January - Construction News

Transcription

Covering the Industry’s News
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CONSTRUCTION
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(210) 308-5800
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Volume 19
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Number 1
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JANUARY 2016
Structurally stronger
Addition to division
Some members of the new Barker Structural leadership team following its rebranding and
acquisition of Cutler Gallaway Services L-R: Chris Barker; Tom M. Gallaway, PE;
Earl G. Cutler, PE (standing); Kris Barker, PE
The Cadence McShane team is leading the way at the general contractor’s new San Antonio
office. L-R: (bottom row) Ron Wood, Lexy Stecker, Surbhi Usrey, Kevin Cummings,
(top row) Don Watkins, Srinath Pai Kasturi
W
ith the recent acquisition of Cutler Gallaway Services in San
Antonio, Barker Structural has
emerged as a new brand with new specialties and a new location at 303 Pearl
Parkway.
When Kris Barker and his wife, Chris
Barker, who is also his partner in the
business, moved to San Antonio in 2011,
they opened bd Structural Engineers
with Chris as the majority owner. The
new office was part of Barker Drottar
Associates in Las Vegas. Both companies
offer the same services and specialize in
the structural design of buildings.
In October, the firm acquired Cutler
Gallaway Services and its three staff
members, including Earl Cutler, who
came on board as vice president. Subsequently, the firm rebranded so that both
offices will be doing business as Barker
Structural. The legal entities remain intact and solvent.
“Mr. Cutler has tremendous experience in the type of projects that we design,” says Kris Barker. “In fact, he has
more experience in some specialties,
such as post-tensioned concrete, precast
concrete and foundation repair. He’s really a specialist in those three areas, so
I’ve been enjoying working with him and
absorbing knowledge from him.”
Barker adds that Cutler knows a lot of
continued on Page 24
W
hile celebrating its 30th anniversary, Cadence McShane Construction Company opened its
fourth office, breaking into the San Antonio market with a location at 3512 Paesano’s Parkway, Suite 300.

The expansion broadens the general
contractor’s Central Texas Division, which
also includes the Austin office. Srinath
Pai Kasturi, vice president and general
manager for Central Texas, oversees the
San Antonio office, which opened Oct. 1.

Kasturi started with the company as
an intern in 2001 and joined full-time after graduating from college. He earned
his master’s degree in construction management from the University of Oklaho-
ma, and then, he was offered a job at the
corporate office in Dallas. After spending
10 years there, starting as a project engineer and working his way up to vice president, he relocated to Austin.

“It has been one of my personal objectives to broaden the Central Texas Division to include San Antonio,” says Kasturi. “So, since I moved to Austin in 2012,
that’s been one of the things that I’ve always wanted to do, and we were finally
able to achieve it as a team here.”
Currently, he has five people working in the San Antonio office with all of
the administration, including accounting
and human resources, supported from
A crowning achievement
I
n renovating the Ozuna Building for
Palo Alto College, Crownhill Builders
helped bring the college’s educational
environment to a higher standard.
At a cost of $1.4 million, the project
started in early February and was substantially completed in August of last
year. The scope of the Phase II renovation
covered approximately 20,000sf with the
bulk of the work on the first floor of the
two-story building and two bathrooms in
an active library on the second floor.
The renovated space included multiple offices, break room, a children’s library, an executive conference room and
the Legacy Room, which is a flex space
with lots of round tables and a warming
kitchen.
The Legacy and executive conference rooms share an interesting feature
– curved glass walls with an applied lasercut window film pattern. The executive
conference room also has unique pieces
in the wall system –images applied to the
Crownhill Builders renovated Palo Alto College’s Ozuna Building, blending a modern yet
classic look with color and character, as illustrated by this executive conference room.
laminate panels. The school’s board
members selected photos that showed
some of the college’s history.
Each room has its own special qualities. The project incorporated several different unique finishes, including paint
colors and wall surfaces. One example is
the Fry Reglet system, which is a type of
wall cladding with an aluminum framing
system and laminate panels. Another example of a type of wall built into this project is FabriTrak, a fabric wall system.
There were also multiple ceiling finishes. One was a metal finish. One used in
the Legacy Room was a box finish of assorted sizes and depths to create a very
interesting ceiling with some acoustical
properties.
There is also a Starbucks coffee shop
with some round wall fixtures and round
light fixtures that give the coffee shop
something of a retro look.
Page 2
San Antonio Construction News • Jan 2016
It was the best Construct A Kid’s Christmas yet, Charlie Brown
T
he 15th annual Construct A Kid’s
Christmas Gala Dec. 3 at the Freeman Expo Hall was the largest in the
fundraiser’s history. With 1,041 people attending, silent and live auctions, and the
biggest raffle to date, donations from the
event amounted to $76,000 to help Bexar
County foster children have a merrier
Christmas this year.
After a decade-and-a-half of fundraising and collecting toys, the cumulative total donated since the gala and toy
drive began is an incredible $564,721 in
cash and gift certificates and an awe-inspiring 21,708 toys and gifts.
Snoopy and the Peanuts gang were
very proud of the support everyone gave
at the gala, and are thankful to everyone
who worked so hard on Snoopy’s Cook
Shack, which helped bring this year’s donation to a record high. –mh
Photos by Mary C. Haskin Photography
Submitted to Construction News
Cooking up something new
Roger Haydon, Lone Star Paving, was the lucky winner of Snoopy’s Cook Shack at the
Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala. When he received the message that he had won, he
was sure someone was playing a prank on him, but he quickly realized that he did win the
barbecue trailer the construction community built to help Bexar County foster children.
They plan to make first use of it at the company Christmas party.
L-R: Marcus Raine, Nicole Masten, Roger Haydon, Ben Zwicke –mh
Page 3
Home for the long haul
Quality Materials for your
Construction and
Landscaping Needs
www.tx-resources.com
[email protected]
Brian Fraser 210-709-7656
L-R: John Wright, president and CEO, and Chris Thiel, CFO, unveiled Alterman’s newly
renovated headquarters just in time for the company’s annual holiday open house.
O
ne of the biggest electrical contractors in San Antonio just doubled several of the spaces at its
headquarters. Alterman, Inc. recently
completed a major renovation 18 months
in the making in time for the holidays.
John Wright, president and CEO,
notes that a study was conducted to determine if the Jones-Maltsberger location would accommodate their 10-year
plan and was sustainable as the company grows. The results showed that this
property could be renovated so Alterman could keep its current home, and as
Wright states, “This is intended to be our
headquarters for the long haul.”
The renovation added 9,500sf of office space, including an additional 25 offices, a larger conference room, and a
training room that can accommodate 150
people. The new conference and training
rooms incorporate many of the technologies the company sells and installs, including state-of-the-art video presentation wall and surround sound with wireless and conferencing capabilities.
H Location
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“We really incorporated our services
into the project so that we could better
demonstrate to our customers who Alterman is and what we provide,” says Wright.
They also built a new 11,000-sf metal
building for Material and Tool Logistics,
which allowed Alterman to expand its
Prefab space. Now, each department has
its own building in which to operate
more efficiently and effectively.
With the interior receiving so much
attention, the exterior was updated with
a modern industrial look. Alterman also
doubled its parking spaces to 200.
Though the renovation was a bit
challenging with construction going on
as approximately 100 people carried on
daily business, Wright says that they were
very happy with the work that JMS Architects and general contractor Keller-Martin Construction did to help create their
new, sleek look.
Celebrating more than 90 years in the
industry, Alterman is an employee-owned
electrical contractor based in San Antonio
with an office in Austin. –mh
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Page 4
Page 5
Celebrating at the club
A new home for the holidays
G
athering together to make good
memories for the season, Galaxy
Builders hosted its holiday party
Dec. 4 at the Club at Sonterra. –mh
L-R: Romiro Contreras and Neilesh Verma
Janice and Frank Degollado
Leaders of the civic and business communities gathered at the new home of the HCA de San
Antonio for the official ribbon cutting and the Holiday Open House.
A
L-R: Sheryl Klutz and Cynthia Roberts
Sam and Aimee Beierle
Chris and Linda Wilson
Mark and Elia Hayes
t its Holiday Open House Dec. 15,
the Hispanic Contractors Association (HCA) de San Antonio cut the
ribbon on its new home, 101 W. Euclid.
“We were looking for a more centralized location so that we could better service our members, who are located all
over the City of San Antonio,” explains
Dave Sanchez, executive director of the
HCA.
He adds that the new location, which
is 1,800sf, twice the space of their former
location, has a classroom setting where
they can offer free OSHA classes in Spanish to the public, regardless of membership. They can also offer education for
business owners on improving their business operations.
On hand to cut the ribbon were
Councilman Roberto Trevino, District 1;
the San Antonio and Hispanic chambers
of commerce; and Anthony Ruiz, the
Small Business Administration. After the
ceremony, the Lanier High School Maria-
chi Band played for the guests.
“The Hispanic Contractors Association embraces the incredible diversity we
have here in San Antonio,” says Councilman Trevino. “This is one of those industries that is championed by [the HCA] in a
big way, and we really believe that as
they grow, we grow.” –mh
L-R: Amy Sanchez and Patty Cardenas deck
the new HCA halls (and tree, of course).
A sporting
society
Associated Builders
and Contractors, Inc.
T
he American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and AirConditioning
Engineers
(ASHRAE) Alamo Chapter hosted its
2015 Sporting Clay Shoot Nov. 5 at
the San Antonio Gun Club. There
were 120 total shooters, and Clint
Ullman, SpawGlass, won Individual 1st Place Shooter, hitting 48 out
of 50 clays. –mh
South Texas Chapter
The Foundation of Construction
in South Texas
and
Your Path
to the Future!
Let Us Work For You!
1st Place Team L-R: Frank Tuttle and Scott Hutcheson, Texas Air Systems; Clint Ullman,
SpawGlass; Kurt Mosel, L.C. Mosel Company; Rick Barrera, TTG
San Antonio
CONSTRUCTION NEWS
San Antonio Editor: Mary Hazlett — [email protected] — 210-308-5800
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Page 6
Kyle Kuenemann
President
Diamond K Customs
T
hough Kyle Kuenemann started doing residential projects as Diamond
K Customs over a decade ago, he finally took on his company as a full-time
endeavor a little over a year ago.
Until that time, he had taught construction since finishing his own education on the subject. He is a founder and
remains a director of the Texas Construction Careers Initiative (TCCI). And now, he
and his wife, 28, are expecting their first
child, Harper, this month.
With his own company – and having
recently started another, Container Solutions – and his wife as his partner, he is
finding success in the management and
design of his residential construction
while being open to commercial opportunities.
Noting that he is humbled by the experience of being profiled in this feature,
he shared the story of how he came to be
a 33-year-old construction entrepreneur.
What has it been like since you took
on Diamond K full-time in 2014?
We’re a year and a couple months
into me being out on my own, and the
first year for any business is scary and
hard. I keep hearing, “Just stick with it. It’s
going to be worth it.”
And of course, the pressure of being
able to bring home the bacon has definitely multiplied since we’ve gotten
pregnant. My wife, Kelsey, has been a
champ the whole time and continues to
stand behind me as I continue on this
journey.
How did you get started in construction?
Construction is something that has
always been a part of my life. Even as a
child, my grandfather would have me
help him build and do projects around
his house. It wasn’t until I was 17 that I
was actually employed by the construction industry.
I worked for a company called Interpool doing commercial pool renovations. One of the projects we did was replace the plumbing and fountains at
Hemisfair Park. Most of the work at Interpool included plumbing on pumps and
servicing filtration systems. Working for
Interpool gave me an opportunity to get
a good look at life from a small business
owner’s point of view.
I majored in construction technology at Texas State University and started
working with Joeris as an intern for two
summers. With my internship, I got to be
a part of the building of Canyon Lake
High School, in which I received exposure to all the details that go into commercial construction.
When I graduated from Texas State, I
started teaching the construction program at Stevens High School. It’s a Northside school. We were part of the “151 rivalry,” always kind of competing with
Warren’s CCA [Construction Careers
Academy]. We were the little guys with
just a tiny little shop and a small budget.
It was fun and motivating to be able to
compete against them.
When did you start your company?
I started Diamond K in 2003 while I
was in college. I was able to schedule
projects around my class schedule. During the summers, Christmas break, and
spring break, I would try to line up projects, such as home remodels and renovations.
I built a barndominium while in college. It was a 2,100-sf barn that also had
living quarters in it. It was a project that I
started during winter break, and then finished over spring break. In college, I also
built a house in Dripping Springs for a
friend/classmate who was working on his
master’s in marketing. He’s the artsy type,
so it was fun being creative and getting
away from a more traditional look; the
design was modern and industrial.
My teaching schedule also allowed
me to continue Diamond K jobs. It was
flexible enough for me to schedule jobs
after school and during breaks.
What made you interested in teaching?
I wanted to give back, and I was excited about being able to make an impact on construction education and
helping students pursue construction
careers, because I felt it was lacking.
I taught at Stevens High School for
eight years. The new program grew to a
point where we were building small
houses behind the school on a tight
schedule. Because of my hands-on experience in construction, I was able to expose the kids to more real-life construction scenarios. These bigger projects really grew the program and pulled the
kids out of the classroom.
It’s exciting to see students, especially students who struggle with academic
classes, come to a construction class and
find success, some of them even found
reasons to do better in math. Construction was always my place to find success.
It’s neat to see kids who have a gift in
construction and to see them build and
create.
Tell me about your involvement with
TCCI.
It didn’t start as TCCI. I was trying to
create more excitement for students in
my classes. I wanted them to be able to
visualize what the construction industry
was really about, because to them construction is digging holes, and it’s a dirty,
rough job. I think there’s a lot more excitement and fun in construction, and I
wanted to create a way for them to really
experience what construction had to offer as a career.
You can do projects at the school,
but they don’t understand how much re-
Kyle Kuenemann, founder and president of Diamond K Customs, and his wife, Kelsey
are expecting their first child, baby Harper, this month.
ally goes into the industry and how big it
truly is. You can tell a kid that 5 percent of
the GDP is created by construction, but
that’s a hard thing for them to understand.
I wanted to create a way to excite
students about construction. That’s
where my inspiration to create an interactive event where students could see
workers illustrating their trade came
from. I wanted to have contractors come
out and show what they do and let students know that the construction industry needed them. I also wanted the students to see how much success and money could be made, and that there are
leaders and people to look up to in the
construction industry.
That’s how TCCI started, just by creating an event to generate excitement
for construction as a career.
And you found others who shared or
supported your dream for this.
For a couple of years, I pitched the
idea to different people, but Brett Bartley, the president of Gibson Plumbing,
was really the first who joined up with my
idea and said, “How do we make this happen?”
Brett and I sat down in 2012, and he
liked the idea of doing this construction
career day. He connected me with Cherie
Foerster, who is now executive director
of the Builders Exchange of Texas, and
Stacy Gunderson, workforce development for Marek Bros.
We all had goals of increasing construction career awareness, and Stacy
had actually been a part of some events
in Dallas – they do a construction career
day through Build Your Futures. We started talking about what we could do in the
San Antonio area.
From day one, my vision for the construction career day was this big
1,000-student event with 50-60 contractors, and it would be catered, and it
would have construction equipment. The
group thought my eyes were big. Of
course, our first year wasn’t quite that
big, but it has kind of gotten to that point.
The first year we did it on CCA’s cam-
pus, and it was only a NISD event. The
second year was really the first year of
TCCI. This past year, our third year, we had
about 900 students at the event and 60
contractors. The industry has really taken
to the event.
I’ve really kind of stepped away from
it, especially this year, with moving forward with Diamond K, starting Container
Solutions, and I’m stepping away from
teaching. I’ve just been swamped.
I’m still a director with TCCI and organize the construction contest the students compete in. But Cherie and Stacy
deserve so much credit for really making
the event what it is. Without them, this
would still be an idea that I was tossing
around. They’re the ones that have really
taken it from an idea to being a legitimate
committee and nonprofit organization.
Tell me about your family.
My mom just retired. She was a director for the Methodist Hospital Systems. She’s a very humble, smart lady
who is a great leader, and she’s done a lot
for Methodist Hospital over the years.
She started out as registered nurse and
worked her way up to administration.
My dad was a Lutheran pastor in
Helotes. But he chose another path and is
now the sales manager of Promised Land
Dairy. He started doing freelance marketing with them when it was just a little
dairy in Floresville. He’s been instrumental in taking it to the nationwide company it is today.
My sister, Kendall, and her husband,
Jason, live in the Bridgeport area, which is
northwest of Fort Worth. They have a little girl named Kylee. She’s a little monkey.
My wife, Kelsey, works in sales for ThyssenKrupp Elevators. She’s done well figuring out the industry and finding success.
She’s also my business partner. Without her and her support, I couldn’t have
taken Diamond K on full-time. She’s been
really instrumental along the way, helping to keep me balanced, helping to grow
my confidence and success in the business. She’s definitely a great partner in
the business as well as in our marriage
and friendship. –mh
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Page 7
In memoriam
run Verma, founder of Galaxy Builders, passed
away suddenly Dec. 7 at the age of 73 after a
month-long battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
Born Feb. 21, 1942, in India, he became the head of his
family at 14 after his father died. With his mother’s guidance, he worked to ensure the welfare of his family.
He earned his undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the Government Engineering College of Jabalpur University. After working a few years in India, at 28
years old, he immigrated to New York City to pursue
greater opportunities. There, he earned his graduate degree from the Cooper Union
School and continued to support his family.
He married his wife, Karuna, in February 1973, and they lived in several states before settling in San Antonio in 1979. He began his career in San Antonio with Embry
Partners and became president of Embry Construction. After 12 years at Embry, he
decided to leave and start his own company, Galaxy Builders, which he has led for the
last 24 years.
He read local and national newspapers every morning, traveled to many different
countries, golfed every Saturday, played bridge every Sunday afternoon and watched
Spurs games with his sons. He was a supporter of the Alzheimer’s Society of America,
March of Dimes and Pancreatic Cancer Network.
Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Karuna; sons, Manish and Neilesh; daughters-in-law, Nina and Ashima; grandson, Ronen; granddaughter, Jiya; sisters, Shobha,
Manju, Madhu and Jyoti; and brother, Vikas and family. –mh
Giving back to volunteers
T
he Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) South Texas Chapter
hosted its Events Volunteer Appreciation Dec. 9 at Topgolf San Antonio.
This allowed them to express their gratitude for their events committee members and membership committee for all
of their help and participation in the past
year. –mh
L-R: Shannon Cadena, Trade Management;
Jacquelyne McDonald, Choate USA; Elisa
Hernandez, Koontz Construction
L-R: Jay Young, Lone Star Reprographics;
Ruby Trejo, ABC; Bill Dawley, SureTec
Insurance
Adopting the Christmas spirit
L-R: Jay Young, Lone Star Reprographics;
Steven Schultz, ABC; Bill Dawley, SureTec
Insurance
On the left:
L-R: Desi Valdez, Red Hawk Contracting;
Dennis Yanowski, Marek Bros.; Dustin
Keenzel, SpawGlass
L-R: Wayne Blaylock, RFL Consulting; Michelle Urbanczyk, Urban Concrete Contractors;
Patty Wylie, Johnson Controls; Linda Shapiro, Workplace Resource
T
he National Association of Women
in Construction (NAWIC) San Antonio Chapter held its annual Holiday
Party Dec. 8 at La Hacienda de Los Barrios. That evening, with raffles and a live
auction, members raised approximately
$3,400, bringing the chapter total to
$6,000 raised toward Christmas gifts for
Wounded Warrior families the chapter
adopted for the holiday. –mh
Kari Wirth (right), Mauze Construction Corp., brought her family to NAWIC’s holiday dinner. L-R:
John and Emily Wirth, Don Ridall, Martha Simpson, (also a NAWIC member), Kaili and Kari Wirth
L-R: Eloina Benavides, Arts & Advertising; and
her husband, Tony Benavides
L-R: Dana Calonge, Vision Construction;
Leslye Hernandez, Construction News;
NAWIC National President Riki Lovejoy, RFL
Consulting
Page 8
If you could give anything
to your best friend,
what would it be?
If I could give anything to my best friend,
it would be good health and a long life.
Kenny Mantor
Huband-Mantor Construction
Insight into some of the mistakes that I
have made in my life or professional career so that they don’t make the same
mistakes.
Srinath Kasturi
Cadence McShane Construction
My best friend, Michael Graves, works at
this company, and if I could give him anything, it would be my support. We’ve
known each other for many, many years,
and when I say support, I mean in everything he is doing. He made a huge sacrifice in leaving his prior career on a leap of
faith and came out here to help us grow
our company, and in any way I can, I
would lend my support.
Franklin Garrett
MACK Construction Group
I have a lot of best friends that I grew up
with, but I’m only child. So, I would consider my mother, Juanita Benitez, my best
friend, and she’s our secretary. If I could
give her anything, it would be happiness.
I feel like she’s missing out on having
good things happening for her.
Mamie Garrett
MACK Construction Group
My best friend is my wife, and I would give
her the remodel that she wants. We want
to remodel the entire house, and I don’t
like doing little remodels, because I don’t
feel it’s worth the starting and the stopping. We bought a house that we need to
update and modernize, and the whole
house needs it, some parts more than others, and Kelsey wants to do parts of it, and
I keep telling her, let’s be patient and do it
all it once, because it will be cheaper and
easier and less of a headache. We actually
flipped our last house. So, I’m trying to remind her of that process. But I would go
ahead and give that to her now if I could.
Kyle Kuenemann, Diamond K Customs
Holiday headquarters
T
he office filled with team members
and holiday cheer at the Bartlett
Cocke General Contractors holiday
party Dec. 3. –mh
My sense of adventure. She is very cautious. She’s so much fun and so outgoing,
but if I could just get her to become a little bit more of an adrenaline junkie.
Andrea Hughes, The Trevino Group
My best friend is a singer/songwriter who
has ridden the roller coaster of almost
making it (front band for Bob Dylan) to
playing in local dives. If I could give her
anything, I would give her the opportunity for her amazing music and incredible
voice to be heard by the world. This
would be my gift because material gifts
or money would not bring her the joy
that sharing her music would, since it was
the purpose of her life.
Leslye Hernandez, Construction News
My brother, Billy, is my best friend, and I
guess I would give him advice; learn from
my mistakes so that you don’t make the
same mistakes.
Scott Southwell, The Southwell Co.
The founder of the company,
Bartlett and Winifred Cocke
L-R: Randy Pawelek, chairman and CEO, and
Harry Moeller, president
L-R: Mark Hebert, Scott Temple
L-R: James Anderson, vice president of
operations for South Texas, and Sara
and Jerry Hoog, senior vice president of
Operations for South Texas
My time. We live in a society that places
too much value on material things. The
best gift you can ever give someone is
your time and undivided attention.
Cherie Foerster
Builders Exchange of Texas
My best friend is my fiancé, Kurt. I would
give him my support. Anything he does, if
I think he’s wrong, I’m going to tell him,
because that’s my job as a best friend, but
I’m also going to give him my support.
Yvette Garcia
Robinson General Contractors
L-R: Joey Meyers, Kris Padier, Heidi Majek, Luis Berumen
Over 100 years of
building relationships
Since 1913, Fisk has been one of the nation’s leading
providers for the design, installation and maintenance
of electrical systems, structured cabling applications,
integrated electronic security systems, and building
technology solutions.
Houston, TX (1913)
713.868.6111
Dallas, TX (1956)
972.466.0900
San Antonio, TX (1968)
210.828.3325
New Orleans, LA (1969)
504.889.0811
Las Vegas, NV (1989)
702-435-5053
Miami, FL (1997)
305.884.5311
Los Angeles, CA (2011)
818.884.1166
Customer Support Center
713.868.6111
Page 9
An electric family dinner
T
he National Electrical Contractors
Association (NECA) hosted its annual Holiday Dinner Dec. 4 at the
Grey Moss Inn in Helotes. Guests had fun
with their traditional white elephant gift
exchange and made a difference in a
Bexar County foster child’s holiday by
bringing toys and gift certificates for
Construct A Kid’s Christmas. –mh
Bob Corbo and his wife, Roxana
Vincent and Donna Real, Big State Electric
John Gueldner and his wife, Geraldine
John Wright, Alterman, and his wife, Cher
Chris Thiel, Alterman, and his wife, Jennifer
We provide a full line of rock, masonry, stucco
and foundation materials along with mixers,
saws, scaffolds, and hand tools
Big State Electric L-R: Forrest and Lori Wilson, Julie and Kevin Moses
Building up future builders
San Antonio Location
Converse Location
7480 FM 1560 North
210-695-8222
9513 Kneupper Lane
210-651-7394
Call or come by and one of our sales associates will be glad to help you
We do custom rebar fabrication for all
types of projects, including shop drawings.
Becky Rodriguez, project manager for Zachry Construction Corporation, talked to the
students about what it’s like to work in construction.
O
n the last day of school before
Thanksgiving break, Nov. 20, the
National Association of Women in
Constriction (NAWIC) San Antonio Chapter treated 25 students from Madison Elementary School to an afternoon of construction work using Legos and their
imaginations.
The third, fourth and fifth graders
gathered in their school library for NAWIC’s
annual Block Kids event. The children built
projects out of Legos and a few additional
materials and were judged on creativity,
understanding of construction and several
other criteria. The winners took home trophies and Toys ‘R’ Us gift cards. –mh
L-R: Luis Garcia with Block Kids judge Audrey
Ehtridge, Northside ISD Construction Careers
Academy, and Malachi England
L-R: Aiden Urdialez, second place; Annalisa Maldonado third place; Isaiah Vasquez, first place
Page 10
Business is a game! Play to win!
Part 1 of a 3 part series
Carrie D. Bradshaw, C.P.A.
Brown, Graham & Company P.C.
Georgetown, TX
K
now your score
Business is a game and your financial statements are
your scoreboard. Do you know your score? Are you
winning or losing the game? In order to answer this
question, you must first understand the financial
management of your company and the story your financial statements tell about your
company. Consider your monthly balance sheet as the score at the end of a period; a
quarterly balance is your score at the end of the game; and an annual balance is your
score at the end of the season. You can make adjustments to the game plan during the
quarter if you are paying attention during the game. When you get to the end of the
game you will see if your strategic adjustments worked to win the game. If it worked,
maintain that strategy for the next game. If it did not work, the strategy needs to be
adjusted for the next game to have a winning season.
In a nutshell, your balance sheet is Association
(RMA),
Construction
composed of assets, liabilities and equity. Financial Managers Association’s annual
Assets are what you own. Liabilities are survey, and many others. Compare the
what you owe. Net worth is what is left ratios you calculated on your balance
over.
sheet to your peers and see how you
measure up. Are you consistent with
Ratio analysis – understanding your your peers?
scoreboard
A word of caution in using industry
Financial
managers
use
a benchmarking: You cannot be sure the
methodology referred to as ratio analysis comparison is “apples to apples”. There is
to understand the scoreboard. You are no standardization of information
probably familiar with some of these submitted to the groups gathering this
ratios as you have been in conversation information. You also do not know the
with your bonding agent or banker. level of success of the companies
When you evaluate your ratios related to submitting this information. We
your balance sheet, consider the recommend finding industry publications
following:
that publish “Best in Class” benchmarks
Current working capital: This ratio as well. The purpose of benchmarking is
measures your solvency - the number of to identify potential targets at which to
dollars in current assets for every $1 in aim.
current liabilities. In other words, can you
pay your bills today?
Internal financial trends
Debt-to-worth: This ratio measures Another important aspect of
your financial risk - the number of dollars understanding your score is monitoring
of debt owed for every dollar of net your internal performance over time. Is
worth. In other words, does the bank your business seasonal? How does that
own more of your company than you do? seasonality impact your score (and more
Accounts
receivable
turnover: importantly your cash!)? Perform your
Measures the rate at which accounts ratio analysis on a monthly, quarterly and
receivable are collected on an annual annual basis to help you identify trends
basis. How many days from the time an within your company.
invoice is generated until it becomes a Part 2: Know your costs
deposit in the bank?
We will discuss a break-even analysis
Accounts
payable
turnover: tool.
Measures the rate at which accounts Part 3: Know your cash flow model
payable are paid on an annual basis. Is every dollar of revenue created the
How many days from the time an invoice same?
is received until the bill is paid?
By beginning to implement a
Something to consider: Should you disciplined system of monitoring your
be paying accounts payable at a slower score, you can develop the strategy to
rate than you collect accounts receivable coach your team to greater success!
to conserve cash? Maybe. That question Carrie D. Bradshaw, CPA and CCIFP
will be addressed in part 3 of this series.
with over 20 years of construction
contractor coaching experience, is the
Industry benchmarking
Managing Shareholder of the Brown,
Now that you understand your Graham & Company, P.C.’s Georgetown
score, how do you measure up against office. You can contact Carrie at
the competition? There are many sources [email protected] or call 512-930for obtaining industry benchmarks: 4090.
industry associations, Risk Management
WHOLESALE FLOORING AND ACCESSORIES
We carry most major
brands of flooring
at wholesale prices
1905 Hormel Dr.
San Antonio, Tx 78219
210.227.3300
Fax 210.225.2393
Product Recall Insurance should
be part of your Product Risk
Management Plan
Julie Davis, CIC
IBTX
San Antonio, TX
here may be no word that strikes greater fear in the
hearts of individuals in the manufacturing/
processing industry than “recall.” Mere consideration of
the term may mean that someone has been made ill or
possibly died from consumption of or exposure to a product. The response must be
inordinately fast and include coordination with federal government agencies, and
state governmental agencies, as well as other companies who sit both upstream and
downstream of your position in the distribution chain of the product at issue. The
aftermath can leave injured consumers and damaged reputations. The monetary
costs may include lost profits, recall expenses, civil damages and potential criminal
action. Despite excellent quality control, you may find yourself swept into a recall.
Advance planning for recalls can make the difference in the survival of your company.
While a written recall plan has long different than another.
been a regulatory requirement, planning Coverage details
for a recall should include much more The following are key issues of the
than a template form in a file. Recall policy, and policies may differ on the
planning should include record-keeping definitions. Each policy must be carefully
steps to be taken well in advance of any read and understood by policyholders to
concerns, but which will make any recall insure they are purchasing what they
effort more effective. A team of advisors need.
who will serve in various roles in the
• Loss of sales revenues
planning, execution and post-recall
• Customer loss of gross profits
process is also a necessity. It should also
• Government recall
include Product Recall insurance
• Voluntary recall
coverage.
• Adverse publicity
Cost of Recall
• Rehabilitation expenses
The next step to consider after
• Extra expense
internal procedures are consistently
• Defense costs
implemented is how much will this cost
• 3rd Party coverage
the company? Loss of sales, not only the
• “Pay on behalf” or reimburse
company’s lost profit, but that of your
language
customers should be considered. Also Depending on who you speak with,
consider the damage to the company’s the chance of having a serious product
reputation and possible effect on future recall occurrence is not a matter of if, but
sales, the added expense for disposal, when. Serious consideration of a proper
replacement product, time and mental game plan in the event could be crucial
anguish by management and employees; for the company’s survival. Is this a cost
these are all part of the cost.
that the company can absorb or is it more
Many companies look at funding this cost effective to purchase an insurance
possible exposure with an insurance policy for the risk? Recently, many large
policy, but in today’s market, most distributors and retail corporations are
Commercial General Liability (CGL) requiring Product Recall/Contamination
policies will not cover a loss in a Product coverage in their contracts. In any event,
Recall scenario. Do not mistake Product as part of your company’s recall
Liability coverage for Product Recall procedure, add an insurance policy
coverage, they are not the same. Some review by a competent insurance
insurance carriers may offer a sub-limit to professional and review all contracts with
cover the expense of removal and suppliers and clients regarding the
disposal of the product as part of the insurance expectations.
CGL, but these amounts may only cover a Julie Davis, CIC has worked with the
fraction of total cost.
food processing industry for over 15 years,
Product Recall/Contamination
coordinating risk management plans and
Insurance
insurance policies to reflect the food
There are insurance carriers that industries’ changes to new exposure and
have policies that pertain specifically to heightened responsibility. IBTX understands
the issue of product recall, contamination your potential risk exposure and stands
and/or tampering. These stand-alone ready to help you make informed decision
policies may also include crisis about how to protect your customers, your
management consultants.
Product supply chain, and your bottom line. Contact
Recall/Contamination policies are not us at 800-880-6689 or visit us at www.ib-tx.
standardized policies, so one insurance com for more information or to setup your
company’s coverage may look drastically policy today.
T
Fasten-ating
Mon-Fri
8 am - 6 pm
www.AccessDistributingTx.com
Sheet Vinyl Flooring (Residential & Commercial)
Cove Base (Rubber & Vinyl)
Carpet (Residential, Commercial & Carpet Tile)
Vinyl Tile (Commercial & Residential)
Ceramic & Porcelain Tile
Installation Supplies
Serving South Texas since 1996
L-R: Stephen Faulstich and Larry, Jill and Mark Matula, Quality Fasteners, recently
attended the 2015 National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo Show in Las Vegas. –mh
Page 11
Texas Mechanic’s and
Materialman’s Liens on
private projects in Texas
Janet Townsley, Senior Associate
The Cromeens Law Firm
Dallas, TX
C
redit is the lifeblood of the construction industry. By
the nature of a construction contract, the contractor
extends credit to the owner to the extent the contractor
performs labor or services and supplies materials before being paid. When
construction funds are withheld, the impact is felt throughout the construction chain.
On even a small project, a payment default by an owner can have disastrous
consequences for dozens of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers (and their
employees). Just as most lenders will not loan money without adequate security for
payment, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers need security when they extend
credit on a construction project. Such security is the right to secure and enforce a lien
on real property for the value of work performed. Mechanic’s and Materialman’s Liens
(M & M Liens), when executed properly, elevate a subcontractor or material supplier
from an unsecured creditor to a secured creditor. 1
Because the M&M lien operates like
an involuntary mortgage on the, Texas
law requires specific steps to create a
valid lien. One misstep in complying with
strict notice deadlines or omission of a
sentence required in the notice letter,
invalidates the M & M Lien.
Anyone who provides labor or
supplies materials for the construction,
repair of a house, building or
improvement is entitled to an M& M lien.
After recent changes in Texas law,
architects,
engineers,
surveyors,
landscapers, demolition trades that
provide temporary workers may have an
M&M lien when not paid.
The Homestead Pitfall
One of the great things about Texas
is the protection of homesteads found in
Article 16, §50 of our Texas Constitution.
This means you cannot have a lien against
a property unless there is a construction
contract signed and notarized by the
homeowner(s) and filed in the real
property records prior to any work.
Typically, this means you cannot file a lien
for a small repair. This is because it is
unlikely a contract has been filed of
record unless you filed one. But, if you’re
doing a large repair or remodel, it would
be worth the investment to hire an
attorney to draft and file the contract to
ensure you will be protected!
A homestead is regarded as a
residence owned by an individual that is
being OCCUPIED by that individual. A
person and spouse may have only one
homestead. Hence, an owner building a
residence while currently living in a
homestead, cannot call the new
residence a homestead. However, if the
individual does not currently have a
homestead and is building a new
residence intended as a homestead, the
new residence is considered a homestead
although the individual does not live in
it.2
Notice, Notice, Notice
M&M liens are an involuntary lien
against someone’s property and
although you may not have a contract
with the owner, you may have the right to
lien the owner’s property. To perfect a
lien, certain notices must be sent prior to
filing the lien. This gives the owner and
general contractor a chance to resolve
your claim prior to filing the lien.
All notices must be sent Certified
Mail Return Receipt Requested to comply
with statutory notice timelines. These
timelines are strictly enforced and
missing a timeline date even by one day,
invalidates the lien. Therefore, do not let
anyone stall or push you past outside
your deadlines.
The notice timelines differ between
a commercial and residential project, and
on whether you have a contract with the
General Contractor. Thus, it is good
practice to calendar a deadline for
sending notice of unpaid invoices for the
15th day of the second month after the
labor was performed or materials
supplied, as in many instances, this is the
first deadline you will have to meet. An
attorney should be consulted to address
deadline and notice requirements in
specific instances.
Janet Townsley is a Senior Associate at
The Cromeens Law Firm.
For more
information on our services, please visit
www.thecromeenslawfirm.com or call
(713) 715-7334.
Public property is not subject to lien, and
is beyond the scope of this article.
2
A spec home is one owned and being
built by a company. It is not a homestead
and is considered commercial conconstruction.
1
Steeling themselves for the holidays
For its annual holiday luncheon and jobsite tour Dec. 3, Yates Construction brought its
San Antonio office personnel to the jobsite of its $1 billion TPCO project in Gregory, near
Corpus Christi. The 1.6 million-sf seamless steel pipe manufacturing facility is scheduled
for completion later this year. –mh
Electrical Lock Out and Tag Out
Joann Natarajan
Compliance Assistance Specialist
OSHA
Austin, TX
E
nergy sources including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, or other sources in
machines and equipment can be hazardous to workers.
During the servicing and maintenance of machines and
equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy can result in serious injury or death to workers.
Failure to control hazardous energy All employees who work in an area
accounts for nearly 10 percent of the seri- where energy control procedure(s) are
ous accidents in many industries. Proper utilized need to be instructed in the purlockout/tagout (LOTO) practices and pose and use of the energy control
procedures safeguard workers from haz- procedure(s), especially prohibition
ardous energy releases. The OSHA stan- against attempting to restart or reenerdard for The Control of Hazardous Ener- gize machines or other equipment that
gy (Lockout/Tagout) (29 CFR 1910.147) are locked or tagged out.
for general industry outlines measures ● All employees who are authorized to
for controlling different types of hazard- lockout machines or equipment and perous energy. The LOTO standard estab- form the service and maintenance operalishes the employer’s responsibility to tions need to be trained in recognition of
protect workers from hazardous energy. applicable hazardous energy sources in
Employers are also required to train each the workplace, the type and magnitude
worker to ensure that they know, under- of energy found in the workplace, and
stand, and are able to follow the appli- the means and methods of isolating and/
cable provisions of the hazardous energy or controlling the energy.
control procedures:
Specific procedures and limitations
Proper lockout/tagout (LOTO) prac- relating to tagout systems where they
tices and procedures safeguard workers are allowed.
from the release of hazardous energy.
The OSHA standard for The Control of Retraining of all employees to mainHazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) (29 tain proficiency or introduce new or
CFR 1910.147) for general industry, out- changed control methods.
lines specific action and procedures for
addressing and controlling hazardous The control of hazardous energy is
energy during servicing and mainte- also addressed in a number of other
nance of machines and equipment. Em- OSHA standards, including Safety and
ployers are also required to train each Health Regulations for Construction;
worker to ensure that they know, under- Electrical (1926 Subpart K), Concrete and
stand, and are able to follow the appli- Masonry Construction (1926 Subpart Q),
cable provisions of the hazardous energy Electric Power Transmission and Distribucontrol procedures. Workers must be tion (1926 Subpart V), and General Industrained in the purpose and function of try; Electrical (1910 Subpart S), Special
the energy control program and have Industries (1910 Subpart R), and Electric
the knowledge and skills required for the Power Generation, Transmission and Dissafe application, usage and removal of tribution (1910.269).
the energy control devices.
[email protected]
512-374-0271 x232
Page 12
Reaping the rewards of remodeling
T
he National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) San Antonio Chapter hosted its Evening of
Excellence Awards Nov. 20 at the Wyndham Garden Riverwalk. –mh
NARI San Antonio surprised Martha Bizzell,
executive director, by presenting her with a
plaque in appreciation of her service.
CROSS
Contractor of the Year Awards:
Overall Contractor of the Year
Residential Kitchen – Over $120,000
Residential Bath – Over $60,000
Entire House – $250,000-$500,000
Basement – Under $50,000
BUZZ Award: Contractor Best Social Media
BRC Remodeling Group
KM Builders
Residential Kitchen – Under $40,000
Residential Kitchen – $80,000-$120,000
Residential Bath – $30,000-$60,000
Residential Interior Element
Vision Design + Build
Residential Addition – Under $100,000
Residential Addition – $100,000-$250,000
Residential Addition – Over $250,000
Entire House – Under $250,000
BUZZ Award:
Contractor Best Direct Mail Piece
BUZZ Award: Associate Best Signage
Sherwin-Williams
Buffalo Contracting
Residential Bath – Under $30,000
Residential Interior – $100,000 and Over
Lone Star State Construction
Residential Kitchen – $40,000-$80,000
Residential Interior – Under $100,000
Residential Detached Structure
s
ear with tors!”
Y
“20 ealing ntrac
o
of d ral C
ne
Ge
Metal Studs Drywall
Acoustical Insulation
(Not pictured)
BUZZ Award: Associate Best TV Ad
McCoy’s
WA L L S
ACROSS
TE
AS
BUZZ Award: Best Showroom
Delta Granite
BUZZ Award:
Best Interior Design of Remodeled Space
Bradshaw Designs
Daniel Sexton,
past president,
passed the gavel
to Pat Plazek,
incoming NARI
San Antonio
Chapter
president for
2016.
9018 Tesoro
Suite 101
San Antonio, Texas 78217
(210) 826-4123
Fax (210) 826-5801
:H%X\DQG5HF\FOH
$OXPLQXP&DQV6KHHW&DVW
&RSSHU:LUH7XELQJ
5HG<HOORZ%UDVV
&DWDO\WLF&RQYHUWHUV
5DGLDWRUV&DU$&$OXPLQXP
6WDLQOHVV6WHHODQG0RUH
1415 West Poplar
Located at I-10 & Colorado
M-F 8:30–5:30 Sat 9:00-3:00
737-2267
www.toucanrecycling.com
Page 13
A brighter home for the holidays
A
pproximately 1,100 people from
across the construction community
turned out for the Alterman, Inc.
annual Holiday Open House Dec. 2 at its
newly renovated office. The employeeowned electrical contractor filled giant
boxes with toys that attendees brought to
be donated to the Construct A Kid’s Christmas (CAKC) Gala, and guests lined up for
luxury shuttles from Blossom Athletic
Center to the new headquarters where
they enjoyed catering by Saltgrass Steak
House and fun with the photo booth. –mh
Page 14
con’t from Page 2 — Construct A Kid’s Christmas gala
Page 15
ship I look forward to being a part of with
the staff at Waypoint Marine in Corpus
Christi. I’ve known owners Jim and Jared
Poole for many years now. I also know
many of the pro-staff and guides that
they have established relationships with
them throughout the years, and really
look forward to a long working relationship with them and the entire staff at
Waypoint Marine. They are a full service
marine dealership that services all of the
major brand outboards and have an array
of new and used boats to choose from.
Stop by and see them at 3033 S.P.I.D. in
Corpus for all your marine needs.
New changes for
a New Year
For the past several weeks I have been in
a hunting mode, traveling all over South
and West Texas hunting and guiding
white tail and mule deer hunts. I must
say it’s been a good break from the salt
life I live on the water. There is something
about the South Texas brush country, the
mountains in West Texas and the serenity
of the Laguna Madre that make my job so
enjoyable. I can’t think of anything else
that I would enjoy doing.
by Capt. Steve Schultz
Sponsored by:
Waypoint Marine, Majek Boats, E-Z Bel
Construction, Power Pole Shallow Water
Anchor, Aggregate Haulers, ForEverlast
Hunting and Fishing Products and
Columbia Sportswear.
W
ell I can’t tell you how excited I
am to announce the changes
that are in store for the 2016 season for Steve Schultz Outdoors. For those
of you that have fished with me in the
past five years, you already know that the
Majek Xtreme is the boat that got us to
and from our fishing spots in comfort and
style. I consider the 25-ft. Xtreme the
best hull on the water for the everyday
guide and recreational angler. One
change that most people will notice immediately will be the new Evinrude E-TEC
G2 300hp outboard on the back of my
2016 Majek. Evinrude has stepped up
their game recently on the introduction
of the E-TEC G2 and I have spoken with
several guides that have run the outboard, and they are extremely happy
Fishing remains good in the Laguna
Madre/Baffin Bay complex. Both trout
and redfish are still being caught on live
shrimp and lures along the King Ranch
shoreline and rocks of Baffin Bay. Best
bet this time of year is still wade fishing
with artificial lures.
David Wyatt shows off his 26-inch redfish caught on live shrimp under
a popping cork with Steve Schultz Outdoors.
with the performance, fuel efficiency and
speed not to mention the savings of
maintenance. Here is a statement from
Evinrude: “The new Evinrude E-TEC G2
isn’t just built to last. It’s built to outlast.
Run it right out of the box for 500 hours
with no dealer scheduled maintenance.
Less time in the shop means lower ownership cost, less hassle and much, much
more value over the lifetime of your engine.”
I have already started to fill the calendar
for the upcoming 2016 season. Don’t
wait until all the good dates are gone! To
schedule your next bay fishing trip give
Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716
or 361-334-3105 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Good luck
and Good Fishing.
Along with the change of the new Evinrude E-TEC G2 will be the new relation-
publishing the industry’s news
Texas
Style





San Antonio
Austin
Dallas/Fort Worth
Houston
South Texas
STEVE SCHULTZ
OUTDOORS, LLC
BAFFIN BAY
LAGUNA MADRE
LAND CUT
SPECKLED
TROUT
REDFISH
FLOUNDER
FISHING AND
HUNTING TRIPS
(361) 813-3716
www.baffinbaycharters.com
steveschultzoutdoors@
gmail.com
U.S. Coast Guard &
Texas Parks and Wildlife Licensed
2014 RAM Promaster 1500/2500/3500 Cargo Vans, 3.6L Gas or 3.0 Diesel
Paul Zini
Fleet Manager
866-490-3195
ANCIRACJD.COM
THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS
JUST WENT DOWN
Page 16
Ken Milam’s Fishing Line
Since 1981, Ken Milam has been guiding fishing trips for striped bass on Lake Buchanan in
the Texas Hill Country,. You can hear Ken on radio on Saturday and Sunday mornings, 6-8
AM on AM 1300, The Zone – Austin, or http://www.am1300the zone.com
Fishing Calendar
of Events!
cooler weather. Catching catfish is still
steady over baited holes and will come in
to chum. The white bass begin to migrate upstream again. Stripers can be
slow when it’s still hot because they find
our water temperatures in Texas to be excessive. Once the shorter days and cooler
nights start to cool off the water, they
turn back on and feed like crazy because
they don’t feed much in the heat. You
will catch a lot of smaller stripers, lots of
action. Larger stripers begin their swim
upstream.
T
he water has finally made it back to
our lake and several others! For the
first time in years we get to look forward to all the fishing and catching the
New Year will bring. Last year we were
trying to clean and clear up the scary wild
lake bed to protect ourselves from wildfires, rattlesnakes and cactus. This year
its all about the fish!
Winter sees all the fish staging for next
year, heading upstream to spawn. We
get some really nice fishing days mixed in
with the winter chill. It’s worth checking
out if only to take a break from hunting
and get out of the house.
Just in case you have forgotten what our
lakes have to offer, or are new to the area
of a recently returning lake, here is an
idea of what you can expect.
In the Spring the catfish are loving the
cold water. If you want a trophy cat, now
is the time. White bass are running up
the rivers to spawn again. For several
years this hasn’t been possible, but now
they are back, and catching them is a lot
like eating popcorn. Their big cousins
the stripers also can be found upriver trying to spawn. Look for crappie to be
moving up river in their pre-spawn pattern. Warm, sunny afternoons draw them
up into shallow murky water around
brush and trees because this water
warms up first.
As spring warms into summer, smaller
catfish become easier to find in shallow
water. White bass begin moving back
down the river channel after spawning
and all they want to do is chase shad and
eat anything they can catch. Stripers are
moving back down stream forming big
schools of fish that form feeding frenzies
that anglers dream of in early to mid
summer. Once it gets hot they begin to
slip into deeper cooler water, but still like
to feed on top on cool mornings. Crappie
go back to being their elusive selves once
it warms up. I have always thought that is
why we consider them so delicious, they
can play hard to get. A good crappie
guide can still get you on them though.
Fall comes in with a mix of blazing leftover summer heat and the promise of
Teenage
trophy
hunters
Half or Full Day Fishing Trips
All Bait, Tackle & Equipment
Furnished
Tom Hewitt, BDI Insurance, is
very proud of his grandchildren.
In their late teens, they are hunting and not taking the great outdoors for granted. These trophies
were harvested on a successful
Thanksgiving outing at their lease
in Sutton County. –mh
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I think we are in for exciting times on the
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long as five years in some places. That
means they have had plenty of time to
get big and bold. I can’t wait!
Let’s Go!
Hewitt’s 18-year-old grandson, Josh, shot
this 32-inch axis deer with his popaw’s
new rifle, which he has claimed for himself
for future hunts.
Hewitt’s 17-year-old granddaughter,
Christina, managed to snag this large
gobbler on turkey day.
Page 17
Big bucks in the trades
These members of the plumbing and mechanical industries had a very successful hunt with Ferguson Enterprises and Tyler Pipe in Tom Green County. –mh
Chris Reidy, Dynamic Systems, 168 B&C
David Wood, Dynamic Systems, Bow Kill, 182 B&C
Barry Lindig, Lindig Plumbing, 307 B&C
Terry Stewart, Stewart Plumbing, 205 B&C
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Page 18
Raba around the Christmas tree
R
imms Trucking hosted its holiday
party Dec. 11 with many family
members,
including
Charles
Timms’ father, Buddy, and friends of the
family in attendance. –mh
aba Kistner Inc. brought all of its
companies and divisions together
for the firm’s Christmas party Dec.
12 at Oak Hills Country Club. –mh
L-R: Merry Raba, head of HR, and
Barbara Camarco, business manager for
Environmental
T
Rolling with the good times
Members of the Raba Kistner team learned
to line dance as part of their Christmas
festivities.
Lisa Gambill, a friend, is a photographer and
sign language interpreter. She also seems to
know Santa and Frosty the Snowman.
Charles Timms, managing partner, and
Emma Medellin, office assistant
L-R: Eric Neuner, head of Geotechnical, with his wife; Jeff Haberstroh, vice president of Project
Control, with his wife; Andrew Hunt, PE, Project Control, with his wife; and Tom Burr, new vice
president and COO of Environmental
The Construction Materials Engineering and Testing group, including Chris Schultz (second
left), president of Consultants, and Paul Lampe (right), executive vice president of Consultants
with the retired Dr. Carl Raba (left center)
Hilario “Larry” Nieto, check your ticket!
Raul Rodriguez, loader operator, and his son,
Raul Rodriguez Jr.
L-R: Charles Timms, and his dad, Buddy
Daniel Gonzales, and his wife, Adelita
Page 19
In memoriam
“James’ daughter, Chardae, is my girlfriend. He was very welcoming and inclusive, while acting as a fatherly figure. His
guidance and knowledge will be deeply
missed. He taught me all about drones,
helped me prepare for Naval officer candidacy, and shared his vast knowledge
and passion about everything. You
couldn’t ask for a better role model for a
young man. He was always improving
himself, highly active and involved in the
community. His shoes cannot be filled,
but I will do anything I can to help and
support the family.”
Corey Vargas, Rackspace
J
ames Alan Rodriguez, vice president of Easy Drive, died Nov. 21 in
D’Hanis. He was 59 years old at the
time of his tragic and sudden passing.
Born Feb. 13, 1956 in San Antonio, he
was married to his high school sweetheart, Annette Mollere, for 35 years. He
graduated from Central Catholic in 1974
and from North Texas in 1978, and he attended graduate school at San Jose State
where he studied industrial design.
A man of many hobbies and innovative ideas, he enjoyed scuba diving, hunting, fishing, traveling the world and inventing. With his wife as the supplier’s
marketing director, he ran both of Easy
Drive’s San Antonio locations, which in
recent years began selling drones for use
by surveyors and members of the construction industry as well as law enforcement and other fields.
Survivors include his wife, Annette;
daughter, Chardae; mother, Virginia; sister, Ivy; brother, Wayne; brother-in-law,
Michael; mother-in-law, Virginia; sisterin-law, Cindy; nephew, Kristopher; nieces
Weslie and Ali; and many friends and
loved ones. –mh
“Easy Drive was one of our dealers for 16
years, and James gave me my start in the
business. He was a great boss and gave
me the freedom to succeed, mentoring
me all the way. He was gentle and kind
and was an honor to work with. I moved
on to represent Leica Geosystems (now
national manager for Leica Machine Control), and Easy Drive was one of our top
dealers. It’s such a senseless shock to lose
him and I will never forget him. My heart
is with Annette, Chardae and the entire
family.”
Dave Rowlett, Leica Geosystems
“James Rodriquez was the greatest guy I
have ever known. He would take the shirt
off his back to help anyone anytime. I
knew him for 30 years and our daughters
grew up together. He was always involved in all community event fundraising and a major donor to our local charities. It was an honor to know him, and I
will always miss him dearly.”
Judge Hunter Schuehle
Hondo Municipal Judge
“Jimmy was not just my brother-in-law;
he was a big brother to me. We worked
the ranch together, we partied together,
and we were tight. He always had my
back in tough times and set an amazing
example for me to emulate. The good
Lord saved me in this horrific incident
and my wounds will heal. The emotional
wounds that Annette and Chardae are
facing are my biggest concern. I know
that Jimmy is looking over us, and I plan
to do everything I can to be there for my
sister and my niece. I will never forget my
big brother.”
Mike Mollere
Hard Times Helicopter Service
“I have known James since I was 15. He
was always involved in every construction function and fundraiser, ready to
help. We hunted in Colorado together often, and I made him drink a beer if he
wanted to see a deer – it always seemed
to work. Three years ago (after drinking a
beer), he bagged his first antelope. I will
miss him dearly both at the ranch and all
the activities we did together. I will always pray for Annette and Chardae to
overcome this terrible tragedy.”
Bert Mazac, Big B Construction
“James was a really great guy who I respected a lot. I usually ran into him at the
CCA Banquet every year and we always
had time to talk about what was going on
with him, his company and family. He will
be missed by so many in our industry.”
Buddy Doebbler, Construction News
“I was fortunate enough to do business
with James at Easy Drive for 20 years. He
was a great guy and wonderful to work
with. I will miss his spirit and interacting
with him in my business. My thoughts
and prayers are with the family he
adored.”
Darren Rodgers, Texas Parking Lots
“I have known Jimmy, a fellow engineer,
for 22 years. He was of the few nice guys
with a wry sense of humor and genuinely
cared about his friends. We shared the
cold in one of his hunting blinds, snow
skied and scuba dived constantly. Every
time he would show up at my office, he
brought cinnamon rolls for the whole
team. When we were diving in Roatan in
the Caribbean, he leapt up on our table
to get the rowdy crew’s attention about
dining manners in a restaurant. He had a
sharp, dry wit and always had some interesting tidbit to share. You knew he was
genuinely interested in you personally
and was devoted to Annette and Chardae. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t look
at my phone and want to hit speed dial
for Jimmy. I loved the man and will miss
him everyday.
Dr. John Gonzalez,
Veterans Administration Physician
“James was the brightest and kindest
man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was the epitome of selflessness
and always accessible to his friends for
anything they needed. He adored his wife
and daughter and was ever present for
them. My heart is broken at the loss of my
friend and the tragedy facing his family.”
Juan Hernandez, AT&T
“Even
though
the
construction
community in San Antonio is very large,
they always seem to come together and
unite for good causes. James Rodriguez
was one that was always willing to give
back to the community. You could always
count on Jimmy and his wife, Annette
Mollere-Rodriguez, to be present and
contribute to Construct A Kid’s Christmas.”
Karen Ridout, Ridout Barrett
Page 20
March of the toy donors
S
ometimes Santa needs a little help,
and that’s why kind-hearted members of the construction industry
brought boxes upon boxes of unwrapped
toys to the Construct A Kid’s Christmas
Toy Drive Dec. 4 at the Construction
News office.
The toy drive brought in 2,060 toys
and $800 in gift cards that were donated
to brighten the holiday of Bexar County
foster children. The total donated since
the gala and the toy drive began is an incredible $564,721 in cash and gift certificates and an awe-inspiring 21,708 toys
and gifts.
Several companies and associations,
including Alterman, San Antonio Masonry & Tool Supply and the National
Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)
collected toys at their holiday parties.
Many toys were collected at the gala
and delivered to CN in a truck supplied by
Allen & Allen Co. Special thanks also go
to Urban Concrete Contractors for supplying the truck and driver for delivery to
Bexar County Child Protective Services
and CBS Rental & Supply for the two
scissor lifts that suspended the banner
above the drop-off site. –mh
The CAKC Committee presented a check for $76,000 to the Bexar County Child Welfare
Board. L-R: Ruby Trejo, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC); Dawn Thompson, Texas
Air Conditioning Contractors of America (TACCA); Michael McGinnis, Allen & Allen Co.; Karen
Ridout, Ridout Barrett; Michelle Urbanczyk, Urban Concrete Contractors; Sandee Morgan,
Mechanical and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (MCA-SMACNA); Jordon Brown, Quality
Fence & Welding; Cherie Foerster, Builders Exchange of Texas (BXTX); Jennifer Swinney, American
Subcontractors Association (ASA); Nora Romero, MCA-SMACNA; Yolanda Valenzuela, Bexar
County Child Protective Services; Jon Marek, MEMCO; Buddy Doebbler, Construction News
The Reynolds Company
Alterman
Hispanic Contractors Association (HCA)
Big State Electric
Lynne Grix, CPA
Ridout Barrett
San Antonio Association of Building Engineers (SAABE)
Wilborn Steel Co.
Joeris General Contractors
United Tool & Fastener
Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC)
10843 Gulfdale San Antonio, TX 78216
210-829-1793
Serving the construction industry for over 28 years
Having helped with the count and loading of the truck, Kent
Gerstner, Construction News, stands triumphantly at the
edge of a truck fully loaded with toys and bikes.
Page 21
Small and secure business
B
exar County’s 15th annual Small,
Minority, Women and Veterans
Business Owners (SMWVBO) Contracting Conference Dec. 9 at the Freeman Expo Hall welcomed approximately
3,000 visitors and 150 exhibitors.
This year’s conference, which gave
contractors opportunities to connect
with government and private owners as
well as other contractors, included guest
speakers Mayor Ivy Taylor; Bexar County
Sheriff Susan Pamerlau; Christopher
Combs, special agent in charge, FBI, San
Antonio Division; and Lyn Watts, senior
program privacy manager for OSG Enterprise & Security Research and Development at Microsoft.
“We really focused on operating your
business in a secure environment,” Renee
Watson, SMWBE/DBE program manager
for Bexar County, says of this year’s event
featuring representatives from the technology, law enforcement and cyber security fields. “We know in the industry many
more companies are using BIM [Building
Information Modeling], onsite devices, all
kinds of smartphones for their guys out
in the field. They may get lost. They may
get hacked. Proprietary information is
out there. So, we are really focusing on
how to secure your business.” –mh
Turner Construction
Whiting-Turner
SpawGlass
Yates Construction
Zachry Construction Corporation
Joeris General Contractors
Austin Commercial
Alpha Building Corporation
Tejas Premier Building Contractor
Virtual Builders Exchange (VBX)
Bartlett Cocke General Contractors
Skanska
Hispanic Contractors Association (HCA)
A cast of contracting characters
T
he Associated General Contractors (AGC)
San Antonio Chapter’s Holiday Open House is
always full of characters –
or caricatures, really. This
year’s event Dec. 10 at the
AGC office on Gulfdale was
packed with guests enjoying hors d’oeuvres and refreshments and lining up
to get their annual caricature souvenir drawn by Ericatures. –mh
L-R: John Hoot, Quality Fence & Welding; Michael Sireno,
Baker Triangle; Mary Haskin, Mary C. Haskin Photography;
Craig Noto, Quality Fence & Welding
We can serve your project from
Residential
L-R: Ellen Ward, Joeris; Curtis Winter and Don
Watson, Watson Nunnelly; Andrew, Joeris
L-R: Roy Chandler and Angie Zuniga,
Sunstate Equipment Co.; Henry Boone,
Turner Construction
* Single Family
* Multi Family
CMU Rebar
Commercial
*
*
*
*
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Shopping Centers
Hotel & Motels
Restaurants
Stores
Retention Ponds
Fabrication Reinforcing Bars
Professional Estimating and Detailing
Wire Mesh and Accessories
L-R: Larry Ybarra, Service Shade Shop, and
Emily Rhodes, Upright Cleaning Services
L-R: Sam Nunnelly, Watson Nunnelly;
Bill Huber, Joeris; Jeff Haberstroh,
Project Control
7480 FM 1560 N
(210) 695-8222
9513 Kneupper Lane
Converse, TX 78109
(210) 651-7394
Page 22
Fun-filled festivities
Lucky number seven
Tournament Winners L-R: Jim Herzog, 3rd Place; Nick Villa, 1st Place; Matt Prater, 2nd Place
L-R: Allison Lerma, Brady Renner, Kayla Bessellieu, Emilee Keith,
Veronica Romero, Scott Adams
F
or PBK Architects,
the holiday party offered so much fun to
be had that it couldn’t be
contained in one venue.
The celebration kicked off
early in the afternoon Dec.
11 at the firm’s office, and
mid-afternoon, the group
relocated to Topgolf. –mh
W
hether the game is mostly luck
or it’s all about skill, Quality
Fasteners’ seventh annual
Washers for a Cause was a huge success
this year. The Nov. 15 event at Olmos Basin Park based around a washer tournament for charity drew more than 150 attendees and 85 participants. The tournament, silent auction, raffles and sponsors
raised more than $10,000.
Quality Fasteners covers the cost of all
the expenses, and so, 100 percent of the
funds raised go to the Children’s Shelter.
This is the fifth year that tournament has
benefit the Children’s Shelter, and the total amount donated to the nonprofit over
the last five years is more than $30,000.
The funds help the Children’s Shelter’s mission to provide 24-hour temporary emergency care for up to 66 children
per day from newborns through 16-yearolds who have been removed from their
homes due to abuse, abandonment or
neglect. –mh
L-R: Brittany Barnes, Jeff Olivares, Anna Chenier
L-R: Talon Baier, Sean Reynolds, Stephen Faulstich, Meg Tech-Hammond,
Brooke Matula, Larry Matula, Jill Matula, Mark Matula and Courtney Prater
put together this year’s Washers for a Cause.
L-R: Cliff Whittingstall, Jeff Olivares
Emilee Keith
Festive fencers
L-R: Sergio Alanis and Chris Landez
T
he holiday spirit was in the air at
Quality Fence & Welding’s annual
Christmas party Dec. 9 at the Greater San Antonio Housing Center on Paesano’s Parkway. That evening, Craig
Noto, president, and John Hoot, general
manager, took a moment to recognize a
couple of members of the team who
shine like the season. –mh
Impacting the
community
,PPHGLDWHORFDWLRQRQGHPDQG
6WUHHW/HYHO0DSSLQJ
*HR)HQFH\RXU$VVHW
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$VVHW7UDN)/((7
0$1$*(0(17
021,725,1*6<67(0
210-587-7634
www.GPSofTexas.com
Jordon Brown – Shining Star Award
TJ Howard – Manager of the Year Award
Doug McMurry, left, executive vice
president of the Associated General
Contractors (AGC) San Antonio Chapter
was presented with the Making a
Difference Community Service Award
by the Texas Society of Association
Executives Dec. 9 in Austin. –mh
L-R: Rory Wilsey, gate technician; Rachel Howard; Stacie Wilsey; Morgan Hoot;
John Hoot, general manager; Teresa Noto
L-R: Gene Vogelman, fence manager; Sandy Vogelman; Jason Price, fence superintendent;
Brittany Price; Dora Rodriguez, HR; Frank Rodriguez
The best way to start the day
Page 23
Giving Clarity to children
N
early 100 field employees gathered for Cram Roofing’s Holiday
Breakfast Dec. 18. Employees enjoyed tacos, coffee and juice before
heading out for the day. –mh
Gary and Kim Cram
In the season for giving, SpawGlass presented a check for $25,000 to Clarity Child
Guidance Center in San Antonio. The donation represented proceeds from the
company’s second annual San Antonio charity golf tournament. L-R: Fred Hines, Clarity
Child Guidance Center president/CEO; Joel Stone, SpawGlass chairman/CEO; Melodye
Tomsu, SpawGlass San Antonio business development manager; Chuck Calvin,
SpawGlass San Antonio Division president –mh
L-R: Lucas Villarreal, Robert Acevedo, David Perez, LaVon Partlin, Derek Withoff
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Gathering around the table
T
he San Antonio Masonry Contractors Association (SAMCA) hosted its
Holiday Celebration & Banquet at
Christopher Columbus Society Hall in Piazza Italia downtown. The evening included dinner and casino games. –mh
Ryan and Katy Stone, Rick Stone Masonry
Robbie Klekar, Ericstad,
and David Frink, Prosoco
For your Free Quote Call
210-623-5555
www. bigjohnrental.com
Page 24
continued from Page 1 — Structurally stronger
major players in San Antonio, including
numerous clients the firm targets, which
provides a local connection that will
open up their market and work for future
growth.
When the Las Vegas market took a
downturn in 2009, Kris and his wife saw
an opportunity to relocate and establish
a new business while maintaining their
core staff in Las Vegas. While they still live
in San Antonio, they travel back and forth
to Las Vegas as needed.
Originally from a small town in South
Dakota, the couple enjoys large cities and
practicing their chosen profession in
large cities. After spending a lot of time
on Broadway in San Antonio, doing business out of a FedEx Kinko’s, they fell in
love with Pearl. When the firm merged
with Cutler Gallaway and rebranded, they
relocated operations from a small office
next door to their apartment to a larger
office at Pearl.
Though the firm’s larger projects are
still in Las Vegas, the firm has done a lot of
work close to its home in the Alamo City.
Projects include the Wilson County and
Guadalupe County justice facilities, a Justice of the Peace facility in Atascosa
County, and the Maverick Building as well
as larger office and industrial-type buildings in San Antonio.
With offices in San Antonio and Las Vegas, Barker Structural provides structural
engineering, including precast concrete,
post-tensioned concrete and specialty
foundations. –mh
continued from Page 1 — Addition to division
either Austin or Dallas during the growth
process.

Diverse by design to weather changes in the market, the company’s core
market sectors are corporate end user,
food and beverage, commercial, industrial and multi-family, which includes student housing, apartments, condos, senior living and assisted living. K-12 and
higher education are other big components of their portfolio. Their strategy is
to maintain the same mix of core sectors
in their newest market, San Antonio.
Current projects in San Antonio include Doerr Lane Industrial Park, a
213,864-sf Class A speculative industrial
building located in Schertz, and Villas at
the Rim, a four-story, 427-unit luxury
multi-family project, as well as Vitre, a
mixed-use project.
The culture inside Cadence McShane’s offices includes encouraging
charitable initiatives spearheaded by employees through events such as Canstruction or ideas such as Jeans Fridays, where
employees contribute $5 to the charity to
be able to wear jeans that day and the
company matches up to $1,000.

Established in 1985, Cadence McShane
Construction Company is a commercial
general contractor that also does design
build and construction management.
Headquartered in Dallas, the company also
has offices in Austin and Houston. –mh
continued from Page 1 — A crowning achievement
Gasoline – On Road Diesel – Off Road Diesel
On Site Fueling – Wet Hosing – Temporary Loaner Tanks
We Loan City Approved UL-2085 Vaulted Tanks
210-666-6002
Brent & Mark Marshall
Dan Richardson,
project manager, says
one of the biggest challenges of this job was
working with an occupied building. He notes
that half of the first floor
was occupied and they
were building out the
other half, and the upstairs was occupied.
Renee Fruiht, president, adds that they
had to schedule downCrownhill Builders’ construction team alternated work on
time where it was necdifferent
sides of the building so that the stained concrete floor
essary to turn off the
could be finished.
water to install the fire
sprinkler system. Due to these kinds of information in their safety meetings about
challenges to working in an occupied rules specifying that the construction team
building, the crew did a lot of work on the was to have no interaction with students.
evenings and weekends.
The flooring presented its own chal
Due to working on an active campus, lenge to the build. There were many floor
Richardson also notes that they included finishes, including carpet tiles, which
were very colorful, and stained concrete.
To do the stained concrete floors, the
construction team had to stop work and
move to one side of the building while
this flooring was done. And then, they
stopped again and moved to the other
side of the building while the flooring
was done on that side. This effectively
shut down all work except for the floors
for a couple of weeks at a time.
Fruiht says that they enjoy working
with the Alamo Colleges, describing the
owners as fair, professional and knowledgeable. This was Crownhill’s second
project with Palo Alto College in two
years. Prior to the Ozuna Building, they
had just finished the cosmetology center,
which was a new offering for the college.
Conrad Ochoa was the site superintendent. Sherrie Arnold was the other
project manager. O’Connell Robertson
provided all the architectural and engineering services for the project.
Subcontractors on the job included
Masters Electric, which also worked on
Phase I, Opiela Mechanical, Cavazos
Ventures on the air conditioning, TexDoor Ltd., JSR Inc. on the millwork, Spectra Flooring and 180 Concrete.
Established in 1975, Crownhill Builders
celebrated its 40th anniversary last year.
The commercial general contractor is a
woman-owned business. –mh
Page 25
Construction Forecast
Lending small business
owners a hand
Debra Ruiz, Vice President - Construction Loan
Manager
Wells Fargo
San Antonio, TX
P
art of Debra Ruiz’s job at Wells Fargo is to assist the
small business owner by working with them on
loans to purchase or build a space for their operations. These small business owners
are the clients of the construction companies and contractors who build or renovate
those spaces. So, we asked her what she sees in the construction loan forecast for
small business borrowers in 2016.
be purchased quickly with cash to a seller
versus waiting on financing.
Do you expect any increases or decreases in business or interest rates?
They have been stable. I do not think
they will go up. You hear about it from
the Fed, but nothing has happened. I
think since we are in an election season,
that will come down the road. Lenders
are being very aggressive and competitive in rates to secure deals. So, it is the
time for a small business to request a
loan, if they plan to expand, purchase a
building or build a new building for their
small business.
mately $20 million in approved loan volume, all awaiting on their architects’
plans, zoning, replatting, permits, and
just construction bids from their selected
general contractor.
These are already in the closing
group and just waiting. This does not account for the new loans being approved
[in December], and this is just the one
month forecast in January 2016. I forecast
we are just going to get busier in the construction industry in 2016.
With that said, I foresee an increase
in construction material and costs, as this
happens every year. With activity in the
market and throughout Texas, I would
also hope for an increase in overall appraisal values for the small business customer/client.
What should clients expect when applying for construction loans?
With my job role as a construction
loan manager-SBA lending, I am working
with the borrower on their approved
loan to get them to the closing table as
well as making sure their selected general contractor has met the bank’s and SBA
requirement to minimize the construction risk.
The contractors are not applying for
the loan, but once I ask for their financials
for bank review, they feel like they are applying themselves. The overall goal is to
waive the payment and performance
bond fee for the small business owner.
This is the fee the contractors pass over
to the borrower/owner on the contract.
My goal is to try to eliminate this fee, to
benefit the small business.
Are there any expected shifts in the
market that would affect construction
loans next year?
I have seen historically the overall vacancies rates in existing real estate/condos improve a great deal. I know some of
our Texas cities do not have enough inventory to sell, or the real estate seems to
What does the process involve and
how long does it take?
The SBA-Small Business Lending process is not fast. So, that is a very openended question. We have some small
leaseholder deals that have historically
closed as quick as 10 days or less. But
keep in mind, the borrower has to be on
Interest rates up, labor down
for 2016
There are myriad challenges facing
the construction industry, but the shortage of skilled workers probably looms
largest. Carpenters, sheet metal installers,
brick layers and concrete workers are in especially short supply, but the industry is
also challenged with filling salaried positions such as project managers, estimators
and engineers. The unfortunate fact is that
too few students are being exposed to
construction careers or provided with the
basic skills needed to prepare for such a
career path. To address this issue, construction companies can increase funding
for career and technical education, work
with educators to help establish construction academy charter schools and expand
partnerships between apprenticeship
programs and community colleges. Because Yates’ primary asset is our people,
we continue to place a premium on recruiting, training and retaining top-ofclass performers that share our mission,
which is to provide value to our clients,
and our core values, which are safety, integrity, passion and commitment.
What does your position as construction loan manager of the SBA Lending
Group in San Antonio entail?
I manage and oversee an SBA portfolio of close to $40 million in construction-related loan volume. While overseeing this portfolio, I am maintaining excellent customer service to both my internal
and external clients of Wells Fargo Bank. I
have the entire State of Texas under my
management.
My specialty is in Small Business Administration, working with various general contractors, architects and the small
business borrower on a day-to-day basis.
We like to say that we are making dreams
come true in the small business world.
What do you expect will be the biggest changes to construction lending
in 2016?
On my desk and what I have seen approved in our Texas market are more and
more ground up construction projects.
We have a lot of land in Texas, so building
and owning your own building is key.
With the year’s end wrapping up and
winding down, I already have approxi-
Shane Hesters, North Texas Division Manager
Yates Construction
Fort Worth, TX
W
hat is your opinion about the
current state of the Dallas/Fort
Worth construction industry?
By all accounts, the Dallas/Fort
Worth construction industry is currently
one of the hottest markets in the country. When assessing the viability of a certain geographic location, Yates Construction takes into consideration labor resources, commodities, equipment inventories and the level of state and local
economic development initiatives.
With D/FW’s business-friendly environment, along with an attractive cost of
doing business and cost of living, all four
of these indicators are particularly strong
right now. On the heels of the U.S. Federal Reserve recently raising interest
rates, D/FW could see a burst of home
sales with that market expected to reach
$24 billion by 2015 year-end, which
would be a record for the region and
spur development in additional sectors
that further impact and benefit our local
construction industry.
What markets do you expect your
company and industry to see an in-
crease in over the course of 2016?
Why?
D/FW is a dynamic market, and one
of the few in the country where multiple
sectors are all seeing concurrent and
consistent growth. Yates’ diverse portfolio includes public, manufacturing, athletic facilities, office and mixed-use projects and one of our targets in 2016 and
beyond is to leverage our people and
experience to establish a solid backlog of
private commercial construction projects
in North Texas. A primary strength of
Yates’ is our passion for and expertise in
building high-rise condominiums and
with D/FW experiencing the biggest
high-rise condo boom since the 1980s,
we foresee this being one of our busiest
markets next year. As one of ENR’s topranked multi-unit residential contractors
in the nation, Yates is uniquely qualified
to help owners deliver an entire spectrum of styles and prices to their highrise condo customers.
What do you foresee as the biggest
challenge your company and others
like it in the industry will face in 2016?
What do you think will be different for
your company and the industry in
2016 compared to the previous year?
Are there any trends that are generating buzz?
Yates continues to experience
steady and impressive growth in Texas.
In fact, we catapulted 19 spots from #32
in 2014 up to #13 in 2015 in ENR Texas and
Louisiana’s “Top Contractor” rankings.
Our portfolio diversity, combined with
our depth of talent, has allowed us to
stay active in multiple markets.
In 2016, Yates will continue to expand our focus on technology, with Ocu-
spot and proactive on their end in providing the paperwork the bank has required.
Then, the longer processed loans can
take up to six months-plus. Keep in mind,
this is based on all of the replatting, zoning and permitting processes involved.
The loan approval process is the first step
of a long process. The six months estimate
is the beginning phase of loan application
up to the close date. And the close date is
based on when the building permit is issued. So, the overall process is truly up to
the borrower and how fast they really
want to close their overall project.
What changes have you seen in construction lending, as a market or in
terms of business, over the last five
years? And what would you like to see
change?
Projects are getting bigger and busier.
As I stated earlier, if the inventory for real estate is scarce, then small businesses are
wanting and needing to purchase their own
building or building a new one for business
expansion. So, it will only get busier.
The overall appraisal values have
bounced back since the lull we had back in
2008-2009. So again, I have to repeat that
it is the time to borrow, especially for the
small business. And keep in mind, the
small business has to be profitable and not
in the red or negative (net losses). I forecast more and more borrowers want to be
their own boss, and then be a small business owner themselves versus working for
a big corporate company. And I believe
the city fees will increase year after year.
I would like to see the building permit process throughout the major cities
of Texas move a bit faster to benefit the
small business owner.
Debra Ruiz began her banking career in
1996 and has been working with small businesses since 1999. She has been with Wells
Fargo Bank, NA-SBA Lending for 12 years. –mh
lus Rift at the forefront. The Rift is a virtual
reality head-mounted display headset
with integrated headphones that provide
a 3-D audio effect allowing the entire
project team to virtually walk through the
buildings they have just designed. With
our custom programming and software
optimization, Yates can create an incredible visual fidelity and an immersive field
of view that helps our clients visualize and
spatially coordinate their projects.
How would you sum up the last five
years for business at Yates, and what
do you predict for the next five years?
The past five years have been very
busy and productive for Yates, both in
Texas and nationally. We successfully
navigated the recession and actually
grew our team of people and project
portfolio in Texas. Our offices in D/FW,
San Antonio and Houston are all in expansion mode.
Long term, our Vision 2020 (known
as 10x20) identifies 10 areas of excellence
to focus on over the next five years with
specific metrics in each area to measure
our progress during this time frame, including safety, portfolio diversity, customer satisfaction, performance, training, innovation, community involvement,
culture, teamwork and sustainability.
Each area has a corporate champion to
lead our efforts, but it takes everyone’s
full support to succeed. 10x20 exemplifies Yates’ continued commitment to improvement and excellence as we prepare
for the future.
Founded in 1964, family-owned Yates
Construction provides a wide range of construction and building services. –mjm
Page 26
Construction Forecast
Construction Outlook:
Sweet (and Sour) ‘16
Ken
Simonson,
AGC of America
Chief
Economist
Arlington, VA™
T
exas contractors are facing a varied landscape in
2016. Overall, the outlook is favorable, but the slump
in oil and gas drilling will be a major drag.
The state continues to benefit from
one of the highest population growth
rates in the nation. That keeps demand
high for both single - and multifamily
housing, schools, stores and many other
categories of construction.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported in
March, “Two Texas metro areas -- Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington -- were the only
ones in the country to add more than
100,000 residents over the 2013-2014 period. Within the Houston metro area, Harris County alone gained almost 89,000
people, more than any other county in
the nation. The Lone Star State also had
four metro areas among the nation's 20
fastest growing by rate of change: Austin-Round Rock (third), Odessa (fourth),
Midland (ninth) and Houston (11th).”
For 2016, population growth is likely
to remain especially strong around Dallas, as three major national firms relocate
thousands of employees to new office
space there: Toyota and Liberty Mutual in
Plano, and State Farm in Richardson. Even
in areas of the state where population
growth is slowing, there will be a lot of
school construction to accommodate recent inflows of students.
The planning for an expanded Pana-
ma Canal, currently expected to open
sometime in 2016, has already triggered
billions of dollars of investment in ports,
pipelines and other transportation infrastructure, natural gas liquefaction plants,
and storage and distribution facilities.
More such investments will occur in the
coming year. In contrast, railroads are expected to cut back on construction, after
years of investing in new track and yards
to serve ports and to haul crude oil from
drilling areas without enough pipeline
capacity to refineries and terminals.
Low natural gas prices may encourage construction of more petrochemical
plants and gas-fired power plants. But
those same prices will hold down drilling,
related service and materials supply businesses, and investment in wind and solar
generation—all of which had contributed
to construction in Texas in recent years.
With the enactment in early December of a five-year federal highway and
transit funding bill, Texas and other states
will see a slight boost in federal dollars
for transportation infrastructure. State
funds also will be more abundant for
highways and universities.
Healthcare spending has picked up
nationally in 2015 after lagging ever since
the 2008-09 recession. Compared with
Quality craftsmen
in demand for 2016
Roger Berry, President SLCH
SpawGlass Construction Corp.
Houston, TX
In your perspective, what is your projection for the Houston construction
industry for 2016?
I think the construction market will
be good in 2016, but not as robust as the
past two years.
In my opinion, the medical and higher education markets should be leaders
in the industry for the upcoming year.
What do you think will be the keys to
success for 2016?
As always, find the right project that
fits your current team’s strengths and
ability to perform, including sufficient
tradesman required to meet the project
schedule.
earlier periods, fewer patients are being
admitted overnight to a hospital, and
they are staying for fewer days. Consequently, hospitals are building more
emergency, diagnostic and treatment
rooms, and fewer recovery rooms. A larger share of healthcare construction
spending is going into standalone urgent-care facilities, outpatient surgical
centers and clinics in stores and shopping centers. These trends appear likely
to continue in 2016 in Texas as elsewhere.
Construction downshifted in Texas in
2015 while accelerating nationally. From
November 2014 to November 2015, U.S.
contractors increased their employee
count by 4.2%, whereas construction job
growth in Texas slowed to 1.6% from a
7.7% growth rate a year earlier. In the latest 12 months, the state tied for 36th out
of 50 states and the District of Columbia.
For 2016, national construction employment and spending growth should
continue, albeit slightly less robustly than
in 2015. Texas also will add construction
activity, but the growth will vary widely
by region and sector, with the totals
again falling short of the nation.
In the Austin-Round Rock metro
area, construction employment grew by
5% from November 2014 to November
2015. That rate outpaced the state and
the nation but was less robust than the
8% increase a year earlier. (Data for Austin and most other metro areas includes
mining and logging with construction.)
Thanks to population growth, tourism,
government and university spending,
construction in the capital area should
continue to outperform the state as a
whole in 2016.
In the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
metro area, construction employment
has plummeted from some of the highest growth in the nation—a gain of
11,500 jobs between November 2013 and
November 2014—to among the largest
declines—a loss of 2,800 jobs between
November 2014 and November 2015. (Because the data actually combine mining
and logging with construction, the gains
and losses to construction employment
alone are probably overstated.) In 2016,
Dallas and its immediate suburbs are likely to experience moderate-to-strong construction growth but construction
around Fort Worth will be dragged down
by oil-industry woes.
In the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro area, construction employment growth slowed dramatically in the
past year, from 16,600 jobs added between November 2013 and November
2014 to 4,000 in the following 12 months.
Continuing population growth, expanded school construction and the windup
of some office and industrial projects
may keep construction from losing jobs
overall in 2016, but further expansion is
unlikely for the time being.
Construction activity expanded
sharply in the San Antonio-New Braunfels
metro area in 2015. Construction employment jumped by 10% from November
2014 to November 2015, more than double the national rate or the local rate a
year earlier. In 2016, growth is likely to
continue but at a more subdued pace.
Construction activity was mixed in
South Texas in 2015. Year-over-year employment growth had matched or exceeded the national average through
early 2015 in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area but stalled beginning in
April. Employment has been nearly flat in
the Brownsville-Harlingen area after slipping throughout 2014 and 2015. (Data for
these and most other metro areas includes mining and logging with construction.) In 2016, both areas are likely to record small increases in construction.
In your opinion, what will be the challenges in the next year?
Craftsmen will be our greatest challenge.
The availability of qualified workers
on-site will affect the overall schedule
and quality of the projects we are constructing.
However budget constraints seem
to always push the limits of available
money for certain types of work.
What is your projection concerning
the cost/and or supply of materials?
I believe that certain materials will
reduce in price based on the commodity
markets.
However concrete will probably be
steady based on future demand.
Is it a good time to build?
I think it is a good time to build as a
private owner, financing is favorable.
What is on the horizon for the Houston construction industry?
It will be interesting to see what the
oil companies capital projects will do
based on the current price of oil.
In addition, I think the medical projects will probably rise to the top of future work.
SpawGlass is a Texas-based general
contractor, construction manager, design/
builder and civil contractor with offices in
Austin, Houston, North Texas, San Antonio,
South Texas and the Golden Triangle. –ab
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February 2016
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Jan: Construction Forecast
Feb: Construction Safety
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Jun: HVAC & Plumbing
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Page 27
Restoring comfort and safety
Wired for a holiday feast
“Team Cheer,” which includes finance, HR and administration, with Henry Davila, president
L
This group from Owasso, OK worked with the Alcarez family, volunteering
for Blueprint Ministries doing home restoration.
ast year, Blueprint Ministries marked
10 years of home restorations that
have helped change the lives of
homeowners and volunteers that work
on the homes.
The nonprofit organization was
founded in 2005 by current board members Jeffrey Kemp, shareholder in Kemp
& Stich, P.C., Perry Sedgwick, owner and
president of Sedgwick Construction, and
Shannon Davis, CEO of Bridgeway Foundation, and former board members Jesse
and Sue Minor. Sedgwick is the construction supervisor for Blueprint, overseeing
all of their projects, and his wife, Dee Dee
Sedgwick, is the executive director.
Upon discovering that San Antonio
had the largest percentage of substandard housing in the nation, Dee Dee and
the founders set out to organize volunteer groups to help fight that statistic.
Today, Blueprint Ministries is a licensed youth camp with a facility that
sleeps 150 people. The organization runs
13 weeklong camps each year when
youth from middle school through college ages come from across the country
to volunteer.
During the year, local groups also
come to volunteer. Some local contractors donate materials or volunteer their
time. This year, Blueprint had approximately 1,000 volunteers over the summer
and 300 during spring break.
“Our goal is to make homes warmer,
safer and drier,” Dee Dee says, noting
that their typical work includes re-roofing, flooring, ceilings, and interior and
exterior painting. The only things they
cannot do are foundations, electrical and
plumbing.
They also work in connection with
Child Protective Services (CPS). One example is a grandmother who was trying
to get custody of her 16-year-old and
10-year-old grandchildren, but her house
was in bad repair. Blueprint did the necessary work to meet CPS requirements,
and she was able to adopt the kids. –mh
T
he Christmas spirit surged through
the HJD Capital Electric office Dec.
17 with employees coming together
for the annual Christmas Luncheon. –mh
Ugly sweater participants Violet Mathis and
Ray Martinez
L-R: Gabi Alexander and Tyler King promoted
ugly sweaters throughout the office.
‘Tis the season for Saltgrass
Gaming the night away
T
he Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) San Antonio Chapter hosted its seventh annual Member Appreciation Casino Night Dec. 11 at its office on Bandera Road. The evening’s fun
included dinner, casino games and raffle
prizes. –mh
Adrian and Katherine Flores
L-R: Joey Howard, Mrs. Flores, Lorena Mery,
Edward Del Toro
Shannon Cadena wins at the casino tables.
In a celebration of the holiday that was both delightful and delicious by design, Mdn
Architects hosted its Christmas Luncheon Dec. 11 at Saltgrass Steak House. –mh
Page 28
Round-Up
Barker Structural announces:
Kathleen Bussell,
EIT, joins the firm as
a project engineering intern. She will
work with project
managers and engineers to design and
detail projects and
assist with client coordination and communication. She earned her bachelor’s
and master’s degrees from Michigan
Technological University.
Nick Carrisal III
joins the firm as an
engineering drafting technician. With
more than 30 years
of experience in the
AEC industry, he
will provide his expertise in structural drafting to a wide
variety of projects, assisting the structural engineering teams in San Antonio and
Las Vegas.
Earl Cutler, PE,
joins the firm as vice
president. He has
more than 45 years
of experience in the
design and construction of concrete, steel and
wood structures,
including foundations and superstructures. He has overseen many projects in
South/Central Texas, including several
with Fiesta Texas, Sea World, and major
military facilities. In his career, he has engineered more than 25 million square
feet of new construction, including more
than 15 million square feet of elevated
post-tensioned construction.
Stephanie
Marquez, EIT, joins the
firm as a project engineering
intern.
She has more than
five years of construction management experience.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from
the University of Wyoming and her master’s from the University of Utah.
Charli
Valadez
joins the firm as
business development director. With
20 years of experience, she will be responsible for executing the firm’s
business development plan and the production of proposals, qualifications packages and marketing materials. She was a
marketing major at Kansas University.
Round-Up
Submissions
This is a monthly section for brief
company announcements of new or
recently promoted personnel, free of
charge, as space allows.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Email (w/digital photo, if available)
by the 15th of any month, for the
next month’s issue
(published 1st of each month).
Email info to appropriate city issue,
with “Round-Up” in the subject line:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
San Antonio
[email protected]
Austin
[email protected]
Dallas/Ft. Worth
[email protected]
Houston
[email protected]
South Texas
[email protected]
Raba Kistner announces:
Thomas Burr has
joined the firm as
chief operating officer and senior vice
president of Raba
Kistner
Environmental. He has 21
years of experience
in the environmental field. Burr received
his MS in Environmental Science from
Baylor University and his BS in Biology
from the University of Oregon.
Michael McCarty
joins as corporate
health and safety
manager for the
firm and its subsidiaries, including 14
locations across the
state of Texas, Utah,
Mexico and New York. He will manage
the Enterprise-Wide Health and Safety
program, which includes planning, developing, and coordinating compliance
with safety and environmental regulations. He is Work Zone Traffic Control
(WZTC), OSHA, and HAZWOPER certified,
among other certifications to train in
multiple other areas of health and safety.
Eric Rypple, PE,
joins as manager,
Forensic Services.
He will be expanding the firm’s Forensic Services capabilities and staff development in San Antonio and other
Texas office locations. With 20 years of
experience in the engineering field, with
12 years working specifically as a structural engineer, he most recently served
as a senior design manager with Environmental Chemical Corporation (ECC). He
earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University.
Phillip Krutz has
joined Sundt Construction as senior
project manager for
the company’s Texas team. With more
than 10 years of experience in the construction industry,
he will work on estimating the structures
for the Corsicana project and serve as
project manager for the Hausman Road
development. He earned his bachelor’s
degree in construction management
from the University of Nebraska.
Gilmer Gaston was
promoted to senior
vice president of
transportation at
Pape-Dawson Engineers. With 27
years of experience
in transportation
engineering,
he
joined the firm in July 2000. He earned
his bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil
engineering from Texas A&M University.
He is a registered professional engineer
in the State of Texas and the State of Arizona. He is also a professional traffic operations engineer in the State of Texas.
Michael Torres has
joined Big Red Dog
Engineering as a
civil designer. With
experience in commercial and public
developments, he
will be assisting the
Single Family team,
which focuses on
subdivision communities. He earned his
associate’s degree in Computer Aided
Drafting and Design (CADD) from ITT
Technical Institute.
Association Calendar
Content submitted by Associations to Construction News
ABC
Associated Builders & Contractors
Jan. 5, 12, 19, 26: Supervisory Leadership Program; 6-9:30pm; ABC office; for
more information, email Chris Preetorius
at [email protected]
AGC
Associated General Contractors
All events are held at the AGC office
unless otherwise stated.
Jan. 8: Annual Chapter Leadership Meeting and Past Presidents Reception, 1:305:30pm
Jan. 12: CM-Lean Exam, 12:30-5pm
Jan. 15: BCA Membership Mixer; 126
Gonzalez St., Second Floor; 6pm
Jan. 18: General Membership and Installation of Directors Luncheon; Sunset Station; noon-1:30pm; speaker is Councilman Ron Nirenberg; for more information or to make a reservation, call 210349-4921
Jan. 19: OSHA 10-Hour, free, 8:30am5:30pm
Jan. 20: OSHA 10-Hour, free, 8:30am12:30pm
AIA
American Institute of Architects
Jan. 25: Chapter meeting; Luby’s, 911 N.
Main; noon
ASA
American Subcontractors Association
Jan. 19: General Membership meeting;
The Barn Door; 6pm; $35 for members,
$40 for non-members; speaker is Cherie
Foerster, “The Workforce of Tomorrow,
Starting Today”
Jan. 27: Killer Contracts Seminar; The
Gardner Law Firm office; 1:30-4:30pm;
$40 for members, $50 for non-members;
instructors are Bethany Thompson and
Tom Walthall
Jan. 28-29: OSHA 10-Hour; MEMCO office; noon-5:30pm; $55 for members, $85
for non-members; instructor is Raul Carillo, OSHA
CFMA
Construction Financial Mgmt. Assn.
Jan 26: Chapter Luncheon; Petroleum
Club, 8620 N. New Braunfels; 11:30am1pm; speaker is Lori Warren, senior vice
president, Spurs Sports & Entertainment;
to RSVP, contact Stephanie at 210-8286281, ext. 1575, or stephanie.harms@
padgett-cpa.com
ECAT
Earthmoving Contractors Assn of Tx
Jan. 23: Winter Board of Directors meeting; Holiday Inn Express meeting room,
2801 East Main St., Uvalde; 3:30pm; planning for the 2016 annual meeting Jul. 14Jul. 17 in Duncanville and for the next
Land Stewardship Workshop in the
spring as well as other items of business;
all members and prospective members
are welcome to attend; for more information or business with the board should,
contact the executive secretary at 830629-1620 or through the ECAT website at
www.earthmovingcontractors.com
GSABA
Greater San Antonio Builders Assn.
Jan. 8: 31st Annual San Antonio Housing
Forecast; Omni Hotel @ the Colonnade,
9821 Colonnade Blvd.; 7:30-11am; presentation by Jack Inselmann, Metrostudy;
tickets are $65 per person, $700 per table
of 10 until Dec. 18
For more information on these events,
contact Lucy Gale at 210-696-3800 or
[email protected]
Jan. 29: Annual Chili Cook-Off & Washer
Tournament; Raymond Russell Park;
4:30-9pm; chili team entry fee $450, tickets $35 per person pre-sale and $45 at
the door
HCA de San Antonio
Hispanic Contractors Association
Jan. 20: 2016 Board of Directors Installation; The Quarry Golf Course, 444 E. Basse
Rd.; 6-8pm; $30 members, $40
nonmembers, cost includes dinner, mixer,
presentation and installation; for more
information, call 210-444-1101 or visit
www.hcadesa.org
IEC
Independent Electrical Contractors
All events are held at the IEC office unless otherwise stated.
Jan. 4: IEC office and school re-open,
8am
Jan. 11: Accelerated School begins, 5:309:30pm
Jan. 16: Electrical Maintenance Technician Class, 8am-5pm
Jan. 18: Continuing Education Class,
5-9pm
Jan. 21-22: IEC of Texas meeting, Austin
Jan. 26-28: IEC National Business Summit, Albuquerque, NM
call 210-431-9861 or visit www.iecsanantonio.com
MCA–SMACNA
Mechanical Contractors Association
Sheet Metal & A/C Nat’l Assn.
Jan. 6: Regular & Associates meeting;
Oak Hills Country Club; 11:30am
Jan. 13: Joint Labor/Management Meeting Plumbers, Pipefitters; MCA-SMACNA
office; 11am
Jan. 20: Joint Industry Fund meeting;
Oak Hills Country Club; 11:30am
NAWIC
Nat’l Assn. of Women in Construction
Jan. 6: General meeting, The Petroleum
Club, 5:30pm
PHCC
Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors
Jan. 9, 16: Plumbers Continuing Education class, PHCC office
Jan. 14: Membership Meeting; Petroleum Club; 11am; speakers from the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners
and the City of San Antonio Developmental Services – Plumbing Division; $25
members, $30 non-members; to RSVP by
Jan. 12, call 210-824-7422
visit www.phcc-sanantonio.org
TACCA
Tx. Air Conditioning Contractors Assn.
Jan. 13: 2016 South Texas HVAC Expo;
vendor exposition and educational programs; Learning Labs 9am-noon, 1:304:45pm; vendor exposition opens at
noon; demonstrations all day; free event
open to the HVAC industry
Page 29
Teaming with joy
Joining the civilian job market
Field staff L-R: Rick Lair, corporate safety director; Amando Gomez, warehouse manager;
Nathan Van Cleave, production manager; Tony Thomas, general field superintendent
W
HOLT CAT joined forces Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) to offer technical training to
veterans exiting military service. This partnership will give military service members the
chance to train for and transition into fulfilling civilian careers. L-R: Peter J. Holt, senior
vice president, diversified businesses; Brig. Gen. Robert D. LaBrutta, commander, 502nd
Air Base Wing and Joint Base San Antonio; Corinna Holt Richter, senior vice president
and chief administrative officer; Dave Harris, COO and president –mh
ith two partners leading the
way into the New Year, MK Marlow Company held its holiday
party Dec. 5 at Maggiano’s. –mh
Brewing up holiday spirit
The estimating team L-R: Ken Wilson and
Don Hopkinson
L-R: Owners Mark Marlow and Todd Thomas
Right:
Accounting team David Schultze and
Suzanne Tanner
Baker Triangle hosted its office/foreman Christmas party Dec. 16 at Alamo Brewery. –mh
Swinging and jingling
Project management team L-R: Chris Kempton, project manager; Jason Postel Sr., project
manager; Ron Crawford, operations manager; Bill Basinger, project manager
MadCat Metals.com
Architectural and Light Fabrication
[email protected]
Cell # 210-326-3683
South I 35 @ 1604
Light Steel Fabrication
Architectural Metals
Decorative Ironwork
Dumpster Gates & Ladders
Brackets, Bollards, Canopies
CNC Cutouts, Retail Fixtures
Wrought Ironwork Rails & Gates
In-House Drafting Service
‘Tis the season to celebrate at the driving range! Big Red Dog Engineering hosted its
holiday party on Dec. 11 at Topgolf. –mh
TIMMS TRUCKING
Over 50 Years Experience • Family Owned & Operated
Serving all to include:
COMMERCIAL CONTRACTORS
COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPERS
(210)
623-HAUL (4285)
www.timmstrucking.net
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Page 30
Same solar, different state
Construction News JOB SIGHT
Coming soon to Bulverde
Quantum Group of Tennessee Inc. is the GC on this project, Bulverde Assisted Living
Center. Quantum is owned by Cecil McNatt and the owners of the senior facility are
Drs. Keith and Donna Markey of Bulverde. –cw
15 to 500 Ton
Capacities
Available for your
Toughest Projects
Setting a new
LED billboard
at loop410 and
West Avenue
to get the
word out.
W
L-R: Bobby Sidoma and Zach Hayes Baker relocated from Arizona
to work for Solar Electric Texas.
hen Solar Electric Texas was
setting up shop in San Antonio,
Bobby Sidoma and Zach
Hayes Baker came from their hometown
of Tucson to help get the business running smoothly. Both came to help with
installs and training of the employees,
but ended up relocating to stay with the
new company, and they now call the Alamo City home.
Sidoma started in construction as a
teenager working on asphalt trucks. At
the end of May this year, the opportunity
arose to run the construction side of the
business. He saw an opportunity to advance his career, and he says he had already decided that he was going to stay
before he even got here.
Now, at 42, Sidoma is construction
manager. His wife of 15 years moved with
him. They have a blended family of seven
children, and three of them made the
move, too. His wife’s sister and her son
also came to live with them here.
Back in Tucson, Sidoma played professional football for nine years as a corner for the Tucson Blaze. Today, he and
his family enjoy toobing, watching movies and eating dinner together, camping
and playing paintball.
Hayes Baker helped set up the sister
company, Solar Solutions Arizona, in
Tucson a little over two years ago. He
started with the company as a regular
crewmember and installer with no experience in solar, though he had always
been in construction. He felt it was a
good idea and a good career path for him
to move.
At 28, he is the lead installer and also
handles safety and maintenance. Most of
his free time goes to building the company. His family is still in Tucson, but his
fiancé, Mallory, made the move with him,
and they’re looking forward to exploring
the local sights.
Solar Electric Texas is an electrical contractor that specializes in solar. –mh
Better working together
The Better Built family in front of their office on West Blanco L-R: (front row) Bob Rathburn,
Barbara Rathburn, (back row) Matthew Srp, Jim Srp, Michael Srp
from
El Paso to Beaumont
Amarillo to Brownsville
www.alamocrane.com
36 Years of
Service to Texas
San Antonio (210) 344-7370
Austin
(512) 282-6866
Toll Free
(800) 880-0134
A
t Better Built Enterprises, the office
team doesn’t have titles on their
doors or on their desks. Everybody
contributes, and founder Jim Srp credits
that recipe with the company’s successful
growth since it’s inception in 1978.
Srp, who is always asked to spell his
surname and notes that it’s of Czechoslovakian origin and was shortened, graduated from Texas A&I in Kingsville in 1971.
He worked in the corporate world before
starting out as a general contractor with
jobs such as changing doors on Texaco
service stations. Today, at 66, he has no
plans to retire.
“When you’ve been in business for this
length of time, the people you work with –
suppliers, clients and subcontractors – become good friends, and it’s pretty enjoyable,” observes Srp. “It’s not classifiable as
work. I don’t wake up on Monday morning
going, ‘Oh no, I’ve got to go to work.’”
While his family is in Boerne, his family also joins him at work. His twin sons,
Michael and Matthew Srp, are project
managers at Better Built. His oldest
daughter is a doctor in Boerne. His wife,
Kimberly Srp, has been involved with
the business, but now stays busy with
their eight grandchildren, and they have
a ninth on the way.
His partner who joined the company
in 1980, Bob Rathburn, does design
build work. He also has family at the office, his sister-in-law, Barbara Rathburn,
who was single when she started at Better Built more than 30 years ago and ended up marrying Bob’s brother.
Aside from Better Built, Srp has also
built up his classic car collection with
muscle cars, including his favorite, his
three Shelby Mustangs.
Better Built Enterprises is a general
contractor that does commercial design
build. Projects include churches, convenience stores, educational facilities, financial institutions, medical, restaurants, office
and retail. –mh
Page 31
Two sides to their market
A-1 Fire & Safety
Full line of Fire
Extinguishers
in stock
Industrial &
Restaurant Fire
Suppression
Systems
Extinguisher
Cabinets & Onsite and In-Shop
Servicing of all types
Fire Hose
Onsite fire extinguisher training
203 E. Rhapsody
email: [email protected] www.A1fireand safety.com
210-342-5518
A
L-R: Fred Ramos, John Hurse and Ryan Redding at CBS Rental & Supply’s
San Antonio location on North Loop Road
s branch manager for the San Antonio branch of CBS Rental & Supply, John Hurse will also be overseeing the Austin branch when it opens
at the beginning of the New Year. He and
district sales manager, Rodney Chandler, will be overseeing both locations.
With the company for three years,
first in Longview and then Conroe, Hurse
came to San Antonio as branch manager
about three months ago.
Chandler has been with the company for approximately 26 years. Hurse’s assistant manager, Victor Warren, has
been with the company for approximately 28 years. Warren and Chandler have
the most tenure with CBS of all the employees at the San Antonio branch.
CBS rents equipment including backhoes, bulldozers, boom lifts, scissor lifts
and forklifts. CBS also sells supplies, including lumber, adhesives, hand tools
and power tools. Balancing the two sides
of the business allows CBS to offer services and products that often go handin-hand.
“A lot of the jobsites we go to with
our equipment, we’re also delivering supplies,” explains Hurse. “We feel our combined service offering allows CBS a
unique market advantage no one else in
the area can provide. We are proud of our
past, but we are even more excited about
our future growth plans, which include
expansion into the Austin market.”
Based out of the San Antonio branch,
which was established in 1986, Hurse and
Chandler will be leading the effort to
grow the Austin market in 2016.
Established in 1965, CBS Rental & Supply is headquartered in Houston with
branches in San Antonio, Corpus Christi,
Longview, Tyler, Deer Park and Conroe with
additional branches opening next year in
Austin and Dallas. –mh
FAX
210-342-3533
Page 32
Their first toy drive
Safe and security
RCO Construction and RTB Law Group collected nearly 200 toy donations in their
inaugural toy drive to help families around the Alamo City. RCO and RTB will be
delivering the toys to various low-profit organizations and public schools on the east
and west sides of town to help families in need this holiday season. –mh
Representatives of Jordan Foster Construction, OSHA and Security Service Federal
Credit Union gathered Oct. 6 for the signing of a partnership agreement with OSHA in
the building of Security Service’s new corporate campus. Entering into the Strategic
Partnership Program for Worker Safety and Health allows OSHA to provide the project
team with outreach, training and other incentives. –mh
Picture this!
A shiny new Noel
The staff of Big State Electric gathered to celebrate their first Christmas at the company’s
new headquarters on Aero Street. –mh
L-R: (front) Christina Davis, Meghan Lannom, (back) Judy Zimmerman,
Annette Guerrero, Nicki Heiner
L-R: (front) Ryan Ruttger, Kim Wolf, (back)
Kyle Brusveen, Joe Cannata,
Larry Hicks, Desiree Salmon
F
or their end of the year party, RVK Architects took to the Canyon Springs
Golf Club Dec. 5 where part of the
fun included some hilarious photo ops
with these holiday picture props. –mh
L-R: Marie De La Garza, Rosie Hartman,
Taylor Jones
L-R: Lidia Carrazco, Claudia Chavez,
Chris Moore
L-R: (front) Karen Stacy, Ashley Pena,
(back) Kathy Castanon, Jennifer Martinez,
Stephanie McBride