strengthening its own systems and reinforcing the value it offers to its customers, exemplified by the company’s growing e-commerce platform, a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and a more active approach to social media and marketing.

“We’ve been operating on an old system for 35 years,” says Hawkins of a major change that will have significant implications for how the business operates moving forward. “Having everything under one umbrella for this new system is going to be really good for us, and we don’t know until we go live how it will change how we do things—but we know that it will.”

While the e-commerce platform isn’t new, it will be greatly enhanced by the new ERP system. Soon, the company’s internal systems will be modernized, streamlined, optimized, and scaled to ensure that it has the capacity to support growth and maintain the high standard of service it brings to the market, a market that has expanded greatly with the e-commerce push.

“There was a lot of growth opportunity on the e-commerce side of our website,” explains Donovan Brantley, Retail Sales Manager and Senior Purchasing Agent. “It’s done extremely well and the opportunity for growth there is just exponential.”

These modern changes reflect the changing median age of the company. As Hawkins notes, “the company’s getting a little bit younger. There are some long-term employees who are starting to retire, so that’s a culture change,” but one that is being embraced. To date, the company’s reputation has spoken for itself, but now, more is being done to highlight the value it offers through a marketing strategy that includes a more active social media presence to share the provision of products, services, training, and support the company offers.

Adaptability and evolution
Certainly, Associated Scaffolding is in a period of transition internally, with its workflow becoming more seamless and integrated to support growth. But while some things change, the work on the jobsite will remain the same: focused on safety, access, and the ability to reinforce the company’s reputation for quality equipment and a job well done. Paired with the strength of its retail storefronts, e-commerce platforms, and outside sales teams that are driving sales with boots on the ground, Associated Scaffolding is asserting its strengths on all market fronts.

“I think we’re fortunate to be in the areas that we’re in right now geographically,” Hawkins says. “We’re in a very good spot in our country for construction commercially and residentially, so I think we’ve been able to take advantage of that and seek out that growth,” particularly the large commercial and industrial projects coming down the pipeline.

“In all of our regions, we’re seeing residential go up and down a little bit right now… we see ebbs and flows, but I think we’re in a great position and continue to grow,” notes Brantley.

Indeed, companies like Associated Scaffolding don’t thrive for more than 75 years by accident, and this next phase of investment will guarantee that the company remains relevant and revered for many decades and generations to come by holding on to what matters and making it easier to deliver quality, safety, and service across its growing market presence.

The post Modernizing a Legacy<p class="company">Associated Scaffolding</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Moss-Marlow is committed to running its business without debt, and its financial stability is as strong as the buildings it constructs. The company is renowned for its exceptional commercial construction, custom homes, and remodeling services in the Hickory, North Carolina area.

“We believe that, whether you’re a believer or not, Biblical principles are good business principles,” says John Bostian, Director of Growth. “These principles guide all our decisions and actions,” he continues. By treating people with respect and fairness, team members are encouraged to align with the company’s values and always do what is right. For Moss-Marlow, good stewardship is its primary responsibility.

As a full-service general contractor, Moss-Marlow has completed projects in diverse industries such as hospitality, healthcare, distribution, industrial, and retail, among others. The company has also built for the education, fitness, automotive, energy, and manufacturing sectors. Known for its efficient, schedule-driven processes, Moss-Marlow’s tradespeople excel at prioritizing each building stage to ensure outstanding time management, delivering turnkey projects that consistently impress clients. This commitment to quality and reliability has earned the company the loyalty of countless satisfied customers.

To foster cohesion on its job sites, Moss-Marlow maintains seasoned collaborations with handpicked field superintendents. This ensures that everyone on-site, including subcontractors, operates in unison, offering project owners peace of mind and confidence in the successful delivery of their projects. It is in this supportive and collaborative environment that professional relationships thrive, turning visions into reality.

On the home design front, Moss-Marlow tailors its services to each customer’s specific needs. With comprehensive design and coordination services at its core, the company brings a client-centric focus to its projects. While quality remains paramount, cost-saving solutions are also a priority. The team makes sure to provide clear, reliable cost estimates before construction begins, helping clients avoid unexpected expenses.

With many church construction projects completed to date, Moss-Marlow is well-versed in the unique challenges involved in developing spaces for community worship. The team excels in preparing congregations and project leaders, both psychologically and practically, for the journey ahead. From space planning to obtaining necessary certifications, Moss-Marlow offers the expertise to navigate the complexities of church infrastructure development. This process often prompts deep reflection within congregations regarding their overall mission and values.

“The purpose is bigger than us,” says Bostian. “It allows us to remain humble in our interactions, treating people fairly and doing what is right.” This belief in serving others with dedication and integrity drives the company’s daily operations.

To support this mission, Moss-Marlow has invested in two project management software platforms. The commercial team uses Procore, which enhances collaboration between design teams and clients, offering transparency, quick approvals, and streamlined subcontractor coordination. On the residential side, Buildertrend is used for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for homeowners to engage with the application without feeling overwhelmed.

Customers of Moss-Marlow benefit from the company’s integrity, commitment, and craftsmanship, which together have fostered a loyal client base. This unwavering devotion to its core values has been a hallmark of the company’s enduring success.

The company’s roots trace back to 1909 when Luther Moss, fresh from an apprenticeship in Birmingham, Alabama, started his carpentry business in Hickory. He founded L.L. Moss Cabinet Shop, which would eventually become Moss-Marlow Building Company. Starting with simple board homes, Moss later built the company’s first two-story brick home in 1915, marking the beginning of a new era of construction. Despite the absence of the original family, the company still carries forward the spirit of faith and perseverance that its founders instilled.

As the company expanded, it thrived during various periods of residential and commercial construction booms. Today, Bostian describes the company’s position as balanced between the two sectors, though with a notable increased focus on multi-family housing.

Moss-Marlow is also expanding its geographic footprint. The opening of a new office in Asheville marks the company’s foray into new territories and capabilities. “By strategically partnering with local experts and establishing a brick-and-mortar office there, we are able to continue delivering the same high level of service while expanding,” Bostian explains.

Community service is a core part of Moss-Marlow’s mission, and the company actively supports local causes, both through financial donations and by serving on leadership boards. Its ministry team monitors and supports around 15 non-profit organizations with monthly commitments to aid their work.

With a solid reputation for high-quality construction and a commitment to giving back to the community, Moss-Marlow is well positioned for continued growth. The company is focused on growing the current team by promoting from within, recruiting first-class talent and providing in-depth training. “The vision and new ideas from our employees will help us continue to grow,” says Bostian.

The company’s values of grace and unity strengthen its ability to work as a team. “The grace we show one another allows us to be more vulnerable, acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses, and support each other,” says Bostian.

As demand for high-quality multi-family housing rises, Moss-Marlow continues to expand its expertise and geographical reach, including plans to explore production housing for those in greater need of homes. Driven by a commitment to faith, gratitude, and excellence, Moss-Marlow Building Company continues to make a lasting impact on its community and the construction industry.

The post Building for a Greater Purpose<p class="company">Moss-Marlow Building Company</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

In recognition of this development, Taylor, Sr. eventually bought the mill outright and began operations in earnest. Today, his son Frederick H. Taylor serves as Chief Executive Officer and grandson Fred L. Taylor is company President, linking three generations of Taylors to the family business.

President Fred L. Taylor began doing work for Troy Lumber when he was only 10 years old, shoveling bark and doing his part to pitch in with his loved ones. Over the ensuing decades, He came to accept his role as part of Troy Lumber and has found much enjoyment in his role as President, a title he has held since 2005. “The only reason I still own it is because I enjoy it,” he says, and he is happy to continue to represent and grow the company.

Taylor explains that the company has grown tremendously during his time as President and even within the last few years of this decade. He believes this can be attributed to circumstances as much as effort, because the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 surprisingly ended up helping the lumber business overall. At the initial height of the pandemic in Spring 2020, a lot of the corporate mills in the country tried to shut down in anticipation of business slowing down, which took a lot of lumber off the market. However, as lumber became designated as an essential industry, Troy Lumber was still running and took advantage of the quieter market to great success.

Company fortunes at the time were also helped by the fact that many people stuck at home during lockdown began renovation projects such as building new decks, and this required a significant investment in lumber. Taylor recalls that hardware stores like Lowes and Home Depot were sometimes fuller than grocery stores during this period, and there was a tremendous supply-and-demand issue that Troy filled and greatly benefited from.

Although impressive, he says there were days during the pandemic when maintenance personnel had to run the machinery because the business was not able to run at full speed for one reason or another. In fact, he notes that the team, ever stringent in their germ-free protocols, ran out of hand sanitizer at one point, so had to make a trip to South Carolina to buy bottles of alcoholic beverage Everclear to mix into a homemade hand sanitizer and ensure a safe facility. Amidst all this, Troy Lumber never lost any time due to illness or absence, which Taylor says is a credit to staff who took both pandemic measures and employee health very seriously.

These pandemic measures are one aspect of a sense of caring for others that is baked into the DNA of the company itself. Taylor says that the Troy business model has to do with servant leadership, and that, “the only job I have is to make the job of folks around me easier and better.” Communication is a big part of the company and is paramount to understanding the problems of the people it serves and how they can be helped.

In his opinion, a lack of honesty in management for businesses is, ultimately, a shortcoming of the ownership because those in power do not put themselves in a position to make those working under them feel comfortable being honest. This can encourage workers to hide mistakes rather than fix them. “You have to have open and honest communication and that the people know you are on their side,” he says, and this must go both up and down the chain.

Safety is another value that the company holds very dear to its operations, undertaking daily and monthly safety meetings while keeping track of close calls and addressing whatever action may have caused it. Taylor says that the company’s experience modification rate (the method insurance companies use to measure worker’s compensation premiums) was not especially high in years past, but it is now even more favorable today thanks to cutting down dramatically on accidents. The company-wide effort has become one of its success stories, with every voice having a say in safety practices and incidents, as well as the ability to discuss strategy and product mix.

The lumber industry is not looking as robust as it could, with 2” x 8” planks at a similar price point to those seen during the Great Depression (a time when 10 to 20 percent of sawmills went out of business), Taylor explains. The good news, however, is that Troy Lumber itself is a much more efficient operation than it was nearly a century ago, and it is not losing money even as lumber itself is under a microscope.

Interest rates dropping in the sector will help matters, and with the U.S. still experiencing a housing shortage, Taylor feels that the scenario of Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris winning the presidency could mean a lot of positive moves for the industry, with national moves toward building more affordable housing.

The company’s recent growth also presents new and interesting opportunities. In 2023, Troy Lumber purchased a hardwood mill that was on its site; however, the mill is landlocked, and that imposed limits on what could be done with the property. The hardwood mill has since been converted to a pine one and will likely end up being a successful integration that will both broaden the product mix for the business and maximize the trees that are incoming.

By 2025, Taylor would like to see the company run consistently and perhaps even put projects behind it for a little while to see if it can grow its cash reserves. While Troy is always looking for ways to modernize its operations and be more efficient, it does not necessarily want to run in perpetuity for no reason, so a period of conservation may be what best serves the business for the long term.

Ultimately, the code of servant leadership is the guiding principle that will see Troy Lumber and the Taylor family move forward into the rest of this decade and beyond. As Fred Taylor says, everyone at Troy wants to be good corporate citizens for the community and help as much as possible in local efforts. This extends to being the employer of choice in the community, providing good jobs for people who want to work and aspire to do better.

Troy offers an extended hand to its local community members and to the lumber industry at large as an established name that continues to create opportunities and provide a great example of success for its contemporaries.

The post Generations of Servant Leadership<p class="company">Troy Lumber Company</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

As a full-service architectural/engineering firm, Apogee offers architecture, planning, interiors, structural, electrical, and mechanical engineering, fire protection technology, cost estimating, project management, and construction administration. These in-house services are complemented by a commitment to collaboration and planning. Its architects, engineers, and other staff members work together, using information technology to exchange data, ideas, designs, and blueprints.

“A lot of architecture/engineering groups don’t have a fully integrated and collaborative approach. They have different silos… that ultimately generate competing interests,” explains Chief Operating Officer Josh VandenEnde. “We feel that fully integrating and combining our workflows and sequencing everything strategically throughout the project not only creates better value for the client, it helps ensure that all systems work together.”

Clearly, this approach is working, given that Apogee has grown “about 10 percent per year or better, nonstop,” for over a decade, according to Executive Vice President Ken Noel.

Apogee’s 106 employees work from offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Indianapolis, Indiana; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Las Vegas, Nevada, in addition to its headquarters. From these locations, the team takes on assignments in 44 states across the U.S.

At present, about 95 percent of the company’s revenue comes from healthcare-related projects with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). “For the majority of our 25 years, we have focused mainly on federal work. We do all different sectors of federal work, but our bread and butter is [for the] VA. We also do design for the Army Corps, Air Force, and the healthcare sector work,” says Chief of Design Services Erica Irvin.

Hospitals pose certain challenges for construction and renovation firms. Unlike, say, a shopping mall or office, hospitals need to be open around-the-clock. “They can’t just shut down the wing in most cases, so renovations have to be done around [medical staff] continuing to work,” notes Executive Vice President Charles Sowders. This is where construction phasing—another Apogee specialty—comes into play. Construction phasing breaks down construction work into specific phases to minimize disruption at the job site.

Construction phasing requires good communication and cooperation, two attributes Apogee values. Communication involves talking with clients, assessing their goals, and garnering feedback about the proposed work.

“We take our time in the upfront part of a project; we don’t rush to design. We have several meetings where we talk with the nursing staff, the doctors, the administrators, the people who are actually going to be working in the space. Sometimes, we’ve even been able to talk to veterans,” explains Irvin.

The company prepares visuals that feature three-dimensional animation and other imagery to give the client a clear idea of the results. The customer is provided with these at the earliest stages of the project to keep them informed and to avoid any surprises, she says.

Apogee was founded by Navy veteran Mike Beezley in 1999. The firm initially concentrated on electrical engineering, providing designs, technical writing, and electrical studies. An early electrical engineering assignment centered on cell phone tower sites. At the time, “cell phone towers were the up-and-coming thing,” Sowders recalls.

Among other duties, Apogee worked extensively on the backup generators used to keep cell towers functioning during power outages. “I believe, all total, we have done in excess of 5,000 cell phone towers centered around the North Carolina area and Southeast,” he shares.

Cell tower projects kept the young company busy, but after a few years in business, the team decided to diversify, realizing they could better serve clients by doing more than just electrical engineering. Apogee began to offer mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering and grew its design-build capabilities.

In the early 2000s, the company founder was medically certified as having a service-related disability. The diagnosis proved to have a silver lining, as Apogee was designated as an SDVOSB by the U.S. Small Business Administration. This “opened up a new avenue of clients,” recalls Sowders.

Certification helped the company secure federal government contracts, specifically with the VA healthcare system, which strongly supports SDVOSBs. In 2008, Apogee won its first federal contract when it was hired to work on generators at a VA medical facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It partnered with some local firms “to handle some disciplines that we didn’t normally handle,” recalls Sowders. All went well, and Apogee decided to pursue further VA-related healthcare work.

In 2011, it worked on a 708,000-square-foot military FORSCOM headquarters at Fort Liberty in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The company provided electrical engineering services for this project, which had an estimated construction cost of $37 million. Once again, it partnered with other contractors to carry out certain aspects of the work.

“The electrical job there was the largest electrical design we had ever attempted at the time,” Sowders says. The client was pleased, and Apogee developed a strong reputation in VA circles and “started taking on larger and larger jobs, with more and more disciplines handled in-house.”

Today, “we have everything in-house except for civil engineering,” adds Irvin.

Apogee recently demonstrated its multi-disciplinary prowess during a renovation project at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago. Acting as prime design and construction service contractor, the firm provided architectural, healthcare planning, interior design, telecom, project management, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering, and fire protection services for the project. The renovation was completed in 2021 with an estimated construction cost of $4 million.

In terms of non-VA-related projects, Apogee joined a design-build team to provide lighting design and electrical engineering services for renovations at the Charles R. Jonas Federal Building in Charlotte, North Carolina. Construction costs were pegged at $135 million, and the job was completed in 2021.

Going forward, Apogee aims to further increase its design-build workload and do more master planning, which entails developing a comprehensive, long-range plan for a site, with factors to be considered including design, optimal land use, community impact, and sustainability. Currently, the company is developing a master plan for three VA campuses in Alabama.

“These range from a very urban campus in Birmingham to some very rural and historical campuses in Tuskegee. The third one is in Montgomery. Each campus is unique in its existing design and unique in how the buildings are maintained and how the campus is arranged,” explains Healthcare Planning Department Manager Cullen Keen.

To develop a master plan, Apogee scrutinizes building data, blueprints, and existing hospital infrastructure. Staff members might also inspect the plumbing and HVAC systems in a facility and examine the use of interior space. The goal is to offer the client suggestions on improving operational efficiencies and the patient experience.

Once more, client consultations are a central part of the process. “These master plans take a lot of attentive listening and exploration to sort through issues and develop strategies and alternative strategies,” says Keen.

Not all projects are large; Apogee takes on all manner of assignments and puts maximum effort into everything it does. “I think even projects we’re doing on a day-to-day basis challenge our team to grow and be creative,” says Keen.

As an example, he cites an ongoing assignment involving a 10,000-square-foot addition at a VA senior living project in Mississippi. Soil conditions, security, infrastructure, and future expansion opportunities are all being investigated. The aim is to “try to create a home-like environment that can elevate” the lives of veterans who reside at the Mississippi VA center, he explains.

Company leaders cite tenacity as the reason behind the firm’s enduring success. “Just never giving up. I think that was especially true with the first 10 years of the company,” says VandenEnde.

Customer service has also been key to Apogee’s longevity. Sowders recalls a saying by Beezley, Founder and now President: “He always said, pretty much from day one, ‘Make your client’s job easier. If you do that, your clients come back.’”

For all that, Beezley himself acknowledges that the company has faced headwinds on occasion. Workforce expansion, for example, is an issue that has caused some concern. “Our biggest challenge is hiring qualified and dedicated engineers, architects, and designers. To meet this challenge, we have improved our screening and hiring processes to be more thorough and selective,” he says.

Still, company leaders are extremely pleased with the achievements the firm has made and are optimistic about the future. Apogee wants to enhance its existing services while moving into new markets. Rural, community, non-VA hospitals have been mentioned as a possible sector for growth. “We’re going to work diligently to get our name out there and try to secure some relationships [in the private sector],” says Noel.

As Apogee flourishes and contemplates expansion, it remains focused on the medical sector. Going forward, “Our goals are to continue to be experts in [terms of] providing architecture and engineering to the healthcare space,” states VandenEnde.

The post A Veteran-Owned Company Offering Architecture, Engineering, and Excellent Service<p class="company">Apogee Consulting Group</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.