One might expect Alcorn Construction to be just like any other general contractor. However, after looking at the company’s website, you can clearly see their focus on their people, processes, and partnerships. Alcorn Construction is an award-winning and partnership-powered general contractor providing a level of service that partners would expect from an in-house construction service. For more than sixteen years, the company has specialized in relationship-based commercial construction, serving the Colorado Front Range and Phoenix metro areas. Alcorn delivers projects for a wide-range of sectors, including office, light industrial, retail, multi-family, low-income housing, and senior living, to name a few. As a woman-owned company, Alcorn Construction has created a culture and workplace in which employees from all walks of life can contribute and thrive. “Our mission is to be a place where great, high-performing people love to work,” says President Derek Simpson, who brings more than 25 years of construction industry experience to the Alcorn management team. “Our people approach their work knowing that they are empowered and encouraged to always do the right thing and create unforgettable experiences for our customers. We invest in services that help with preconstruction, entitlements, safety, and quality – all aimed at providing excellence on projects – from concept to completion. On top of that, our unique blend of being easy to work with, driving excellence, and doing things the Alcorn Way help make the construction process easier for our partners.”

2008 is a year we remember not for booming business and abundant opportunity, but for hard times brought on by economic collapse. At a time when so many companies were bidding farewell to a challenging market, Alcorn Construction was just entering it. “In 2008, Amy and Chris Alcorn started Alcorn Construction, with a vision to operate like an in-house construction company for customers who wanted a high level of service.” While timing may not have been on its side, Amy and Chris’ hard work, dedication, and ability to adapt was. “As a result of starting the company just before the Great Recession, Chris and Amy quickly found that new construction work was drying up. So, they pivoted to become experts at tenant finish work, all while maintaining the vision of behaving like an in-house construction company. In 2011, as the economy began to rebound, Alcorn completed their first successful ground-up project and continued to provide the high level of service that their tenant finish customers had come to expect, by bringing a Design-Build mindset to every project,” says Simpson.

After riding the wave of 2008 and the recession that defined it, Alcorn has grown, largely through customer references, from a $1.5M start-up working out of Amy and Chris’ basement to an award-winning $100M+ general contractor with offices in Colorado and Arizona. Today, Alcorn is led by Simpson as President, with an experienced executive team that includes Jim Roland (Senior Vice President, Arizona), Scott Boal (Vice President of Operations in Colorado), and Matt Newman (Vice President of Finance), that continues to embody Amy and Chris’ vision. “We have kept the vision of adding value like an in-house construction company,” Simpson says. Like any growing company, Alcorn has seen ups and downs throughout its history. Yet, through strong leadership and a dedicated team, the company has seen an overall upward trend in total volume – the most significant of which came between 2019 and 2024. In just five short years and notwithstanding a worldwide pandemic, the company increased its volume by more than 110%. “We’ve done this by focusing on several key areas,” says Simpson. “By implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System and strategic planning, we’ve grown our volume of work in Colorado, and brought a new office online in Arizona.” Then there’s Alcorn’s team, which has been a significant factor in the company’s growth trajectory from the outset. “We’ve focused on building a team that live and breathe our core values. Alcorn values its people and their development, so we invested in hiring an in-house Talent Manager who has been essential in developing a pipeline to bring on new talent. Finally, we developed structured processes for onboarding new employees, mentoring them, providing an environment that fosters growth and development by giving employees the opportunity to own their work.”

“We’ve focused on building a team that live and breathe our core values. Alcorn values its people and their development, so we invested in hiring an in-house Talent Manager who has been essential in developing a pipeline to bring on new talent.”

The Alcorn Construction team understands that successful companies value time above all else, and in service of this, are not in the business of wasting it. While the process of bidding can result in small gains, early engagement with an experienced general contractor adds significantly more value to complex construction projects. The Alcorn ‘On Board Early Process’ is comprised of four stages – Align, Plan, Execute, and Support – and ultimately saves the client both time and money. “We love to get involved on projects early through Design-Build or Design-Assist methodologies to help customers be confident in their decision making and help get their projects get done faster and at a lower cost,” Simpson says. Alcorn Construction’s entire business model is geared towards simplifying the process for its clients, and this is reflected in its 80% repeat business rate. As a full-service general contractor, Alcorn offers a number of services that others don’t. “We offer in-house preconstruction services to help customers understand the cost of their vision and assist with value engineering projects, so they get what they need at the best price possible. Additionally, we have an in-house Director of Land Use Entitlements to help customers get through the entitlements process faster – a service that is especially helpful to our Colorado customers. We also have an in-house Compliance Manager to oversee all aspects of safety, quality, and environmental compliance on our job sites.” By bringing more of these services in-house, Alcorn was able to develop more processes that provide a higher level of service to all their customers.

Alcorn Construction boasts an impressive portfolio of successful projects that have enhanced its reputation and contribute to the company’s growth. Underlying each of these growth factors was a consistent focus on quality. Some of the company’s standout projects over the last several years include Parc Santa Fe, AMP Robotics, Open Studio Architecture, Evans & Milwaukee Townhomes, SNÖBAHN, and Palm Gateway Logistics Center, all of which demonstrate that Alcorn commitment to quality. A project the company is currently working on in Colorado is also a stand-out. “Our Arista 36 project in Broomfield, Colorado consists of three industrial tilt buildings,” Simpson says. “Our team has made substantial progress on the project, and as of right now, we have all the concrete panels tilted into place with the roof construction well progressed. The project is slated for completion in Q2 of this year. Construction on Arista 36 commenced in the Fall of 2023 with the challenge of rerouting an irrigation ditch that ran through the site. A new box culvert had to be constructed to reroute the irrigation ditch that dissected the site and ran through the location of Building 2. Construction of the box culvert required the excavation of a 55’ deep trench, which had to be completed before the old irrigation ditch could be taken out of service. The timing of design approvals and the construction timeline created a critical path for the construction activities on site. Thankfully, the team pushed hard and were able to get the trench done in time so as not to impact the overall construction schedule. The weather is not always kind to us in Colorado. Thankfully, we have a great team leading the charge, and the project is scheduled to finish on time.” The Alcorn project team, as well as a group of incredible trade partners, have made it possible for Alcorn to deliver on its promise to its customer, LaPour Partners.

Guided by its people, processes, and drive to create incredible partnerships, Alcorn Construction is a company with a clear and integrated future vision. “As we move forward, Alcorn is excited to explore and evaluate new opportunities in various project types and markets,” Simpson says. “With the team we’ve built and the talent pipeline we’re developing, we can go anywhere. As a company, we’re dedicated to nurturing our relationships with existing customers, ensuring that we deliver the very best of what Alcorn has to offer. We will continue to explore, offer, and implement new services and technologies to ensure we’re helping customers get exactly what they need. And, by staying true to our core values and fundamentals, which have shaped Alcorn into what it is today, we are confident that our team will continue to provide exceptional care to our customers.”

Optimum Construction is a New England-based Construction Management and General Contractor with a footprint that stretches across the North Shore, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Operating out of its offices in Danvers, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine, Optimum Construction serves the multi-unit housing, institutional, healthcare and commercial sectors. As Construction Managers, Optimum manages everything from budget and schedule, hiring of subcontractors, health and safety coordination, onsite management, and quality control. It also provides preconstruction services to include cost estimation and value engineering, and the full scope of project management services. Each of these services have one thing in common: relationships. Optimum’s refined approach is not only driven by tight schedules and budget awareness, ingrained professionalism, and access to materials and suppliers but by building relationships. It is this approach, along with its five core values, that allows Optimum Construction to consistently deliver quality projects while making friends along the way.

President Kendrick Ballantyne and Vice President Ryan Lessard founded the company with one simple idea; that success is defined by the quality of our relationships. The pair were friends first and business partners second, having shared the same hometown and high school experience before a serendipitous meeting on a job site later in life. In this sense the company was founded on friendship, which lends to the strong emphasis on building relationships it maintains to this day. “That’s really the foundation of the company,” says Marketing Director Levi Woodard. “To build relationships first.” Optimum Construction sees construction not only as a job, but an opportunity to live out its passion for getting to know people. “Kendrick and I have known each other for 25 years now and have worked together for the last two and a half,” says Ryan Bird, Project Executive of the Massachusetts office at Optimum Construction and another reflection of the company’s relationship-first approach. “I’ve known the company and I’ve known Kendrick’s character, who he is and how he’s developed this company by getting the right people on board. A big part of the reason I joined is the company culture and how we present ourselves to the industry and to prospective clients. We’re living by what we do, and the core values of the company are ingrained in every conversation we have internally. It’s really important to maintain that.”

Optimum Construction’s core values are tightly woven into the fabric of the company, its employees, and the relationships and projects that it builds. It is these core values, upheld since the company’s founding, that best tell the Optimum Construction story. First on the list of core values is Listening, which forms the foundation of good communication and represents the company’s commitment to paying attention to real priorities. “There’s no collaborative aspect to a relationship when you’re just telling people what to do without knowing who they are, what their story is, or where they’re coming from,” says Levi. Next up is Plain Talk, a core value that is championed by President Kendrick who believes that telling the whole truth to bring clarity and direction is the most efficient path to get from an idea to the completed project. It is understood company-wide that a straight conversation, whether that’s between clients, employees or subcontractors, has the ability to bridge the gap between two sides and ultimately put an end to conflict or confusion.

“There’s no collaborative aspect to a relationship when you’re just telling people what to do without knowing who they are, what their story is, or where they’re coming from.”

The core value that guides Optimum Construction as it navigates challenges and changing market trends is New Ways. Market trends in New-England often see companies travel North in pursuit of opportunity, for example from Massachusetts up to Maine. Optimum Construction, in alignment with this New Ways core value, did the opposite when it opened an office in Massachusetts. “Opening up an office in Danvers was a big challenge because we went South where most companies will go North,” Ryan says. We’ve worked for a client that brought us more work in Massachusetts, down to Pennsylvania and then Tennessee.”

Optimum Construction creates buildings that are both durable and beautiful, believing strongly that one does not need to be a sacrifice for the other. The company has built this belief into its core values by creating a new word, Dura-Beauty, which it defines as straight lines and square corners that reflect our company’s integrity for years to come. It’s a word that is clearly reflected in the company’s diverse project portfolio.

Shared Success is the last of the company’s core values and one that ensures everyone, from employees to subcontractors to clients, benefits from Optimum Construction’s work. It is the result of the first four values. “Our employees should have better lives from working with us. Their families should be encouraging them to stay with our company. Same goes for subcontractors. Same goes for clients,” Ryan says.

As is their way, the Optimum Team established a great relationship with the client which has resulted in further opportunity in the Massachusetts multi-unit housing market. “It’s really about the experience of the people we have on board that has allowed us to get to this point,” Ryan continues. “We have several large projects in the Greater Boston area coming down the pipeline. We’re lining up employees and resources to ensure we’re ready to manage these projects efficiently.” John F Kennedy once said that “a rising tide lifts all boats,” which sums up Optimum Construction’s collective mindset as it moves forward together in pursuit of the same vision. That is, to build durable, beautiful buildings off the back of great relationships, ensuring always that their success is shared with all involved.

“We just finished a 12,000 square foot new construction project in Danvers,” Ryan says, highlighting the most recent of Optimum’s dura-beauty buildings. This commercial project, in fact, encompasses Optimum Construction’s full set of core values. “It was a four-acre property that had some older buildings on it, an old Denny’s and a couple of old hotels that were demolished,” Ryan says. “This significant redevelopment project transformed the area, bringing new opportunities and improvements to residents and businesses.” Optimum is beginning phase two of this project which includes intersection work on Endicott St. to facilitate better traffic flow and provide easy access to the Liberty Tree Mall.

Another project Optimum is closing out is the new Gardner School in Cambridge, MA. This large-scale institutional project, situated in the heart of downtown Cambridge, was constructed on the ground level of a six-story residential building. This project presented significant challenges, requiring Optimum to navigate complex existing conditions, coordinate construction within a fully occupied building, and manage numerous logistical hurdles. Through strategic planning, clear communication, and expert execution, Optimum successfully delivered a high-quality educational facility in a densely developed urban environment.

“We’re building new relationships and pricing a lot of work,” Ryan adds. “The projects we’ve completed and relationships we’ve built have brought us to this point. The biggest thing for us is building relationships and a company culture with the core values that we’ve set in place.” At the heart of Optimum Construction is the ability to first build lasting relationships, and with that, lasting buildings. This is what drives the company, leading with five core values, toward a future in which the possibilities are endless.

Architectural Sheet Metal is a widely used building material, appreciated industry-wide for its structural integrity, design versatility, cost-effectiveness, and fire resistance. It’s an in-demand building service and many companies across North America are proficient in providing it, but what’s harder to come by is the high-end application of it. Chicago-based roofing contractor Conrad Roofing has been in business for almost eighty years, during which it has carved its name as a high-end specialty restoration and sheet metal contractor. This has been particularly true since 1998 when Bogdan Bosak, having first worked with sheet metal in Poland and Germany in the nineties, took over the company from its original owners and found the niche he’d been searching for. Backed by years of experience and with a new vision, Bogdan set out to steer the company towards Chicago’s high-end roofing market. Conrad’s new CEO Wade Tutt, shares in Bogdan’s belief that roofs should be both functional and attractive.

Being in business for almost eight decades, Conrad Roofing has seen the industry shift from the traditional craftsmanship that defined the old world to the heavily automated way of the new and has responded by investing in a high-end fleet of computerized brakes and equipment. From its home in Illinois, Conrad was the first roofing contractor in Chicago to have and now operates a fully automated metal shop with German-manufactured computerized machinery like brakes and slitters which allows it to offer detailed fabrication of any design while staying true to old world craftsmanship. While Conrad Roofing appreciates that this new technology has been crucial in advancing the construction industry, it knows from experience that there are still some jobs that demand customized and intricate finishes that no machine is capable of achieving. Conrad Roofing’s service offering and allows it to keep up with the demands of the modern construction industry, it does not make redundant the more traditional method of craftmanship. “We can do 75% of our jobs with that machine,” Wade says, “but it’s that 25% that no computer is ever going to be able to replicate. That’s when the guys are sitting there with a small mallet and a leather pad, and they’re stamping the metal into a shape to match that old historical detail.” It is rare in today’s world of advanced technology and automated machinery that we see craft work in its traditional art form. That is, people making things with tools. “We’ve been a Craftsman focused company for almost 80 years,” Wade says. “Depending on the time of the year, we have a team of ten to fifteen craftsmen. Some of the guys have been with us for almost 30 years and the majority of them are Eastern European Artisans. We have about five guys who, depending on the complexity of the job, will sit around a fabrication table and take small pieces of copper, zinc, you name the metal, and fabricate even the smallest, most intricate brackets and finials to give a fine architectural detail. We’re one of a handful of companies in the whole Chicago Greater Metropolitan area that can do that type of work.”

“Depending on the time of the year, we have a team of ten to fifteen craftsmen. Some of the guys have been with us for almost 30 years and the majority of them are Eastern European Artisans. We have about five guys who, depending on the complexity of the job, will sit around a fabrication table and take small pieces of copper, zinc, you name the metal, and fabricate even the smallest, most intricate brackets and finials to give a fine architectural detail.”

Conrad Roofing’s knack for intricate craftsmanship has naturally led the company into the historical restoration sector, which forms a large part of its portfolio today. Whether that’s the restoration of one of Chicago’s Landmark buildings, or a new construction building that seeks to respect the historical area which surrounds it, Conrad Roofing has the skillset and the resources to ensure the job is done with care and attention. “We’ve got a team of guys that have been with us for over twenty years who can ensure the level of craftsmanship they learned in the old world is brought over to this one,” Wade says. Conrad Roofing has provided its high-end restoration services to Residential and Commercial projects across Chicago, establishing itself as a trusted name that rolls off the tongue when an architect is called in for this type of specialized work. “We’ve won a number of awards from the City of Chicago’s Landmark Association and that’s something we’re very proud of,” Wade says. “A lot of the architects in the city reach out to us when they’re looking for old properties to be restored, and we’ve subsequently been recognized for that.” Conrad Roofing’s notable achievements include the City of Chicago Preservation Excellence Award and the Oak Park Historic Preservation Award, both of which are reflective of the company’s established reputation in the field.

The profile of the award-winning company was raised even higher when HGTV, the network for home improvement and real estate programming, asked the team at Conrad Roofing to be part of a television broadcast about a Civil War-era flat restoration project they were doing in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood. The broadcast highlighted the complexities involved in blending historic and modern home design, and the opportunities presented by Conrad Roofing in making this happen seamlessly. “They were trying to match detail from a building that was built in the 1800s,” Wade says, “so we dismantled the decorative cornice, brought it back to the shop, and then re-fabricated it in sheet metal.” Another notable project for the company was the exterior restoration of the Goodman Mansion, which is a mansion in an old historical neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. “That was a cornerstone project for us,” Wade says of the mansion that was originally built by the Goodman family in 1892. “We refabricated a significant amount of metal work on that, and we replaced the roof.” Conrad has restored many original properties built by some of Chicago’s most famous founding families over their 78 year history. Religious buildings by nature are both historical and intricate in design, and so the restoration of such buildings require a level of care and detail that only companies like Conrad Roofing, with its team of skilled craftsmen, can provide. “We’ve done a lot of work for the Chicago Archdioceses,” Wade says. “We just finished a large project for a Methodist Church out in the Chicago suburbs where we installed glazed Ludowici tiles, so that roof will last for 100 or so years.” The company has worked on two buildings that were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a respected American Architect who left a footprint of unique architecture in Chicago in the early 1900s. Shining further light on the company’s high-end book of work, Wade says, without providing too much detail, that “not many people can say they got to replace the roof on the home of a living president.”

Wade’s account of Conrad Roofing’s project portfolio only scratches the surface of what the company has achieved in its eight-decade long tenure in the Chicago roofing market. It’s projects and awards are sustained by a skilled and experienced team who, one roof at a time, continue to maintain both the functionality and the aesthetics of Chicago’s historical landscape. “We’ve always been known as a very historic company with a well-known brand of artists, but we’ve never really focused on growth,” Wade says. “Since I’ve taken the business over, we’ve really focused on the professionalization of the company by moving out of the paper era so to speak, and into the digital age. We’re starting to use a lot of technology to grow our business, and this month we’re launching a residential division for the first time. We’ve started to onboard a team of restoration consultants that are going to take that same level of craftsmanship that we’ve been doing on these high-end homes and bringing it to single family property owners in the Chicagoland area, because that segment of the industry is one thing that’s grossly missing in Chicago.” Wade quotes Bogdan when he says, “there’s nothing more important than your name in history.” It’s a sentiment that represents Conrad Roofing’s respect for the history that came before it, the part it plays in preserving that history through the restoration of landmark buildings, and the lasting company legacy it will one day leave behind. “Not a lot of roofing contractors in the Chicago market look at themselves as Craftsmen in the way that we do,” he says. “We want to really cement Conrad Roofing’s legacy for the next 80 years with diversified products, offering historical as well as modern solutions for a timeless look while also being very intentional about our approach to growth.”

Marek Weglicki was not long finished school when he started his own business in Poland, mostly doing kitchens and soft furniture with a team of fitters. The business culminated in a 25-person crew, before Marek moved to the US in 2002 and started working with an Italian company doing custom metal work. “I started making connections with contractors, doing some side jobs,” Marek says. Two years later Marek reopened his Polish company on American soil with the same name, Bestmark National, which today is a professional millwork firm based in Irvington, New Jersey. Through one of Marek’s industry connections the team picked up work in Brooklyn’s commercial market doing amenity spaces and reception areas, and while the company had found early success in residential work, the New York commercial sector quickly became both its preference and its specialty alongside retail and hospitality.

Bestmark National’s early experience in the commercial market was directly with WeWork, who at the time were thriving in the business of providing office space throughout New York City. By the time WeWork moved on from New York and into the global market, Bestmark National had years of architectural woodwork experience under its belt in some of the city’s most impressive commercial developments. Today, Bestmark National’s portfolio is packed with notable commercial, retail, and hospitality clients including Paramount, Fubo TV, Alexander McQueen, and JP Morgan Chase. Bestmark National is also the approved nationwide vendor for Capitol One Cafes which combine banking, coffee, and community. “A couple of years ago we did the NHL flagship store in the Hudson Yards,” Marek says of another notable contract. “There was a lot of high ceiling work, all kind of high gloss panel, a lot of shapes, a lot of connections.” Kenvue, which is part of the Johnson & Johnson family, is another of Bestmark National’s large accounts, for which it is currently finalizing work on a new headquarter building.

Bestmark National secures work based on its core services, which are architectural woodwork, ornamental metalworking, and stone and solid countertops. These standalone services can then be enhanced through the company’s add-on services, which include upholstery, acoustical paneling, fabric wrapped panels, and specialty ceilings. As such projects are typically a combination of Bestmark’s core and add-on services, but sometimes, like in the case of the Paramount Theatre project, clients benefit from the full Bestmark National package. “One of our biggest hospitality projects is Paramount. It is an example of our full architectural package.” The restoration of the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre saw Bestmark National play a significant role in enhancing the building for modern use while preserving its historical features. “We were involved in pretty much every aspect, from early design stage and planning by the General Contractor. We were involved in the touch up of seven bars, multiple lounges, bathrooms, and various other key areas.”

“One of our biggest hospitality projects is Paramount. It is an example of our full architectural package.”

Bestmark National’s unique ability is showcased in the theatre’s skillfully crafted balcony balustrades. “We designed a replica of the original balconies and built them in shop, then delivered in piece and installed them on the side. We primed and pre-painted them and then they did some additional decoration. They look 120 years old, like in the original building.” Not long after the project was completed, Marek visited the venue for a concert and was able to experience it in all its revitalized glory. “It’s nice when you walk around and you hear people talking about all the interiors,” he says of the venue he helped to mould. “That really made me proud.”

On the back of this successful project Bestmark National has signed a direct contract with Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment company, which opens up a new avenue of work in the entertainment and hospitality industry. As part of this contract Bestmark National will provide its services to Live Nation venues throughout the country, preassembling external fixtures such as bars and food kiosks. Another project that represents Bestmark National’s skillset in the hospitality sector is the Clemente Bar, an intricately-designed lounge bar on Madison Avenue. “It actually had a different name when we started working on it,” Marek tells me. “One of the chefs passed away while it was under construction, and they renamed it after him. We were involved in the decorative panels. There was a lot of CNC work, and we also did handmade solid wood pieces. There was a lot of detail, flowers, all kinds of stuff. When you build projects like this it’s not like typical office furniture, it’s actually a piece of art, and whoever is looking at that is looking at a story.”

At every turn, quality control is top priority for Bestmark National and the service it provides. “Everything is coordinated with the client from the beginning,” Marek says, “then after approval of shop drawings we have a team of draughtsmen, or our CNC machine team, who implement the programs based on the drawing. From the point when we start carrying the material, we try to control the product at every step of production. We do our own delivery so we can control the shipping process and make sure nothing gets damaged. The biggest issue is controlling the product in between trades. If we need, we send a finishing team to make final touch ups on projects so we can get approval and get paid by the end of the line, and of course make sure the client is happy.”

Bestmark National’s commitment to quality is recognized through the company’s membership of the Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI), which holds it to a set of best practices in the architectural woodworking industry, ensuring quality in woodworking projects which is enforced by the AWI Quality Certification Program (QCP). “We have an in-house engineering team, so all of our shop drawings are made here. They’re heavily integrated into our process, so we’re there every step of the way. We are really involved from the very beginning all the way to the end, and all of our products undergo a very rigorous inspection phase before being packaged and shipped out.” For Bestmark National, quality control does not only start at the outset of a project, but instead is woven into the fabric of the company, even driving the hiring process. “At the end of the day, there’s no quality without a knowledgeable and passionate team, and we prioritize that when we hire. Most of our staff have years of experience and are highly trained. We’re really confident in our employees and our team.”

“At the end of the day, there’s no quality without a knowledgeable and passionate team, and we prioritize that when we hire.”

Not long ago, the company invested in new Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines that have huge potential when it comes to carving. It is seeing the payoff of this investment as it gets to work on Printemps, the luxury department store hailing from Paris which is set to open on Wall Street later this year. The project comes with challenges in both its decorative design – think millwork trees with leaves and branches – and the historical nature of the building. Equipped with a highly-skilled team and its new technology, Bestmark National is up to the task. “The part we’re doing right now, they call this red room. The red room is an antique place where you cannot drill or attach anything to the historical details. This is a challenge for us, how to set up our designs without attaching to the original finishes which they want to protect. A lot of stress comes with this type of project, but we’ve been there before, and we always deliver on time.” Marek is confident that the Printemps job, once complete, will have a positive knock-on effect that will see the company secure similar projects in the future.

The next few years will see Bestmark National reposition itself in the market as it changes its business model from architectural woodwork fabricator to full-service provider of architectural interior solutions. “The Paramount Theatre; that’s what we’re aiming to do for our future projects. Instead of just providing those standalone services here and there, we want to take on everything for that single project. We want to add additional services in the architectural finishing world and to be able to provide more design assist services, so start projects earlier and work with the designers and architects from the jump.” Bestmark National’s plans to reform its business model are underway in tandem with its intention to extend its geographical reach. “With projects in Texas and Missouri we do have a nationwide reach,” says Marek, “and we want to expand on that in the next coming years.” With all this, there’s a bright and busy future on the horizon for the team at Bestmark National. Under Marek’s leadership the company will move forward with passion and precision, treating every project as a piece of art in pursuit of exceptional results and client satisfaction.

Stronghold Construction is a veteran and first responder owned organization founded in 2022 with a vision that holds strong today – to leave Oklahoma, and in particular its large community of tribes and nations, a little better than how it found it. The ownership team at Stronghold is made up of Zach Simmons, who comes from a construction background, Roy Lewis, who also hails from the construction world but more on the corporate structure side, and Danny Wanner, who is backed by over 17 years of banking experience. “We’ve set ourselves up in a way that our strengths don’t cross over each other,” Zach says, “so we very much rely on each partner’s expertise.” Zach and Roy both agree that Stronghold Construction was started out of frustration. “Projects are set up for failure from the beginning because they are handed to architects with ideas of grandeur,” Zach says. “Architects attempt to put a cost to the project, but it’s just not something they do well. We come into projects that are over designed or designed too large, and the client has already fallen in love with the design. They’ve run through multiple iterations, multiple renderings, and so when we tell them it’s 150% above their maximum budget, we’re automatically the bad guys and the relationship is adversarial from the start. We thought there had to be a better way to do this.”

“We thought there had to be a better way to do this.”

In delivery methods that offer an alternative to the low-bid approach that’s been the default in Oklahoma for over fifty years, Stronghold Construction has found that better way. “We focus primarily on CM/GC and Progressive Design Build (PDB),” Zach says, “which are effectively accelerated versions of the traditional design build model.” Both methods are relatively new to the market and not typically offered by construction companies. “CM/GC is a new concept coming out of Florida State University. It’s a method that was only very recently approved for federal procurement, and that has opened a lot of different projects that can be performed using it.” Collaboration is at the forefront of CM/GC contracts, under which Stronghold Construction act as CM, with a separate Design Manager (DM) Team contracted to the owner, and a separate team of Independent Cost Estimators (ICE). “We as the CM drive the full design process. The DM team produces a relative concept, we validate that as reasonable for the budget, and then it’s approved and the design team can start drawing it. The intent is that we are validating step by step, so by the time we get to a 75% set of drawings, the project is truly construction ready. This process allows the design team to be finishing up after the project has already started, and that’s the acceleration portion of this. We’re kicking jobs off as early as a 50% set of drawings, depending upon the project. You save money in pre-construction, and you shorten your schedule overall.” Because a lot of Stronghold Construction’s work is federal procurement, a team of Independent Cost Estimators is required to act as an objective third party to ensure a fair market rate. “They go through our bids from stem to stern and every penny, and then they give an acceptable range for every division of work that we price. If it’s out of range, they will recommend that the client not proceed with the project until pricing is either thought through more or rectified to a lower value.” Zach says that the method “opens up a collaborative think-tank between our teams, the design team and the ICE team,” allowing them to come up with solutions that will present efficiencies or savings that can then be translated back to the client.

“Progressive Design Build is very similar to CM/GC,” Zach says, “but it’s an encapsulated model. The CM and DM are a separate contract, like with traditional Design Build. The Design Manager would be under us, so we’re still directing and validating the design in the same manner. They are effectively just working for us as opposed to working directly for the client, and the Independent Cost Estimator is still contracted directly to the to the client.” Both CM/GC and Progressive Design Build offer an opportunity for client education that is lacking in more traditional methods. “Educating our clients about what is available in the industry, what means and methods we can use to make these projects more effective; that’s one of our primary goals. We educate clients about the true processes of construction, teaching them that their projects don’t have to be over designed and over budget, and that there is a method to approach that from the onset of the job.” Reflecting on three years in business, Roy says that “it’s been one major milestone after the other.”

One of the company’s earliest successes came with a project at the Normal Transit Center. This project involved the renovation of an old bank into a bus station in the Greater Oklahoma City metro area. “We were awarded that job seven or eight months after our founding, going up against companies that have been established in our market for more than 50 years,” Zach says. “At the time we only had one employee outside of the ownership group, so before the job closed, we had the opportunity to hire two more employees who are now the backbone of our company.

From hiring its first employee to landing its first real job and developing relationships with tribes throughout the state, Stronghold has been on, and continues on, a steady path of growth and progress. “The first package that we got invited to with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, was our first official program under this new method, was a huge achievement. It was a moment when I realized that we were not accidentally working this method, but purposefully working it. We were in a room full of experienced, talented, and sure-footed people, and it was exciting to be a part of that and to prove ourselves.” The first Seminole contract Roy speaks of was born out of a relationship the company had previously established with one of its contractors, Williams Dirt Service. “When WDS were awarded the program, they called and asked if we’d like to help them run it,” Zach says. “Little did we know that entity had just run a CM/GC method project with the exact same people we were going out to Pawnee Nation with. We got to learn from them in our own encapsulated project with our own design team. That’s what exposed us to the method, and right after that we were awarded our first tribal project. Those projects, the Pawnee Nation and the first package with the Seminole Nation, were really our defining moments in this method.” Of the company that introduced them to the method that defines Stronghold’s business model today, Roy says, “We count ourselves very fortunate to have found WDS. They are a professional bunch with decades of experience to back up their worth, but what has consistently wowed us is their integrity. They take their projects to heart, and they have treated us as though we were a part of their company. That is remarkable and rare in today’s professional world.”

Not long after those first projects with Pawnee and Seminole came CM/GC Package #2 with Seminole including 4 projects Civil & Vertical, and then a 20 Project package for the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma. As Zach explains, these projects have been transformative in the company’s growth. “We’ve grown substantially every year since, exceeding even my wildest projections on what we might be able to achieve.” With over half of Oklahoma being Native American land, the state is widely agreed upon as one of the largest consolidations of tribal nations in the United States.

“Historically, you don’t get tribal work if you are not tribal owned, which we’re not,” Roy says. “In that first package we were awarded with Pawnee we told them blatantly that we’ve grown up around these communities, we’ve seen the level of construction that’s been provided, and we know we can do better. As we navigate these projects from the initial outset the immediate perspective of nearly all our clients is that we’re construction guys and were going to try to take advantage of them, that we’re going to try sneak money into the budget anywhere we can, so being bluntly transparent in everything we do is our shock and awe factor. The CM/GC or Progressive Design Build method requires a company and a client that’s willing to do the trust fall.”

Though in a position of strength as the name suggests, Stronghold Construction is not immune to making mistakes, but as Roy says, mistakes are often an opportunity for a company to rise to its full potential. “We make mistakes just like any other CM Firm would. The difference is we really take it to heart when we do. Our ownership groups, the various nations, the various municipalities that we work with, their representatives that have been designated as the decision makers for these different projects, they see firsthand how it affects us. But we never show up empty handed. We’re already three steps down the road, and we already have possible solutions. Our mentality is to have something that we can stand and be proud of next to the ownership group, and those fail points are great opportunities for them to see us for who we are. And word travels. The Tribal Nations are very close, and we’ve been afforded a lot of opportunities because we’ve had to prove ourselves and rise to the occasion.”

“We could go build Starbucks and grocery stores and retail centers,” Zach adds. “A lot of our market relies on that as the basis of their revenue, but we get the opportunity to affect true change to these communities. These projects have meaning, and as soon as we’re done, it’s not a drive through line for somebody to go get coffee, it’s a community center, or it’s a place for someone to better their health, or it’s somewhere children go to grow and learn. It’s providing a true revenue stream to these nations that is going back out to their members as additional financial support. We see the immediate effects of what it does to these communities when we finish a project, and we take a lot of pride in that. Our team becomes truly invested and truly cares about the people that we’re working with and the success of these jobs, and I really think, to Roy’s sentiment, that is what has spread about us.”

With the Kickapoo project actively in design, as well as a first-of-its-kind solar farm project for the Pawnee Nation, Stronghold Construction looks to the future with hopeful anticipation. “We want to increase our capabilities and our presence within these nations throughout the state,” Roy says. “These communities have a need and thankfully, so far, we are the people that are able to fulfill that need. Every time we enter a new Nation, it’s a completely different need, a completely different culture, completely different circumstances and different demographics. It’s an opportunity and a challenge each and every time, and our team really thrives on that. We would love to continue to do what we do, to spread the good word about the new process that we’ve fallen into and to show people the benefits of it. And while we’re at it, build some really cool things, leave a lasting legacy, and leave Oklahoma a little better than we found it.” With similar enthusiasm, Zach mirrors this sentiment. “It’s fun to be at the forefront of what hopefully repairs a lot of the issues affecting modern day commercial construction,” he says. “This is our name. This is our livelihood. This is our legacy. So, outside the revenue and the recognition of the projects, what we leave in Oklahoma is something we’re proud of, and that’s the primary focus of the company from its inception to its last day.”

Patrick and Lorraine Reidy arrived in New York from Ireland, drawn by the promise of opportunity and adventure. Armed with complementary skills—Patrick with BS in Mechanical Engineering and a Post Graduate Diploma in Computer based Engineering Systems and Lorraine as an ACCA- and MBA-qualified accountant—the couple laid the foundation for what would become a thriving partnership. Their journey to success was marked by years of dedication in their respective fields. Patrick climbed the ranks in construction, progressing from laborer to superintendent, project manager, and eventually account executive. On a similar upward trajectory Lorraine rose to become the CFO of a mergers and acquisitions firm.

In 2010, having established themselves as leaders in their fields, the couple joined forces to launch Reidy Contracting Group LLC. “We were coming out of the depths of the Great Recession,” Patrick recalls. “It was a grind to secure work and build momentum.” In the early years, Lorraine continued working full-time while managing the company’s accounts on the side, officially joining RCG in 2014 when the business had grown to sustain both founders. Since then, Reidy Contracting Group has grown into a trusted name in the industry, specializing in preconstruction, construction management, financial administration, sustainability, and project execution.

Launching in a post-recession environment instilled in RCG a commitment to resilience and adaptability. The Company’s success is rooted in creative problem-solving, transparent communication, and strategic diversification. Initially focusing on high-end commercial interiors for industries such as finance, banking, and law, RCG has since expanded into sectors such as hospitality, infrastructure, media and recently focusing on healthcare. “Diversification has been key to our success,” Patrick explains. “By branching into different sectors, we’ve positioned ourselves to navigate downturns in specific markets. “Notable clients include Columbia Presbyterian, Screen Actors Guild, Nitehawk Cinema, Hilton Hotels, Horizon Media, and many more.

RCG’s portfolio exemplifies its versatility and expertise, showcased through the Warner Bros. Discovery headquarters project. This 360,000-square-foot fit-out spanned 13 floors, a cellar level, and a penthouse, incorporating modern office spaces, high-end amenity floors, a new penthouse structure with rooftop landscaping, fully equipped kitchen studios, and state-of-the-art production facilities. Another landmark project was Soros Fund Management, completed in 2016. “That was a turning point for us,” Patrick recalls. “It was twice the size of any of our previous projects, demonstrating our ability to deliver value not just through execution but also through our strong subcontractor relationships.” The project’s standout feature—a James Turrell architectural art installation—required meticulous planning and innovative solutions to overcome logistical challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when much of the construction industry slowed, RCG secured a high-profile project for American Express: the 29,500-square-foot Centurion Lounge. The build-out included commercial kitchens, dining spaces, and event areas, requiring precise coordination and innovative virtual presentations. Another signature project was the 21-floor redevelopment of 360 Park Avenue South, a 400,000-square-foot transformation into a modern office building. Similarly, RCG’s work on the Empire State Building’s amenity space combined cutting-edge design with historic preservation, showcasing custom vinyl graphics, mosaic art, and unique features like a multi-sport court, and top of the line golf simulators.

Patrick emphasizes the importance of managing client expectations through clear and proactive communication. “Regardless of the technology you use, if you’re not communicating in real time with a level of clarity that ensures zero ambiguity, you are not managing expectations and you’re putting the project at risk,” he says. RCG’s use of virtual walkthrough technology and custom programming software underscores its commitment to efficiency and transparency. The company is also exploring the use of artificial intelligence to enhance quality control and streamline processes.

At its core, RCG’s success is driven by its people. “It’s about surrounding ourselves with the right team,” Patrick notes. “You can teach someone to read drawings, but you can’t teach them to care. That’s something we prioritize in our hiring process.” Respect and collaboration are fundamental values that extend to subcontractors as well. “We focus on building relationships based on mutual respect and timely payments,” Patrick explains. “If issues arise, we want to know our subcontractors have our back, and in turn, our clients back.”

“You can teach someone to read drawings, but you can’t teach them to care. That’s something we prioritize in our hiring process.”

RCG’s commitment to its employees and community is equally strong. By fostering a culture of growth, appreciation, and social responsibility, the company has created an environment where staff feel valued and supported. This dedication extends to charitable initiatives, including partnerships with organizations like Play Rugby USA, Crumlin Children’s Hospital, St. Dominic’s Family Services and the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce.

Celebrating their 15th Anniversary, RCG remains as ambitious as ever, striving to provide the highest level of service while adapting to an evolving industry. “Retention and referrals have been the cornerstone of our success,” Patrick says. “We’re confident but never complacent, always looking to improve and move forward. If you’re standing still, you’re falling behind.”

Cosan Construction is a masonry and self-leveling cement contractor based in Mount Vernon, New York. Founded in 2014 by Terence Ferguson and his partner Aaron King, Cosan first found its footing doing small scale masonry projects throughout New York City and Westchester, New York. Now in its tenth year, Cosan’s focus is on large scale, new construction projects where it specializes in structural masonry, self-leveling underlayment and gypsum floors. Terence joins me today to reflect on a successful first decade in business, and to discuss Cosan’s plans for steady growth and continued success. “Over time we earned a reputation for reliability and quality,” Terence says, “and as a result our contracts and client base grew steadily. Today we’ve got two divisions, masonry and self-leveling cement, with an overall workforce of two-hundred and fifty. Our masonry division has a strong presence in the affordable housing market, and we specialize in large structural masonry, or block and plank construction, as it’s often referred to.”

Reliability and quality are two of the cornerstones of running a successful construction business, and with this reputation carved out at an early stage, Cosan Construction was off to a promising start. “We have a proven track record of delivering the most aggressive superstructure schedules while maintaining unmatched levels of safety and quality,” Terence says. “On large projects it is typical for us to have a manpower of one-hundred and twenty guys while working on superstructure and brick façade simultaneously.” While some companies have been forced to cut corners when resourcing projects, the opposite has been the case for Cosan, and this is reflected in the company’s ability to consistently deliver projects on schedule. The scale of Cosan’s projects grew in tandem with its client base, but that attention to detail that earned the company its reputation in the early days did not falter off the back of the increased demand. Today, Cosan’s established masonry division offers its clients a turnkey masonry package that sees projects from engineering and shop drawing phase through to execution and closeout. “Shop drawings and engineering is the first step when awarded a project,” Terence says. “Our project management team develops drawings for CMU and brickwork which mitigates any potential issues or drawing conflicts. When it’s time to mobilize, we self-perform all aspects of our work. That’s everything from surveying, masonry, waterproofing, scaffolding, precast manufacturing, and trucking. Anything that could impact the schedule we perform in house and oversee to ensure that the project is running efficiently and on schedule.”

Self-leveling cement, known elsewhere as underlayment, is a self-leveling sub-floor that provides a smooth surface prior to applying floor finishes. Cosan Construction’s underlayment division does just that, on an exceptionally large scale. “We’ve got an underlayment division that works across all markets in the New York City region, as well as upstate New York and New England,” says Terence. “Our underlayment clients range from general contractors, CMS, concrete superstructure and flooring contractors, and we regularly install over 100,000 square feet a week.” Cosan hit a significant milestone back in 2018 when it partnered with Maxxon Corporation, which is the manufacturer of the underlayment products that Cosan installs. “We became a distributor and a certified installer for the Maxxon range of self-leveling cements, gypsum underlayment and sound control mats. This was a successful pairing to our growing masonry business as we could offer an additional service to our clients with the same efficiency and quality that they had come to expect from us. We install Maxxon product with a fleet of state-of-the-art pumps which automate batching and can pump as high as fifty floors.”

A typical week sees Cosan’s underlayment team operating throughout the New York City and New England Region. “They could start their week in the boroughs at an affordable housing development, then move to a condo building in Midtown Manhattan, then finish the week at a multifamily building in New England. Thanks to our partnership with Maxxon we have products to meet the diverse needs of each market. We install 2500 and 3500 psi gypsum cement, typically over precast plank frame construction for clients looking for a harder, more premium solution. We have 4500 and 5500 Portland cement based products which in some cases and can be left exposed for a natural concrete look finished floor. For projects requiring deep fill, we have low density fill product which is typically 80% lighter than traditional concrete. This product was proven popular in New York City in pre-war buildings, mill renovations and other projects where weight is a concern.”

Project by project, Cosan Construction honed its craft while remaining committed to maintaining its hard-earned reputation for quality and reliability. Cosan’s project portfolio is a testament to this fact, and Terence takes me proudly through some of the showstoppers within it. In the same year that Cosan elevated its self-leveling capabilities through its clever partnership with Maxxon, the company also completed its first Structural Masonry project. “The Gilbert was an 18-story block and plank structure on 1st Ave in Manhattan complete with full brick façade,” Terence says, “Both the superstructure and brick install came in ahead of schedule, and the success of the project reinforced our reputation of reliability and efficiency.” Next up is 560 Utica Ave, an affordable housing development and mixed-use building in Brownsville, Brooklyn. “We’re hired by Monadnock and we’re providing the masonry superstructure and the full brick façade on both towers. We’ve got about one hundred and twenty guys there on a typical day, and we’re self-performing everything from the masonry, waterproofing, and scaffolding.” 560 Utica showcases not only Cosan’s full suite of capabilities, but also its fundamental approach to doing business. Scheduled for 322 units, it captures the project scale that has become commonplace for the decade-old company. With a full scope of work including masonry and self-leveling, it captures Cosan’s ability to self-perform. With over one-hundred workers on site on a typical day, it captures Cosan’s commitment to providing the resources required to get the job done efficiently. And with the building at 75% at the time of interview and due for topping off in early December, the project captures perhaps one of Cosan’s most valued attributes: finishing the job on schedule. Another project that is representative of Cosan’s approach is 445 Gerrard Avenue in the Bronx. “445 Gerrard Ave was a 338-unit mixed-use building where we were hired by Menad to install the masonry superstructure, brick, façade, scaffold and self-leveling. We started the project in August of 21. It was a difficult project logistically, as the building was being built just feet away from I97. Despite this, we completed each 30,000 square foot floor in seven-day cycles. The upper floors of the superstructure were an intricate blend of masonry and structural steel. As the superstructure reached halfway, we simultaneously wrapped the building in brick at a rate of ten days per floor. Once the brick was complete, we poured Maxxon’s 3500 psi gypsum cement throughout the building.”

Next up is Rockaway Village in Far Rockaway, Queens, which Cosan has been working on since 2021.

“This is a multi-phase development with Lettire Construction and will have 1700 new residential units when complete. We have installed 360,000 square feet of brick façade, or 2.5 million bricks, and 700,000 square feet of self-leveling cement.” Terence goes on to showcase some projects within Cosan’s underlayment division, such as the Willits Point redevelopment in Queens for which they are pouring 650,000 square feet of Maxxon Level-Crete material along with lightweight concrete roof slabs. “This is the first phase of the redevelopment which will bring 2500 residential units, a hotel and a soccer stadium to the area. We’re also working on 520 5th Ave, a new boutique skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, at 1000 vertical feet. This is the second tallest building on 5th Ave and our crews are pouring Maxxon Level-Crete, completing 3 floors per trip. We intend to pump the majority of this building from street level, adding a stage pump halfway to maximize efficiency. Considering the top logistics on the job we install at night, allowing other trades to resume their work on the freshly poured floors the very next morning. This, paired with pumping from the street from street level, reduces overall downtime for the self-leveling operations to 24 hours.”

After a successful first decade in business, Cosan Construction strikes a desirable balance between youth and experience. It has on its side both a young and energetic team, and a project portfolio packed with some of the largest buildings in New York and its surrounding counties. Reflecting on the last decade and looking forward to the next, Cosan Construction finds motivation, but not complacency, in its success. The plan is to move forward with the same energy and enthusiasm that carried the company through its first ten years, while maintaining the quality service and consistent reliability it has become known for. “Our plan for the future is to continue to invest in ourselves with new equipment and technology,” Terence says. “We feel this positions us well to offer our clients a high-quality service, safely and efficiently. We plan on steadily growing our client base and look forward to another ten years in the industry.”

Ceres, pronounced ‘series’, is the Roman goddess of agriculture, respected by the ancient Romans as the provider of food and sustenance. It’s a fitting name for Boulder-based Greenhouse Solutions Company, Ceres, who is revolutionizing the modern greenhouse through energy-efficient and biophilic design. At its core, Ceres is a company that was born out of a devotion to growing plants, made up of Engineers, Architects, Builders, Plant Experts, Designers, and Tinkerers. The company was founded in September of 2011 by Dr. Marc Plinke, and today I’m joined by Chris Uhlig, Plinke’s partner and CEO of Ceres, who tells me the company’s story from seed to bloom. “Marc was building an energy efficient house at the time, probably one of the top ten energy efficient houses in the US. When you build a house like that, especially before it was standard, you get in touch with a lot of people.” One of the consultants that Plinke worked with called to attention the problem with greenhouses: that they are simply not built energy efficiently. The seed was planted, and from it bloomed Ceres.

Greenhouses, by their very nature as sources of food and sustenance, should exist to complement the environment rather than taking from it. This concept was lost over the years as greenhouses grew in commerciality, and a change was needed to get them back on the energy-efficient path they started out on. “At the beginning, the focus was on trying to figure out how to incorporate insulation into greenhouses and how to reduce power consumption to cool and heat the greenhouse,” Chris says. “We did that in mostly smaller greenhouses in people’s backyards, and we tried different designs until we ended up with one that we now build at a commercial scale.” It was the cannabis industry, which is on the rise in North America, that presented Ceres with its first significant commercial opportunity. “In 2015 we were approached by a cannabis company that asked us if they could use our technology and build a greenhouse within the city limits of Leadville, Colorado. The city had concerns about traditional greenhouses that are venting and the smell of cannabis within the city limits. It took us a week to convince the city that it’s possible to seal the greenhouse so that there is limited to no smell effect on the surrounding area. That’s how we got into commercial. It was a 3000 square foot greenhouse, so significantly bigger, and it was the first greenhouse we built with steel.”

From there, Ceres started to standardize at that commercial level, designing different sizes and different systems and expanding into new industries. “The cannabis was a driver at the beginning, but quickly we got involved with local farms that were experiencing problems with year-round growing.” Hyper-local farms, as they are known, allow for close relationships between consumer, chef, and grower that are not possible in larger agribusiness operations. Chris says that when you’re closer to the consumer, “you’re not just cutting down on logistics and carbon footprint, but you’re also increasing the intake of nutrients on the consumer side. With an end goal of reducing that time, ideally you harvest something in the morning and you eat it by the evening. That can only be done when you’re growing closer to the consumer.” Ceres offers a solution that addresses a worldwide need and as such has been approached by companies as far afield from the US as Europe and Asia. “We have our own patented technology and we sell our designs around the world,” Chris says. “We typically sell a standard plan for a GAHT® system, and then they can build it themselves.”

Over the years, and through an innovation-led approach to greenhouse design, the range of what Ceres has to offer has significantly increased. “We’re doing a lot of research facilities, working with USDA and universities that are looking at things like non-native species, and testing them in an environment where those species cannot escape. There’s a big focus on strawberries now, so we’re getting a lot of inquiries and engaging in that area. We’re doing seed facilities, which are interesting because you need to have very tight climate control in order to simulate the seasons and reduce the time from seed to production. If you can accelerate the evolution of genetics by essentially growing a thousand plants, picking the five that best fit your criteria, and then reproducing those five and accelerating that reproduction cycle, you can gain an advantage in the industry.”

Biophilic design is the concept of increasing a building occupant’s connectivity to the natural environment through the use of direct and indirect nature. Embracing this design concept, Ceres is creating buildings not only for plants, but for people. “In the past greenhouses were used in schools for production, to feed the children or to produce for the cafeterias. These days, the trend is to create classrooms in a greenhouse where the whole class sits together and is educated in the same room as the plants. There’s also the greenhouse restaurant or pub that grows its own hops, with the brewery combined in one big house. There’s Norwegian and Swedish style houses following the same concept, where you put a greenhouse over a house and the people living in it have access to a controlled or semi controlled environment even in the middle of the winter. There’s hospitals that want greenhouses for patients, to get out of sterile hospital environment and into an environment where they can touch the plants. Working with soil helps people suffering with PTSD and we have seen and built greenhouses for that purpose. Residents of elderly living and assisted living facilities, in the same respect, can benefit from touching plants.”

When Ceres designs and builds a greenhouse, careful consideration is given to “the customer’s needs, what they’re growing, how they want to grow, their temperature and humidity needs, CO2 rejection into the environment, type of irrigation, fertigation, automation and so on.” Every seed is unique in its growth requirements, and so greenhouses, if they are to accommodate this, must be custom designed and custom built. “We go through a schematic design planning process for the building,” Chris says. “We design the whole building including all of the systems, and if there’s a head house or additional rooms that are not just greenhouses, like a packaging room for fruits or a propagation room, we design those too. We then supply the materials and help with the construction in terms of project management of the facility. After the facility is done, we help with tuning the facility, because typically a customer knows how to grow and run the other side of the business, but now they have to deal with building systems that they’re not familiar with. Helping them get up to speed is an important aspect of what we do, and that’s not typical in the industry.”

From rectifying hotspots to replacing broken glass with new glazing, Ceres provides solutions that reach far beyond the initial design of the greenhouse. Greenhouse retrofits are on the rise too, which reflects an industry trend that is seeing less capital investment in new assets and more capital investments in maintaining existing assets. Each of the services provided by Ceres are ultimately in pursuit of the same goal, and that is to create a more sustainable future. “The main aspect of energy-efficient greenhouse design is to add more insulation to keep the environment more stable on the inside,” Chris says. “If you look at traditional greenhouses, they have four sides that are glazed and a roof that is glazed. Venting is the typical aspect for cooling, but heating is the problem, especially if there’s not enough sun and during the night time. Our building design, which orients the building East to West and has an insulated North wall, allows not only for insulation to be in the building but to reflect the photons from the sun back into the building. This allows us to retain the heat as well as the light inside the building better than any traditional greenhouse. To further retain that heat we have the ground to air heat transfer system GAHT®, which circulates the air inside the building. During the day the greenhouse heats up, so we take that excess heat and put it underground and cool the greenhouse in that way during the day. Then at night we reverse the process so that as the building cools down, that excess stored heat goes back into the building. When you want tighter controls of the temperature and humidity, you need a sealed room which requires different types of equipment.” This approach is significantly more expensive in terms of both CapEx and running costs, but in a lab environment where you’re experimenting with plants, it’s often a necessity. Ceres understands that a one-fit-for-all greenhouse does not work and has built its business around the art of bespoke greenhouse design. “What we’ve always tried to do is reduce the energy consumption in the building to begin with in order to get to net zero,” Chris says. “We are in the process of designing a completely passive greenhouse, but these technologies only work to a certain point, so it really comes down to what the customer wants. To get to net zero, you still need to supplement with things like wind power or solar power or regenerative power creation, so that’s part of what we’re doing today.”

“The idea is to grow one crop, whether that’s a fruit or a leafy green salad, or to grow multiple crops in our local communities, and then sell either directly to the consumer or to the local grocery stores and restaurants.”

Beyond energy reduction and net zero, Ceres is on a path to reduce time from harvest to consumption through energy-efficient greenhouse solutions. “We are on a path towards growing more food locally, and in that process reducing the environmental impact of food production and consumption,” Chris says. “The groceries that I buy come from California, Florida, Mexico, South America and Europe. The things that I buy and eat have been in warehouses, they’ve been in trucks, they’ve been cooled, they’re not fresh. They’ve lost nutrients and they have a huge environmental impact. The idea is to grow one crop, whether that’s a fruit or a leafy green salad, or to grow multiple crops in our local communities, and then sell either directly to the consumer or to the local grocery stores and restaurants. That’s the idea, and that’s the trend that we’re seeing. We’re focused on creating those solutions based on customer needs, and providing the ideal solution for that customer to grow in that environment. There haven’t been significant changes in the greenhouse industry for years. They talk about improvements and new material that they’re using, but those are solutions that are mostly built for moderate climates, not for year-round growing. There’s a gap that needs to be addressed, and that is where we’re coming in, to push the envelope on what can be done with greenhouses.” It seems that the potential of the modern greenhouse is endless and that Ceres, like a budding seed, is ready to take that potential and flower.

The first years in business are notoriously challenging for a new company as it establishes itself from stranger to player in an unfamiliar market. The phrase only the strong survive comes to mind, and it is often within those formative years that a company’s strength is measured and its capability to survive decided. When LLNY Group started in 2017 it came on strong from the get-go, finding opportunity in storage buildings and commercial space projects for which it provided construction management services. “We wanted to hit the ground running and get things moving as quickly as possible,” says Owner of LLNY Group, Yosi Lecce. Those early days saw LLNY secure notable commercial projects in the New York tri-state area, hitting thousands of square feet and multi-million budgets. As intended, the company was off to a strong start.

LLNY Group quickly established itself as one of the top commercial construction companies in the New York tri-state area. Powered by a small but powerful team, LLNY provides full construction management services within the commercial sector and more recently, after a clever move towards opportunity, the residential sector too. Whether it’s guiding you through the preconstruction planning stage, handling negotiations and monitoring budgets as an experienced owner’s representative, or taking the lead on every aspect of construction management, LLNY ensures seamless execution from concept to completion.

When things took a turn in 2020 in the form of a worldwide pandemic, LLNY was still a relatively new company. “We were in the middle of a big storage building project at the time,” says Yosi, “But we pivoted and we managed to get some good clients that helped carry us through to where we are today. We’ve got a very small team and we try to keep it very nimble, very light, so that we’re more agile as we move in this changing market. This has really helped us pivot and move around as the industry and the economic climate changes. We’re not as locked down as some of the bigger companies are, and this allows us to move with the changes a little bit more, which has helped us greatly.”

“We’re not as locked down as some of the bigger companies are, and this allows us to move with the changes a little bit more, which has helped us greatly.”

LLNY have become masters of the market pivot, young and nimble enough to move towards new opportunities presented by unexpected challenge. This is true of LLNY’s recent move into the residential sector where there’s opportunity in low-income housing, affordable units, and regular-rate residential housing. Marion Ave, for example, is a 4-storey residential project in the Bronx for which LLNY Group acted as General Contractor. “That was an existing two-story building that was demolished, so it’s an alteration basically, but it’s essentially new construction. We built two four-story buildings with a joining party wall between each, plus a penthouse on the roof. There’s 10 units in each building, and this is primarily a low income, affordable housing build out. The finishes are a little nicer than what you’d typically find in affordable housing units offered in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, or in the boroughs for that matter. We use nicer tile, porcelain, appliances and kitchens, and the developers care about their own product which unfortunately is not the norm in the affordable housing sector these days.”

LLNY Group applies a whole lifecycle approach to its residential developments, prioritizing robust finishes and ease of future maintenance. This is a favorable approach for both tenant and developer, both of whom are in these buildings for the long haul. “We try to really make these units as nice and as robust as possible to limit the tenant turnover for them and try to make maintenance as simple as possible. Once these guys build, they hold these buildings, so we try to really keep in mind how we can make maintenance carefree, worry-free and as easy as possible without impacting the tenant. Getting into the ground floor of that design process really helps us do that for them.”

What LLNY lacks in age, it makes up for in agility. Being a relatively young company, LLNY Group is well-positioned to embrace new software and techniques as they become available, without having to undergo a lengthy, costly and often disruptive transformation to bring them up to speed. Such software and techniques allow LLNY Group to approach projects with an innovative and problem-solving mindset, which sets it apart from its older competitors. “We’re constantly trying to implement new software, whether it’s field reporting, tracking material logs, or any kind of CRM, to help the process move along in a more streamlined way. This has helped us partner with some older guys that have been in the industry for much longer and that don’t really know the new systems that are in place these days. These partnerships have helped us get in front of some projects that we might not otherwise be able to get involved with, which has been nice.”

LLNY recognizes the importance of meticulous planning, budget management, and open communication in delivering successful construction projects, and that is exactly what clients can expect from the LLNY team. Budget management in particular is proving an affluent avenue for LLNY Group, lending to the fact that, as Yosi puts it, cash is king right now. “We work with developers now on some residential build outs, so we’re understanding the soft cost portion of the build out. We understand what the bank is looking for, how the funding works, and we can really help hold their hand in the pre-construction process, getting engineers and architects on board and fine tuning the design before we even put a shovel in the ground, value engineering their designs before we start construction. And we also know what the bank is going to want to see, so we know where we need to be in construction and what needs to get done first, and how these bank draws work. A really big aspect of what we do is keeping these projects moving with the proper cash flow and not getting caught behind.”

A recent project that captures the nature of LLNY’s diversified service offerings and its recent pivot into the residential sector is 3612 Bronx Blvd, a new construction residential development in the Bronx. “That’s a 16-unit building and probably one of the higher end buildings in this specific developer’s portfolio,” Yosi says. “Nice big windows right across from the park, nice big backyard space, tall ceilings. We built this thing from the ground up using Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) construction with C joist and structural steel component. That one should be getting TCO soon, so hopefully they start leasing this thing up, get some tenants in, and then we move on to the next one.”

Still, it is the commercial sector that forms the bulk of LLNY’s portfolio, diversified in itself with unique storage, transit, and office build out projects. “Another big project we completed a couple years ago was a 50,000 square foot storage building in Hell’s Kitchen,” says Yosi, speaking of an eight-storey storage building in the heart of the neighborhood with a budget of €14,000,000. Completed in LLNY’s earlier years, this project demonstrates the company’s eagerness to hit the ground running during a time when the market was new and challenging. The result is an impressive, fit-for-purpose storage building that became exemplar of the scale and complexity that LLNY was capable of delivering, and that in fact it went on to deliver in the years that followed.

“We’re still grabbing projects and doing work as per normal,” Yosi says of LLNY’s vision for the future, “but we’re also looking to branch out into the public sector and start bidding on some public work, which will help us pivot as the market changes. We want to be diversified between public and private so that if one sector goes up or down, we can have a head start on the other side. We’re really looking to get into a development of our own. We’ve been boots on the ground looking for properties, and we’re getting close to hopefully signing up a deal or two and starting to develop for ourselves, so we have the teams in place as far as architects and engineers. We’re builders ourselves, so we understand the process and this puts us in a very good position to start doing our own developments.”

LLNY is well positioned to maintain its current streams of work while, light and nimble on its collective feet, on the lookout for new ones. In an approach that has become woven into the young company’s fabric, LLNY will remain strong, focused, and agile as it lets opportunity guide the way forward to a place where no project is too challenging, no budget too tight, and no vision too bold. In this spirit, and for many years to come, LLNY Group is raising the bar for commercial construction and cementing the future of New York City.

A bird’s eye view over the United States would capture thousands of rooftops donning the Tecta America name, making them part of the nation’s leading commercial roofing company. This roofing contractor powerhouse is made up of over 4,500 professionals across 100 locations, specializing in commercial roofing, architectural metals and waterproofing solutions. Under the Tecta umbrella, and one of its founding members, is Schwickert’s, a Minnesota-based roofing and mechanical contractor serving the commercial and residential industry. Schwickert’s began long before the forming of Tecta America in 2000, with roots dating back to 1906 and a far less evolved mechanical landscape than the technologically advanced one we’ve come to know. It was the sale of mechanical air conditioning units and furnaces that defined Schwickert’s early years, before it developed into the roofing industry and became the multi-faceted company it is today. “What started out as a small, family-owned hardware company has developed into a prominent multi-trade contractor with 4 locations in 2 different states,” says Julie Leiferman, Director of Sales & Business Development at Schwickert’s. The Schwickert’s of today specializes not in one single service, but rather in hard work and going the extra mile for its clients, whatever the service.

“What started out as a small, family-owned hardware company has developed into a prominent multi-trade contractor with 4 locations in 2 different states.”

Julie has been with Schwickert’s since 2005 and has been witness to some of the company’s most formative years. “In 2000, owners Kim and Kent Schwickert got together with nine other roofing companies to form a corporation called Tecta America,” she says. “They were very innovative and very forward thinking in their thought process as far as developing the company, and very strategic in the way they went about getting that growth.” There are now over one hundred companies under the Tecta America umbrella, of which Schwickert’s is one of the largest. While Schwickert’s is cut from the same cloth as its Tecta America partners who focus primarily on roofing and architectural sheet metal, it is unique in its additional capability to provide mechanical, electrical, plumbing, heating, and air conditioning services.

Schwickert’s’ diverse range of services are applied in the most part to the commercial and residential sectors, both of which are responsible for a steady stream of work in today’s construction climate. HVAC and refrigeration are at the core, as well as plumbing, piping, duct cleaning, chimney sweeping, and roofing itself. “We do all kinds of roof systems,” Julie says. “Steep slope, low-slope, and energy-efficient.” Whether it’s a single-ply membrane, standing seam metal, or a Built-up Roofing (BUR) system, Schwickert’s specializes in providing solutions that are durable and reliable “When we talk about roofing and mechanical projects, we’re talking about your whole building and what makes it run.” Adds Connor Tanhoff, Marketing Manager at Schwickert’s “Behind the scenes, the mechanical systems create a comfortable and productive place to work or live, while the roof protects everyone and everything inside.”

Service by service, Schwickert’s became a one-stop-shop for its growing book of clients throughout Minnesota and Kansas. In the early 2000’s, Schwickert’s evolved in tandem with the collective push towards a more sustainable future, and its portfolio grew to even include green roof and solar projects. “Typically, we’ve started most of our different trades in house,” Julie says, “For instance, our electrical service was a strategic plan where we bought an electrical company. Now we’re doing that in-house and growing on it to offer security services, surveillance services on cameras, and audio visual. Our architectural metals division was started about 10 years ago. We were always doing sheet metal work for our roofing projects, so it was a natural evolution to start making our own custom metal panels and installing them. We’ve done work on the buildings you see now that the owners and architects love, with that metal finish and all the different kinds of fascia. We do all sorts of custom wall panels that give that unique look.”

From green roofs and military hangars, to school districts and ongoing work for the internationally recognized Mayo Clinic, Schwickert’s project portfolio is as complex as it is diversified. Yet, the quality of service that Schwickert’s provides is never lacking. The key to consistently operating at high-efficiency while covering so much ground annually is a truly customer-centric approach that goes beyond expected industry standards. The customer, no matter which of its services it is performing, is always at the forefront. “Over the last few years, we’ve put even more emphasis on our customer relationships,” Julie says. “We’ve always had good relationships, and we’ve always had a book of business, but when that worldwide recession hit in 2008, we thought about ways to make our business recession proof. We evolved our client relationships into more of a consultant role, where we can help them with their budgeting and their planning both long term and short term. We specialize in a lot of different things because we like to offer our customers solutions. We’re looking to help them and provide a solution to their need and become a lifelong partner with them. That’s our unique approach and how we tackle our customer relationships.”

In the spirit of providing innovative solutions to its customers, Schwickert’s is setting the standard for Facility Asset Management, which has become a key part of its business. Through their proprietary Tecta Tracker and HVAC Tracker programs, Schwickert’s can manage a client’s roof and mechanical systems in real time to mitigate costly downtime and maintenance disruptions. “We’ve always done service work,” Julie says, “sometimes taking it a step further by doing inspections or preventative maintenance. We had the thought to take that even further and track that for our clients, so we developed an innovative web-based tracking system, and that’s what makes us unique. A lot of other companies are doing preventative maintenance and annual roof inspections, but what they’re not doing is tracking that data and putting it into real life. Our clients can get on the web-based system and look at their building’s performance and at their short-term planning. What do I need to do for repairs to keep this in peak performance? What do I have coming up down the line in five, ten years, where I’m going to have that capital expense? That’s something unlike anybody else is doing. There are other kinds of tracking mechanisms, but nothing like that where it’s going to capture both their HVAC and their roofing all in one spot, and that’s going to give them forecastable information based on history.”

This ability to get ahead of future maintenance is invaluable in the construction industry, where disruption of operations can sometimes be very costly. Connor gives an example of how this tracking technology can be put into practice. “Every section of a roof will have a score based on our inspections. You might see that roof section A is probably going to need a major repair within the next 5 years, while roof section B’s got a good 20 years on it, so they can prioritize in that way.” This clever use of technology extends right down the line to a reroofing project, where Schwickert’s foremen walk the roof with a 360 Cam on their heads which allows them to safely share the progress of the job with the customer. This data is evaluated on an ongoing basis to ensure things are going as planned, operating within budget, and most importantly, that they are safe. Ultimately, the driving force behind Schwickert’s long list of successful projects and its approach to doing business is just that, safety. Schwickert’s safety-first mindset is recognized year after year by the prestigious ABC Accredited Quality Contractor award. “It hits on safety, quality, talent management, continuing education, and community,” says Connor, “so to even be eligible you have to be a gold or above in this STEP program, which is a safety program. This year we will be reapplying for top performer, which we’ve gotten before.”

As the construction industry continues to grow, and with it the competition, it is not enough for a company to simply get the work done and move on. “We’re looking to be an advocate for our clients for the entirety of their business and the entirety of their building,” Julie says. “They know that we’re there not just for the main project, but also throughout the course of maintaining it, helping them budget it, and getting as much life out of their systems as possible.” Being part of the Tecta America brand solidifies Schwickert’s reputation as one of the top performing roofing companies in the United States. That, paired with its customer-centric approach and innovative use of tracking technology, is what allows Schwickert’s to do business in a way that is efficient, sustainable, and recession proof. Derek Homrighausen is the President of Schwickert’s Tecta America and he had this to say. “Schwickert’s is built to succeed. We are always in a growth mindset, whether it be geographically or by growing our trades. We have a clear vision for the future and are always looking for better ways to get the job done. We are ready to continue leading the industry forward.” The future of roofing, as we know it and as we are yet to, is in safe and capable hands.

Five years ago, Arcnova took over a struggling cladding company on the verge of bankruptcy. The company faced serious financial issues, a tarnished brand, and broken promises that threatened its survival. However, Arcnova saw the opportunity in the challenge. Through substantial financial investment, a rebranding effort, and a commitment to integrity, the company quickly restored the brand’s reputation. “We ended up changing the company name and took over a lot of its huge jobs,” explains Jay Selcuk (The Principal of Arcnova). This bold move laid the foundation for Arcnova’s success.

Arcnova is now a respected building envelope company, having successfully completed a diverse range of projects, including hospitals, student residences, long-term care centers, commercial buildings, institutional buildings, industrial facilities, and residential homes.

Starting with modest beginnings, Arcnova set out to become a leader in the building envelope industry. In just five years, the company has expanded its services beyond cladding to include glazing and roofing. “Within two years, Arcnova will be a full building envelope company,” says the principal. Today, the company offers a comprehensive suite of services, including supply, installation, engineering, and maintenance of building envelopes, with a particular focus on architectural panels and metal roofing systems.

“Within two years, Arcnova will be a full building envelope company.”

A prime example of Arcnova’s capabilities is its work on the Cornell Bus Terminal in Markham, Ontario. The company fabricated over 2,400 ACM panels, 1,344 Parklex panels, and 6,000 square feet of Zinc Standing Seam Systems. The project featured complex designs, including round and concave panels, which required innovative solutions and careful management. Arcnova’s ability to navigate these challenges and meet deadlines helped to build trust with clients, further proving the company’s capacity to handle demanding projects.

Another significant accomplishment was the Quad Phase 2 project at York University, where the company completed 100,000 square feet of cladding in just ten months. “This is the stuff of customer satisfaction,” notes the principal, emphasizing the importance of completing projects on time and within budget to foster long-lasting client relationships.

At the core of Arcnova’s success is its in-house engineering and fabrication capabilities, ensuring that each element is designed, fabricated, and installed with precision. Beyond installation, the company also offers ongoing maintenance to ensure that roofing and cladding systems remain functional throughout their lifecycle. This includes regular assessments and necessary repairs, ensuring continued performance.

A key factor in Arcnova’s rapid growth is its control over the supply chain. The company has forged strong relationships with trusted suppliers, ensuring timely material delivery even amid high demand and long lead times. “Last summer, one of my clients needed insulation, where regular lead time was six months and we made a few calls to our suppliers. The next day, it was on site,” the principal shares, demonstrating the value of these reliable partnerships.

As Arcnova celebrates its fifth anniversary, the company looks to the future with ambitious goals. The vision is clear: “We want to be one of the top three building envelope companies.” With a reputation for reliability, innovative solutions, and a dedicated team, Arcnova is well on its way to achieving this vision. The company’s success is driven by dedication, hard work, and a shared vision. With a solid foundation in just five years, Arcnova is positioned for even greater success in the years ahead.

To most stories there is a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is often humble, starting small and slow before it breaks the surface of the plot. The middle is a transformative period during which the story overcomes challenges, achieves milestones, and finds its audience. And sometimes the end, if you play your cards right in the beginning and the middle, is replaced by a legacy. Sealevel Construction’s beginning was in Thibodaux, Louisiana, back in 1997. A small construction firm operating primarily as a municipal contractor, Sealevel found its feet performing small municipal jobs. The middle of the Sealevel story spans over two decades and is one of hard work and dedication, resulting in a growth spurt that secured the company’s position within the market. Today, Sealevel is a private, locally owned heavy civil contractor working on high-profile contracts reaching values above three-hundred million.

Kathleen Rodrigue, Marketing Manager at Sealevel, says that the key to Sealevel’s continued success is its common-sense approach to doing business and its ability to foster lasting relationships. These drivers allow for projects to be carried out efficiently and cost effectively, which makes for satisfied customers and ultimately translates into repeat business and steady growth. “When I started here in 2019, Sealevel had about 150 employees,” says Kathleen, “and that number has grown to close to 400 now. That really speaks to how we were able to develop our lines of services and hone our craft while developing our team. We’ve really put our foot forward and have grown a lot throughout the years. We’re now operating in eight states, primarily in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region.”

Following two busy decades, Sealevel has developed its capabilities to the point where it can self-perform an extensive range of services across the marine, industrial, municipal, and oil and gas sectors. This turnkey operation includes pile driving, drilled deep foundations, structural concrete, structural steel fabrication, marine construction, site work development, civil construction, and mechanical utilities. “Deep foundations are our bread and butter, and now due to all of the services we’ve added on, we can now complete multi-phased, complex projects turnkey.”

Sealevel has also acquired affiliated companies. Kathleen said, “We now have a tugboat company, Eagle Marine Towing, that handles all marine transportation and logistics, and a marine yard, Eagle Drydock and Marine Services, to service all types of marine equipment. We also have a heavy equipment repair company that facilitates repairs to cranes and an electrical unit as well. The company has truly grown in the last 10 years and has become a premier contractor in South Louisiana.”

Today, much of Sealevel’s work consists of large-scale, high-profile projects, including the Houma Navigation Canal Lock Complex, a multi-million-dollar initiative currently underway as part of Louisiana’s 2023 Coastal Master Plan. This navigation, flood protection, and hydrologic restoration project will allow for the maintenance of acres of wetlands within the Terrebonne Basin by limiting saltwater intrusion and distributing freshwater. The completed development will span 110 feet across and 800 feet in length and will sit directly adjacent to an existing floating structure called the Bubba Dove barge floodgate.

The completed HNC Lock Complex will allow vessels to travel in either direction on the HNC while the floodgate is closed to protect communities from storm surge or high-water events, ultimately benefiting the area’s ecosystem suffering from saltwater intrusion. “This is a project that Terrebonne Parish and neighboring communities have been wanting to execute and accomplish for many years now,” Kathleen says. “When funding for the project finally became available, Sealevel won the general contract, which is $320 million and expected to span over the next four years.”

The HNC Lock project is Sealevel’s biggest project to date, and the company’s extensive service offering makes it possible for them to self-perform most of the scope of work. “We’re installing all the sheet piles, and we have about 1,000 pipe piles of various sizes that were also installing, about 1,000 concrete pilings of various sizes, and timber piles. We’re doing all that turnkey. We’ll also be self-performing all the site work which we’re doing right now, and we’re handling all of the structural fabrication components through our fabrication division, Specks Fabrication and Cutting. We’re also installing all concrete on the project.” Phase 1 of the project saw Sealevel dredge over 1 million cubic yards of material to prepare the area for the lock complex and create 150 acres of marsh in six areas north of the complex along the navigation channel. Phase 2 of the project includes construction of Inland and Gulf-side sector gates as well as the lock chamber to complete the HNC Lock Complex, as well as the operations area, the control building, and the 175-foot control building access bridge. Phase 2 will also see Sealevel hydraulically dredging approximately 860,000 cubic yards of material to reestablish 130 acres of brackish marsh habitat, ultimately benefiting the area’s ecosystem and wildlife.

“We’re continuing to grow as a leader in the industrial sector, securing jobs with key clients. It’s been a good run for Sealevel on both the marine and industrial sides.”

There is a buzz of excitement in South Louisiana, and in particular between the walls of Sealevel’s head office in Thibodaux, as the HNC Lock Complex project kicks off. “We are a local team, so it’s local people self-performing the work in their local parishes,” Kathleen says. “That’s something pretty unique for us. For most of our people it’s about an hour or less to get to the project. It’s a pretty big project, and its monumental for the area. Everyone’s really excited to have started.”

At the core of the project-and in all of Sealevel’s work- is a safety-first approach that exceeds regulatory requirements. Sealevel’s commitment to safety has been recognized year after year by the ABC National Safety Excellence awards program. Sealevel also has a full-time time health and safety team on board to implement strategies and keep this commitment in check. Safety is number one on Sealevel’s list of core values followed by innovation, community, passion, accountability, and finally, faith-driven integrity. As Sealevel continues to navigate the changing construction industry and look ahead towards new markets, it is these core values that light the way.

The HNC Lock project puts Sealevel in a great position as it navigates the next four years, with a steady flow of local work never far out of reach. “The future looks good for Sealevel,” says Kathleen. “We have the four-year HNC project and several other marine jobs that will keep us very busy. We’re also continuing to grow as a leader in the industrial sector, securing jobs with key clients. It’s been a good run for Sealevel on both the marine and industrial sides and having those turnkey capabilities to work in all these sectors of Louisiana is really big for us.”

Sealevel has worked tirelessly year after year to establish itself as a trusted civil contractor with a diversely skilled team and a strong work ethic. This is the reputation that keeps Sealevel securing jobs like the HNC Lock Complex project, and it is that same reputation that will keep the company above sea level (and below it!) way into the future.

The pencil-like buildings that make up our city skylines become the backdrops of the movies we watch, the pictures we frame and hang on our walls, the memories we make as we explore the world’s most iconic cities. We admire them, sure, but we rarely stop to consider the mechanics of maintaining these impressive building facades throughout their long lifespans. R&R Scaffolding is a New Jersey-based Building Maintenance Unit (BMU) company that is on a mission to provide innovative suspended scaffold solutions that ensure efficiency, excellence, and above all else, safety. The R&R Scaffolding powerhouse is driven by the expertise of owner Gio Savinovich and his senior staff. They are a combined force that ensures business is carried out safely and efficiently while the company’s brand continues to grow across the New York City Skyline and beyond.

When Gio joined R&R Scaffolding back in 1986 he was just eighteen years old, sweeping the warehouse floors while the two-year old company found its feet. That was almost 40 years ago, and at a time when the company’s focus was on the distribution and rental of façade access equipment. As the company grew so did Gio, moving out of the warehouse and into the shop, before becoming a mechanic, then an installer and later a salesman, and manager. This career progression, born of hard work and a knack for all things scaffolding, reached new heights in 2001 when Gio was presented with an opportunity to purchase the company. R&R came of a period of dramatic growth in its service and installation business, and it was Gio who took the reins and led R&R Scaffolding to where it is today.

Today R&R Scaffolding is a leading force in the design, manufacturing, installation and servicing of Building Maintenance Units (BMUs). “Our specialty is very complex projects,” says Leila Savinovich, Director of Business Development. “There are the people who go out and wash windows, do exterior services, maintain equipment and then there’s us. We are the experts that are designing the systems for the accessibility, cleaning, and the maintenance of the facade to happen. We have a repair and service division where we overhaul motors and maintain existing equipment, a rental division where we offer temporary suspended scaffolding, pipe scaffolding, sidewalk bridges and sheds, and material hoists. We have window cleaning and façade restoration division, Façade Maintenance Systems (FMS) , and a wire rope division, Royal Rope, where we sell essential components for suspended scaffolding.”

The wide range of services provided by R&R Scaffolding allows for façade access during large-scale construction of residential and commercial projects, and then to design permanent access to the building for its lifetime which are Building Maintenance Units, are specialized crane-like system designed to facilitate maintenance tasks on the façade of high-rise buildings. “We all work in tandem,” says Leila. “Gio alongside our Senior Operations Director Christer Hogne, oversee the major projects with support of their skilled project assistance and engineering team. Karen Montero, as Chief Operating Officer ensures the company runs smoothly across all fronts. I research new development leads while also managing the company’s online presence. The permanent installations and field technicians are expertly managed by Juan Portelles, Chris Baquero, and Jose Nieves. Meanwhile, Jonathan Savinovich handles the service and repair departments.              

R&R Scaffolding has established a well-known brand that is recognized across high-rise buildings State-wide. There is a lore that comes with hiring R&R for all facets of façade work, and as well as that respected brand name, this is down to the company’s organizational structure that works for, and not against the customer. “We’re the only company worldwide that designs, manufacturers, installs and services this equipment that isn’t funded by any private equity,” says Leila. ‘We can give our clients everything they want. We’re not at the mercy of somebody else, we can actually control everything from our first meeting with a client all the way until after the equipment is installed and being serviced by us, because we don’t have any obstacles.”

“We’re the only company worldwide that designs, manufacturers, installs and services this equipment that isn’t funded by any private equity.”

Most of R&R’s competitors on the other hand are publicly traded, which comes with reporting to a board of directors or a private equity group. “We are really able to focus on the needs of the customer and not a quota or a plan that investors made for us,” Leila says. “We run a lean operation and we can set ourselves apart from our competitors because of this.”

This ability to self-fund without being blocked at every turn by financial obstacles or agendas that are not client- focused allows R&R Scaffolding to take on prestigious and complex projects. “Our most recognizable project is the Hudson Yards, one of the largest multi-building expansions in New York City history,” says Leila. “We dealt with different architects and developers on that project, but we were the single source vendor for all of the developers. We have 29 pieces of our equipment in the Hudson Yards and we also secured other projects surrounding the Hudson Yards area. There’s the Spiral at 66 Hudson Boulevard, and the Manhattan West development which is also considered in the Hudson Yards area. We were able to corner the market in that development, so it’s extremely notable for us.”

R&R Scaffolding has a catalogue of projects of this caliber scattered around New York including 111 W. 57th Street, the Steinway Tower, 425 Park Avenue, and 9 Dekalb, the tallest residential tower in Brooklyn. Projects of note further afield include the Comerica Building in Dallas, Texas, The Prudential Center in Boston, MA, and Cirrus and Cascade Condos in Chicago, IL. “We’ve just been awarded the tallest tower south of New York City, which is the Waldorf Astoria in Miami, Florida,” says Leila. “Another extremely notable project was One Vanderbilt where we have three machines on the building. We have more pencil buildings, than any other Building Maintenance Unit manufacturer.”

The years have seen R&R Scaffolding achieve milestone after milestone, and this is a credit to Gio Savinovich and the team that he leads. “When someone hires us, they truly hire an expert,” says Leila. “R&R is a pioneer in this industry. Shortly after acquiring the company Gio built his own factory in Madrid called GinD, and that is where all the permanent installation equipment is designed and manufactured. There’s R&R Scaffolding South, an office located in south Florida servicing all states outside the New York Metropolitan area for installations and service of equipment. Most of our business is currently in the New York Metropolitan area, but we have been expanding our Permanent Installation division all over the United States into places like Chicago, Dallas, and Miami. Our maintenance and façade divisions are growing now too, and we are expanding into the Canadian market, primarily Toronto. Right now we have two offices, one in the New York metropolitan area and another one in South Florida. We’re hoping to add another two to three satellite locations in the next five years or so. Our goal is to educate as many skyscraper developers and architects as possible on the two biggest components of façade access: Safety and Efficiency. With more knowledge on the importance of building maintenance units our business will organically expand.”

Behind the company’s prestigious project portfolio is a genuine family-run business that extends beyond Gio’s connection. In this sense, R&R Scaffolding is a small business that runs projects that are anything but. Many employees at R&R have helped us reach these milestones as we have more than a dozen employees who have been with us for over a decade and very important ones that have been with us for even 20 and 30 years. We have a many loyal employees.  

To see the R&R brand name across the iconic New York City skyline and beyond, and to know that behind it all is a close-knit team with a genuine family feel, operating independently of private investors, running a lean and efficient business that continues to expand and having fun while doing it, is a huge success story, and one that makes us think that maybe New York really is where dreams are made.

The United States is in a perpetual state of construction. Towns are being developed from the ground up, high-rise buildings are shooting higher and higher, and new bridges and roads are appearing at rapid speed. Among such abundance, it is rare to happen upon a construction project that is significant enough to capture the attention of the nation. This is true of the Hudson Tunnel Project, which forms part of wider plans to improve the Northeast Corridor (NEC) by transforming rail travel between New York and New Jersey. The improvement of the Northeast Corridor, the most used passenger rail line in the country, is not a single project but a collective vision that spans the entire region, transformative in scale and revolutionary in scope.

This vision is at the very core of the Gateway Program, the most urgent infrastructure program in America. The Hudson Tunnel Project is made up of three components, the first of which is the new two-track Hudson River Tunnel between the Bergen Palisades in New Jersey  and Manhattan. The second is the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, a right-of-way preservation section that will allow trains to travel between the new Hudson River Tunnel and the existing Penn Station. And the third is the rehabilitation of the North River Tunnel, which was built more than one-hundred years ago to early 20^th century standards and sustained severe damage during Superstorm Sandy. The project will see each of these components come together to significantly improve rail services for hundreds of thousands of daily passengers.

The inner workings of this monumental program are best described by Jim Morrison, the program’s Senior Technical Advisor. “The Gateway Development Commission that we represent was developed for the specific purpose of bringing in the Hudson Tunnel portion of Gateway,” says Jim, who joins me today alongside Molly Beckhardt, Gateway’s Communications & Government Affairs Associate. Together, and with justified enthusiasm, they paint a picture of a new and improved Northeast Corridor that is built by and for the people. “The Hudson Tunnel Project  is focused on the Hudson River crossing currently supported by the North River Tunnel, which was built in 1910 and serves the Northeast Corridor coming into New York City,” says Jim. “It’s the Northeast Corridor’s only passenger rail pathway into Penn Station at the moment. Our job is to add resiliency, reliability and redundancy to the system by bringing in another set of tunnels, one in and one out, so that one of the tunnels can be taken out for service and rehabilitation without impacting the Northeast Corridor operations.”

The execution of the Gateway Program is an ambitious feat given the demanding mega-region it covers and the shortcomings of the current system. The approach to such a feat is best described by Jim, who provides a step-by-step breakdown of the project’s workflow. “It starts on the surface, before it becomes a tunnel, with a switch in creation of new lines that match or meet into the existing Northeast Corridor. This happens somewhere past the Secaucus Station; Secaucus Road roughly is where the switch occurs. We’ve got a surface alignment project for a little over a mile that starts out as a widening of the existing embankment, and as it veers off to our tunnel system becomes an elevated viaduct across the Jersey Meadowlands. It reaches the portal for the tunnel at Tonnelle Avenue which is where the portal is established and where the tunnelling operations will take place. From there it becomes an underground project with tunnels moving from the Tonnelle Avenue portal under the Palisades and into Hudson County, roughly at the Weehawken Hoboken line. This then proceeds under the Hudson River and comes up at roughly 30th St in Manhattan, where there’ll be a fan plant and a shaft. The tunnel boring machines come out and they meet up with the Hudson Yards cut and cover projects that have been built leading into Moynihan Station, and that’s how the system ultimately gets into Penn Station.”

Jim continues: “Tunnelling itself, once we start mining, has lots of nuances. Tunnelling under the Palisades in New Jersey is by comparison to everything else relatively straightforward, while the tunnelling contract going from Hudson County Shaft under the river into Manhattan is much more complex because it goes through both rock and very soft ground, so it requires a much higher level of technology to secure it. The ongoing Manhattan work is a preparatory project to clear the path for the tunnel to come in, since  it has to get through the historic bulkhead.”

Jim recognizes that coming into Manhattan is high density with a high impact on third parties, so that work is underway ahead of time at a very complex level. “That’s in final procurement right now to get that out and moving ahead of the rest of it,” Jim says, referring to the Manhattan Tunnel contract. Early work on the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, which will enable construction on the Manhattan Tunnel, is well underway “I’ve got to hand it to the people who had the vision to do that ahead of time, because they built that corridor in Manhattan before and just as the development of Midtown was underway, it allowed that work to get in place under these buildings. You see high rises over the HYCC-1 and HYCC-2 already. We’re building HYCC-3 as we speak and there’ll be development above that in the future, so when these trains come in under those buildings, that pathway’s already in place.”

The Hudson Tunnel Project sees the construction industry come together, with trades from both the New York and New Jersey side of the river, to undertake €16 billion worth of work over a fifteen-year period. “A new report was recently released showing that this will create 95,000 jobs in the region,” says Molly, “a lot of which will be construction jobs in addition to those created through the wider economic impact of the project. This also means we’re generating $19.6 billion in economic activity and we’ll be spending roughly $87 million per month on supplies and labor throughout the country.” The program’s true significance on the construction industry and the wider economy will continue to take effect as the works progress. “The services that support the construction industry also create jobs which go beyond the normal construction employment you would think of,” Jim says. “This is a resiliency project,” Molly adds. “So it’s also about shoring up the economy, making sure we have the rail infrastructure to meet the needs of a modern 21st century economy and one of the biggest mega-regions in the world.”

Because of its scale, the Hudson Tunnel Project requires multiple contracts, broken down strategically in a way that best suits those who build it, use it and are impacted by it. This tactical splitting of packages improves the participation of the greater construction community while aligning the work with the best methods of delivery. “To execute this work we’ve divided it into at least nine construction contracts,” says Jim, “and it may split into a few more.” The split allows for scopes of work to be specifically aligned to the right contractors, while also ensuring that local contractors are in a position to bid the work, and that the insurance industry is in a position to support it. “It right-sizes it,” Jim says, “and it also allows us to pick the delivery methods that best align with the scope of work. When it comes to specific details of specification like systems integration and final tunnel lining, we want to be very prescriptive on that. So those become bid build projects, designed to 100% specification and bid that way.”

Complexities and demands change from one project element to the next and this is in the contract type. There are significant complexities that come with working in Manhattan to open up the Manhattan bulkhead, for example, and in this case contractor innovation, thus a design build contract, is the key to providing the most efficient and economical solution. “Some of the work is very dependent on contractors means and methods,” says Jim. “We want to really take advantage of contractor innovation and their knowledge.” Though there are many different contracts at play, some of which are dwarfed by the size of others, they must operate as an interlinked synergy as they move towards the same vision. “Ultimately Tonnelle Ave is a utility relocation project in the staging area for the later work,” Jim says, “so relative to the other contracts, it’s a very small dollar contract package. But seven out of the nine packages we have intersect at some point in time at Tonnelle Ave, so the staging and planning of that little piece of work becomes absolutely critical to the rest of the project’s execution.”

As the project’s “technical guy”, Jim is naturally inclined to talk about rocks and concrete and steel, all the important technical components that bring the project to its physical manifestation. But Jim can see from his very close vantage point that the story here is one of people, collaboration, teamwork, and a project for the history books. “One of the things we’re most proud of is what the team has been able to accomplish in the last two years, going from nothing to having our funding fully executed and having contracts in place. We had the governmental organizations in Washington, New Jersey and New York all come together to support this at the same time. It’s been a great alignment so far, with great synergy from all parts to keep it moving. For a complex program of this size it’s a pretty incredible feat, and we’re very proud of it. It’s one for the history books, how we got this project off the ground, moving, and actually on the rails as quick as we did it.”

“For a complex program of this size it’s a pretty incredible feat, and we’re very proud of it.”

The Hudson Tunnel Project is, as Jim describes it, “kind of a once in a lifetime event.” As it progresses along the Northeast Corridor it carries the states of New York and New Jersey along with it, acting as a much-needed symbol of hope, opportunity, sustainability, and economic abundance.

Rohde Brothers, Inc. is a Wisconsin-based Industrial Mechanical Contractor and Engineering firm, providing innovative solutions to its clients since 1911. Throughout its four generations of existence, Rohde has maintained its status as a family-owned business, ever-bound to its historic roots and humble beginnings. But this is not to say that Rohde is a company stuck in the past, in fact its progressive approach to mechanical contracting and its willingness to embrace innovation suggests that the very opposite is true. Rohde serves the industry by designing, installing, and maintaining critical systems, while helping clients achieve their goals in terms of cost and energy efficiency through value engineering.

Rohde was owned through the seventies, eighties, and nineties by the father of current President and CEO, Mike Rohde. Mike and his brother managed the operation together from the nineties until about 2012 when Mike became the owner of record, at which point the company entered a transformative period. “Prior to Mike joining, the company did predominantly school, prison, and government work,” says Craig Bahr, Vice President of Rohde. “Mike, an engineer, took the initiative to grow other sectors of the business, and that’s when we started to do industrial refrigeration and providing clients unique design-build type solutions.”

Craig joined the company at the beginning of that transformative time and has been working alongside Mike developing new business and revenue. Craig, an environmental/civil engineer by training, joined the company to help the company expand into more unique, process-related sectors. Todd Hammond joined the company a few years later as a Principal Engineer, and this marked another milestone in Rohde’s story. “When I say mechanical contracting, I mean anything connected to pipe or duct work,” Craig says. “And that’s mostly in the industrial market and food processing industries.” Their current target marketing includes dairy and food production, manufacturing, cold storage, waste water treatment, water treatment, utilities, and pharmaceutical. Or as Craig puts it, “any type of mechanical system you can think of that has an industrial application.” The HVAC side of the business covers the heating and cooling of facilities, maintaining high air quality through plant ventilation, dust collection, oil mist capture, and humidity control by both dehumidification and humidification where needed. “Where there’s big, heavy equipment that needs to be cooled off, we can put in cooling systems. Where there’s processes that need heat, we can put in heating systems. We do traditional and industrial plumbing work, so water piping, waste drainage, water and waste treatment systems, hydronic water systems, and even gases like compressed air, nitrogen, oxygen, and argon delivery systems. We design and build process control systems which utilize Programmable Logic Controllers(PLCs) to turn operator instructions into actions. Our control engineers can integrate process controls into the customer’s industrial processes, thereby allowing us to monitor and trend our customers operation and let them know when they have problems before they even know it. Additionally, we often set up automatic emails to alert people when things get out of range. We also provide services to heavy manufacturing like foundries, die casting, sand-casting operations, and shops that do cutting and bending and forming of sheet metals.”

Rohde is striving to be on the right side of energy efficiency by helping customers to use energy more wisely through better engineered solutions. “We’re always looking at ways to recover things like biogas and excess heat and convert them into usable energy. Geothermal is a big one. There’s a lot of incentives from the federal government for geothermal and other energy programs, so we’re really trying to take advantage of those.” When Rohde first got into geothermal it was during a time when climate change was less political and helping the client’s bottom line was the focus. “Gas prices were abnormally high and it made sense economically. Now, there is a push for decarbonization and it’s the climate change issue that’s driving interest.

Appleton Valley Transit is a geothermal project for a bus terminal and bus maintenance garage for the city of Appleton. The project involved remodeling and adding on to their existing facility and retrofitting the HVAC systems to a geothermal based heating and cooling system. We drilled vertical wells, connected them up to a geothermal loop in the building which was then hooked to heat pumps that are used for heating and cooling the space.”

“Appleton Valley Transit is a geothermal project for a bus terminal and bus maintenance garage for the city of Appleton. The project involved remodeling and adding on to their existing facility and retrofitting the HVAC systems to a geothermal heating and cooling system.”

Food manufacturing has led Rohde into the dairy industry which is abundant in Wisconsin. This includes the manufacturing of butter, whey, and all kinds of cheese. “We’re in the dairy state where there’s lots of opportunity for cheese and food manufacturing,” says Craig. Rohde performed design-build on phase one and two of a new Oostburg facility for Master Gallery Foods, a food processing company that chunks, slices, shreds, and packages the cheese products into the bags we see on our store shelves. This project showcases Rohde’s unique skills in the food processing industry, as well as its commitment to energy-efficiency. “It included a unique geothermal system that was a little different because of the heating and cooling centered around process related loads,” Craig says. “We worked very closely with the Plant Engineer and the Facilities Manager who were designing the facility. He wanted to do as much as he could to conserve energy and to share energy between different systems. We therefore looked at the process and the office areas simultaneously. We’re using the heat from the refrigeration system that’s used to keep all the coolers cold and all the process rooms where they’re doing the cutting and shredding. All that refrigeration equipment rejects a lot of heat, so that heat is then put into a geothermal loop. We’ve got cooling from air compressors and from hydraulic compressors connected to that loop. In summertime, heat is rejected into a pond using coils of pipe. In the wintertime that same loop is also connected to their office HVAC equipment where heat pumps can take advantage of that heat and use it for heating the office space. Another interesting aspect to this was thermal storage. We looked at how the cooling load goes up and down throughout the day and then we added a slush generator with ice storage to cover the peaks of cooling demand, and that way we can downsize the capital investment in refrigeration equipment.”

Rohde is not afraid to try new things, as can be seen in its product side of the business which provides chillers, heat pumps, nitrogen generation systems, and membrane separation. “Going back a few years we started building chillers, which is unique for a mechanical contractor. Usually, chillers are made by the big companies like Trane and Johnson Controls. We make chillers for the more demanding applications in the food processing industry. It’s unique in the food industry that you must run refrigeration in the winter, so our chillers are industrial and robust to meet the demanding needs. Most common refrigeration units are designed to take the winter off, so it’s hard to make them run in the cold ambient temperatures. We’ve found ways to tweak them so that these systems will function regardless of how cold it is outside. We’ve also found when supply chains are tight, we can build industrial refrigeration systems in far less time than the big-name brands. Often saving our customer’s project schedules. We’ve also built membrane separation systems for a few different applications, for example in the CBD market for recovering ethanol, and in concentrating buttermilk for a butter processing facility. Anytime you need to separate liquids from a product, membrane filtration is an opportunity to do it more cost effectively than traditional techniques. Membrane filtration is kind of size selective, so you’re separating molecules that are bigger than others with a filter membrane. We’ve also recommended and installed nitrogen generation systems as a method for clients to save money by generating their required nitrogen themselves on site. With on site nitrogen generation, the owner no longer has to transport, unload, store, and manage their inventory of liquid nitrogen atminus 320 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Rudy McCormick, Marketing Manager at Rohde, speaks about how 2023 saw the addition of 11,000 square feet of stainless-steel manufacturing space to the existing shop in Plymouth. “It’s got forty tons of bridge crane lifting capability, and that’s increased our throughput on the metal fabrication side of the business.” This space allowed for Rohde to take on projects that it previously had to turn down due to size. “And that was really driven by our customers,” Craig adds. “We have more and more customers that are asking for bigger things. Before the addition, we had to turn away some bigger projects that we just didn’t have the ability to do with the space we had. The bigger space allows us to do more things.”

This addition puts Rohde on a sustained growth trajectory as they move into the future. “We’re looking to grow at about a 10% pace over the next few years,” says Craig. “Not extreme growth, but steady growth. The municipal water and wastewater market is picking up for us and we’re excited about continuing work in that market. We want to keep a stable business growing while we keep pursuing design build opportunities and pushing towards energy efficiency and geothermal. It looks very encouraging, very promising. We have a lot of great customers that have stuck with us over the years and we’ve stuck with them over the years.” Reflecting on this, Rudy says that “we try and be a partner to our customers, providing solutions, value and efficiency where we can. We offer a 24/7 emergency service with technicians on call all the time for clients who have a service contract with us, and that could be anything from HVAC to a broken pipe.” “We’re exploring new opportunities as our clients challenge us with new questions,” Todd adds. “We focus a lot on being solution providers, so we get a lot of crazy ideas, new thoughts, people saying have you tried this? And we try to then bring these ideas to fruition in the form of completed projects.”

“You will find us is where jobs get more complex,” says Rudy, wrapping things up and perfectly capturing the true essence of the Rohde story. “When other contractors shy away because of complexity, we roll up our sleeves, take things on and get things done.”

One of the truest measures of a company’s success is its repeat business rate. So, when we happen upon a company with a repeat business rate as high as 80%, naturally we want to know more. In the case of Sylvan Inc, this repeat business rate was the result of successful business practices—the pillars upon which the company has been built. Collaboration, for instance, with customers, suppliers, subcontract partners, and in-house teammates is one such pillar. Another is Sylvan’s commitment to telling the truth and walking the talk, never leaving customers in the dark. And to achieve a perpetual state of innovation, Sylvan is dedicated to thinking differently. Of course, maintaining the highest standards in all that Sylvan does is a given. These four pillars reveal themselves throughout my conversation with President and CEO, Rob Metz, as he takes me through Sylvan’s longstanding tenure in the North American construction industry. 

Rob Metz joined Sylvan as an equity holder, minority shareholder, and Chief Operating Officer back in 2008. He has been witness to the company’s significant expansion in service offerings, the industries Sylvan serves, and the geographical areas of operation. Sylvan began as an industrial piping contractor in Michigan. The company experienced quick growth, focusing on the New Jersey oil and gas industry, the Tennessee higher-education space, and the Michigan automotive industry. “We’ve moved into new geographies and ventured into new services to the point where today we are a multi-trade solutions provider in Canada, the US and Mexico,” says Metz. In more recent years, and with an average growth rate of 30%, Sylvan has also branched out into government work, becoming one of the company’s top four industries.

Under Metz’s leadership, the company has also established an extremely high customer retention rate, which it maintains to this day. Many of Sylvan’s customers are in the Fortune 500 list of highest revenue-generating companies in the United States. “Our client base continues to grow in the Fortune 500 space and in other industries, primarily in the chip sector within data centers,” Metz says. Another of Sylvan’s growth sectors that falls under the automotive umbrella is battery manufacturing plants. “These clients are not building and then moving on to a different project. These are companies that have operating facilities and need ongoing support, and they look to us for that support at a maintenance level, a small capital expenditure level, and a large capital expenditure level. Whatever their needs are, we focus on providing those solutions.” 

“These clients are not building and then moving on to a different project. These are companies that have operating facilities and need ongoing support, and they look to us for that support at a maintenance level, a small capital expenditure level, and a large capital expenditure level.”

Because of the nature of the projects they work on, Sylvan is in a perpetual state of collaboration, innovation, and problem solving. “Many of the projects we work on are new, so we confront problems that have not been confronted before. This requires us to use all our resources, all our collaboration and thinking to find a solution for the client. There’s often a lot of pressure, certainly in maintenance or small cap situations where they’re not producing at the rate they want, or at all. They look to us to get them back up to speed.” 

Sylvan emphasizes collaboration across the board, both inside and outside the company. Two-way collaboration is enforced from the outset of a project and especially with new clients. “We work together with clients to learn the geography, learn the service, and build up a partnership with them.” At the helm of this collaboration is respect and transparency. “We keep our word, we tell the truth respectfully,” says Metz. “We have to make sure the client understands what’s going on in their facility and what it takes to resolve that situation. We’re very transparent about our challenges and our successes, and that works. Together we focus on the solution and not the blame—a saying we use a lot on all of our projects.” This approach allows Sylvan to anticipate realistic challenges so that when they present themselves, which they inevitably do, we can deal with them in a way that is proactive, assertive, as well as time and cost efficient. 

Repeat business does not come without customer satisfaction in the services provided. The services that Sylvan offers are diverse in range and extensive in scope, but Metz breaks them down into three categories. First there’s the process side, which covers processed piping installation and all forms of mechanical fittings, including orbital welding, MIG welding and TIG welding. “We provide electrical support and equipment setting to the machines that make the products our clients are selling,” 

Metz adds. “We have millwrights, iron workers, and rigging professionals to set that equipment and position it so it can be powered and piped. We also provide sheet metal services to those plants—so heating and cooling services, stairs, and steel supports for the equipment. That’s all on the process side.” 

Next up is the facility side of the business, which encapsulates all the services necessary for heating and cooling. This includes roof drains, plumbing, and all the industrial services that are necessary to operate the facility. “We have a service group in our Dearborn location. We’ll be replicating that group throughout the US, probably Canada as well, possibly Mexico. That group provides ongoing maintenance to commercial office buildings and industrial facilities, primarily for heating and cooling.” Last up is the material side of Sylvan’s service offering. “We have a material handling group that does all the engineering, fabrication, manufacturing and installation of material handling systems.” This service operates primarily in the automotive and food industries, as well as some airport baggage handling work. “That’s a relatively new business unit for us in the last three years that’s been very successful,” says Metz. “We recently made an add-on acquisition to support the manufacturing portion of the business.” 

Having provided insight into Sylvan’s services and the four pillars of success applied to them, Metz moves on to the company’s proven track record out on the field. That is, a small selection of Sylvan’s many standout projects from over the years. “Princeton University is going through an extensive process of heating and cooling their entire campus through a geothermal system and Sylvan performed three major projects,” Metz says. “We were part of building the Tiger Plant that pumps  hot water, chilled water, and geothermal water throughout the campus.  The Thermal Piping Project to transport hot water and chilled water to specific buildings. The Geothermal Mains Project to move the geothermal water from the well fields to the TIGER Plant.” The projects were high-profile, the deadlines were tight, and close coordination with the university and other trades was critical throughout. Despite the challenges, not least of which was a sizable application of a relatively new technology, it was a sweeping success. “It came in on time and on budget,” says Metz. “I think this project fits as an example of our client approach and how we achieve an 80% repeat business rate. This was a challenging project. I’m not sure there’s ever been a geothermal project this big. We’re very proud of it and I know Princeton is as well.” 

Stellantis, a leading global automaker with a constellation of fourteen iconic automotive brands, including Chrysler and Peugeot, is the client behind Sylvan’s next standout project. When the Stellantis facility in Windsor was gearing up for a new product launch, Sylvan was responsible for the activity in the paint shop, body shop, and general assembly. “The facility was retooling the plant and reconfiguring the systems to provide two new products, the Stellantis Minivan and New Dodge Challenger. 

It was a significant amount of planning leading up to the project, probably 10 months prior to the project on the engineering side. The pre-construction planning and the actual bulk of the construction was performed in a ten-week period where we had close to 1000 trades people performing the work. When you’re mobilizing that many trades people and there’s that much equipment coming together, there are challenges. Launch dates are very important to Stellantis and we met all of them, which allowed them to have a plant ready to build the vehicle they announced to their investors. That was another success story and one with lots of challenges along the way, lots of issues to overcome, and much needed collaboration.” 

Next up is JW Marriott, a large, multi-level hotel in Detroit. “JW Marriott is a project we’ve been working on for a number of months in the budgeting phase, the estimating phase, and now in the pre-construction phase. We’ll be starting work this fall, but the preplanning, preconstruction, and drawing of the project is very crucial. We’re doing all the HVAC and plumbing in the hotel, so there’s a lot of construction activity we have to work within. The pre-construction phase and working with the other contractors are critical to success when we actually start in the field with boots on the ground. This is a project that the city of Detroit is very excited about—the city itself, its residents, and those in the surrounding community. I believe it will sit at the former Joe Lewis Arena where the Detroit Red Wings played—a great concert hall and entertainment venue that will now be home to the hotel looking out over the river and towards Canada. I’m sure it’s going to be a great facility for the city of Detroit.” 

Looking into the future, Sylvan’s sights are set on continued growth across the company’s US footprint, as well as in Mexico where projects are on the rise. Growing its HVAC and electrical services is on the horizon too, as is expanding into the chip industry where opportunity is abundant. But such growth does not come without first taking care of existing business and maintaining the reputation Sylvan has built over the years. “We continue to work at our existing business and making it better using new technology and training our people both on the business side and the technical side,” says Metz. “We’ve opened an office in Arizona which is underway, while data centers and government work in the Southwest will be supported by our operations in Dallas-Fort Worth, which are currently in development.” Whether Sylvan is operating in prospective or existing markets, or with new or old clients, those pillars of success will remain integral to its approach. The plan, as Metz puts it, is to “find different ways to collaborate and push the boundaries, to think outside the box so we can provide better solutions for our clients, to focus on how we make our business better, and to solicit candid feedback from clients if we’re falling short. And, of course, to stay humble, because we can always be better.” 

Bel-Con is a design-build construction company serving industrial, commercial, and institutional clients in the South-Eastern region of Ontario. Originally founded in 1973 by Bill White and Barry Brown, Bel-Con’s operations were taken over in 2006 by Tom Gunsinger and Michelle Stephens who sought to foster and grow the reputation for service and quality for which the company had become known. As such it was not just the company that was entrusted to Gunsinger and Stephens when they took over, but the legacy. “This is no easy task,” says Stephens, “and frankly it’s impossible without our amazing team”.

Developing our team and helping each of them to grow individually is integral to meeting our corporate goals and to our collective success. We also encourage and participate in community service and make it a priority to provide support to many local NPO’s, charities and events that help improve & enrich our community as well as the lives of those who live here.” Bel-Con is an ‘ICI’ contractor, meaning our focus is on Industrial, Commercial and Institutional projects.  The majority of our volume, however, is comprised of industrial projects such as manufacturing and warehouse facilities”, says Gunsinger.  “We’re very open to being flexible in terms of the services we provide. Some clients basically want to settle on a design, and have us turn over the facility when we’re done, while some clients want to be very involved through the process. Either way we can accommodate them. They have their own businesses to run, and construction is often a foreign business to them, so they trust us to make the decisions for them and ultimately give them what they’re looking for.”

Bel-Con offers value-added services that go beyond those that are standard of the Design Build industry. “We often get involved with helping clients to find and select properties and to arrange financing,” says Gunsinger. “We offer value engineering ideas to help do things more economically, saving them money in capital costs, ongoing maintenance costs, and energy efficiency. Having some in-house design services, we can take 2D drawings and make renderings so people who are not used to reading drawings can more easily visualize what we are proposing.” Bel-Con’s entire business model is geared towards just that, making the design build process easier for the client through an expert, hands-on approach. Lightening the load for the client in this way and creating longstanding relationships is all part of the Bel-Con legacy. “Bel-Con had values and a reputation in the city and surrounding area, and the previous owners wanted to make sure that was carried forward with the same sort of enthusiasm,” says Gunsinger. “Our tagline is ‘Buildings that work, Relationships that last’, and we have a long history of working with clients going back several decades. In the building industry you don’t necessarily work for all clients every year, but they may need to expand every five years, or there’s little projects along the way, even something simple like installing a door or a very minor renovation. We’re not just looking for the nice new build or big addition. It’s full service and full support for our clients.”

“We’re not just looking for the nice new build or big addition. It’s full service and full support for our clients.”

Stephens and Gunsinger join me today on what is Bel-Con’s 50th year in business. For both, the award- winning SafeStart building comes to mind as a highlight as they reflect on the milestone. “That was a great project from the get-go,” Gunsinger says of the development that went on to win the Butler North American Building of the Year Award in 2014. “It was a competitive design build proposal, and we were able to sell the quality of what we were providing. We captured their vision of what they wanted the space to look like and that’s how we won the job.” Because the SafeStart project was won on quality rather than price, this fostered a relationship in which both parties valued and invested in quality throughout its duration. “SafeStart epitomized what true design-build is intended to be,” Stephens adds. “After an interview selection process, the client chose Bel-Con to work with them to design a building that met the needs of their growing, international business. Bel-Con oversaw the entire process representing their interests at every step and stage of the project, resulting in greater efficiency overall but also allowing them to continue focusing on their business. The end result was a beautiful building that we are both proud of and that provides them the functionality they need.” Gunsinger adds: “Our current building used to belong to SafeStart. When we built their new building, we bought this location from them and before we moved in, we used it as a temporary space for another client who were doing a total interior renovation.” This smart use of space and resources benefitted both parties and is characteristic of Bel-Con as a design build company.

The SafeStart project is just one example of the longstanding relationships that form the foundations upon which Bel-Con is built. “We’ve got some clients that we’ve completed thirty to forty projects for over the years, again everything from small renovations to a new plant or major addition,” Gunsinger says. “We have lots of lots of partners in our design build network, consisting of mechanical, electrical, and sitework contractors that we work with repeatedly. We have trusted subtrades who do good quality work and know what Bel-Con’s about, that we’re going to be there for our clients and if there is an issue that comes up, we find a way to solve it. It can be tough to maintain those relationships as ownership changes over the years, but we’ve been able to go from generation to generation and that’s something to be proud of.”

Perhaps one of Bel-Con’s most significant relationships is its 45-year long partnership with Butler Manufacturing, a worldwide leader in building system design and construction. “It’s a big part of a lot of our projects but we don’t just build pre-engineered buildings, we do all types of conventional construction as well. If it’s a design build, however, we often partner with Butler for a solution.” Michelle adds: “We pride ourselves in our exclusive relationship with Butler Manufacturing; the undisputed leader in the steel building industry. Our services include a wide range of construction types, contract delivery methods and project sizes including new buildings, additions, renovations, and building maintenance services. Metal roofing is also a core competency, as Butler’s proprietary MR24® Standing Seam roof system offers low maintenance protection for 40+ years.” The Butler Builder Network of which Bel-Con is a part is made up of only the highest quality contractors, ensuring superior quality control that is unmatched in the industry.

Another standout project for Stephens, for reasons that become obvious as she describes it, is the Grace Inn Shelter in Belleville. “The Grace Inn Shelter is “a ‘grass roots’ initiative by a few community members to provide Belleville with its first and only homeless shelter,” Stephens says. A long vacant building that was formerly a banquet hall, the Grace Inn Shelter was renovated into a full-service, 21 bed shelter for men and women which included a commercial kitchen, showers, and a dining hall. “Bel-Con was able to support the effort by providing our expertise and resources by overseeing construction operations and helping them open their doors before the winter. The shelter has now been operational since 2019 and to see how it has met the basic needs and provided extended support and assistance to so many vulnerable people is very fulfilling.”

To the list of memorable projects from throughout the years, Stephens adds Bel-Con’s renowned restoration of the historic Bellville City Hall in 1988 which went on to win the Ontario Association of Architect’s prestigious “Landmark” award, while Gunsinger adds the conversion of a city-owned fire hall into an office space for BCS Automation, and the high-end Bay of Quinte Country Club and restaurant, all of which capture the diversity that embodies Bel-Con’s portfolio.

In 2020 Bel-Con was awarded the Outstanding Regional Building of the Year Award at the annual Butler Building Awards & Banquet in Austin, Texas. A period of significant growth followed and continues steadily today. “That new growth has actually turned into repeat business already and that’s a good sign,” says Gunsinger. “We’re getting the confidence of new companies and new owners to expand the business further, so the future looks very bright. There’s lots of projects on the horizon with some projects going into 2026, so we’re thankful to have a solid backlog of work.” The nature of the construction industry, especially design-build, is that you can provide an initial budget for a project, but it may be five years before they “put the shovel in the ground.” This means that while Bel-Con is kept busy with repeat clients, there is always some capacity for new opportunity.

As such, Bel-Con’s approach is to maintain its existing clients while keeping a look out for new ones. “We maintain some space for repeat clients first and foremost,” says Gunsinger, but there’s always some holes to fill.” Bel-Con’s recent growth is in part a result of the construction market within which it operates, which has shifted since pre-pandemic times to the benefit of the design builder. “The area of geography that we cover in Ontario is very attractive right now to a lot of companies because the land costs are cheaper and there’s more people looking for a more relaxed lifestyle. We’re not rural by any stretch, but we’re certainly not the City of Toronto either. Lots of companies are relocating to this area and opening new facilities. That’s obviously good for business in terms of new opportunities.” Michelle says that “Bel-Con’s goal is not to be the biggest, but the best. What does it mean to be the best? To us, it’s creating a legacy that we can be proud of; founded on a superior level of service, a high-quality finished product, and long lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. When a client needs to renovate their building or increase their space by adding on or building new, it can be a daunting task as there are many decisions to be made and factors to consider. Not to mention the time it has the potential to take away from managing their business. We aim to ‘lighten their load’ by guiding and helping clients navigate the process and provide clarity so they can make educated decisions concerning their best interests, not just for today, but also keeping an eye on their potential future growth. They decide how little or much they want our involvement to be, but ultimately our goal is that in the end they get exactly what they need, are happy with not only the outcome but the efficiency of the process and the value we were able to provide. Our ideal future is one where all of our clients can attest to this level of effort and superior service.”

Teel Construction’s roots can be traced back to the mid-seventies when Parker Teel and Peter Gundlach started T&G Enterprises, focusing on small home and commercial construction. T&G Enterprises soon became Parker Teel Construction Company for which Parker Teel was the sole proprietor, before eventually becoming Teel Construction Inc in 1987. A family-owned business then and still to this day, Teel Construction now specializes in interior fit-outs, base building remodeling, and ground-up construction projects in Virginia and beyond. Parker Teel sits on the board as Chairman while his son, Spencer Teel, leads the company as CEO after a five-year tenure as President. “We’ve got ninety-five people on the team and a really great book of work,” Spencer says.

Distinguished names like Amazon, HSBC, Five Guys and SoulCycle all form part of this project catalogue that Spencer refers to, showcasing Teel’s status as a powerhouse within the North American construction industry. Building and maintaining long-term relationships while serving the community has always been the Teel way. It is through these long-term relationships that Teel earns most of its business, in fact ninety-three percent of it as of June, from repeat and referred clients. “We have developed a reputation within the industry based off our core principles that has allowed us to achieve success for our people and our clients. A lot of work goes into finding clients who align with our values, folks that are seeking a contractor as an extension of their team. Once we find that client, we like to try keep them for the long term, to keep them for life. Morgan Stanley, Kaplan Educational, ALDI and Lidl grocery stores; these are just some of the clients that have provided us with hundreds of projects over the years and really helped our company and our people to grow.”

Spencer recalls one Lidl project in particular that is significant as an example of a strong client relationship as well as Teel’s commitment to serving its community. “Lidl’s first store in the District of Columbia over the Skyland Town Centre was a special project because that was the first grocery store that community had. It was a meaningful job for the community that allowed us to showcase some of our base building expertise in the grocery market.”

Tysons Corner Centre is a large shopping center and mall in Virginia, currently owned by nationwide developer, Macerich, who represents another of Teel’s many long-term relationships. “That shopping center has been particularly special for us and a major source of work,” says Spencer, “not only for the landlord, but the tenants too.” One of the projects completed at the center is CAMP, a 10,300-square-foot tenant fit-out of an existing mercantile space. The project required the demolition of interior partitions to transform the area into a front-of-house sales space, and features exquisite millwork, dedicated activity and party rooms, and employee back-of-house areas. CAMP’s standout feature is the Experience Space which showcases the Disney Encanto x CAMP live immersive experience. “Tysons Corner Center a wonderful place that has afforded our team work on a consistent basis throughout our thirty-seven-year history,” Spencer says.

A project that showcases Teel Construction’s diverse skillset in building upgrades is the Westwood Country Club in Virginia. “We put a building addition on the existing clubhouse which features a new fitness facility, a private wine room, a golf simulator and a Bar & Lounge, along with a rooftop terrace that hosts weddings and various events.” As that phase of the project was wrapping up, Teel broke ground on a 45,000 square foot interior tennis building that featured three tennis courts. The building also featured a Court Tennis, or “Real Tennis” facility, which was one of only fifty in the world and twelve in the country at the time. “The Court Tennis component of that project was a highly technical and intricate construction specialty,” says Spencer. The project saw the replacement of the previous inflatable bubble tennis court enclosure with an advanced permanent pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) structure to provide a more robust and adaptable space for tennis enthusiasts. “It also included an observation mezzanine floor that overlooks both the tennis and Court Tennis courts. That was a really special project, very unique and a great opportunity to showcase some of our team’s skills.”

Spencer’s role as CEO involves strategic planning and a high-level of involvement with the leadership team to ensure they are well supported in the initiatives that they undertake. “From a recruitment and retention point of view, fostering an environment that helps our people learn and grow to their fullest potential is what we put a lot of our energy into,” Spencer says. “In 2017 we subscribed to the Entrepreneurial Operating System to help with our strategic plan and longer-term growth strategy.” The Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS, is a framework of tools and concepts that allows you to run your company like a well-oiled machine and keep everyone within the company on an aligned path towards achieving its goals. “That’s been foundational to a lot of the systems that we put in place and to set up the framework to really foster that growth environment,” Spencer says. “The company’s been on a slow, organic growth trajectory. We’ve got systems in place that are priming us to take on larger, more complex opportunities. We plan to grow with our current client base as well as new clients that might not have seen us as a relatable party for them in the past. They’re coming into view now as they see Teel as a viable contender to help with their project delivery.”

Speaking of his team and the workplace culture that powers it, Spencer mentions a book he read recently called Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold. It’s a book that offers tangible proof of its effectiveness in the form of Teel’s success, and inspired, I waste no time in adding it to my own to-read list. “This was really transformational for me as a leader and really helped orchestrate my thoughts in terms of how I wanted to see the company progress and grow.” The book encourages readers to do a mind map or brain dump of how you see your company in three years, therefore creating a detailed vision that acts as a point of focus as you manage your company. “That exercise helped me understand where the company was headed, where we want to go, and who we want to become” says Spencer. “There’s been a surge of positive energy injected into the company that really helps people focus on the longer-term plan for the business. You don’t have to be a president or CEO of a company. You can write your own vivid vision about where you want to go in your profession or goals in your personal life. It’s pretty remarkable, the power of writing it down and reviewing it on a consistent basis.”

“There’s been a surge of positive energy injected into the company that really helps people focus on the longer-term plan for the business.”

Sometimes success is striking the right balance between hard work and visualization. To be able to clearly visualize your goal is to take the first step in achieving it, and this continues to be the way for Teel Construction under the leadership of Spencer. As we wrap things up and reflect on the future of Teel Construction, that aligned vision and the company-wide surge of positive energy necessary for achieving it, is evident. “We’ve picked up some incredible new people while the existing folks have continued to demonstrate that thirst for personal and professional growth,” Spencer says. “We’re all probing ourselves for greatness, and there’s nothing but exciting things ahead for this company.”

When Dominick Camosy came to the United States in 1910, he was a carpenter by trade, kickstarting his career in the niche art of making pool cues. This marks the beginning of the Camosy Construction story, told today by Dominick’s Grandson and current Owner, John Camosy. So, how does a young pool cue maker become the legacy of a company that is now in its eleventh decade, each more successful than the last? “Relatively quickly after he arrived in the United States, my grandfather started building homes,” says John. “His first real business was in Kenosha Wisconsin as a home builder. My father was in college in the University of Wisconsin getting an engineering degree when his dad, my grandfather, fell ill. He never finished his senior year and instead came back to help him and then eventually take over the company. I think he was in his 80s when he finally went back to finish up and get his engineering degree. My dad ran the company for many years, until my brother Raymond took over as president in 1986 through 2007, and then I took over in 2007.”

Family owned since 1910 and now in its fourth generation, Camosy Construction is a mid-sized general contractor and construction management company. For most of its life, Camosy Construction has operated as a traditional general contractor, competitively bidding and working for private clients. Today, after a steady uptick decade on decade, revenue generation stands at around seventy million a year, with twenty-five employees in-office and fifty to one-hundred in the field depending on the time of year. “I like to say we are not just a paper pusher, a construction manager or general contractor,” says John. “We do our own work, so that’s concrete, masonry, carpentry and demolition, in the most traditional sense of what a construction firm does.”

Niche was always the way for Camosy Construction whose founding roots are in pool cues, and who today has found its niche in the municipal market, and more specifically police, law enforcement and fire. “In the early 2000s we made a conscious decision to try go into the construction management market and really attack the municipal sector,” says John. “And so that’s what we did. We made a big effort and we’ve been really successful, especially in the police and fire realm of that market.” Though the municipal market serves Camosy well as a niche within which to specialize, it is not the company’s only market. When Camosy Construction puts its mind to something, it goes all in. This was the case in the early 2000s when they decided to get into construction management and target the municipal sector, and it is the case today as they venture into the food manufacturing market. “We have started to target the food manufacturing market, so bread makers, chocolate makers, all those kinds of facilities, and that’s proven successful. If you haven’t done food manufacturing before, the next food manufacturer doesn’t want you. Eventually you get one big client and then it turns into two and then it turns into three. That’s how we get our niche.”

Camosy Construction’s portfolio is categorized into a Special Projects Division which covers specialized projects with values under a million, and a Major Projects Division which covers large-scale, high value projects. “We were recently rewarded for an €63 million police station in Schaumburg,” John says, encapsulating the pinnacle of the major projects division along with the growth of the police sector. Continued growth is on the horizon for Camosy Construction as it always has been, but it will come slow and steady rather than hard and fast. “We’re looking to grow but at a moderate, sustained rate. We’re not about hiring a bunch of young guys out of college and then trying to push them into running big projects quickly. That’s just not who we are. So sustained growth is what we’re targeting, and we’ve added market segments as it makes sense too. Our food manufacturing group is starting to get bigger and bigger, and we’re going to try put more resources into that, but police and fire is really where we are the industry leader in the north half of Illinois. We targeted that market early and have been very successful, completing seven major police facilities in the last decade, with two more currently in construction and another in the pre-construction phase.”

To accommodate clients who may want a one stop shop, Camosy Construction sometimes partners with local architects and carries out projects under the Design Build method. With an Architect in-house who was once on that side of the aisle, Camosy is uniquely positioned to help clients through the Design Build process which continues to grow in popularity across the field. Another popular approach, and one that also benefits from this in-house architect, is when clients request that Camosy Construction helps them to hire an architect for their projects. “We’ve been doing that too, sending out the RFP to the architects, answering their questions during the RFP process, helping the owners score the RFPs, going to the interviews, and helping the owners understand what they’re buying. The owners make the final decision, but we’re helping them along the way.” While these modern approaches grow in popularity and become new lines of work for Camosy, they do not take the place of the traditional methods that have served the company well. “We do about two thirds of our business in the construction management market and about one third in Design-Bid-Build,” says John. “We don’t really want to get out of the competitive General Contracting market. For us to be successful as a Construction Manager, we have to be successful as a General Contractor too. We want to be competitive; we want to be the low bidder when we can be.”

Another of Camosy Construction’s services is one that came about organically through operating as a Construction Manager and off the back off the trusted reputation it has built over the years. “We do cost consulting for architects who want to have some idea what a job’s going to cost before it goes out for competitive bid. They hire us as a CM and then, realizing the value of our pre-construction services, they hire us to do some initial budgeting for them. There are some clients, especially in Wisconsin, who don’t really understand the CM process. This is particularly true of municipal clients, so a lot of them go with the competitively bid route and the architects would like us to help them up front with what they can tell the owner to expect for a budget. It’s nice to have that reputation that our budgets and cost estimates are reliable.”

The team at Camosy has been through decades of industry changes, gathering valuable experience along the way and applying it to new projects. As such, the challenge when it comes to recruitment is not so much labor as it is skilled labor. “Our project managers, our estimators, myself, we all have 30 years in the industry. There’s nothing we can’t estimate or build. But the downside is a lot of people are close to retirement age, so we have to replace them. We’re a union company, so in some ways the unions help recruit people and train them through the apprenticeship program and that’s good. But we need superintendents and foremen, so we do our own recruiting for those positions. The challenge is going out, recruiting good people and training them. That’s a big part of what I do now, and that’s true of the field too.” Reflecting on this particular challenge, John circles back to the need for controlled growth, or as he puts it, “not trying to explode in growth when what you really want to do is replace your good people with more good people. Sustained, moderate, continual growth is what we’re looking for. The owner of the company is involved in all our big projects and that’s got to stay that way. When there’s growth for the sake of growth, you start to lose focus. It’s more important for us to build relationships. For example, you do a good job for a police chief, and he likes his building and the experience, then all the chief’s get together and go to each other’s new facilities. When it comes time for their upgrade, they ask who designed it, who built it? Doing a good job is important because without that, they won’t hire you again and the next chief won’t hire you in the first place. Putting people just out of college into important positions doesn’t work. Growth is great, but we need to do it smartly.”

“Sustained, moderate, continual growth is what we’re looking for.”

Between its niche segments of the municipal market and the ongoing acceleration of its food manufacturing business, Camosy Construction is busy at work with no signs of slowing down. “We have two police stations in construction right now,” says John. “Des Plaines which was competitively bid and is due to finish in December, and Lake in the Hills which was a construction management delivery method and just got started. But the big one to talk about is Schaumburg. We’re looking at a seventy-million-dollar police facility and then a fifty-million-dollar village hall for the same owner. They’re going to run consecutively, so it’s great for us that we have three to four years’ worth of work, plus we another huge police station to add to our backlog It’s fairly unusual to see them that big, but they’re getting specialized and the components are unique and specialized too. It’s a niche market. Firing ranges, Faraday Labs, unique features that most contractors don’t see, we do those kinds of things. We also have some fire facility work going on right now, including a station for Hoffman Estates which is just starting the last phase of pre-construction and will hopefully get underway this fall.”

Camosy Construction is focused on a future of industry success through sustained growth in its carefully-selected new markets, as well as safeguarding and accelerating its well-established ones. “We don’t want to do everything and we’re relatively selective about the projects we go after,” John says. “We want to continue to be the leader in the police and fire segment.” With municipal projects growing in frequency, scale, and complexity, it is Camosy Construction, backed by four generations of specialized industry experience, who leads the way.

On the surface Platinum Pro-Claim Restoration is exactly what the name suggests, a restoration company. Think fire and flood restoration, environmental remediation, rebuilds and repairs. But when you pull back the curtains on this three-decade old powerhouse there is so much more to it than restoration. As Founder and CEO Tony Scott likes to put it, PPCR is restoration reinvented. Tony started his company back in 1991 when restoration was not much more than a construction job – buildings burned down and got rebuilt. “I’ve watched the industry change in an incredible number of ways,” says Tony. “I can tell stories all about how it used to be and what we used to do but let’s just say when I started there were no fans or dehumidifiers.”

Today PPCR provides most of its services in-house including cabinetry and flooring, and this is just one of the many ways it sets itself apart from the rest. Another is the speedy service for which the company has become known. “We specialize in dealing with unit owners who are in a building that’s been flooded and getting them back in faster than anybody else.” PPCR even refers to some jobs as Monday to Friday jobs, which is far from commonplace in an industry that is so often leaden with delays. “We go in and move somebody’s stuff, replace the floor, do the drywall, paint everything, put the baseboard back on, move their furniture back, and that’s a Monday to Friday job for us.” Understanding the importance of minimizing disruption to people’s lives and getting them back into buildings fast, PPCR provides this duty of speed and efficiency to jobs big and small. “We just completed a $16 million fire repair on an apartment building in 1 year and 11 months during the worst possible conditions; it was COVID, we had major climate events including a atmospheric river, polar vortex and a heat dome.  It was so unbelievably hot that we had to put in extra safety precautions to avoid dehydration.

During this time BC even had a whole town burn down in a forest fire. Then we had the worst flooding we’ve ever had. This was all in that first year of the project.” Even in such conditions, with site closures and extreme heat and bursting pipes galore, PPCR managed to complete the job in under two years. “We take it seriously when we say we’re going to get people back in faster than anybody else,” says Tony, “and that was us proving it.”

In the modern context of environmental change and sustainable thinking, the sustainably-driven customer needs to be able to differentiate between company’s who are talking the talk and walking the walk. As well as helping people through fast and efficient restoration services, PPCR is an active steward of its local environment and its processes have long been sustainably minded. Not only is this company walking the walk – it is leading the charge. “The things that people are talking about now, we were doing years ago,” says Tony. PPCR’s commitment to sustainability stemmed not from external obligation but rather from Tony’s personal belief that we need to do better for our planet.

In what he refers to as his hilltop moment, Tony recalls the event that brought the reality of the climate crisis to the forefront of his mind. “I was camping on Black Mountain which overlooks Vancouver city but also towards Howe Sound and Squamish. There are islands and there’s ocean and it’s just beautiful. I was watching the sun go down and there was this beautiful cloud over downtown Vancouver. I’m sitting there looking at it and then I think wait, there are no clouds today.” Tony realized that the grey cloud covering his beloved hometown was actually a layer of pollution in the form of smog. “And I just thought, well, I can’t leave that for my kids.”

At the time PPCR was selling repurposed lumber that was then used for flooring and had also become involved with companies in California who were selling solar powered manufactured carpet. Tony recalls an ad from that time saying, ‘making the world a better place, one floor at a time.’ Even then the company was on the cusp of sustainable technology that would later become mainstream, but it was really that hilltop moment that set-in motion PPCR’s lifelong commitment to a sustainable future. “In 2012, we grew and moved into a larger facility, it was then decided to make it as sustainable as possible. We converted our lights over to LEDs, did audits on what we were burning and all the different ways we could reduce our greenhouse emissions. Right now, we’re recycling somewhere between 70 and 80% of our debris. For many years we were the only ones talking about recycling. We were doing our own thing for our own reasons. Then at one point we said we better start talking about this, and we did. Our goal then became to elevate the industry. How do we get more restoration companies across Canada to think about what they are doing with the debris that comes out of these houses?”

A big part of PPCR’s green journey is its electric vehicle fleet. In 2016 the company identified transportation as its greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and in turn, as the area through which it could make the most meaningful change. “If it doesn’t plug in, it doesn’t count!” Tony says. “33% of our fleet is now electric and we’ve got 18 charging stations in our parking lot. The unique thing about that is that we open it up to the public; anyone can come in and charge their electric vehicle for free.” Because of offsetting through the Low Carbon Fuel Standard Initiative which produces Carbon Credits, this initiative has become profitable for PPCR, and though that was never in the plan, Tony says it is certainly not a bad outcome. “We’re in an industrial area where a lot of people come and go and there wasn’t a lot of charging available to them. We wanted to promote that in our business and our local community. Now, a lot of people plug in at the end of the workday, charge up for an hour and then drive home.”

Trevor, PPCR’s Senior Marketing & IT Manager, is as enthusiastic as Tony when he adds his insight into the company’s commitment to sustainability. “What makes us the greenest company is that we’ve created a culture of sustainability that is self-perpetuating. It allows our employees to come up with ideas that implement change at an organizational level, but because of the involvement that Tony and our company has across the industry, those ideas actually change our entire industry. We’re starting to see individual employees creating these rippling earthquake effects across the entire Canadian restoration industry. It’s been fascinating to watch. We have this one gentleman, Rod, who came up with the idea to transition our cabinet shop from solvent-based systems to water-based. This creates a safer environment by producing less volatile organic compounds on the stains that we spray. It’s safer for not only the employees who are breathing in those chemicals, but also the customer, because we install those cabinets in their homes. Everybody is working towards a common goal; to make the world a better place. We are all environmental advocates and we’re teaching these other restoration contractors all our trade secrets. We’re not holding any of these things tight to us. That’s how we are making the world a better place and truly elevating our industry.”

“Everybody is working towards a common goal; to make the world a better place.”

For Tony and PPCR, this commitment to sustainability comes down to a duty of care not only to the planet, but to the people that inhabit it. “We get to help people every day and that’s why I love it. When somebody is having a hard time, we get to go in and help them, to try and take that anxiety away from them and get them back to where they were before.” Emphasis on the we get to. Understanding the sensitivities involved in restoration work, Tony sees it as a privilege to be trusted with this type of work. He gives the example of a recent job the company did for a lady with dementia. “It was confusing for her to have people in the house, but we also couldn’t have her living out of the house as it would be too disturbing for her. We arranged for her to spend the whole day having tea with a lady she knew from down the hall. We did the entire job in one day and had everything back in place so that when she got back in, she didn’t even notice. Those are the things that really make us who we are, and it’s great for the staff and the team to be able to help somebody in that way. It makes a good story, but more to the point is that it inspires our team. If it doesn’t, we’d have to look at that person and think maybe this isn’t the right fit.”

Looking into the future, PPCR plan to be at the forefront of innovative technology and Artificial Intelligence in the same way it was at the forefront of sustainability all those years ago. On this, Trevor talks about a new building program called the Pro-Care Building program. “We work with developers and new builders before the building is released to the tenant homeowners, then we get all the building information and that way we’re able to mitigate it as fast as possible. We’re constantly innovating on ways that we can help reduce the cycle times for the restoration process and help insurance companies save as much money as possible.”

Tony adds, “We’re really focusing on the latest technology to help us drive faster without removing the things that are key to our purpose, like taking care of the planet, getting the homeowner back into the building, and saving the insurance company money. We’ve had some really big wins. We just saved money on one job by drying all the floors in a brand-new apartment building. There were eight floors that were damaged by water that the builder wanted to have ripped out, and we got in there and said no, we can dry all this. It made what would have been an eight-month job, a forty-five-day job, and everybody was super happy at the end of it. So that made a big splash. People are all talking about it.”

When all is said and done, Tony reflects on that hilltop moment and can now say without question that PPCR has truly made a difference. “Eight years later and guess what? We did change the industry. We’re elevating it. We’ve taught over 70 of our competitors about recycling. We’re even doing podcasts about it.” The team, led by the ever-passionate Tony, continues to play its part in reducing that grey cloud over Vancouver and beyond in the best way they know how; together. “What really made the difference was our own staff jumping in and having people there that were passionate about it for their own reasons. They were the ones that made all these things happen the way they did. It’s great to see it happen within the company and it’s a credit to them. Because it’s about personal passion, right? Some people’s passion is money, mine is people and the environment.

That’s reflected in everything we do and it’s important as the world is becoming more purpose-driven. We don’t say and then do, we do and then say. I think that speaks volumes to our sustainability journey and our initiatives. We are authentic and we are not trying to be anything else.”

At the foundation of every construction project is, quite literally, the earth upon which it is built. Whether it be industrial, commercial, or residential, it can be argued that preparing the land for the vertical building process is the most critical and complex step. Site development professionals mass grade and shape the raw land, build roads, install utility infrastructure, all while navigating a world of unknowns that exists below our feet.

Wynn Site Development, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been providing comprehensive site development services for more than 16 years. Founded in 2007 by Lee Smith and Tommy Brinley, Jr Jr., the company has established itself as a trusted partner for its long-time, repeat customer base. Forward planning and continued process improvement has led to steady growth and has made Wynn one of the largest and most dynamic site development contractors in the area. Lee joins me today alongside business development analyst, Michael Molinaro, to tell me the story of how it all began.

From its office in south Raleigh, Wynn Site’s operations currently extend about 80 miles in all directions. The company boasts an impressive roster of over two-hundred employees, alongside a robust collection of 235 pieces of heavy machinery and more than 100 vehicles in its fleet. Vice President Lee Smith highlights the company’s strong relationships and repeat business, noting, “We do a lot of repeat business and we’ve had some customers with us since day one. I think that says a lot about our company.”

Founded in 2007, Wynn Site Development quickly faced the challenges of the recession. Yet, according to Lee, the company emerged “unscathed,” a testament to its resilience and strategic prowess in navigating economic downturns. This ability to thrive under pressure underscores the essential nature of site development, a field that continues to see demand through all economic conditions.

Lee proudly acknowledges the company’s substantial revenue growth over the years, positioning Wynn Site Development among the top four site development firms in the region. This growth not only showcases the company’s excellence and leadership in the industry but also its commitment to providing top-notch services and fostering lasting relationships with clients.

President Tommy Brinley, Jr and Vice President Lee Smith bring a wealth of experience to their roles and remain actively involved in the company’s operations. Lee mentions, “Our customers can still call us directly if they need to.” Tommy, who has been part of the industry since childhood, oversees field operations, while Lee, leveraging his accounting expertise, primarily handles financial management. Over time, they’ve assembled a dependable core team responsible for the company’s daily activities. Lee points out, “Most of our key guys have been here for eight or nine years, so we have really good employee retention.” This strong retention of employees and customers enables Wynn Site Development to grow while preserving the close-knit, family-owned atmosphere foundational to its success. This commitment to collective success binds the leadership, employees, and customers in a shared vision.

“Wynn’s approach is about transforming land with precision and care, upholding their values—the Wynn way.”

Wynn has a history of delivering high-quality projects across commercial, residential, and industrial domains. Lee details the array of services Wynn Site Development brings to these sectors. Offering land clearing, grading, and comprehensive erosion control solutions are just the start. The company also expertly handles the installation of essential public utilities, including potable water lines, storm drainage, sanitary sewer and sewage pump stations, all managed in-house. Wynn also employs several specialty crews that focus on detailed roadway construction and soil stabilization.

Lee showcases several of Wynn Site Development’s successful endeavors, highlighting a diverse client base that includes both loyal and new customers. It’s clear that many newcomers become repeat clients, drawn back by exceptional service. Among the highlighted projects is Falls Village in Durham, North Carolina, described by Lee as one of their largest undertakings. This residential project, in partnership with Stanley Martin Homes, uniquely incorporates a neighborhood within a golf course layout. With a challenging timeline, Falls Village represents a significant opportunity for success for both the client and Wynn Site Development.

Another noteworthy project is High Grove Oaks, a development of 200 homes situated in the vibrant community of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. This project, carried out for Mattamy Homes—a repeat client over several years—exemplifies the strong, ongoing relationships Wynn Site Development maintains with its partners.

Additionally, the Bexford Subdivision, also in Fuquay-Varina, for the national developer Forestar, boasts 900 homesites. Kicked off in late summer, the project is progressing smoothly and is expected to complete its first phase by this summer.

Lastly, Ashby Village in Sanford, North Carolina, is a 600-lot development marking the start of a promising partnership with Matrix Construction Co. from South Carolina. Thanks to its successful progression and on-schedule performance, Matrix Construction has already proposed further collaborations, currently under negotiation.

Through these projects, Wynn Site Development not only demonstrates its capacity for handling large-scale developments but also its ability to foster lasting relationships with clients, setting a foundation for future success.

“The Skatepark in Downtown Raleigh stands out as a smaller yet equally impactful project. Initiated by the community and supported by one of our loyal clients, Stanley Martin, we proudly donated our services and time to bring this project to fruition. It demanded extensive concrete work and some demolition, culminating in a grand opening covered by local news. Our involvement was a privilege. At Wynn Site Development, every project, from large-scale residential developments to community-centric skateparks, receives our utmost professionalism and commitment to customer satisfaction. Our approach to the dynamic field of site development, marked by practicality and attention to detail, sets us apart – we call this the Wynn difference.”

Wynn Site Development is steadfastly advancing into the future, grounded in its four fundamental values encapsulated by the acronym DIRT: Dependability, Integrity, Responsiveness, and Timeliness. Lee emphasizes the importance of these values as the company eyes expansion with a strategic approach. The blueprint for growth involves attracting new clients while bolstering the workforce. Lee notes significant strides in enhancing competitive edge and diversification through the introduction of in-house erosion control, maintenance services, and the acquisition of a novel full-depth reclamation machine, or cement stabilization machine, sparking success in specialized sectors.

Moreover, Wynn is venturing into property development, taking raw land through to fully developed lots ready for builders, further illustrating the dynamic growth strategy. However, expansion is mindful, with an acknowledgment of the challenges, particularly in recruiting skilled labor. Michael underscores the ethos of “controlled growth,” prioritizing managed, sustainable expansion over rapid, unchecked growth. This philosophy ensures that Wynn Site Development can scale effectively, maintaining its commitment to excellence and delivering unparalleled service to both new and existing clients. In essence, Wynn’s approach is about transforming land with precision and care, upholding their values—the Wynn way.

To do business in a way that is efficient, durable, and lucrative, is to respond to market trends and offer solutions to socioeconomic and industry challenges. That is, to provide a service that is useful to the market in which you operate. In Ontario, a growing market trend is to build up instead of out. One of the socioeconomic challenges is a lack of affordable housing and an increased demand for rental properties. And a major industry challenge is the post-pandemic labor shortage which continues to have a critical impact on construction practices. The answer? A company like Magest Building Systems Ltd, who specializes in delivering multi-story buildings using a system that is less labor intensive than traditional methods. Today, Magest specializes in the design, manufacturing, and assembly of cold formed steel (CFS) stud wall panels, floor joists and trusses as a complete panelized building system for framing multi-story buildings. It’s portfolio spans across Ontario and beyond, and includes Condominiums, Apartment Buildings, Hotels, Retirement Homes, and Student Residences.

Magest Group Limited was founded in 1990 as a general contracting company, which specialized in the supply and erection of pre-engineered steel building structures. “Our pre-engineered steel buildings contained a large quantity of cold-formed steel girts and purlins required to frame out the walls & roof,” says Craig Wood, Business Development Manager. “After erecting pre-engineered buildings for quite a few years, we decided to get into the cold form steel market in 2005. That’s when we decided to look into the design, supply and erection of load bearing steel stud wall panels, which would primarily compete with masonry block, poured concrete, and slower, more conventional construction materials. Supply and installing load bearing steel stud wall panels is very fast and efficient compared to conventional methods of construction which are very slow and more labor intensive.”

After a few years of working with cold-form steel, Magest found it’s flow and began to expand its offerings. “Magest decided to take responsibility for the structural steel supply and install as well as the floor and roof systems, basically completing the entire upper super structure utilizing our CFS system as much as possible. This method helps to alleviate the general contractors, taking some responsibility off of them with Magest coordinating the superstructure install.” One of the biggest milestones in Magest’s trajectory towards future success was the purchase of a roll former in 2010. “The roll former allowed us to manufacture our own steel studs and track material and fabricate our own cold form steel components, giving us more control over both the cost and fabrication of the wall panels. Our roll former produces stud & track material ranging from 12ga to 26ga studs with 2.5” wide to 14” wide webs. All cold form steel material is produced and fabricated in our mostly automated 95,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Stratford.”

Step by step, Magest evolved from a General Contracting company to more of a one-stop-shop when it comes to cold-form steel, taking on more of the structural design in-house. “When clients come to Magest with a conceptual floor plan, we can help them to design and value engineer their building using our system while keeping cost in mind. Engineering wise, we’ve really jumped into the design of cold form steel. We can provide a complete upper structure design for our clients if they don’t yet have a structural engineer on board. We provide a preliminary structural layout for our clients with a budget price. If that budget price meets their overall project budget, they’ll engage Magest to do the structural design, produce permit drawings, and eventually issue for construction drawings.”

The market quickly caught on to the benefits of Magest’s system, and with this came a larger volume of projects. “We’ve increased the size of our manufacturing facility throughout the years because of the increased demand for fabrication and manufacturing space,” says Craig. “We have seen an increased volume of work year after year as more and more projects are designed in cold-form steel than when we started in 2005. It was difficult in the beginning to persuade architects and engineers to design their projects using load bearing steel stud walls. But now, so many projects are coming out designed in our CFS system, which is great to see. We’re doing something right.” The architects and engineers who once had to be persuaded to design using cold-form steel are now demanding it, and as a result, Magest has experienced consistent growth year after year.

In post-pandemic North America, construction companies have been scratching their heads in search of an answer to the labor shortage that continues to sweep the industry. The old way simply does not work anymore and systems built on efficiency and innovation are carving the way forward. Luckily, Magest was in the game of efficiency and innovation long before the pandemic, and as such can offer a proven, less labor-intensive system that tackles this industry challenge. “With the speed of installation using our cfs system and the skilled trades that we are bringing to site to erect our buildings, there’s less construction labor needed. We try to prefabricate as much of the building as possible, off site. It definitely speeds up the design, erection, and install time, which helps to reduce the overall project schedule. Clients can see how fast our buildings go up, especially if we’re building a six or eight story building across the street from a conventional poured concrete structure. Our buildings are erected in half the time”.

“Now, so many projects are coming out designed in our CFS system, which is great to see.”

Arguably even more important than delivering construction projects within a given program, is delivering them within budget. Magest uses a straight-up approach by which the budget is prioritized from the outset and maintained throughout the process, instead of skirted over and increased as the project progresses. “Being able to maintain the client’s budget along the way is the one of the most important things. The worst thing that we could do is suddenly increase the price at the very end. We don’t do that. If we did, we would never get a call back from that client, and we take a lot of pride in our list of repeat clients. We have so many clients that come to us knowing right from day one that they want to use Magest for their next building. They know what works, and we try hard to keep the cost in check for them.”

As Craig talks me through some of Magest’s projects, the company’s pride in repeat business is evident. First up, the Soleil Condominium development for Mattamy Homes. “Mattamy is a big constructor in the GTA. Approximately three years ago we started the construction of four six-story buildings for Mattamy in Milton.” For these buildings Magest supplied cold formed steel wall panels, as well as structural steel. “The nice part about the Soleil Condos is that all four buildings are on the same site.” This opened up a pipeline of new projects for Mattamy Homes who continue to be one of Magest’s many repeat customers.

“We’ve also completed ten 4-story apartment buildings for Hyde Construction, who operate throughout Ontario. Each building is 64,800 sq. ft, or 16,200 per level. Magest erected each above grade structure in 8 weeks” Another repeat customer, Magest now do one to two projects a year for Hyde Construction.

“Magest’s construction background has greatly contributed to our success over the years. Knowing how to construct a building on site is just as important as precisely manufacturing the components that go into the building. We understand the details & how the building needs to come together alongside other trades and on schedule. We pride ourselves on the quality of our work and the number of repeat clients that we have.”

As the demand for high-quality retirement services grows throughout North America, Magest has tapped into that market and has completed retirement homes both in Ontario and out of province. “We erected the Rivera Retirement Home in Edmonton, Alberta,” Craig says, speaking of the 4-story 130,000 square foot building in Edmonton that was erected in sixteen weeks. “We have also completed projects in Halifax, North Bay, Sudbury, Niagara Falls and Sarnia. We kind of go all over the place.” Magest’s footprint extends out of country too, with projects in the United States forming part of its portfolio. “We completed a seven-story Harrah’s Hotel and Casino in Murphy, North Carolina, approximately ten years ago.” This project had a floor area of over 160,000 square feet and was erected in just fourteen weeks. Magest’s plan for the future is to continue to respond to market trends while offering innovative building solutions through a system that is proven, efficient, and in demand. With this comes company-wide expansion that will allow Magest to take on a larger volume of projects. “This summer we will be adding a 45,000 square foot plant addition, which will give us more fabrication space. We are also looking into expanding what Magest offers as far as building materials, and that’s part of what the expansion will be used for.”

Of the industry as a whole and Magest’s place within it, Craig sees big opportunity in the increased demand for mid-rise, multi-story residential developments. “I find that multi-story residential is going to grow in smaller communities where they don’t want to expand out with single family homes and encroach on farmland. Smaller communities are now allowing developers to build vertically, to build up as opposed to out. Building 4 Story, 6 Story, 8 Story buildings is exactly what we focus on. I only see our workflow increasing.” With a high-quality system that champions innovation while staying within budget and on program, Magest is all set for a long future in an industry which values those things above all else.

In a 2023 roundup of the best places to retire in the U.S, Lancaster, PA was named number one, knocking the Sunshine State of Florida off its long-standing top spot. To the people of Lancaster who are involved in the development of senior living communities, this came as no surprise, as there are 18 life plan communities (formerly known as CCRC’s) in Lancaster County alone. In recent years, Lancaster County has upped its game significantly in the senior living space, providing residents with facilities that serve not only as homes, but as self-contained communities that offer an enriched living experience. This has created a time of abundance for companies that were already tapped into the senior living space.

One such company is CCS Building Group, a leading commercial design-build firm based in Willow Street, Pennsylvania, and one whose roots began in the senior living space. As Director of Development Ted Gallagher describes it, “CCS Building Group is committed to quality, excellence and creating buildings and spaces where communities thrive and prosper. We deliver creative and sustainable solutions to clients across various markets, such as senior living, retail, hospitality, multi-family and industrial. We change skylines and enhance communities with a proven track record of successful projects, consistently setting new benchmarks in our industry.”

But like all construction companies, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Ted reflects on the past few years which have been particularly turbulent for the construction industry. “The past few years have been unlike any since the inception of our firm. We dealt with shutdowns during the covid pandemic, material shortages, extreme cost increases on labor and materials, and found that this new age has brought with it a shortage of skilled labor. Because we are resilient, we have adapted and overcame these obstacles that otherwise would have stunted our growth. We continue to contract and partner with new clients while maintaining relationships with our existing client base.”

When it comes to navigating the industry during such times of turbulence, it helps to be able to deliver projects using the Design-Build approach. “We specialize in being a true design-build contractor,” says Ted, “where we contract with the architects and even the structural and civil engineers. This means the client only has one point of contact, which is our team, and they’re given a dedicated pre-construction manager to manage the entire pre-construction process. This initial phase of a project is usually the hardest part for the owner – when they’re trying to get a project off the ground. Once a client experiences our true design-build contract, they quickly appreciate how it provides them with more time in their day to focus on their own operations.”

“We specialize in being a true design-build contractor.”

Of the senior living market in Pennsylvania, Ted says that “it’s great for our industry, because there is such a draw for potential residents and there are many options with the number of unique senior living communities in Lancaster County and surround areas.” He talks about Willow Valley Communities and their award-winning buildings which are designed with the resident in mind. These buildings truly cater to the residents with top-of-the-line amenity spaces carefully constructed by CCS Building Group. The Manor Core project, for example, required reimagining an existing building as a dynamic and multifaceted space, in which enjoyment is safe, accessible, and shared by all. “This particular client constantly evaluates their buildings and renovates often to remain an industry leader”, Ted says. “They really maintain a fresh and modern look. But with this project, The Manor Core, they wanted to take it to a whole other level. We created a town center atmosphere, where the residents have multiple dining options and even have several bars they can visit to have a drink with a friend. There is a bakery, sandwich shop and other amenities such as gym and library. We created this core space so that residents can gather and entertain their friends and families in a warm and inviting space.”

Cohesion of social space and a celebration of community is what championed the Manor Core project, and this is reflected in the finished product. The renovation saw the building’s transition in a clever expansion that opened new opportunities without taking away from the reimaged outdoor courtyard space. What we see today at the Manor Core is a diverse offering of dining and leisure facilities that cater to a wide range of preferences. Take the aptly named ‘Perk & Pint’ which serves as a coffee hub by day and a lively bar by night, which exemplifies that clever and flexible use of space to align with the lifestyle needs of the residents. “The project involved a lot of structural steel work,” Ted says. “The entire core of the building was gutted from the slab to the roof. It was an existing three-story with multiple levels. All that was demolished and then put back with a changed roof line, everything’s fresh and new, from plumbing to HVAC.” The before and after pictures of the Manor Core project are impressive, and a tangible reflection of CCS Building Group’s work come to life.

The senior living market constitutes a significant portion of CCS Building Group’s portfolio and will remain a focal point given the strong demand for such developments in Pennsylvania. However, CCS is also witnessing growth in the retail, hospitality, and multifamily sectors. Ted explains, “Since our establishment in 2006, we’ve been recognized for our expertise in constructing and renovating senior living communities. Nevertheless, we’ve broadened our scope to include retail, hospitality, and restaurant ventures, with ongoing expansion in these areas. Additionally, we’ve entered into the multifamily sector, with several potential projects in our pipeline. This sector is thriving, particularly in Central Pennsylvania, where housing shortages are prevalent. Many developers are capitalizing on this demand, resulting in a surge of construction activity.”

This clever pivot, along with its continued involvement in senior living, is CCS Building Group’s recipe for success and longevity in the Pennsylvanian construction industry. “CCS has a strategic vision for sustained yet managed expansion,” Ted tells me. “We recognize the necessity of prudence in our growth given the scarcity of skilled construction professionals that are available.”

“In light of the volatile economy, rising interest rates, and increased material costs, we’re fortunate to maintain a robust backlog. This stability not only ensures our long-term presence for clients but also fosters confidence in our ability to weather market fluctuations. As we venture further into the multifamily and hospitality sectors, we’re dedicated to strengthening our relationships with existing clients while seeking new partnerships with Developers and other partners in the Mid-Atlantic region,” Ted said.

CCS’s meticulous attention to detail, utilization of the design-build process, and dedication to sustainable practices seems to set them apart in such a competitive market. “Our unwavering commitment remains steadfast- to provide our clients with an unmatched experience, cultivating loyalty that goes beyond individual projects,” Ted said.

A company built on good ethics above all else is a company of which you can be proud. This is the case for Heim Construction Co., Inc., a full-service General Contractor, Design Build and Construction Management firm based in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Today the story of Heim Construction comes right from the source, that is founder and President Roy Heim. The company was started by Heim back in the early nineties, and though it has evolved over the years in tandem with the construction industry, its core values remain the same today. “We incorporated in 1994 with approximately three employees at that time,” says Heim. “It’s sometimes a little seasonal, but we now have between 65 to 100 wonderful men and women employed with us today. One of the things that we believe contributes to our success is not only making sure we have good employees, but also training them and keeping our core values in place. We hire people with integrity and good ethics, and that keeps us moving forward in the right direction.”

Keeping core values in place is just one of the three keys to construction industry success that Heim candidly reveals throughout our conversation. Recognizing the importance of functionality before aesthetics and adopting a forward-focused mindset are the second two and third, and it is these three keys that capture the true essence of Heim Construction. But before we get into that, Heim talks me through the full range of services that Heim Construction offers to the Pennsylvanian construction market. The General Contracting side of the business sees Heim Construction delivering projects in the traditional way, which involves working with owners, architects, and engineers to get the job done. This involves first bidding on the project, reviewing specifications, and ultimately completing the work at their request.

Heim Construction’s long history of delivering projects through this method has resulted in repeat business and customer satisfaction, both of which contribute in no small part to its thirty years of continued success. Under its General Contracting title Heim Construction operates within the Commercial, Industrial, Institutional, Healthcare, Residential, Educational and Manufacturing sectors, delivering jobs big and small to the highest of standards. “We also have our transportation division where we do heavy highway work and public infrastructure,” Heim says. “We have worked in the past on bridges, dams, wastewater treatment plants. We do concrete slab replacement on roadways, we do a substantial amount of extruded concrete curbs, handicap ramps coupled with the associated sidewalk replacement. , some projects as a general contractor, some as a subcontractor.”

As part of its General Construction title Heim Construction also offers the more modern methods of project delivery that are growing in demand as the industry evolves. This includes, Construction Management, design build and interior design services. “For most of that work, if you’re looking at Construction Management, we would represent the owner,” he says. The Construction Management method of project delivery sees Heim Construction provide both pre-construction and construction phase services. “That includes research evaluations, land development assistance, zoning and building permitting, budget, estimating, RFP and RFQ services, and construction phase coordination and inspections.” Regardless of what shape the job takes in terms of the method through which it is delivered, service is always at the center. “Heim Construction is a service-oriented company,” Heim says, “so we understand whether we’re a general contractor and working for an owner, or we’re a subcontractor working for other general contractors, that service is key to our success.”

“Also key to Heim Construction’s success is its functionality before aesthetics approach, which is simple in theory yet often overlooked in practice.”

Also key to Heim Construction’s success is its functionality before aesthetics approach, which is simple in theory yet often overlooked in practice. A poorly constructed building may be one that is designed to achieve a desired visual appeal, but with less priority given to how it actually functions. This is not to say that buildings cannot be both functional in operation and aesthetically pleasing, in fact the opposite is true for many of Heim Construction’s award-winning projects that we go on to discuss, but Heim Construction only design buildings that look the part once they are satisfied first with both its functionality and practicality. “In the design build our goal first and foremost is to use the best space design for practicality,” Heim says. “Second, is the aesthetics. The number one thing has to be, does the space work and will our customer be able to use it properly? And then, how do we make the area look good after we know it’s going to work for the customer?” The end goal is to strike a balance between the two, ensuring that the building is both fit for its intended use, and easy on the eye.

Though there is no single key to unlock construction industry success, no one-size-fits-all that is guaranteed to yield positive results, a good place to start is a forward-focused mindset. That is, one that sees each new day as a fresh opportunity regardless of yesterday’s achievements. “I’m not big on goals or milestones,” Heim says. “My goal is to get through every single day and be the best we can be. That’s what we talk to our people about, not long-term goals and not big milestones.” To rely too heavily on past achievements when it comes to future success is, in Heim’s opinion, a step in the wrong direction. “There’s one fear in life and that’s becoming content, because the minute you become too content is the minute you start going backwards.” Perhaps this mindset comes with over thirty years’ experience in an industry that does not stand still.

Heim talks about some of the company’s recently completed projects, many of which are award-winning. Though he believes that such achievements are not to be focused on as the measure of Heim Construction’s success, they do give us an insight into the company’s high standards, and therefore cannot go unmentioned in the Heim Construction story. “There’s the 90,000 square foot new addition and renovation of the corporate offices at Empire Beauty School,” Heim says, “and the 88,500 square foot, five-story academic building for the Westchester University Business School.” The third project Heim highlights is a two and a half story, 250-space car parking garage along with a 45,000 square foot Regional Traffic Management Centre (RTMC) and Parking Garage in King of Prussia, PA. “That was a Class 4 building, meaning that it was designed to withstand all kinds of environmental elements, hurricanes and so on.”

Class 4 buildings are constructed using durable building methods, for example with non-combustible materials, and are naturally growing in demand as the climate crisis grows in urgency. “The project was the first Design Build done in the State of Pennsylvania with the PA Department of General Services (DGS) and the PA Department of Transportation (PennDOT) as partners,” he tells me. “We were picked as the contractor through a Request for Proposal (RFP). There were two sections to that proposal, one technical and the other monetary, which was a bid. The Department of General Services and PennDOT took all the bids and reviewed the technical section first, and then opened up the low bids, and we were fortunate enough to be awarded the project.” While price is always a factor when awarding jobs through this method, RFPs often allow companies the opportunity to take a quality-first approach and win on that basis instead. “The Design Build team we put together is partly how we got that project. We went for quality versus pricing and made sure we had the best team we could have.”

That team included Schrader Group Architecture, Philadelphia, PA. ,Benesch Engineers out of Allentown PA, and Vistacom Technology Consultants, also out of Allentown. Also on the job was Revision Architecture, Philadelphia, Pa.as LEED Consultants. That is Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED), which is the world’s most widely used green building rating system. Together they designed and built a highly efficient Regional Transportation Management Center that is fully equipped, through the implementation of innovative technology, to monitor, manage, and improve the flow of state-wide traffic. “From the very first day our job was to start the design and work with two of the owner’s reps, which were Jacobs Engineering representing PennDOT and Urban Engineering representing the Department of General Services. It was a three-year project, completed on time and under budget, which is something to be said in in our industry today. It was done during the COVID period when there were major shutdowns throughout the state of Pennsylvania as well as major price increases and lack of supplies and material. That makes it a little bit more special in our opinion. Our team and our subcontractors did a wonderful job in making sure everything was procured properly and done correctly. The building is LEED Certified, functional, and is in our opinion one of the best Department of Transport owed buildings in Pennsylvania today.”

But it is not only Heim and the team at Heim Construction that hold this project in such high regard. The project went on to win an ABC Excellence in Construction Award for Institutional Project in the $10 Million & Up category, which honors the region’s most inventive and well-constructed buildings16. I ask Heim about his future outlook for the company, and he answers with the same forward-focused mindset that has guided our conversation thus far. “I believe there’s definitely a future in Pennsylvania infrastructure,” he says, “which is where we work 99% of the time. Pennsylvania is very low on the scale in terms of quality of infrastructure, so we have a major investment through the federal government and the state government, and that in my opinion will continue for the next 20 years. It’s going to have to in order for Pennsylvania to get back to where they need to be. So, infrastructure wise we see growth and we see continuous work on the general construction side. We do a lot of healthcare work and that’s very prominent. The commercial market is going to be economy based and right now that has slowed down a little bit, but I do see a future enhancement as we go forward, and I think it will grow eventually.”

But in the background of all these industry changes that fluctuate in line with state budgets and construction trends, the team at Heim Construction will continue to take each day as it comes and strive to be the best that they can be. That is the key to unlocking thirty more years of construction industry success.

Professional Excavators is a mid-sized construction company operating in the greater Calgary area since 1975. Its main line of work is on large tower building developments and earthworks projects in downtown Calgary. The mid-nineties saw this work expand into sewer and water work as well as concrete and asphalt paving, but always at the core of the company, if you can forgive the pun, is earthworks. It is this side of the business that remains consistent as Professional Excavators adapts, as construction companies must do, along with changing market trends. “Over the past ten years we’ve come in and out of the marketplace through those avenues,” says President Darryl Conroy, “always settling back in with the earthworks side of the business. In the past two to three years the underground side has taken more of a predominant role, not only within the company, but also within the market in the greater Calgary area.”

The ever-evolving Calgary market is a driving force behind my conversation with Conroy, who understands from twenty-seven years in the industry that it is the market that ultimately calls the shots. “So, we keep on diversifying that way,” Conroy says. “And in terms of where the market is in Calgary, it’s very buoyant. There’s lots of opportunity. Net migration is driving single family residential sales and multifamily sales. There’s new tech business filling the shoes of previous oil and gas sector companies that might have been here, or that have adjusted because of the marketplace they’re in. It’s a good time to be at Professional, it’s a good time to be a part of the team, and it’s a good time to take a good look at where our avenues of business are moving forward.”

Construction industry success does not come without a market that fosters it, and so Professional Excavators has the Calgary marketplace to thank for a lot of its achievements over its life to date. But a thriving marketplace teeming with opportunity does not in itself propagate success. There is work to be done on the company’s part to take that opportunity and run with it. Professional Excavators today comes with almost five decades’ experience of doing just that, while establishing that all-important balance between dreaming big and being realistic. For Professional Excavators that means understanding that the market can only be controlled so much, and as a company you must prepare to ride the wave. “One of the things about Calgary is that the market is very volatile,” Conroy says. “When it’s high it’s high, and then it comes down and it’s almost like a reset. It’s like you’re riding a wave and then it crashes, so you could say we’re cautious. We recognize the market that we’re in and we are strategic. We’re not just about roses and sunshine.”

Patterns of net migration are sweeping the greater Calgary area, and this particular market trend continues to have a direct and positive impact on Professional Excavators. This is evident in some of the multifamily developments that the company is involved in. “We’re doing 2 projects for Truman, a multifamily builder in the Greater Calgary area. They’re taking great strides and making sure that their product gets to market in some of the brownfield areas in Calgary. We’re doing primarily earthworks, with some underground concrete and asphalt to come in the spring of 2024.”

Then there’s East Hills, a multifamily development located off 17th Avenue and Stoney Trail in the southeast part of Calgary, and a project for which Professional Excavators provided earthworks and underground services. The project included the installation of a stormceptor system, which is a treatment system that effectively removes pollutants from stormwater and snowmelt runoff. This is just one of the many environmental solutions that Professional Excavators offers to manage its clients and its own environmental impacts. The East Hills project was for Minto Developments and Unitii, a multifamily builder in the greater Calgary area. “It’s a relationship that we’re looking to grow and embrace with all levels of our business. A good relationship with the Minto Unitii team when it comes to competitive pricing, timely construction schedules, and how that aligns with their business from a from a field and operations perspective. It’s just under $700,000 worth of work for us,” Conroy says, “and it all-encompasses everything that we do internally. It was a four-and-a-half-week program in 2023, and with the economy the way it is there’s going to be future opportunities up in Airdrie and all the inner-city lands in the greater Calgary area. That’s what we’re focusing on going into 2024.”

“Always in the background of the work that Professional Excavators does is both environmental solutions and community engagement.”

Another project that highlights Professional Excavators’ strengths as a company is the Calgary Zoo. “We were working as a subtrade to Chandos Construction, who are the General Contractor on site. The structure of the contract is called IPD, which is a performance-based construction process where all the subtrades at every layer of the project come together, have very transparent meetings, talk about changes, cost controls and schedules, to make sure that they deliver the most cost effective, efficient project on behalf of the client. The Polar bear exhibit was the kind of mainstay of the project, and that’s what we call the Canadian Shield portion of the zoo.” The project saw huge volumes of dirt moved and pipe installed, and included earthworks, underground concrete, and asphalt paving. “And of course, being a zoo, it’s a very high-profile project. Very detailed. It was important that the project was delivered on a scheduled basis with the expected arrival of the polar bears. It went through the winter of 2022 to 2023, making sure that we kept our schedule and our commitments as per the contract and as per the group.”

As I speak with Conroy I reminisce on my own travels to Alberta, in particular the Highway 93 route between Banff and Jasper, which is accessible via Calgary. He tells me that such attractions are part of why business in Calgary is where it is. “It’s because of those offsite attractions,” he says. “In my opinion if we were to ever adopt a European style of transport to and from those destinations, if we had the ability to move people in that way, Calgary would be world class. Right now, it’s still quite a challenge.” A challenge, perhaps, that will in time become an opportunity for companies such as Professional Excavators, who Conroy describes as “a team with a lot of strength when it comes to tenure, and with a good history in the Greater Calgary market.” Speaking of opportunity, Conroy tells me about Professional Excavator’s recent move to Java Group which places them under the umbrella of Java Holdings alongside seven subsidiaries. “It’s a great opportunity to reintroduce ourselves to the Calgary market. As part of that we’ll be updating our website, talking about all of our projects, and just doing a good refresh of everything we do. With the Java Group coming on board, it’s opened up a new avenue of business on the power transmission side of the of the industry, which we’ve never dabbled in before. Where we see Professional today may drastically change again with the Java Group. The overall arching umbrella for our seven subsidiaries, that’s going to be a big opportunity for growth and expansion. It’s a new lens, and as the market allows, we will grow in accordance with it.”

Always in the background of the work that Professional Excavators does is both environmental solutions and community engagement. It specializes in evaluating and monitoring potential environmental risks, maintaining environmental awareness, and pollution prevention, while also offering services such as remediation, recycling, haulage, and disposal. As Conroy says, “environmental solutions are all-encompassing in all of the business units we have.” As for community engagement, this comes in many forms such as local charity donations like the CJAY92 Secret Wish. “Involvement with the community comes from every single team member, top to bottom and across all divisions of our business. We are a part of our community’s development, part of the establishment of it, and so we feel it’s our duty to give back support by donating our time, equipment and tools when required.”

For Professional Excavators, the plans for future prosperity in the Calgary market are very clear. “We want to make sure that we find partnerships that are long term invested, not only in Professional Excavators but in the greater Calgary market, and we reciprocate that back to them. We’re focused on making sure there’s a great level of trust and transparency, so when our field team goes out and performs the work, we are adding value. We have great relationships with our stakeholders, vendors, and suppliers and that’s what’s going to allow us to take further steps in the future, to grow in different marketplaces and make sure we’re competitive. We want to have the highest quality and the safest work procedures in the industry, and to push ourselves to be leaders in the marketplace regardless of where we are or what we’re doing. This is what will allow Professional to take the next steps for the next fifty years in the Calgary market.”

In a post-pandemic North America, there are two things we know to be in abundance; a pipeline of construction work and a bright and promising young generation. The two are not only necessary ingredients for a positive future for the built environment, but a clear pathway that leads one to the other is very much needed. In California and Nevada, and in the case of precast and prestressed concrete, PCI West is that pathway. A regional chapter of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI), PCI West is a non-profit organization that is committed to promoting the value and quality of precast and prestressed concrete through California and Nevada. PCI West represents 15 producer members (20 plants) and 30 associate member companies, to whom it provides funding, technical resources, a certification program for fabrication, and perhaps most significantly, continuous education. It is PCI West’s commitment to education that provides North America’s next generation of Architects, Engineers, and Construction workers with a direct pathway to a successful career in the precast/prestressed concrete industry.

Behind PCI West’s mission to advance the design, manufacture and use of precast and prestressed concrete products throughout the region, is Executive Director and licensed Civil Engineer, Ruth Lehmann. Lehmann comes with a background in architecture and engineering, and is therefore well equipped to guide both disciplines towards industry success. Precast and prestressed concrete continues to trend upwards in popularity as a building solution of choice in North America, and career opportunities trend upwards along with it. The promotion of this message throughout California and Nevada is at the core of PCI West’s mission. “PCI West is about promoting and educating our architectural, engineering and construction community on precast and prestressed concrete products,” says Lehmann. “That includes reaching out to university students in university programs to inform how they might add precast and prestressed concrete design solutions to their professional tool belt.”

To understand the importance of educating the next generation on precast and prestressed concrete, we must first understand the ever-changing demands of the construction industry and the place of precast and prestressed concrete within it. Accelerated Bridge Construction, for example, is a major market trend and growth opportunity for the industry. “The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is very much about accelerated bridge construction,” Lehmann says, “and the Department of Transportation here has told us that they want to see 30% of bridge construction or bridge projects to be accelerated bridge construction.” I ask her where PCI West fits into all of this, and she says that there is a lot of motivation to build quickly, efficiently, and safely. “Because PCI West producers are producing bridge girders, columns and other elements for bridges that are cast off-site, we have an opportunity to deliver them when needed and potentially accelerate the project schedule.” With bridge construction booming, California is motivated to really invest in the improvement of state infrastructure, which means funding is available once you know how to secure it. That’s where PCI West plays a part. “We have the State of California “1B” funding and many sources of transportation funding at our ports and on the county level, not to mention federal funding that is available for transportation.”

Also trending upwards in the industry is the demand for structurally secure and environmentally sound buildings that are climate-ready. That is, buildings and structures that will not crumble under the pressure of the climate emergency. The role of precast and prestressed concrete in this instance is obvious, given that it can have two to three times the compressive strength of regular concrete. “With precast and prestressed concrete, we can create environmentally sound skins for buildings, if you will. Whether it’s moisture infiltration or air temperature infiltration of the building envelope, we have great opportunities in the cladding market to create solid, secure building systems, and our industry is responding to that. We’re also looking at many different ways to improve our systems in terms of global warming potential,” Lehmann says, giving the example of Portland Limestone (PLC), a blended cement with a higher limestone content that performs the same while reducing the carbon footprint by an average of 10%. “We also try to encourage that our member plants are using renewable energy resources such as wind or solar, which helps us be good stewards of our environment. This is a huge growth area, that we take very seriously and want to be part of our community’s solution to combat global warming.”

“Although we have many things that we do at PCI West, working with students and educating the next generation is probably what my members are most passionate about.”

When Lehmann joined PCI West seven years ago, she recalls an industry-wide buzz around the value of establishing connections with universities, working with students one to one, having them visit precast plants and getting them more involved in the design of precast and prestressed concrete. “And so, we embarked on a journey to develop design studios,” Lehmann says. “We have one at USC School of Architecture which we are continuing with, and we have a long-time studio at Cal Poly Pomona Architecture Department which is a one semester class.” What’s interesting about the Cal Poly Pomona studio is its recent partnership with the University of Hawaii, Manoa, which was born out of a joint research venture on the potential of precast and prestressed concrete to withstand natural disasters. “The students started off looking at tsunamis, the risk for which is heightened in Hawaii but also a problem in California. They’re also looking at other natural disasters, like the wildfires we experience in California and that which were recently experienced in Maui. So, the students from the two campuses have differences and commonalities, and we have them working on a studio together using remote technology.”

Lehmann works alongside many industry professionals with interested in the future of the precast and prestressed concrete industry, including Architects, Engineers, and Professors. “PCI West dedicates over $30,000 annually toward the development of studios and educational interactions with the students,” Lehmann says. “Although we have many things that we do at PCI West, working with students and educating the next generation is probably what my members are most passionate about.” Handpicked by Lehmann because of their commitment to educating the future generation are Brent Koch, Eric Matsumoto, and Doug Noble, all of whom contribute to PCI West’s mission in a significant way.

Brent Koch is licensed California Civil Engineer and the Chief Engineer of Con-Fab California LLC, one of PCI West’s producers. Brent also serves on PCI’s parent board of directors on behalf of PCI West, as well as taking an active role in working with universities. One of the newer studios that has been developed since Lehmann came on board is a bridge design studio at Sacramento State. The Precast Bridge Studio is being operated under a grant from the national PCI Foundation, and with funding directly from PCI West. Brent, a strong supporter of the studio, tells me about the semester-long intensive program. “It’s a combination of mostly civil engineering students and construction management students,” Brent says. “Incredible entors from the bridge design world and Caltrans work with the students over the course of the term to design their project to establish a budget and prepare a construction schedule. Design software is available to them, and they are trained how to use it by one of the authors.”

After lectures and demonstrations, students are given precast plant and jobsite tours to deepen their understanding of the design, plant fabrication and jobsite construction processes as well as their inter-relationships. “This program is a comprehensive immersive experience where the students plan and design real-world bridge structures utilizing precast prestressed concrete members,” Koch says, “then they visit our production facility where they can see first-hand how precast is fabricated, and finally we tour a jobsite to observe and discuss the nuances of precast girder transportation and installation.” Doctor Eric Matsumoto is a Professor of Structural Engineering at Sacramento State University in the Civil Engineering department, and he matches Brent’s enthusiasm when he chimes in on the bridge studio. “It’s the first program in the country that prepares civil engineering and construction manager students in bridge design and construction to collaborate under direct industry mentorship. It’s a rare and very challenging task for undergraduate students to actually design a multi-span precast prestressed bridge and perform the preconstruction services. PCI West has supported us in multiple ways to provide this immersive industry experience. Our students not only achieve in the classroom, but interact with industry in the classroom, on plants tours, and through the entire mentorship process. Then they’ll get job offers, some of them directly with the precast industry, but the majority in the transportation industry based on their knowledge of precast/prestressed concrete.” PCI West’s approach to education is all about this immersive learning experience that is evident in the studios that they operate. “You only get truly educated and become the industry’s next generation by hands-on experiences,” Matsumoto says.

From a yearly convention where organization members showcase their tools and equipment, to an intense 2-day multi-disciplinary design competition called Project Precast, PCI West’s reach in terms of education spans way beyond the classroom. “With the assistance of professors, PCI West sends an army of students to national and regional precast meetings, especially the PCI National Convention,” Matsumoto adds. “And this, in a sense, seals the deal for them, because they start to see the many industry members, including legends, at work in both formal technical sessions and social events, and they think “This is cool, I want to get involved.” Matsumoto also talks of midnight field trips where students observe the installation of girders on bridges. “It’s an unveiling experience for them when they get to see it up close. We’re not only educating them in a theoretical way, we’re combining their theoretical understanding with this practical industry understanding and experience.”

Doug Noble, Architect and USC Professor, reflects on a particular project out in Joshua Tree which was made with precast concrete by USC students. “The project is called Carapace, like the shell of a turtle. It’s a full-size project we did out in Joshua Tree National Park, which is a little bit inland in California, just north of Palm Springs. We did this ultra-high-performance concrete, we had 36 or 37 really challenging goals that we set for ourselves and we installed it last year. It has now won six major awards.” Work continues out in Joshua Tree for Doug and the team, in the form of a new project making tiny homes for rangers. “We call them pocket lodges. Tiny homes that can be prefabricated offsite out of precast concrete. These are for seasonal Park Rangers, like college students. They get 250 square feet, so a super tiny home. That project got underway about a year ago and were making progress with it.”

The success of PCI West and its pioneering approach to educating the next generation is powered first and foremost by equal engagement from students, educators, and the PCI Foundation, all of whom share a passion for the precast and prestressed concrete industry and a drive to succeed within it. “PCI West brings together many disciplines that otherwise would not collaborate,” says Matsumoto, “and so it’s become a real synergy. This is a real unique aspect of what PCI West has been able to spearhead.” This unique connection between different disciplines is evident even in the small sample of PCI West members that join me today. You’ve got Eric Matsumoto, professor and Civil Engineer, Brent, one of the many fabricators, and Doug, representing the Architecture side of things. Each have their own unique working relationship with the foundation and with each other, with PCI West as the common ground and Lehmann leading the charge. Ruth Lehmann, as Noble describes her, is an incredible source of knowledge who takes an active role in the activities and projects of PCI West’s members. “And she is there for everything no matter what we’re doing or how far she has to travel,” he says, backing up Matsumoto’s and Koch’s statements about the indispensable support that comes from PCI West.

Before providing some final reflections on PCI West, Matsumoto tells me that he could talk all day about the stories of success, collaboration, and inspiration that he has experienced throughout his involvement with the non-profit organization. “There’s a spark there,” he says. “They provide resources, they provide connections between students and industry, because there’s a big shortage of bridge engineers, especially ones who are trained and who have knowledge coming into the office. I recently spoke with AASHTO, the American Association for State Highway Transportation Officials, which is the transportation representatives for the whole country. One of the high-level Department of Transportation bridge engineers said that the whole industry needs more students like what we’re developing. And he asked, is there a way we can extend what you’re doing at Sacramento State University to a national model? It’s a major discussion about the next generation, and PCI West has supported our grant to get the funding for it.” It seems there is industry-wide appetite for PCI West’s education model to grow and expand, in the interest of educating the next generation and inspiring a bright future for the precast and prestressed concrete industry.

Dan Schmidt started to think differently about lighting after a relamping job he completed for regional retailer Meijer back in 1997. There were almost ten thousand light bulbs in that one store, all of which needed to be replaced from time to time in the same way that the bulbs in our homes do. North America is flooded with retail units with similar lightbulb footprints, and in this Schmidt spotted an opportunity. He quit his job to commit fully to his mission, which was to light up the Midwest, one retail store at a time. “I started out just changing light bulbs for Meijer and then they added service work into it for interior and exterior lighting services,” says Schmidt, CEO of Reliable Relamping. Soon he had taken over their whole chain and, under the Reliable Relamping name, set out to grow their other national accounts.

In the case of Reliable Relamping, business expansion came organically as a result of a job well done. “Work expanded out of just lighting into full electrical services and anything that a facility needs from a repair standpoint,” Schmidt tells me. “We do repair calls for a number of clients, with over thirteen hundred locations that we’re servicing in twelve States. Anything from the utility all the way into the light bulb, we’re dispatching the team to repair it. If a retailer is going to add new outlets, new services, or do a new display that needs power, they’ll send work orders through us for those as well.” To its valued network of clients, Reliable Relamping is a go-to for on-demand lighting services, scheduled maintenance programs and lighting inspections, all of which are critical in keeping stores lit, which is to keep them operational. “We primarily focus on retail based on how we started with a major retailer, but we’ve also done industrial, medical, hospitality, warehousing – pretty much all sectors. If you’ve got lighting and you’ve got electrical needs, it’s something that that we do.” It has also done some work with Arc Flash Analysis, an engineered incident energy analysis that establishes a safety protocol for staff exposed to heat, light, and blast associated with an arc flash incident.

This service work has naturally evolved along with changing industry demands, particularly in recent years around the global push for sustainability. Retrofitting conventional lighting systems with LEDs can significantly reduce energy consumption, and as a result energy retrofit initiatives have become a big part of Reliable Relamping’s business today. “We’ve completed thousands and thousands of retrofit projects saving millions of kilowatt hours from the energy consumption from our customers,” Schmidt tells me. “We do retrofits across the country for companies like Party City and Foot Locker. A lot of the retrofit projects have come in phases where they may have started with the sales floor only and then later added the rest of the store, whether it’s the offices in the stock room or the exterior. We’ve been to so many of these locations multiple times because they often focus on the customer experience first. It’s kind of interesting to be involved with the projects as the technologies evolve.”

Well established now in the industry, Reliable Relamping has completed some major national rollouts for customers across the country. “One of our recent ones that we are just wrapping up now is 380 locations for Lowe’s stores from California to Delaware. It was a pretty big initiative with that geographic spread. Because of the number of locations there were challenges with the different municipalities, licensing and permitting and those types of challenges. We’ve done a super-center chain who wanted to have their refrigerated fresh pet food displays on their end caps, and we had to add outlets for that. We had one big electrical roll out project for another retailer who wanted to add a bunch of refrigerated coolers closer to their front doors for online grocery orders.” Reliable Relamping rolled this out across 270 stores in just over a month, catering for the growing demand for e-commerce in this post-pandemic and digitally aware society.

“Reliable Relamping also provides a 24/7 emergency response service.”

What may not be seen on the surface of these projects and in the day-to-day customer experience in these stores, is the important work that Reliable Relamping does behind the scenes to keep essential services up and running. “One of the larger things we’ve been doing for the last few years is replacing the standby generators for Home Depot. In most cases we’re increasing the size of the generator and adding different services, which basically requires us to rework the electrical system. We’re doing our own concrete for the generator pad, new fencing, a kind of complete construction project with us as far as a lot of that goes. Part of the reason stores like Home Depot are expanding their services is because they’re kind of a forward base during natural disasters,” Schmidt says. “Like when a hurricane comes through and wipes out entire communities, Home Depot and Lowe’s are often the first stop for many of the residents of the community to come and try to get the hardware and tools they need to put their homes and lives back together. Our services allow them to have better systems that are up and running, as well as keeping their forklifts charged, keeping their store lit safely, adding their paint desks so that they are able to produce paint. Having their store fully operational even in a time of disaster, so that the communities can rely on them to be there for them.”

Reliable Relamping also provides a 24/7 emergency response service, which includes connecting standby generators during power outages to keep its customers operational and prevent a loss of product. By its very nature, Reliable Relamping is a company that essential services can rely on. “One of the Generator projects that we did recently was for a senior care facility,” Schmidt tells me, providing another example of the essential services that form part of the Reliable Relamping portfolio. “We were approached kind of late in the game to replace their generator because there’s some new regulations that require care facilities to have a GCC Generator Connection Cabinet. This means that if their standby generator goes down, they’re back online much quicker with power by having portable generators brought in that can plug into their electrical system.” Reliable Relamping was able to come in on relatively short notice and get the replacement done in time. This allowed the client to maintain its federal funding and its ability to continue with its Medicare patients, which it had been at risk of losing.

“Another major project we’ve been working on is complete upgrades to parking lot lighting, not just new LED fixtures but also the replacement of light poles and concrete bases as they reach their end of useful life. In some instances, we changed the layouts significantly and had to add new pole locations, underground circuiting, and directional boring.” As Schmidt takes me through these projects and services, it’s evident that Reliable Relamping is much more than a lighting contractor. “We’re way past due for a rebranding because the relamping name kind of pigeonholes us into just being a lighting contractor,” he says. “There’s a lot of focus for us on the electrical side of it now, which we’ve been doing for a long time. We’ve got a big emphasis on generator projects, Electric Vehicle charging, remodels. We’re working on increasing that scope and trying to focus on that. A rebranding will allow us to really encompass that electrical side of our business as well.”

Reliable Relamping’s commitment to customer service is evident in its long-term relationships, and as Schmidt tells me, it all started with Meijer. “We’re still a vendor and a value-added partner with them. I had a conference call with them today about updating their produce spotlighting. I also suggested some possible projects to protect their investments in their LED lighting by adding transient Volt surge suppressors to their electrical panels.” This partnership alone represents Reliable Relamping’s journey from that first relamping job back in the nineties, to providing it with a wide range of LED lighting and electrical services today. “So, we’re twenty-seven years with Meyer, and we’ve been with Home Depot since 2001. Having those long-term relationships says a lot about our approach to customer service and our commitment to doing what’s right for the customer. And being a valued partner for them for such long periods of time – that’s a kind of a desirable position to be in.”

With thousands of projects on the go for customers nationwide, Reliable Relamping is investing in technology that will allow it to maintain the high-quality service efficiency its customers have come to rely on it for. “We do over 15,000 service work orders annually, so we’re implementing some new work order management software to help us with our dispatching. The industry is all about service level agreements and SLA requirements. Accept the work order within such a time, dispatch the work order by such a time, turn your quotes around, turn your invoice around. Because of the remote nature of facility departments and all these multi-site locations, they really rely on the metrics from these work order management portals to provide a scorecard on your services.” This scorecard is ultimately how efficiencies are measured against expectations, and the investment in this software is a commitment to maintaining these service level agreements as demand increases. “The new software will allow us to automate some processes and turn things around faster, helping us support our customers’ technology initiatives.”

Reliable Relamping has its sights set on future expansion, with plans to embrace growth opportunities as they present themselves. “I think we’ve probably worked in every state by now, self-performing in a lot of them, but we’re always looking to increase our geographic footprint for our self-performing and service territory. We currently have employees in the major markets throughout twelve States and we’re on the lookout for opportunities to expand beyond those. We’ve got employees based out of Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, and some other project teams out of Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee.” Reliable Relamping’s footprint continues to spread across the nation, lighting the way to a bright future in the electrical contracting industry. “We’ve got a great team of people and a long tenure,” Schmidt says. “We’re very thankful for our organization and the people we have here that are committed to our mission. Our motto is to ‘do what’s right for the customer.’ We try to live and breathe that.”

From its 95,000 square foot plant in Davison, Michigan, Bristol Steel & Conveyor Corp has been providing structural steel solutions to the surrounding area since 1979. Davison is located within the environs of Detroit, the Automobile Capital of the World, and so it makes sense that automotive industrial work is, as Estimate & Sales Manager Matt Payne says, “our bread and butter.” Owned and operated by Ray Oliver, Bristol Steel is fully equipped to deliver large, labor-intensive projects that are anywhere up to 10,000 tons in scale. However, as Payne explains, they are more than just an automotive company.
“We’re starting to do a lot more commercial and institutional work. We are currently expanding the company’s capabilities as far as fabrication goes. We have recently purchased two new beam lines for our fabrication shop and put on a 200- foot addition to our plant.”

Payne joins me to talk about where the company now sits after almost 45 years in business, but also about where it all began. The company was started he says, by current Chairman, Ray Oliver. “A journeyman and an ironworker, Ray Oliver got into the trade industry in the sixties where he started working in automotive plants. He was somebody who saw an opportunity and took it,” says Payne. The opportunity he speaks of is the exponential growth of the Automotive Industry in Flint, Michigan back in the seventies and eighties. This boom allowed Oliver to not only start his own company but to set it up for success long into the future. “Here in Davison, we’re about fifteen miles from Flint, and that’s where the opportunity really presented itself. There was a lot of work taking place in the area back then. In the mid to late seventies Ray saw the opportunity to open his own fabrication and erection company, and in 1979 that’s what he did.” Propelled forward by hard work and an ability to spot an opportunity and run with it, Oliver evolved from tradesperson to owner of a company that remains viable and profitable today.

“You go where the work is and where the market takes you.” For Bristol Steel, this was evident back in the seventies during the growth of the automotive industry in the same way that it is now with the rise of the Electrical Vehicle. “These EV plants are really creating a boom for our sector,” Payne explains. He gives the example of the BlueOval City in Kentucky which is an automotive assembly complex that will be operated by Ford Motor Company and SK Innovation. “The Blue Oval project was about a 40- 42-hundred-ton project,” he says. “It’s a single-story truss and column manufacturing plant addition for the battery buildup of the building.”

Bristol Steel’s involvement in the BlueOval project, which aims to reimagine how electric vehicles and batteries are designed, built, and recycled, places the company as a significant element of the electric revolution. “It’s all local contractors managing these facilities,” Payne says. “These are $6 billion campuses that go on for six square miles. We already have relationships with these contractors and are in a position where we have been working with some of them for 25 years. So, we’re going to be employing anywhere between 5 to 6000 people at these plants, on these campuses. Sometimes business is about being in the right place at the right time.”

“We are a turnkey company when it comes to fabrication and erection of structural miscellaneous steel.”

Since the beginning, Bristol Steel has evolved. This ability to diversify, develop, and pivot when required has transformed Bristol Steel into a company that, as Payne says, is “one stop shopping when it comes to steel fabrication and erection.” Over the years it has become one of the largest steel fabricators in the state of Michigan, employing about 50 to 60 people in office and about 70 people in fabrication facilities, depending on the workload at a given time. “We are a turnkey company when it comes to fabrication and erection of structural miscellaneous steel. And like I said, we’ll do projects up to 10,000 tons in size, whether it be industrial, commercial, institutional, all types of the industry work.” Payne takes me through the three different divisions that form the building blocks of Bristol Steel.

“So, we have our Bristol Steel division, which is our fabrication and erection facility where we fabricate structural miscellaneous steel.” This division, known as Bristol Steel & Conveyor Corporation, consists of Fabricators and Erectors of small to mega sized structural steel projects, with an organic fabrication capacity in excess of 1500 ton per month. “We have our manufacturing division which fabricates “Rigger Special” high lows, which are specialized rigging equipment that are used all over the country. They’re heavy-duty fork trucks with all types of different weight capacities, and they’re used in the plants for rigging equipment, tooling, things like that.” The Bristol Manufacturing division provides a flexible service by which clients can choose from standardized products or custom designed units tailored to fit individual applications.

Finally, there is Bristol Steel Equipment Rental, which boasts the largest selection of cranes, forklifts, vertical manlifts and specialized heavy lift apparatuses in the mid-west. “We have an extensive array of cranes and all kinds of equipment at our plant that we subcontract rent out to clients all over the country,” says Payne. “And we also do our own trucking, mostly in state, some out-of-state.”

Each of these three divisions is experiencing growth in tandem with the growth of the structural steel industry as a whole, and as business expands rapidly it is important to understand how quality is maintained across the board. “We are an AISC Certified Fabricator and Erector,” Payne says proudly, speaking of the American governing body of the steel industry. “We have high quality standards that we have to maintain, and we get audited every year. A lot of our projects now require these certifications and we have been certified for the past 10 years. Quality standards are high, especially in the automotive industry. They want the best of the best, right?”

Speaking of its commitment to quality service, Payne tells me about some of the high-class projects Bristol Steel has worked on over the years. “We like larger projects, obviously. We don’t want to do 50 jobs a year to do 30 million. We want to do 10 jobs a year to do 30 million. We want quality, not necessarily quantity, and we don’t aspire to make our profit up on volume.” Bristol Steel ensures that at each phase of fabrication there’s a dedicated full-time Quality Control Person that reports directly to each shop Manager, checking that each piece of steel is dimensionally correct with the appropriate finish. Another method by which high quality is upheld is through Chairman Ray Oliver, who continues to play a significant role in the day-to-day running of the business. One of the keys to success, Payne believes.

“A job we’ve done recently is the Ford Rouge project down in Dearborn, MI on the main plant, which is where everything started for Henry Ford. That’s a turnkey plant where they started building up Model T’s back in the early 1900s. They had a waterway that ran through that plant there, the freighters would come through and dump raw materials right there. Ford would process them on his own at his own smelting, he did everything there start to finish back in the early days.” In this way, Bristol Steel has been connected to the Michigan automotive industry throughout the entirety of its lifecycle, from Henry Ford’s beginnings at Ford Rouge to the introduction, and no doubt imminent takeover, of the electric vehicle. “We’re doing a multi-story building in Lansing, Michigan, a testing facility for Neogen Corporation. We’re in the field right now erecting that job out. We’ve done a lot of University of Michigan work including new structures like Ross School of Business down at the U of M campus in Ann Arbor. We’ve also done joist and deck work for Toyota. Whatever our clients want or need, that’s what we do. We really don’t have any limitations.”

Bristol Steel has its eyes firmly set on expansion, and that includes not only in its square footage, but also its equipment and their facilities. “Our new equipment is going to make us 30-40% more efficient, and in turn our ability to take on more work is expanded by 30-40% too.” With the Electric Vehicle acting as a catalyst for a fresh boom in the automotive industry, the company sees no signs of slowing down on that front. Still though, it also plans to build on new relationships in different markets including commercial and industrial. As Payne explains, there is no limit to the smart building solutions that steel, and in particular Bristol Steel, can provide. “You’ve got to grow. You’ve got to adapt. You’ve got to expand your sales and your philosophies all the time,” he says. This is a philosophy in and of itself, and a pathway to success, innovation, and longevity in the industry. “We’ve been around for almost 45 years, and I don’t see anything stopping us from being around for another 45.”

Every day, products are transported all over the globe from warehouse to shipping container to delivery van, and then carried around the country in pursuit of their final destination. More often than not, they arrive at their endpoint in the same perfect condition they left the warehouse in. This is not a result of the product’s own ability to endure these journeys unscathed, but rather of the packaging that protects it at every twist and turn along the way. Protective is a key word in Alleguard’s story and one that extends beyond its high-quality protective packaging solutions. “We’re protecting products, we’re protecting people, and we’re protecting the earth through sustainability,” says Laura Catalan, Alleguard’s Director of Marketing.

Alleguard’s name is a combination of Allegiance – that is to its employees, companies, and suppliers – and Guarding, or protecting, which is at the root of its offering. “Whether it be a refrigerator being shipped, a life-saving vaccine, or a home from a hurricane, our products can bring a sense of security that other products can’t provide.” Alleguard is the result of an ongoing rebrand which sees the amalgamation of six legacy companies, each leading manufacturers in their respective industries, under one umbrella and in the name of collective success. “All the legacy companies bring in different aspects of the business,” says Catalan, “giving Alleguard a combined 60-year company history that has allowed us to penetrate new market segments and expand our footprint.” A market leader in the engineering, delivery, and service of foam solutions, Alleguard covers three major product categories for North America: Construction, Protective Packaging, and Cold-Chain. “We can really produce any type of custom foam product to suit our customer’s needs,” Catalan says, before taking me through the three product categories that form Alleguard’s portfolio.

“For construction products we serve multiple applications offering a complete building envelope for residential and commercial,” she says. “That includes wall installation, roofing installation, radiant floor heating and insulated concrete forms.” Alleguard’s EPS construction products are cost efficient in their ability to speed up installation time and reducing the total cost of install. The end-product provides superior moisture control and long-term R-value retention, which makes it high-performing and energy-efficient in operation too.

Cold-chain EPS solutions are safe, reliable, and economical, and are the perfect foam solution to serve temperature-sensitive products for industries such as food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare. “Any kind of product that needs to be temperature controlled,” says Kurt Arbeen, VP of Sales and Marketing for Shape Mold. “We have molded cold coolers and 6-panel liners, which are six pieces of foam that would fit into, say, a type of box as a protection. It’s a critical sector to ensure that our products can maintain temperature requirements and product integrity.”

Alleguard’s Protective Packaging Products are designed to cushion, protect, and maintain products during the shipping, handling, and storage stages of their lifecycle. From sensitive electronics to medical products, Alleguard provides OEM, Custom, and Flexible Foam Solutions that are fit for the level of protection required. “EPS, EPP, and Arcel each have tremendous value propositions across the protective packaging sectors, solving a diverse platform of issues shipping undamaged product. Protective packaging can use multiple types of materials and create solutions for automotive packaging, TVs, appliances,” Arbeen says. “There’s multiple ways that our products protect different things.”

“Through its commitment to sustainability, Alleguard is safeguarding more than just the products it protects.”

As we move through different phases of the climate emergency, we are no longer satiated by simple recycling initiatives that, while important, fail to make waves in a movement that is rapidly growing in urgency. With this, it is the companies that truly commit to the cause that will make a significant difference. Catalan explains how Alleguard is exploring sustainability “through benchmarking and driving improvements with our utility footprint, community work, and partnerships to explore EPS in a circular system. We have been working towards creating metrics and sustainability reports that we can provide corporately and to our company as a whole, with multiple plans across North America. We really engage in recycling and reusing clean scrap or clean waste into our products, so a cradle-to-cradle approach. We also sell densified material overseas to create new products, and so our entire manufacturing process is also sustainable and energy efficient.”

In this way Alleguard’s sustainable initiatives extend beyond its line of foam production and into the community it serves. The company is becoming increasingly involved with community outreach programs that support sustainability and reduce waste to landfill. “Our corporate sustainability message is continuing to grow,” says Dusty McNab, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Block and Fabrication. “We are working with the public to be able to take back their waste, depending on what type of waste it is, so that we can use it in different ways.” In further support of a full-circle approach to sustainability, Alleguard ensures that the raw materials it uses, the procurement of its products, and the components of the final products it provides are all sustainably sourced. “It’s important to partner with people who have the same goals as us in terms of corporate sustainability,” McNab says. Through its commitment to sustainability, Alleguard is safeguarding more than just the products it protects.

“We’ve really ramped up our ESG strategy,” says McNab, speaking about the framework used to assess an organization’s business practices and performance on various sustainability and ethical issues. The Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) framework aims to limit negative impact and enhance positive impact on the environment, society, and governance bodies. A decision to follow ESG principles is a commitment to behave in a responsible, ethical, and community-minded manner in the three designated areas. “We’re looking at every aspect of environmental, social and governance within the company, including employee and turnover rates, culture, community outreach, recycling programs, customer partnerships and manufacturing processes. There’s definitely a lot of growth potential in this space for us, but we are pretty proud of where we’re at right now.”

On the ongoing rebrand, of which sustainability is just one element, McNab says that the company “needed a unified name, to share our story and our vision, for both our internal teams and customers. What’s important to us is how we put all of the legacy companies under this Alleguard umbrella, and make sure we don’t lose sight of the legacy customers that we bring with us.” Though the rebrand is still ongoing and expected to take the balance of a year, Alleguard has already started to see the positive outcomes of it. “We now have 17 locations with our Headquarters in Nashville,” he says. “That footprint has allowed us to capture new business, because of lead times and logistically, just being so close in proximity for freight and things like that. There are times when we have pulled from multiple locations to fulfil customer orders, and the ability to do that is key. Our footprint is really important to be competitive in the industry and our multiple locations have definitely allowed us the room to grow.” Being able to shift assets between locations depending on where the demand is higher gives Alleguard a unique advantage – the Alleguard Advantage.

With the positive changes it continues to implement as part of the recent acquisitions, Alleguard has found itself in a position where its geographical footprint is wide and its customer base strong, all the while benefiting from a fresh and exciting rebrand along with a commitment to a sustainable future. “Going forward it’s all about taking advantage of our footprint to grow our product manufacturing in different regions, penetrating new markets, and continuing our sustainability message internally and to the public,” says Catalan. “The rebrand is definitely a challenge because we’re putting a brand-new name out there, but it’s a good challenge because there are so many positives that come with it. “Change, as we know, does not come without challenge, but nor does success. Alleguard plans to embrace change and the challenges that come with it, with the end-goal of becoming the ultimate foam solutions provider. With all the company has to offer and the combined experience of its six legacy companies, it’s a path well carved, well threaded, and well within reach.

Barsplice Products Inc. is a company built on simple but effective values – treat others with respect, never intentionally lie or mislead customers, and maintain a family-feel in both its ownership structure and its approach to doing business. While the company is committed to upholding these values equally, the third is one that comes easy. Barsplice is a family-owned company that has been in business for 40 years. In December 1983, Frank Casella acquired Dayton Barsplice from Dayton Sure Grip & Shore Company. This acquisition saw a team of 10 people operating out of a 20,000 square foot building, introducing new products, one by one, to the Dayton area. Since these formative years, Barsplice has upgraded to a 330,000 square foot building that is considerably better suited to the 150 plus employees it now has on board.

One of the five companies under parent company FC Industries Inc., Barsplice Products is a designer and manufacturer of mechanical splices and anchoring systems for reinforcing steel. It’s a company with a footprint that extends far beyond its headquarters in Dayton Ohio. Barsplice serves customers across all 50 states, as well as internationally. “It’s the true American dream,” says David Casella, Regional Sales Manager of Barsplice Products, and part of the tightly woven fabric that awards the company it’s true, family-owned status. The significant growth Barsplice has experienced over time is what has propelled it forward to 2023, celebrating its 40th year in business.

Reflecting on the last 40 years and the milestones achieved along the way, Casella talks proudly of a company that holds high the value of sustainable growth, which it has been fortunate to experience in tandem with the growth of the steel reinforcement industry. “We are really proud of our growth in the Dayton area. It has allowed us to give our employees the opportunity to have a better life.” For Casella, talk of company success does not come without mention of the employees at Barsplice, establishing clearly from the outset a ‘shared-success’ mindset. He tells me of a quote from Frank Casella, the man responsible for setting things in motion: “You cannot have good customers without good employees, and we have both.” As Casella explains, this belief is something that Barsplice Products still lives by today.

With a product list that is ever-evolving in line with new technology and innovations, Barsplice offers a wide variety of solutions to its customers. As Casella explains, this is due to the varied nature and demands of the concrete reinforcing industry. “There is not one coupler or anchorage system that fits all,” he says, “so it depends on the project and the application its being used in.” Barsplice prides itself on its ability to adapt and customize its offering depending on the intricate details of the project at hand. “We really try to be at the forefront so we can understand what our customers’ needs are, and what the industries needs are.”

Casella talks me through some of Barsplice’s most popular products, a mix of old reliables and newer innovations. This list, resonant and far-reaching, is a testament to the company’s vast wealth of experience in delivering mechanical splicing solutions. “The ZAP Screwlok® is one of our most popular products,” Casella says, speaking of the shear screw mechanical splice designed for connecting existing bars or patch and repair applications. “It’s widely used in the field.”

“The NC-PC system helps customers with freight because they are not shipping longer or heavier rebar and that way it’s less weight, so in this way we can help from a cost-savings standpoint.”

Problem solvers by nature, Barsplice also offers solutions to freight concerns that inevitably come with supplying the global market. “We’ve recently come out with a new system called the NC-PC BPI Precast NC Panel Connector which is used in the precast industry when putting one panel of a parking garage onto another.” This system eliminates risks associated with protruding rebar and is therefore safer in transit. “It’s safer on the job site too because nothing is sticking out. When you set another panel down our rebar can be screwed into it and it is then flush with the panel. It’s a much safer method. The NC-PC system helps customers with freight because they are not shipping longer or heavier rebar and that way it’s less weight, so in this way we can help from a cost-savings standpoint.”

What is evident from speaking to Casella, is the wide impact that Barsplice has had on the industry. He references products that are now considered to be industry standards, giving an insight into the continuous innovation and skill that the company has demonstrated for decades. “Another is the BPI Barsplicer threaded rebar splicing system which has been used for decades. It’s called a ‘form saver’ and it is a simple concept where customers can nail the flange of the coupler onto the form when they’re doing a street or a bridge. This allows them to pour one lane, pull the wood form away, and repeat the process when pouring the 2nd lane. That way, they don’t take out a whole entire bridge. With this system we can do roughly up to 140,000 threads in a month. Having the capability to do multiple sizes and high volumes really helps us to service our customers and keep their projects on time,” Casella says. “That product is one of the most versatile with all the different grades of rebar that are offered; Grade 60, Grade 75, Grade 80, Grade 100. The product is available uncoated, epoxy coated, galvanized or stainless steel. Like all of our products, it is very versatile, probably the most versatile of them all.”

When discussing headed reinforcement, Barsplice offers a headed bar product known as the BPI FITT®. As Casella explains, the product is highly beneficial in the field and is something that demonstrates Barsplice’s ability to listen to the needs of its industry, then react appropriately. “In a column or a structure where rebar is coming straight up, a lot of the time they’ll have a 90-degree bend or 180-degree hook. With the BPI FITT, we can eliminate the hooks by taking our coupler which just slides over the straight bar end and tightens down onto the rebar to terminate the end of the column. Not only does this help with congestion, but also with the Design Build phase of the industry which is the direction things are going. Customers can put the product onto the rebar and then cut it where they need it, which allows them to continue on track and to keep progressing with their projects.”

When Casella gets to talking about the projects Barsplice has been involved with over the years, I think back to the company’s humble beginning as a small, Dayton based operation. As big names like the Allegiant Stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders and the Hard Rock Hotel in Miami are casually mentioned, it is evident that the American dream –in the context of construction industry success—is alive and well. Further afield, Barsplice has also provided mechanical splicing and anchoring solutions for the Butterfly high-rise in Vancouver, and the Intel Manufacturing Center in Israel. “It’s remarkable to see the endless projects we work on every day,” he says. “To think a small, family-owned company has grown into what it is now, and to be trusted on these projects that are known around the world.”

Casella wraps things up by driving home the values of Barsplice Products and its plans for future growth. Employee, customer, vendor, or supplier – the golden rule applies across the board when it comes to the company’s commitment to its people. “We treat everyone with the same Gold Star standard. It’s not always about a business transaction.” In theme with the previous forty years, Barsplice is remaining focused on international growth and has big plans to extend its reach into new corners of the globe. “The industry is looking good and things are coming down the pipeline.” What things these are, exactly, we can’t be sure. What is clear is that by keeping a firm focus on the values that have helped it achieve an incredible four decades in business, Barsplice Products Inc. has garnered a reputation that will see it well into the next few decades too. In keeping with the calm, measured approach that comes with running a family-owned business, Casella is more prosaic in his assessment. “We’re very proud of the reputation we have,” he says, “and we have been very blessed and fortunate along the way too.”

WellDone Inc. is an Ontario-based general contractor specializing in high rise building envelope restoration. This includes the replacement or repairing of windows, glass, caulking, balconies, concrete, brick masonry, cladding, or as company owner Alexander puts it, “basically anything that needs to be done on the exterior of existing high-rise buildings.”

Alexander started his career on the frontline of the construction industry as a window installer. This proved to be a deeply formative time and he gained a wealth of industry experience and identified opportunities for growth and development. By adding to his personal skill-set, he was equipped to create a successful business. “I hired two people who were new to the industry, and we were successful in winning small projects, providing window installation services for window manufacturers,” he tells me from the company’s HQ in Toronto. “I trained the employees and, by having a high level of skill on staff, and we started growing. Eventually we were hiring and teaching more and more people and we reached a point where we had three or four window installation crews.”

Today WellDone Inc. is sixty employees strong with seven project managers, two of which are the original employees that Alexander first hired and trained twelve years ago.

While skill and hard work are important facets of a successful business, strategic decision-making at just the right moment can be pivotal. At the request of a client the company branched out from window installation into the many different specialties it now offers to the market. “A client was happy with our work and asked if we could also do balcony railings installation. We started doing that and after some time they said they had some balcony concrete they needed to repair, and asked if we could do that too.” As Alexander puts it, much of the work his company currently completes stems from those initial requests. “The decision to develop new skills, incorporate new services, and move into new areas has proven to be an integral part of why we have reached the position we are now in.” It’s that traditional way of doing business that stands the test of time – do an exceptional job, build a long-term relationship based on trust, and the rest is history. Since the beginning and guided always by a commitment to a job well done, WellDone Inc. has been on a consistent path of steady growth, much of which came during the turbulent year that was 2020. This in itself is a testament to the company’s ability to deliver the highest quality of service, even in the most testing of industry conditions.

“The job is not done until it’s well done.”

Window installation is at the root of the company and the craft from which all others grew. Within this market sector, WellDone Inc. Inc specializes in the replacement of aluminum punched windows and window walls, in-swing and out-swing balcony doors, storefront windows, and doors, building entrances, and sliding and revolving doors. “We do window replacement, wall frames, weather stripping, gaskets – all types of maintenance to the existing windows,” Alexander says. “We have completed some large projects with many different Engineering Consultancy firms and clients.” By way of example, Alexander points to WellDone Inc. providing a full entrance replacement on the Scotiabank building in Scarborough, Ontario. “A large, and very successful, project” he says, and one in which the company’s precision of craft can be seen in the finished product. “In terms of building restoration, we do balcony and concrete work including waterproofing, metal flashing, cladding, siding, masonry, and stucco which is exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS). Replace or repair,” Alexander says, “that’s our specialty.”

Much of WellDone Inc.’s work can be seen on its website through impressive drone footage that captures the scale and complexity of the projects it has come to specialize in. The company is fully bonded with full liability insurance which means it is set up to work on big, high-rise jobs. “We just finished a project where we did full building envelope rehabilitation including balconies, windows – everything you see from the outside is all new. It was a ten-story building and we had to do all types of different work – a huge transformation. We also did sloped glazing on a building that had more than thirty stories. On top, there were five floors of sloped glazing and we had to provide all the access.”

WellDone Inc.has the expertise to assess a building’s envelope and provide preventative maintenance to avoid hidden damage, and this is what makes it niche in its ability to solve otherwise undetected problems. “We have a lot of consultants using us now to investigate potential projects – leakage investigations, water penetration investigations. They hire us to assist with all kinds of building investigations when they are preparing the scope of work and the tender for potential projects. We have a bosun chair crew so we can provide some services on a bosun chair and not just on the swing stage. Sometimes it is very difficult to set up a swing stage on the roof for many different reasons, so we can save the client money by providing investigation assistance or even small repairs on a bosun chair. We also do concrete repairs for underground parking garages and decks including waterproofing, coating, painting.”

WellDone Inc. carries out building restoration from inception to completion, always ensuring there is minimal disruption, timely execution of work, quality results, and above all else, a safe working environment. Alongside its people and its level of quality, it is WellDone Inc’s commitment to safety that truly sets it apart from the rest. This next-level commitment can be understood through its recent COR Certification which solidifies its 12 years of experience delivering quality projects safely.

COR Certification recognizes employers that implement occupational health and safety protocols that exceed current legal requirements and is rewarded after a strict assessment manual is followed and certification audit passed. “Our certificate number is 744, which means that at the time of certification there were only that number of companies certified across, not only construction, but all industries. It was a big achievement for us. It demonstrated that by developing a strategy, prioritizing safety, and working hard to improve safety standards, we could strengthen the already solid relationships we have built across the industry. We were going through the process for almost three years.”

COR Certification has changed the approach and mentality of WellDone Inc. as it is now led by the highest level of safety recognition that exists in the field. The company now has a full-time Safety Coordinator, something which is not the norm among general contractors. “In addition to that we work with a safety consultant,” says Alexander. “We work on a retainer basis, but if needed, they can work with us full time.” The practices put in place as part of COR certification are cognizant of WellDone Inc.’s commitment to safety that goes above and beyond tick-box exercises and legal requirements.

In the same way that WellDone Inc’s growth came from word of mouth, so too does most of its project pipeline today. The market-wide hum of satisfied customers across the GTA is what has established WellDone Inc. as a company that champions reliability, quality, and safety. “We like the approach where clients are referring us through word of mouth and saying these guys know what they’re doing.” Because the construction industry is competitive, it can often be tempting for companies to set themselves apart by simply providing the lowest price. However, this ultimately comes with some level of sacrificing, whether that be on service, product, or efficiency. Alexander says that by being the best deal for the client, his company may not necessarily be the cheapest.

Under Alexander’s leadership WellDone Inc. has built a workforce who share the same vision, putting it on a collective path towards growth and longevity. “I am committed to my clients and my employees. A lot of our staff are working with us a long time, and like I said earlier the two workers I hired first are still here today. I have a responsibility and a commitment to keep moving forward because everyone here wants to grow,” he says. This company-wide growth mindset is what propels WellDone Inc. forward into a bright future in high-rise building restoration, but above all else, the goal is to grow smart. “My goal is to grow without jeopardizing the quality, approach, and safety standards of the company we have right now. From the outset my goal has been to build and develop and dedicated and highly skilled workforce. For me, this will ensure that we grow in a smart way. Risk is part of operating a successful business, but it needs to be a controlled, smart risk. My goal for the company is that we achieve growth through developing a reputation for quality. The feedback we receive is evidence that we are doing this which only motivates the team and I even further.”

“When I chose ‘WellDone Inc.’ as the name for our company, I was making a promise – a guarantee of excellence in every job we undertake. The name in itself carries a weight of expectation, and we fully embrace it. It’s a constant reminder that we need to go beyond just getting the job done; we strive to get it done really well. This isn’t just a clever branding strategy – it’s a reflection of everything we stand for as a company. We’re committed to delivering work that doesn’t just meet, but exceeds, the standards implied by our name. A project is only completed when it’s ‘well done’ to the truest sense of the word.”

CONTACT INFORMATION
Alexander Ivanov
President, WellDone Inc.
welldoneinc.ca

Northeast Precast LLC is a precast concrete manufacturer specializing in commercial products and residential foundation wall systems. Operating out of New Jersey in the Residential, Commercial, and Transportation markets, it provides top-quality construction materials that are built to last. As Mark Gorgas puts it: “We’re turning construction into manufacturing and combining the two. This gives customers the quality and precision of manufacturing combined with construction. Operating in a controlled environment where you can train the employees from the ground up helps add additional long-term value.” Gorgas speaks to me today during Northeast Precast’s 20th year in business and as the company’s newly appointed President.

Reflecting on the early days, Gorgas tells me that the company has developed hugely and, equally importantly, in an organic way. “Northeast Precast owners John and Lorie Ruga built a 25,000 square foot plant from the ground up and began operations there in late 2003. They had recently branched out from residential home remodeling into precast manufacturing, starting with a single product called Superior Walls.” As Gorgas goes on to explain, even 20 years on that product, durable and abiding in character, remains the foundation on which the company is built. “For the first few years we focused on the residential market, doing basements predominantly in the South Jersey region in close proximity to the plant.”

However, once Northeast Precast’s production plant was established, business took off quickly. Less than two years later, the company found itself doubling in size to a 50,000 square foot plant. “Business continued to grow,” says Gorgas, “but in 2007 we met the challenges of the recession which forced us to rethink how we went about things.” For Northeast Precast, the recession and the financial and operational restraints that came with it were ultimately the catalyst that pushed it into new markets. “We came to realize that we were part of a much bigger industry than we realized – that being the precast concrete industry – and started pursuing Department of Transportation and commercial building type projects.”

As a result of its willingness to adapt under difficult circumstances, Northeast Precast quickly got back on track post-recession and managed to fill its production plant to capacity. Fast forward another 10 years and the company took the opportunity to pivot strategically, opening a second 50,000 square foot plant in tandem with the development of a new commercial division to focus on commercial building projects. “I think we learned from the recession that tomorrow is never guaranteed, and we are never going to live off past successes,” Gorgas says. “You can celebrate success but, to think that what you did in the past is going to be enough for your future, you’re going to find yourself a stagnant organization, and then you’ll start to trend in the wrong direction. Choosing to reinvent yourself even when you feel comfortable is a critical part of continuing to create opportunity for your employees.”

As was the trend that carried it through its first decade, Northeast Precast continued to grow. It soon found itself in need of more space to conquer new markets, and thus began the development of a new 300-acre headquarter property in Vineland. Further expansion continued in the form of a new 125,000 square foot precast plant and steel fabrication shop in Vineland, and later a 225,000 square foot plant on the same property. In early 2023, during an already significant year for the company, Northeast Precast completed its move to the new HQ. As Gorgas explains, this move has had an incredibly positive impact on the company. “Today, hundreds of skilled craftsman work on the same 300-acre facility which has been the ownership’s dream – having this new headquarters and consolidating everything to be more efficient. We now have 350,000 square feet of indoor manufacturing space and 2 batch plants, pouring about 700 yards of concrete a day.”

“We now have 350,000 square feet of indoor manufacturing space and 2 batch plants, pouring about 700 yards of concrete a day.”

A powerhouse now in both scope and scale, Northeast Precast still relies heavily on its roots by continuing to work in single-family home construction. “I think it’s rather unique that we erect four or five precast structures per day in the New Jersey market for single-family homes,” says Gorgas. However, the next project he highlights is a long way from a single-family home, and the contrast between the two points to the wide range of services Northeast Precast offers. “Recently, we erected our first precast parking structure, a 583-car garage for Lifetime Athletic in Middletown, New Jersey. Adjacent to that we also built a total precast building for the gym facility, 120,000 square foot and 4- stories tall.”

At the beginning of our conversation, Gorgas mentioned the company’s early involvement with the Department of Transport as a result of its post-recession expansion, and this pipeline of highway and infrastructure work remains a strong part of Northeast Precast’s future. “We’ve been working for the past several years on the 42-295 project for the New Jersey Department of Transportation which includes retaining walls, noise walls, and segmental bridge products including hammerhead piers that go on top of segmental piers.” On the commercial front, he says: “We’re just wrapping up a 400,000 square foot retail facility in Elmont, New York, at the Belmont Park Retail Village which is comprised of boutique shops and restaurants as well as special event space.”

Underlying each of Northeast Precast’s projects and embedded into the company’s vision, is a drive towards sustainability. For Gorgas, it is important on an environmental level but also, it makes good business sense. “We like to think about sustainability from the standpoint of being good stewards of all the resources we’ve been entrusted with, including customers, employees, and the environment. All those resources support each other, and anytime you have waste in that chain, one of the shareholders is paying for that waste. We’ve always thought about it from that perspective.”

Within that chain of resources, the most tangible of Northeast Precast’s responsibilities, when it comes to sustainability, is the product that it makes. For Gorgas, it is vital that the company works towards achieving something many companies strive and fail to achieve, balance. “We’re very aware of the fact that cement has a negative perspective from the outside world,” he says. “It really is a carbon heavy product, but we work hard to reduce the impact of that with our panel design. Our current panel design reduces the cement and concrete usage by 33% by using a composite insulated panel design. We try to design our panels with continuous edge-to-edge insulation to make a high-quality building envelope, that plays really well into sustainability. And at our facility we recently installed a concrete reclaimer system that allows us to take waste concrete and wastewater and turn it into reusable product. This allows the cement, sand, stone, and water to be reused after they go through the reclaimer system.”

Northeast Precast is a company with a clear success story told through its project portfolio and growth succession. More than anything though, it’s people-first approach is what ultimately keeps it on a sustainable path. “For people to be engaged they have to understand the vision, and if the vision is simply a certain amount of revenue, the energy around that eventually runs out,” says Gorgas. “But if they understand that the vision is taking care of people – that’s something everyone can get behind.”

As somebody who has been with the company since the beginning, Gorgas is able to truly reflect on the past 20 years that have led Northeast Precast to where it is today. “Looking back over our history it’s easy to see that customers appreciate when you do the right thing,” he says. “That alone – investing in your customers and employees – really propels you forward. I think we are tapping into something by building a culture that’s focused on customers and employees. We’re building something that people want to be a part of, and that tends to organically grow itself.”

Several years ago, Conewago Manufacturing, LLC provided custom precast panels and steel for Ag-Com’s new 3-story, state-of-the-art milling operation in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. On completion of the project the client was able to see their vision come to life in the form of a real, tangible building that had previously only lived in their minds. When the client shared their satisfaction with Conewago Manufacturing in an email, they captured the essence of what the company has been doing all along and what it continues to do today – help their clients turn visions into reality.

Conewago is a manufacturing company based out of Hanover, PA, specializing in precast concrete, steel fabrication and erection along with ready mix concrete. The company approaches its work with clients with commitment, creativity, and a can-do attitude that has placed it at the forefront of the precast concrete industry in Pennsylvania, Maryland and throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Representing Conewago today in a conversation that takes me through over six decades of service is President Jason Blasé and VP of Operations Eric Smith.

“There was a small stretch of time in the seventies where our sister company, Conewago Enterprises, started in precast concrete, making septic tanks and stormwater culverts,” says Smith of Conewago Manufacturing’s beginnings into the world of precast. “We ventured out from our general contractor side into our own company, Conewago Manufacturing, LLC to offer ready-mix, steel fabrication and erection, and then finally precast concrete.”

Interestingly, many of Conewago Manufacturing’s clients are general contractors who are competitors of its sister company. Those GC clients have come to value Conewago Manufacturing for not only the quality of their work, but also the fact they can purchase precast and steel from a single vendor, which offers numerous efficiencies.

“Our clients know that managing two different subs in the steel and precast trades can present numerous challenges and cause administrative and production delays,” says Smith. “Our model offers them a one-stop-shop and helps control the critical path of the project, and helps our GC clients keep projects on time and on budget.”

“We are AISC-certified fabricators and erectors,” Blase says with regard to the steel side of Conewago’s offering. “We make our own columns and beams, and we also do some miscellaneous metals like stairs, dock angles, items like that. We also have a small group that makes retaining walls.”

When it comes to precast concrete, insulated wall panels are, as Blase explains, “our bread and butter.” He continues: “One of our specialties is cold storage facilities. Instead of traditional cold storage buildings that are fragile and easily damaged, we can provide a concrete alternative where wear and tear on the structure is a lot less. If a worker accidentally backs into the wall with a forklift, they are going to hit concrete, it’s not going to be a metal panel that they’re gonna blow out.”

It goes without saying that the company has accrued a vast amount of experience in the sector. With a rich general contracting history from its sister company, Conewago Enterprises, behind it and with a keen eye on industry developments, it is no surprise that Conewago Manufacturing has experienced significant growth in the precast side of its business. “We produced 3 million square feet of wall panel last year. It was one of our shining moments where we produced in some months more than what we produced in previous years,” adds Smith. “That was exciting for us, and we’re very fortunate for that tremendous growth.”

While the company clearly maintains a forward-thinking approach to growth, it is perhaps more significant that this translates to a commitment to safeguarding the environment in which it operates. For example, Conewago has adopted innovative technologies that reduce environmental impacts and applied them to its processes. The result is to take a carbon-heavy material like cement and transform it into a sustainable building solution. “For our ready mix and precast operations, we have a system in place called Carbon Cure. We replace 5% of the cement in the concrete with carbon so that we can reduce how much carbon we are putting into the air,” adds Smith. Throughout Conewago Manufacturing’s usage of Carbon Cure to date, which is just over 3 years, the company has saved 16,000 tons of CO2, which equates to the amount of CO2 1,900 acres of forest can absorb in a year. In keeping with its innovative reputation, Conewago was the first company in Pennsylvania to implement Carbon Cure, a move which solidifies the commitment to sustainability that underlies its service. In addition to this, the company uses a technology that allows for 12% limestone replacement in the cement from its producer, and it has recently purchased a new reclamation process system that will enable it to take excess concrete and put it back into new concrete. “If there’s an environmentally friendly technology that makes sense, we are either on board, or we’re on the leading edge of trying to experiment with it and see if we can incorporate it into our process,” says Blasé.

Today, precast concrete is so much more than a grey and carbon-heavy cement fit strictly for big distribution centers and industrial warehouses. As a material it has evolved over time, rapidly in recent years, to become a building solution that is not just cost-effective and durable, but also aesthetically pleasing and easily maintained.

“Conewago was the first company in Pennsylvania to implement Carbon Cure, a move which solidifies the commitment to sustainability that underlies its service.”

“We are able to incorporate more attractive form liners and different patterns into the concrete, so they don’t just look like big plain boxes,” Smith says. “We can do all different colors, finishes and applications.”

The benefits of using precast materials have been proven over time and as such are widely known and accepted throughout the construction industry. There is further benefit, as Smith explains, to buying those materials from Conewago. “We’re AISC certified on the steel side and PCI certified on the precast side. They’re the two gold standards when it comes to certification in those respective industries. Whether we are working with our sister GC company or another GC on a project, we don’t want to just work one time for a customer, we want to make sure that every customer is a repeat customer, and we want to build a relationship with them. What that means is we are going to produce products with the utmost quality, we’re going to stand behind them with integrity, and we are going to do our best to be part of your vision and turn it into reality. When you buy the Conewago brand that’s what you get.”

To back up Smith’s comment on quality, Blase tells me how it has invested substantially into the automation of its process. “We have a plotter that takes our CAD files and lays everything out for precast production workers. There’s very little measuring going on, it’s all automated, and we have CNC machines for our insulation as well.”

Conewago strives more than ever for efficiency of service and the streamlining of processes. This is true of the construction industry in particular, where deadlines are often tight and where the involvement of too many parties can result in delays. Talking about Conewago’s ‘one-stop-shop’ approach, Blase says that it has a unique combination of services that it can offer its clients and contractors.

“All under one roof we can produce the structural steel and fabricate and erect the wall panels, so for large distribution and industrial manufacturing facilities we can truly be a one-stop-shop. When you walk away you basically have a full structure waiting for all your MEP subs and all the finishing trades. Depending on the size of the project we also have mobile concrete plants that we can put out for ready-mix concrete slabs and foundations.”

The unique quality and level of service that comes with the Conewago brand can be better understood through its project portfolio, of which Smith takes me through some of the highlights. “Bell and Evans is one of the flagship projects we have worked on recently. That had over 1,000 wall panels – just about every wall in the facility was precast concrete.” Smith explains how the owner of Bell and Evans, a visionary named Scott Sechler, Sr., toured different agricultural processing facilities around Europe and returned with a vision. “The facility, which is based in Fredericksburg PA, has a very unique, high-quality look and feel to it.
It has a very attractive façade and it’s all precast with different form liners and different color brick. Inside, the walls are poured with white concrete so they never need to be painted again, they can just be washed down. In other food production facilities that’s a big maintenance headache. All of these white concrete panels have reflective properties that increase the lighting in the building, you walk in and its extremely bright and a good working environment for their employees. The project had everything from traditional warehouse storage, freezers and coolers. It is one of three projects we’ve done for them and we have another one in the works.” As such, Bell and Evans are now repeat customers who have come to really value Conewago’s work. “They are quality driven, and they really appreciate the fact that we can be consistent with our quality,” says Smith.

Next in the spotlight is a project for local agricultural company, Ag-Com. Ag-Com is a family-owned mill located about ten minutes north of the Conewago Manufacturing facilities. “We toured their existing facility, and they had this historic traditional mill off the creek that used to be water driven. We built a 3-story tall precast structure with concrete floors, roofs, and wall panels. It stands seventy-foot tall, so we actually had to stack wall panels on top of each other. At the time, we went in and did this project with them they were working towards the future of a top-of-the line world-class milling operation. In an agriculture setting it really stands out and pushes Ag-Com into the future.

In fact, it was Matt Sharrer, General Manager of Ag-Com who famously inspired Conewago’s core purpose when explaining that the company had turned his team’s vision into reality. “Matt initially wanted to try and match the old historic look of the original mill, so we were going down a path of trying to make it look more historical. Then he came to see our office and decided he wanted to make it look more modern instead, so that’s what we strived to achieve.”

Like Scott Sechler, Sr. of Bell and Evans, Matt Sharrer of Ag-Com had also toured and explored facilities of similar companies throughout the U.S. and Europe to fine tune their vision for their new buildings. As Smith explains, these projects, while different on the face of it, share one common theme. “There you’ve got two totally different companies who travelled the globe to find the best international practices from a design and aesthetics perspective, and Conewago Manufacturing was able to provide the materials and services needed to translate those top-level standards and design requirements into a final finished building that meets their needs.”

The wide range of products and services Conewago offers and their diverse applications exemplifies the far-reaching potential of precast concrete. While already offering much to the industry, those working with the material feel that this is only the beginning. There is agreement industry-wide that precast concrete can reach much further than the large distribution centers and industrial facilities it typically serves. Along with PCI and based on its first-hand experience in the industry, Conewago is pushing for the use of precast concrete in smaller buildings too. “We’ve done schools in the past and a lot of churches, data centers, and healthcare facilities,” says Smith. We do everything from 1.2 million square foot warehouses to something that’s 20,000 square feet. It’s a really scalable product. And sometimes precast is incorporated into certain sections only. We’ve built lots of garages for car dealerships, for example, where the showroom is built using a different type of construction. We understand that people utilize our products differently.”

Looking to the future, Conewago remains focused on growth, albeit in the different business landscape that comes with new challenges and market segments. “As the needs of our clients and the industry in general shift and change,” says Smith, “we need to remain nimble company to take on smaller projects or look to different market segments to serve. We’re very cost-effective at large distribution and online retail facilities, those big boxes have dominated the industry for decades.” Blase adds, “We want to continually diversify our portfolio and what we offer. Customers are changing as we are, but we feel we are pretty agile when it comes to meeting their requirements and exceeding them. The one thing that we know won’t change is that we’re not going to sacrifice our quality, our integrity, and the name that we built in the industry. We will continue, no matter where the market takes us, to turn visions into reality.”

Wolverine Building Group is a general contractor and construction management company headquartered in Grand Rapids, West Michigan. A nationally recognised construction leader backed by an impressive eighty years of service, Wolverine Building Group prides itself on being one of West Michigan’s most trusted construction companies. It’s not unusual for a construction company to claim involvement in all facets of construction, but in the case of Wolverine Building Group the claim is meant quite literally. One day you might see the company building natural habitats for the animals at John Ball Zoo or a state-of the art healthcare facility, while the next it’s busy raising the roof on a multi-storey hotel building or bringing a new Wendy’s restaurant to a North American town. Whatever it does comes with an excellence that stems from eight decades of experience.

Wolverine Building Group works primarily in four market segments, all of whiach brings it varied levels of demand depending on socioeconomic trends. The first is the multi-family market, followed by industrial, commercial, and finally the National Accounts division. Within these market segments Wolverine Building Group provides a long list of construction services, from General Contracting and Construction Management to Design/Build and Historic Preservation.

The multi-family market is wide ranging and includes affordable housing, market-rate units, historical renovation, student housing, senior living, and in-place rehab. “That’s been my main focus for the last couple of years,” says Kurtis Fritz, Senior Project Manager at Wolverine Building Group. “I’m currently working on a 233-unit apartment building in Brighton, Michigan called Vista. That’s going to be one of largest single construction projects in the city. It’s a very cool apartment building, very modern. It has a large central courtyard, the middle of the building is carved out and open to the sky, so the residents have a nice secure outdoor area to hang out.” Another project that falls under the umbrella of the multi-family market is Home2Suites by Hilton, a 4-story residential building in Byron Center, Michigan. The building also hosts a saltwater pool, outdoor patio seating, a fire pit, and electrical vehicle charging facilities. The project’s complex design was achieved through Wolverine Building Group’s extensive pre-planning process and its unique ability to understand the project’s intricate needs.

The commercial construction market is a catch-all for everything else and can include projects such as healthcare facilities, offices, and business complexes. On the Commercial side Fritz is quick to highlight the Helen Devos Children’s Hospital, a state-of-the-art healthcare facility dedicated to paediatric care. “That was probably one of the most-high profile projects we’ve done,” he says. The construction of the facility included the use of Building Information Modelling, or BIM, which provides a digital representation of a built asset based on collaboratively assembled information and acts as a shared source of knowledge which can be accessed during the building’s life cycle, from conception to demolition. Fritz also mentions John Ball Zoo which represents some of the more speciality work that Wolverine Building Group has grown accustomed to. “We do a lot of work with John Ball Zoo on various animal habitats and other improvements around the zoo facility,” he says. Since 2017 Wolverine Building Group and John Ball Zoo have completed 14 projects together in what continues to be a successful partnership.

The National Accounts division focuses on big-brand retailers and fast-food restaurants across the country. Joining me to provide insight on that is General Superintendent, Jeff Hennip. “Taco Bells, McDonalds, Wendy’s, basically any of the big fast-food joints that you see all around America,” says Hennip.

The fast-food and retail market in America is one that shows no sign of slowing down, and so this is an ever-expanding market segment for Wolverine Building Group and one that acts as a safety net when times are tough. “That division really carried us through the covid years” says Hennip, reflecting on a time when restaurants and drive-throughs remained quite profitable. “Those four divisions and our adaptability to move to whatever is the best is really what makes us special,” he continues. “We have a great team here who can roll with punches. If industrial is slow, we focus on multi-family, and if multi-family is slow, we focus on commercial.”

In talking about Wolverine Building Groups standout projects, both Hennip and Fritz are in agreement that the 10 Ionia Residence Inn by Marriott is not to go unmentioned. “That was a 13-story building that helped further shape the skyline here in Downtown Grand Rapids,” says Fritz. “10 Ionia was full of challenges and full of attributes from the team,” Hennip adds. “The building alone was challenging on every aspect. It was shaped like a pie with curved corners, all precast.” Aside from the physical challenges, the project was also built during covid and right through all the riots that were going on at the time. “Without a great team that project could have fallen apart,” says Hennip. “Not only our internal team but all of our trade partners, we all went through the very same stuff and everyone really stepped it up there.”

“Its ongoing goal is to be the Master of Construction Delivery in Michigan and beyond.”

Hennip is perhaps most proud when he goes on to talk about Wolverine Building Group’s non-profit work, namely the 3-story building for Covenant House located on the East Side of the state. This involved the construction of a temporary housing shelter for youths who are experiencing, or at risk of homelessness. The facility allows Covenant House to take in kids, give them housing, help them find work and get them placed into programs for GEDs. “That project was near and dear to my heart, and the heart of Wolverine Building Group because we love our community. Here at Wolverine if you give to an organization, ownership will always match your funds. That makes us pretty special.”

Hennip touches on Wolverine Building Group’s superior level of service which is evident in the partnerships it continues to build. “One of the most exciting things we’ve got going on is our partnership with QT Travel stations, starting down south and working their way up to the mid-west,” he says. “We started that partnership a couple of years ago in the south and they’ve leaned on us to bring them to the north. We’ve got three going on currently in Illinois and hoping to have another three in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. It’s a great partnership and that’s really what it comes down to – having someone that really understands you and you understanding them. It makes a big difference.”

Wolverine Building Group is busy at work across the state of Michigan, navigating its four market segments and adding new projects to an already-impressive portfolio. Its ongoing goal is to be the Master of Construction Delivery in Michigan and beyond, a goal it is on the right path towards achieving.

BDA Inc. is a Toronto based general contracting company specializing in renovations and additions in the commercial and institutional space. The company was originally founded in 1997 by Brad Daniels and Toccar Brown. Daniels and Brown built the company on their three core values which are to “work ethically, respect our business partners, and build long-term relationships with our trades, consultants, and clients.” It is these core values that form the foundation of BDA Inc. and remain strongly in place today, only now with a brand-new management team to uphold them.

Today, BDA’s management team is led by President Lewis Cowan, alongside Vice Presidents Hallex Kong and Domenic Peragine. As well as President of BDA, Cowan is also Chair of the Ontario General Contracting Association, a position he gained last year having sat on the Board of Directors for six years. The construction industry in Canada has picked up significant pace in recent years and someone in Cowan’s position is far from short of things to do. I am grateful to him for taking some time out of his busy schedule to tell me all about BDA and its many successful endeavors.

“We do a lot of post-secondary work, and work for the Provincial Government and municipalities,” Cowan says. “We also work in hospitals, community centers, libraries, and many different institutional facilities. One way of putting it, is that if there’s a public dollar attached to the funding of the project, we are likely to work with that client. The commercial work we do tends to be for commercial institutions that act like public sector institutions, like large banks, insurance companies, sophisticated clients.” BDA procures most of its work through the competitive bid process and the Stipulated Lump Sum form of contract, and the values of its projects range between three and fifty million. “The sweet spot for us is somewhere between seven and fifteen million,” Cowan says. “Typically, our projects are designed by an Architect, put out to tender, and then we submit a bid. It’s not all based on price – there is often a technical component as well where we have to submit a technical proposal, and if we are successful we get the project.” BDA also provides some projects under the Design Build method which Cowan says, “is a bit of a growth sector for us in the coming years.”

When talking about the General Contracting service that BDA provides, Cowan gives the example of the Michener Institute Health Care Education Lab. “We started that project in January 2019 and finished that December. It was a 4.5 million dollar and 15,000 square foot new medical training facility on the 12th floor of the Michener Institute. The project included the creation of an operating room simulation laboratory, capable of broadcasting live, domestically and internationally. There was a lot of Audio Visual and IT integration required. Now we are doing a second project with the same BDA team; the same Project Manager and Site Superintendent.”

An interesting aspect of BDA’s offering, and one we hear less about in the General Contracting sphere, is Construction Management, which Cowan says is “becoming an increasingly large part of what we do.” This type of project sees the BDA team involved very early on in the design with significant influence over making the project more successful before it goes out to tender. “We are often dealing with very specific challenges or design issues that allow the architect to better refine the design and provide value to the client,” Cowan says of this service before following up with some examples. “We’re currently working on a new build 5-storey, Salvation Army project in Downtown Toronto which is meant to start in the summer. We have been involved in that project for about a year, working on cost-savings with the owner and efficiency of design to make it a more successful project because they have some budgetary constraints. Another example is a project for Harbourfront Toronto, where we have provided Design Build for the Mechanical and Electrical components, and Construction Management for the rest of the project. We have also been appointed as Construction Managers for a Ground Water Research Centre at the University of Guelph. We will be giving them feedback on the design and final pricing so they can ensure the project goes ahead within budget.”

A standout project of BDA’s, and another one on which it provided Construction Management, was Université de l’Ontario français. This was a fast-track project on account of funding being secured quite suddenly after it had previously been revoked during a change of government. “They weren’t expecting it,” Cowan says of the funding, “so they procured the management consulting and the architect quite quickly. Then they put out an RFP for Construction Management at the same time and we were brought on board within four to six weeks of the architect being involved.” As the appointed Construction Managers on the project, BDA gave lots of time-efficient budgetary feedback and worked on cost savings with the whole team. “Then we tendered all the scopes of work and started on-site,” says Cowan. “It was a really fast paced and challenging undertaking with supply chain issues, and a very aggressive timeline to complete the large volume of space. The client had tight budget constraints which put pressure on some of the decision making before awarding some of the subcontractors.” BDA is a company that is deeply involved in the public sector where funding and timelines are often volatile, and this particular project paints a picture of how these jobs can sometimes play out. Nonetheless, Université de l’Ontario français was nothing short of a huge success.

“Our team worked very closely with the management consultants and the architect to make it a success.”

“Our team worked very closely with the management consultants and the architect to make it a success,” Cowan reflects. “Once we procured all the subcontractors the actual build on site went very smoothly. There was a really collaborative approach with the entire team; probably one of the finest examples that I’ve seen of a Construction Management project working well with everyone working towards the same goal.” As President of the company, Cowan is often only involved in projects from an oversight perspective, and it is always a good sign if, as is the case here, “there were not a lot of issues I had to be involved in.” Given that it came about amidst a pandemic, the fact that Université de l’Ontario français was completed remotely speaks to the success of the project and the team behind it. “The RFP came out two months into the pandemic and construction began in the middle of it,” he says. “I don’t believe there was a single construction meeting completed on site with the full team there. To deal with the timeline constraints we had in the environment we were in – it was really successful.”

While they’ve proven that successful projects can be completed remotely, when it comes to the construction industry there is simply no substitute for face-to-face interaction, and this is what BDA looks forward to into the future. “One thing I’ve really seen come back to life is the importance of relationships,” Cowan says. “Getting back to in-person events and site meetings, being able to actually meet together on-site and look at the project that we’re building and that the clients will be occupying, really gives us the opportunity to collaborate and complete really successful projects. I think through the pandemic that was missing a little bit.”

When it comes to the pandemic, a shared gratitude can be felt throughout the construction industry for the fact that it was one of the few sectors that was able to not only continue to work, but be successful in such a challenging environment. This gratitude comes to light in conversation with people like Cowan who is equipped now with the experience of guiding a construction company through the unprecedented global event that was COVID-19. “Even though we were impacted, the industry has been very good throughout the past few years,” he says. “As a company that’s strong in the public sector we are confident that the pipeline of projects is going to continue, and we are really well positioned to take advantage of that. We are busy at the moment with lots of exciting opportunities coming up, and there is no reason why BDA can’t continue to grow. In construction we are moving forward and becoming more embracing of technologies and efficiencies, and I think through strong relationships with existing clients we will be able to go on to bigger and better things.”

When Herman Russell founded H. J. Russell & Company back in 1952, he quickly contributed to the birth and subsequent development of the Atlanta skyline. He was involved in joint venture partnerships including the Coca-Cola Company Headquarters, Georgia-Pacific Tower, 191 Peachtree Tower, and the former Georgia Dome, which was replaced with the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, all of which remain part of the skyline today. Culturally, 1960’s America was worlds apart from the one we know today, and so, as an African-American, Russell’s involvement in such ventures was a unique thing of the time. H. J. Russell also lays claim to projects such as the Smithsonian African-American Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, AL., both of which house a significant piece of the city’s history. Russell was part of history through the projects he built and the unlikely era in which he built them, and when he passed in 2014, he left behind him not just a company, but a legacy.

H. J. Russell is a 70-year-old company headquartered in Atlanta with offices in Savannah, Dallas, and Boston. To these areas, the company provides construction management, program management, and real estate development. “The construction management side is centered around multifamily projects as well as commercial office spaces, healthcare, infrastructure, and industrial work,” says Paul Bryant, Vice President of External Affairs. Joining me alongside Bryant is Project Executive Jhocques Jordan, and the two are a wealth of knowledge on both the company and the legacy.

“On the program management side, we have lots of activity out in Dallas including transportation work, airports, and the Dallas metro transit system, all of which are huge growth areas,” said Jordan. Construction management and program management are considered the company’s primary services, while real estate development remains a significant part of H. J. Russell’s business lines.

Jordan takes the lead on talking me through some of the standout projects that have marked the company’s more recent success. “The Terminal Renewal and Improvement Program at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was a joint venture project with a value of about $850 million dollars, which we wrapped up around 2017,” says Jordan. “We had a team working out there, and that’s what spun us to increase our presence even more in the Dallas area. We started to pick up some standalone work there as well as some other extensions out at DFW.”

Next, in the spotlight is Grayson Ridge, a senior living multifamily project in Lawrenceville, GA that was completed last year. “It was about $36 million dollars and 240 units, a four-story apartment building,” Jordan continues. “It’s a really nice building as far as finishes go as well as amenities such as a courtyard, library, crafts room, fitness center, salon and movie theatre. The courtyard has a bocce ball court, pavilions, barbeque grills and walking area. A really nice facility.”

Enthusiasm is in high supply from the conversation’s outset, but it reaches its peak when I ask about Russell CARES and the philanthropic work H. J. Russell does for its community. “That’s my area of expertise,” Bryant says. “I’m ready, willing, and able to jump in here.” Russell CARES, I quickly learn, is not a mere afterthought that was born out of a society that demands more philanthropy from profit-yielding businesses. Quite the opposite, Russell CARES is, and always was, at the very heart of what H. J. Russell stands for.

“Russell CARES is, and always was, at the very heart of what H. J. Russell stands for.”

Russell CARES, which is the company’s corporate social responsibility program, spurred from founder Herman Russell’s philanthropic efforts, including those of his family. Today, it stands proudly as a tangible representation of his legacy. “He was a generous man and quite involved in the community,” says Bryant, “and that is part of the DNA of H. J. Russell. Our CEO, Michael Russell, often tells me that I’m part of the ground game for the company. He wants me to be out and about, to really see the pulse of what’s going on. The Russell CARES philosophy is to support those grassroots agencies that really need some gas in their tanks. We’re not making a $50,000-dollar contribution to United Way Worldwide, we’re making a $2,500-dollar donation to organizations like Facts to Thrive, a unique organization that we supported a couple of months ago. It’s just one person. She goes to senior communities and teaches elderly people how to navigate their cell phones. Think about the Apple store experience where there are millennials who really know their way around phones. That can be somewhat intimidating. These places aren’t built for seniors, so she goes to these communities and puts on training sessions for them. And we just bumped into her because we’re out there on the ground floor. We like that human touch, getting to know the people we support and something about their business rather than just giving a check, taking pictures, and moving on.”

Bryant gives another example that captures the human touch he speaks of. “There’s an elderly tower we built called Maggie Russell Towers. During the COVID pandemic, we gave them a check to buy food for their food pantry.

Because of the restrictions at the time, we did this cool thing where we airdropped the check in with a drone. We filmed the whole process which was really cool. It captured the skyline of the building, the drone flying in, and the people waving. It was something fun to do as we supported and celebrated those seasoned citizens.” Not only does H. J. Russell build these state-of-the-art buildings for seniors, it also donates to companies who go on to directly enhance their experience. “It’s in the tagline,” says Bryant. “‘We don’t just build structures. We build communities.’”

Perhaps one of the most unique parts of Herman Russell’s legacy is the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, the 54,000-square-foot former H. J. Russell headquarters that is dedicated now to developing black entrepreneurs. “When Mr. Russell passed in 2014, the building was worth around $8 million dollars.” Lending from the altruism passed down by their father, Russell’s three children decided to donate the building to the community instead of cashing in their share. “What we have now is really a national model—the programming and what they’ve done with this building is really amazing.” The center is visited year-round by CEOs and government officials, and most recently by Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and their network of employees as part of their Black History Month program. “Many were blown away by what we’re doing here,” says Bryant. “They left asking—how can we do something like this in our communities?”

Before his time at Russell, Bryant was involved in a global study that put forward the question—what’s the thought process of the employees in the best companies in the world? The study found that the employees of the world’s best companies shared six common beliefs. The first is the belief that somebody in your organization in a higher position than you sincerely cared about your growth and development. The second is the belief that every day you had the necessary tools to perform your job. The third is the belief that your work environment was one in which you could learn and grow. The fourth was that you had friends at work. “And, it’s the last two that really permeate throughout the colony,” he says. “Number five is the belief that what your company does, whether that be building structures or writing articles, is significant. And the sixth is the belief that every day, by doing your job, you are contributing to that something significant. We are extremely proud of Herman Russell’s legacy, and we know that we are blessed to be given the opportunity to carry that legacy on our shoulders and to be able to do all these good things in the community. It’s a wonderful thing!”

The true significance of Herman Russell’s legacy and the positive impact that his 70-year strong company continues to have on the community can be wrapped up in Bryant’s reflections on the company’s anniversary celebration last year. “Our primary corporate color is green,” he says, “and there are several buildings within the city that turned their lights green in honor of H. J. Russell. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta was green, 191 Peachtree Tower was green, Mercedes-Benz Stadium was green. I think it’s just beautiful to see these businesses in the area show their appreciation for Herman and what he’s done.”

Jordan adds, “When you think about how many companies start up, and they don’t make it five, 10, 20 years, 70 seems like forever. I started in 2006, and then, the recession hit. It was really tough. Projects weren’t coming in like they had been. People were bailing out and moving on. Michael Russell could have easily said, ‘Guys, I’m done,’ and quit while he was ahead, but his commitment to what his dad built and his decision to stick with it and ride it out—I give him a ton of credit for that. I’ve seen the company’s construction department drop to less than 20 people. Now though, it is back up to maybe three times that, and we continue to grow.”

In the same way that it practiced philanthropy from the outset, H. J. Russell was also a diverse company long before diversity was demanded in the modern working environment. “Herman Russell said he looked around his company back in the sixties, and it looked like the United Nations,” says Bryant. “That’s what he wanted. He liked it that way. We still look around today, and there’s diversity everywhere.” Perhaps, this is the very secret to H. J. Russell’s longevity—a longstanding commitment to values that truly matter.

“I’ve only been in the company five years,” Bryant continues, reflecting on his first day with H. J. Russell. “I remember as I was meeting people, it wasn’t, ‘Welcome to the team,’ or ‘Welcome to the company.’ It was, ‘Welcome to the family.’ Now I make sure that anytime I meet a new employee, I say the same. It’s important to carry that on. This is what a working environment, what a business, and what a community is all about.”

Healthcare, Senior Living, Communities of Faith. Pennsylvania is rich in caring communities, communities that are growing and also require the resources and buildings to meet the demand. Arthur Funk & Sons, Inc. Construction Services, is a third generation, family owned and operated company, positioned geographically and with more resources to meet that demand. According to Ken Funk, president of the company that is headquartered in Lebanon, PA, a location that is central to major access routes and cities, the firm specializes in building facilities to meet the demand of these industries. “We are committed to the community where our family and families of our employees live, work, worship and learn,” said Funk. “In fact, a walk around town or the central Pennsylvania area, and you will see our footprint and the impact it has made.”

Ken Funk, a third-generation owner of the company, is a rich source for construction history when it comes to the Arthur Funk & Sons story. “My Grandfather, Arthur, started the company in 1939,” Ken tells me. “We were in the middle of a deep depression at the time. He began with a small crew of carpenters garnered when he purchased the company from his uncle; and they built mostly agricultural buildings . . .barns, corn sheds, anything to do with agriculture.”

Henry Funk, Ken’s father, joined the company after WW2 and that’s when Arthur Funk & Sons started doing more commercial work, paving the path to where it is today. The company, now in its third generation, remains family-owned by Ken and his two brothers, Bob and Dave.

The true character of Arthur Funk & Sons is realized through its core values, which have been defined and built upon for three generations in business. “We listen to our customers to understand their needs, accommodate each customer’s unique goals, collaborate by building a quality team of professionals and subcontractors, and create thoughtful solutions to deliver projects where all involved succeed and thrive,” he said.

To all who work with Arthur Funk & Sons, these values are not merely a whish-wash narrative for reputation or marketing purposes, but rather the true essence of the company, backed by the everyday experience of its clients and employees.

“The feedback from our clients and employees says we’re flexible and we listen well. Our team are problem solvers, who solve problems with little to no conflict, as we try to minimize drama because in construction, there can be lots of it!”

Within its specialty sectors, Arthur Funk & Sons is known to take old buildings and give them a new lease of life. Called Adaptive Reuse, the Encounter Church of Palmyra, PA is a prime example. The Funk team took an old grocery store and converted it to a 38,300 sq ft church that included Fellowship area, welcome Center, Kitchen, Day Care and Worship Space.

“This was a Phased Project, that allowed the church to operate and grow, and at the same time raise the needed funds for the project,” said Funk. “Plus as it was a grocery store, there was plenty of parking and added land available for future growth. We have returned to do more work in part due to the relationship we have built.”

“To Arthur Funk & Sons, building solid relationships is as important as building solid structures.”

The word relationship is one that comes up time and time again throughout the conversation with Ken. It’s evident that to Arthur Funk & Sons, building solid relationships is as important as building solid structures. “We exist because we like to build lasting, long-term, and enduring relationships,” is how Ken puts it. Relationships in every sense are a two-way-street, and so it’s become the case that Arthur Funk & Sons has had prestigious jobs simply handed over to it by clients who place the same high value on relationships that it does. “Some of our competitors are twice our size,” Ken says, “and they can build effectively, but they can’t build relationships.”

A recent experience Ken shared captured the true significance of the relationships that are built between the Funk frontline and clients. “We had a client say to us about a project we’re working on right now, ‘you need to promise us that we get so-and-so on the job’. Then, last night at a church meeting for another project, the building committee chair said, ‘hey, you need to promise I get so-and-so on this…’. And again, another church in Lancaster requested, ‘we will wait as long as it takes to get so and so on the job.’ Three different occasions, three similar situations, demonstrated how we and our clients thrive on and values relationships.”

Of the sectors that Arthur Funk & Sons specialize in, it is the churches that make up the bulk of its portfolio. Ken is passionate about this kind of work, and for good reason. “If you’re doing a project for single owner of business, that one person makes all the decisions,” Ken explains. “But when you’re working with churches, where they have a big attendance at Sunday service, now you have 300 people making decisions, 300 people who have to buy-into the project, and it’s a very different process. The beauty is in witnessing not one but 300 people share enjoyment once the project is complete. That’s where our team stands out.”

In keeping with the recurring theme of relationships, many of the company’s church jobs are the product of previous relationships they have built within these communities of faith. Take Carlisle United Methodist Church in Carlisle, PA. “Carlisle UMC was a brand-new church on a new site – you don’t get that too often nowadays. That church came to us because we did some previous work in the town, so we knew the code inspector, the retirement home executive, and an engineer, all of whom sat on the committee. They asked us to come along and help develop plans, create budgets, and eventually build the project.”

Such is the typical series of events that have led to the significant footprint Arthur Funk & Sons now has on the Pennsylvanian church community. This modern business landscape often calls for a huge reliance on and investment in advertising and marketing in order for a company to succeed. It is a credit, then, that 90% of Arthur Funk & Son’s business still comes from word of mouth.

Another example of a project that involved Arthur Funk & Sons reimagining an existing space to make it more cost-efficient and mutually beneficial to all is Lebanon City Hall, which relocated to downtown after 50 years on the outskirts. “The city came to us wanting to move downtown,” Ken tells me of the project. “We worked with the city, a local non-profit foundation, and a local community college that wanted to get rid of their existing space due to costs. We brought all these different entities together—a team– to figure out how to get the townhall back into downtown. The result: the community college sold the building to the city, we came in and renovated, and now the community college occupies the fourth floor through a lease back agreement with the city at a much more economical position than through ownership.” The project, as Ken describes it, was a huge success. “Again, it boils down to our relationship with the city, the non-profit, and the community college combined with our ability build teams to get all these different groups together and heading in the same direction.”

The impact that Arthur Funk & Sons has on its community is plain to see through the projects and relationships that it builds. A little less evident is all the work that happens behind the scenes with local high schools and technical schools in the drive to inspire the future generation of construction workers. One of the many takeaways from my conversation with Ken is that Arthur Funk & Sons impact is one that extends far beyond the reach of healthcare, retirement, and church communities.

“We brought one of our awesome employees in as a general superintendent and asked him to do two things – one was to mentor up and coming employees, and two was to make connections with local high schools so we can hire young, energetic, quality people. This employee now sits on an advisory committee alongside these academic schools and has developed a really great relationship with them. We currently have two co-op students that go to school for half a day and work for us for the other half. About 75% of the time these students become full-time employees. We also get called into these academic schools for career days. This has made a difference to our workforce.”

Moving on from that point, I ask Ken about his goals for Arthur Funk & Sons as it goes forward. His answer is evident of the active investment he and his brothers have in the future and continuity of the company. “Bob, Dave and I believe without question how important it is to keep this thing going,” he says. “Two years ago, we hired the North Group to help us put together a plan to do just that. One of the first things they did was help us form a leadership team which consists of four employees who are totally dedicated to the cause. That’s going to help us distribute some of the decision making, get us through the next transition, and carry us down the road. Our future–It’s going to be fantastic!”

One of the first adopters to precast concrete was the agricultural industry, who in the early seventies had high demand for structures such as slats, feed bunks, troughs, and insulated walls. It was in this era that Fritz Construction Services Inc. came to life under the leadership of Tom Fritz and thrived in the business of agricultural precast. In the four decades that followed, under the banner of Fritzall, the company expanded their offerings to the industry to include complete barn structures, wall panels, and concrete bases for wind turbines. In 2014, through a fortunate stroke of serendipity, Fritzall crossed paths with Alder Concrete Group who had been building cast-in-place and ICF structures since 2006. For some time, the two worked in tandem, offering structural and architectural panels to the high-rise residential market. Fritzall produced wall panels for complete precast buildings while Alder installed them, each side benefiting from the others well-established craft. It soon became clear to both parties that if they were to combine forces, they’d be able to make a dramatic contribution to the Ontario superstructure market. So, in 2018, that’s exactly what they did.

I am joined by Colin Robinson, VP of Sales at Fritz-Alder Precast, who has been fortunate enough to experience first-hand some of the successes that came with the Fritz-Alder union. “The companies aligned and opened up their biggest plant addition yet with the most-high-tech hollowcore production line in Ontario,” Robinson says. “And that got us to where we are today.” From humble beginnings as two separate entities with similar values, Fritz-Alder was formed to provide its clients with the best quality products and services. Fritz-Alder is widely known today as an industry leader in concrete manufacturing and installation, offering advanced precast technology to the Ontario market and committing always to superior customer experience and cost-effective solutions.

I ask Robinson to delve a little deeper into the services Fritz-Alder offer and the answer is not short nor finite because in essence, they can build anything their customer desires. “We produce Precast hollowcore floor slabs, which are the most efficient flooring system in terms of span to depth ratio and materials,” he says. “Along with this we produce solid slabs for areas with higher loading or odd shaped pieces. We produce balconies that come sloped with broom finishes, basically standalone balconies that require no maintenance, as well as landings for stairwells. We make beams and columns, prestressing them where possible to eliminate the amount of reinforcing while increasing the strength of the product. And of course, wall panels – everything from structural concrete panels that are covered on site, to architectural panels with form liners, and stain or pigment. We can print the concrete with any pattern imaginable.” It was the introduction of wall panels to Fritzall’s line of products back in the early days that first led them into the commercial market, where they got their architectural certificate for wall panels on commercial and residential buildings. This particular product offering accounts for a significant proportion of Fritz-Alder’s business today.

“Within these walls we have the option to include insulation which creates a sandwich panel, allowing designers and owners to get the R value they desire and achieve what they are looking for – a slimmer wall system or a simpler wall system, it’s really up to the customer.” This customer-focused approach is paramount to the Fritz-Alder business model. Colin gives the example of energy and power companies, for which Fritz-Alder provide very specific precast products that come with very high-quality standards that they meet and exceed. It seems that if it can be built with precast concrete, it can be built by Fritz-Alder.

Fritz-Alder is a company championing and benefiting from a service model that allows them to provide almost everything in-house, a model that is growing in popularity due to the efficiency and quality that can be achieved off the back of it. “We provide and install the precast, and we provide any necessary finishing touches once installed to ensure our customers have a complete system,” says Robinson. “We have our own sales team that works with customers. Once the job is awarded it continues over to engineering and drafting, and they work in house with our Project Managers to ensure goals are met and that drawings are completed on time. Then the job goes into production, and once produced, we have our own installation team that not only installs it but goes in afterwards and does core-drilling. The cutting of mechanical openings is completed in the production faciality to reduce on site waste. We also put down underlayment on top of the precast for flooring needs.” This one-stop-shop system that Fritz-Alder has established over the years makes for a highly efficient service model that really works.

To demonstrate the proven, practical success of this service model Robinson tells me about some standout projects from over the years. He includes some projects from before the Fritz-Alder merger, worthy of a mention due to their significance in the company’s journey to 2022, its 50th year in business.

“Prior to Fritz-Alder, Fritzall completed a number of large projects, and one that stands out is 100 Victoria which is the first of the Garment Street Towers. Fritzall was producing the architectural cladding with Alder on installation. These panels were highly detailed, with brick form liner, integrated windowsills and headers, and large U shape and L shape pieces. That was a great achievement for both companies. And later in 2019, now as Fritz-Alder, we were tasked with doing the next building, which was a 28-storey tower.” In what has become known as the Fritz-Alder Advantage, Fritz-Alder makes a promise to its customers to be relentless in its pursuit of quality and precision, from design to manufacturing to installation. The 100 Victoria project is an example of the Fritz-Alder Advantage in action, long before the official joining of the two companies.

“Another standout project was 460 Columbia, our first complete precast project where we built the entire structure from parking deck up. We utilized a structural precast system with hollowcore walls, beams, columns, solids, balcony pieces, and also had some architectural pieces as well. 460 Columbia was two 12-storey towers with a floor plate of about 25,000 square feet. For this project we had two tower cranes on site which is rare. This meant we had to have two installation crews and with that we were able to install a new level of 25,000 square feet every 12 days.”

“Another standout project was 460 Columbia, our first complete precast project where we built the entire structure from parking deck up.”

Robinson tells me next about the Bloomingdale project, a recently completed complete precast building. With architectural cladding and lots of beams and columns, Bloomingdale was a similar concept to the projects previously mentioned, but this time Fritz-Alder’s service included the exterior of the building. “When we were finished on site not only was the structure done but the exterior too,” he says. “One of the prominent features of that building were the column-less balconies, something that isn’t done very often. We did two levels of underground parking on that as well.”

These are just a few of the large-scale projects from an impressive Fritz-Alder portfolio, which has a collective span of 50 years. “Aside from those we do quite a few smaller jobs as well,” Robinson tells me. “We do everything from garage floors to water treatment plants, schools, long term care facilities, industrial buildings, everything. The efficiency and durability of the product lends itself well to all sectors of the construction industry, and so we don’t just do residential or commercial or civil jobs, were in all the sectors.”

Reflecting on the company’s 50th anniversary which they’ve been quietly celebrating in the background of a busy year, Robinson takes it right back to 1972 and Fritzall’s founder, Tom Fritz. “Tom was a very innovative person, always finding new ways of pushing the envelope of product efficiency, trying new things, searching for new products to manufacture.” This innovation mindset that brought the company to life back in the early seventies is evident still today, championed now by a new generation of owners with big plans for the future. “We’ve achieved a lot in the last 50 years and especially in the last four,” says Robinson. “We’re seeing steady growth year to year, both in the number of jobs we do and in the products we offer. The market is heading more and more in the direction of precast simply because builders are looking at more efficient ways to do things, especially with rising interest rates and cost increases. The opportunity for us is exceptional, and we want to seize every opportunity we can. We are going to keep marching forward with growth and manufacturing improvements to ensure the quality and services our customers demand and expect from us are not only met, but exceeded.”

There is no substitute for experience. Communication is key. Excellence comes with innovation. Cost, quality, and time efficiency must be achieved in tandem.

It is the ability to learn and embrace these truths that is often the driving force behind a successful construction company, and such is the case for CCS Building Group. A commercial construction company based in Pennsylvania, CCS Building Group has established itself as a leader in its field when it comes to delivering innovative projects and forming honest partnerships. It started in 2007 with a wealth of knowledge already behind it through the collective experience of working with large construction companies in the region. Today, it stands strong with over sixty employees and is set to celebrate its 15th year in business.

CCS Building Group specializes in the design-build delivery method and is therefore highly engaged in the development of the design as well as the construction of the project. It is a method that is growing in popularity, simply because it makes for more efficient finished products. “Our preference is performing work via design-build, where we lead the project from the inception,” says Bill Koch Senior, Founder and President of CCS Building Group. Throughout his career Bill has been involved in the design and construction of projects that represent more than $1.5 billion and 10 million square feet of building construction. He joins me, alongside Preconstruction and Estimating Manager, Bill Koch Junior, and Business Manager, Todd Shertzer, to share some insights into the company. “A fair amount of our business is performed in that particular capacity whereby we don’t solely rely on architects and engineers to develop the project. We input a lot of our experience particularly into costs associated with different building systems as well as the long-term benefits and efficiencies that certain systems bring to the table.” The design-build philosophy is embraced by CCS Building Group, and this allows the company to deliver a high-quality service that is efficient in both cost and time, while fulfilling the vision of its clients.

CCS Building Group works within a two-hour driving time radius of its office in Lancaster Pennsylvania, which includes Central, Southeastern, Northern Maryland, and Delaware. CCS Building Group has contributed significantly to the Senior Living industry within this zone. The team at CCS Building Group has a depth of experience with designing and constructing Life Plan Communities, Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Personal Care facilities. It specializes in renovating and preparing existing living spaces for new residents, and it is this type of work that makes up for a significant bulk of its portfolio. As well as delivering projects through the design-build method, CCS Building Group also offers preconstruction management, operational consulting, general contracting, residence turnover management, residential renovations, and in-house skilled trades.

To provide an insight into the standard example of the work CCS Building Group does as part of the retirement community expansion, Bill talks about Southpointe Villas. “It’s a 45-acre property and so far, we’ve built 88 villas,” he says. “We’re also constructing five 24-unit apartment buildings, of which one is complete, one is in process and three will be in the future.” The first step in a multi-phase development, the Southpointe Villas project also includes a Memory Care Facility with programming and residential units directed purely towards memory support. “The Memory Support Campus is state-of-the-art,” says Bill, “and one of the more interesting components of the Southpointe Villas project.”

Bill talks about how it is often the amenity buildings within these retirement communities that make for the most interesting projects. Chautauqua Hall, for example, is a 20,000 square feet events pavilion and performance stage that was developed and constructed by CCS Building Group in partnership with Willow Valley Communities. “Chautauqua Hall is a timber-framed music entertainment venue that seats three hundred people,” says Bill. The venue was developed to enable Willow Valley Communities to provide its residents with rich cultural experiences, as is its longstanding tradition.

CCS Building Group is heavily involved in the renovation sector and as such the overall revitalization of the zone in which it operates. Bill talks about Southern Market, a recent standout renovation project in Lancaster City. “Southern Market is one of our more unique projects. We renovated the interior and facade of a building that was built in 1888. Originally it was a farmers’ market and then over the years it transitioned into office space. It sat vacant for several years until our client got hold of it with a vision to change it into a food hall along with co-working offices. This was a completely different from the building’s prior uses, so it changed a lot structurally from a fit-and-finish standpoint. It looks very different inside. We couldn’t do a lot of changes on the exterior, only some upgrades and improvements, because the building is listed in the National Historic Register.”

“CCS Building Group specializes in the design-build delivery method.”

Another interesting project in the works is Mosaic, a design-build contract for a senior living provider. “We’ve been working on that one for a few years now,” says Bill. “It’s a 20- story independent living building with 146 apartments and lots of amenity space, all within what is part of a city block here in Lancaster City. It’s kind of an urban and more modern design, while still offering all the same services that the client would enjoy on their suburban campuses. It’s been an interesting and exciting process, going through the approvals, and planning to get closer to a construction start date.” Bill goes on to talk about CCS Building Group’s role on the project. “As a design-build firm, all of the design is handled through us,” he says. “We’ve been involved day to day with the whole sales team, the development team, and the design team. Another unique aspect of it is that we’re also creating a model apartment and a sales center offsite. The model depicts an apartment on the sixteenth floor, so we’re using some tricks in the windows to give the sense that you’re looking out your window on the sixteenth floor and not the ground floor. We’re involved in a lot of the technology, as well as the marketing components associated with creating that project.” What Bill describes here is that CCS Building Group is not just constructors, they’re innovators, and that is another driving force behind its success.

Reflecting on the company’s upcoming 15th year anniversary, Bill talks about how quickly time has gone by. “It seems like just a couple of years ago that we were planning a party for our 10th anniversary,” he says. “That came and went, and then covid came into play. I didn’t even realize it was our 15th year in business! But it’s been a great tour. In that time, we’ve done what I feel is a significant amount of impactful projects with our own people.” It is the ethos of CCS Building Group that the art of building starts with a great team, and as such, they are just as committed to building a solid foundation of workers as they are to time and cost efficiency. The built environment is expanding at a rapid pace and there is an expectation for construction companies to fulfill the demand without sacrificing quality. This commitment is what sets CCS Building Group apart.

“We have growth opportunities,” Bill says when I ask him about his vision for the future, “but the biggest challenge is accumulating staff and keeping them, whether that be management or tradespeople. It’s a challenge for us and for the industry, but we’re managing it by trying to work smarter instead of harder.” With a nice backlog of work in the pipeline and a clear vision for growth, it seems that despite the challenges, CCS Building Group can look forward to another fifteen years of success in the Pennsylvanian construction market.

Some time ago, the team at SG Constructors attended a world-renowned Customer Service Training Course at The Disney Institute. The course teaches management teams how to adapt Disney’s service model into their own trade, regardless of industry type or customer size. SG Constructors were surrounded by people from industries such as hospitality, banking, and healthcare, many of whom were surprised to see members of the construction industry taking such an invested interest in customer service. But for SG Constructors, a construction management company based in Ontario, an invested interest in customer service is the very backbone of their existence. “Our company was formed out of a desire to perform a higher level of customer service,” says President of SG Constructors, Matt Stainton. “To look at the construction industry in a different light and try and provide a better understanding of what our clients’ needs are, and to assist with that. We really want to blur lines between contractor and client to the point where if the client has a responsibility and are about to drop the ball that we pick it up for them, and vice versa. If we can have a better understanding of their business and try and think like the owners, we can provide greater value through the services we provide and looking at design optimization.”

The SG team have over a century of collective experience working with some of the industry’s most noteworthy companies. This has taught them how to be proactive and future-focused in an industry that has, and continues to change. Stainton says, “I spent about twenty-five years with one of Canada’s largest contractors. I took some of the great learnings from there and brought them to SG along with the nimble, lean ability to act and behave differently.” What Stainton describes here is SG Constructors owner-centric approach to what they call ‘curated construction’, a key factor in their ongoing success.

Also key to SG Constructors success is their ability as a company to look inward and take care of their people. That is, their top-tier company culture. Speaking again on the importance of customer service and unpacking some wisdom from The Disney Institute, Stainton says, “If you don’t have the ability to provide internal customer service, you can’t provide that external customer service to the clients you’re working for. Our frontline people are our customers. We need to make their jobs as easy and efficient as possible so they can focus more on the client or on going home early; if they can get home half an hour early each day and spend an extra two and a half hours per week with their families, life’s a little better, and they’re better at work.” Stainton describes a home-life balance that many companies struggle, if not refuse to provide, and he proves that it can be achieved without sacrificing quality of service or customer satisfaction. “It gets us thinking about the small details and looking at little things,” he says, “because when you look at the little things the big things become very, very easy.”

“The Four Keys – safety, courtesy, show and efficiency – are the hierarchal backbone of SG Constructors Service Model.”

Stainton says that surprisingly, when it comes to customer service, “there’s not a whole lot of difference between what Disney do and what we do.” SG Constructors work to a Disney-inspired Service Model which they modify and tailor to construction. The Four Keys – safety, courtesy, show and efficiency – are the hierarchal backbone of SG Constructors Service Model. Stainton talks me through each of these Four Keys and the intentionally ranked order of them, which many are surprised at first glance.

“Safety comes first,” he says, “because we can never place safety secondary. Sure, we could build something faster and cheaper, but safety is going to be sacrificed and we can’t do that.”

The next, Stainton tells me, is courtesy, and it’s the high-ranking of this particular key that often catches people off guard. “The stereotype around construction is cold, callous, catcalling, that kind of thing,

and so, we’re trying to change all that around courtesy. If we’re doing a renovation in a major mall for example, we could do it faster but might disrupt a whole bunch of tenants in the process. We could just run roughshod and block all the parking and then the customers won’t come; its more efficient, but it’s not courteous.”

After courtesy comes show, which refers to what the site looks like. “Because ultimately, an efficient site is the by-product of an organized, clean site.” To explain this key Stainton applies the metaphor of painting a bedroom. “If you’ve got whole bunch of furniture in it it’s going to be very slow, you’ll get some paint on things, whereas if you move all that furniture to the center, it’s a whole lot more efficient, and that’s the show standpoint.”

Fourth on the list is efficiency, which is another ranking that people are often surprised by at first. “When you think about it, it’s never going to come ahead of safety, nor is it going to come before courtesy or show when you’re working in an occupied environment.” While efficiency is no doubt important in construction, it’s as refreshing as it is rare to see a company prioritize and care for the live environment within which they are operating.

These Four Keys can be applied by SG Constructors stakeholders and employees to empower them to think and act like owners, which makes for consistent service delivery and efficient decision- making across the board. “We have so many different variables and scenarios where people will have to make decisions,” Stainton says. “We can’t write a hundred different rules on how people should act and think, so if they look in those terms it’s easier for them to make a decision. That’s how the Four Keys work within our model of construction.”

Stainton goes on to discuss some of the standout projects SG Constructors have worked on over the years. They were recently awarded the ‘Best of the Best’ Award for LiUNA Gardens Shore Wall, a seven-hundred Linear Foot environmentally sensitive development in Stoney Creek, Ontario. “It was a challenging project for us because we had to work around fishery schedules, conservation requirements, and safety relative to working on and beside water. We had a track record of zero incidents on that job.” The 8-acre site development kicked off the first phase of a multi-phase project that will consist of over one million square feet of housing.

Another noteworthy project from SG Constructors portfolio is King William Residence, a two-tower development with 581 residential units and 20,000 square feet of retail space. “The developer had started early works on their own and had encountered a few challenges along the way,” says Stainton. “They reached out to us to step in earlier than anticipated to resolve the issues and get the project back on track. The project is now ahead of schedule despite COVID challenges. We put a lot of extra work on ourselves by thinking outside the box but in turn saved the client a lot of money – millions of dollars.”

Circling back to earlier in our conversation, Stainton reinforces his point about SG Constructors desire to better understand their client’s businesses in order to form better partnerships. He talks about a smaller but significant project – Spark Tower Interior Fit out – that shows how this desire is put into practice. “The Project Management team was encountering some challenges, so ultimately the client turned the entire construction management of the project over to us. We have significant leeway in making design and financial decisions about the project because we understand what they need, and we understand their budget.”

SG Constructors demonstrate a proactive and future-focused mindset in all that they do, and their approach to the ongoing labor shortage follows suite. Stainton describes how SG Constructors are managing the labor shortage in both the short-term and the long-term. “In the short-term, we are focusing on our employees and treating them like customers. We really try and make it a family feel here. We’re quite flat in terms of an organization chart, and if there’s ever a reason to have a little fun – birthdays, weddings, new babies – we do it.” Also, on the short-term Stainton highlights the importance of opening the doors to women, indigenous people, immigrants, and those who may not think about construction as an obvious opportunity. “That’s going to be our short-term stop gap,” he says.

On the long-term, and the thing that has the potential to transform the next generation of construction, is SG Constructors commitment to ending the negative stigma around the industry and to promote it for the rewarding career that it is. “Many years ago, American General Constructors did a study which found that by Grade 3 kids don’t know what they want to do but they know what they don’t want to do, and that’s construction.” This finding came as a great disappointment to Stainton who knows first-hand what a truly great industry construction is, and he is determined now to share this knowledge far and wide. “We are working with many partners on trying to promote the industry at a government level; trying to get shop back into schools and having an accelerated immigration program to attract people with skilled trades, not just architects and engineers.” Among other campaigns SG Constructors also run digital outdoor ads that read ‘Talk to your kids about a Career in Construction’ in an attempt to make parents aware that this shift towards a brighter future for construction begins in the home. Stainton is passionate when he says that “we need parents and guidance counselors to stop thinking everybody needs to go to a university or college. Not everyone can be a lawyer or a doctor. There’s a lot of great programs and trades out there that allow people get into the workforce very young and get a jump on things.”

When I ask Stainton about his vision for the future of SG Constructors he returns once again to the importance of customer service. It’s clear that for SG Constructors customer service is not merely a box-tick exercise that is demanded in today’s business landscape, but rather the driving force behind all that they do. “Ultimately, we want to work with great clients and great people who we call friends. When they trust us, they share more about their business, and then we can be of greater value to them because we understand more. When the ball is about to drop, we can see it and we know exactly where it needs to be. That’s where we want to be.”

When precast concrete first gathered significant momentum in the 1950s there were few companies that could see it for the leading building material it would later become. One company that was quick off the mark was Central Precast Inc, a concrete manufacturing company that remains at the forefront of Canada’s precast industry today. Central Precast Inc was established in 1956 as a manufacturer of precast concrete products for the general construction industry. The company’s product line and manufacturing quickly grew to include landscape utility products, manholes, concrete poles, steps, barriers, and architectural panels. “Anything to do with concrete was made under that one roof,” says current Vice-President, Claudio Mion. “With an excess of over one hundred product lines, focus on customer service was beginning to lack.” To address this, and in recognition of the potential of precast concrete and the many different market segments it could serve, new industry-specific companies were formed under the umbrella of The Precast Group.

First to join Central Precast Inc was M CON Products, a one-stop-shop for sewer infrastructure needs. “M CON was formed to focus on the sewer and water main industry,” says Claudio. “Concrete pipe, manholes, anything that was underground to do with water.” Next to form was Utility Structures who offer specialized precast concrete services to the electrical industry. “When my uncle and former President Luigi Mion saw the immediate success of M CON he started the company’s series of expansion and growth. Utility Structures was formed to focus on the electrical market including electrical manholes, hydro manholes, transformer bases, utility poles. Anything to do with concrete poles for street lighting, sports lighting, hydro-distribution, was going to be made at Utility Structures, and that’s when I came into the picture.”

As nephew of Luigi Mion and cousin of John, Claudio is part of The Precast Groups second-generation. He began his career working counter sales at Central Precast until 1991 when he became head of Utility Structures, where he bounced between dispatching, sales, purchasing, and whatever else the company demanded at the time. “It was only a two-man operation in office and nine in plant,” Claudio says. “We started in the midst of the recession but while we were slow at the beginning we soon grew exponentially.”

“The three companies make up The Precast Group, which stands today as the leading manufacturer of precast concrete products in Eastern Ontario.”

With M CON and Utility Structures in the picture, original company Central Precast continued to house the groups head office and accounting department while also specializing in architectural panels and interlocking stone. The three companies make up The Precast Group, which stands today as the leading manufacturer of precast concrete products in Eastern Ontario.

“In the same way that M CON grew exponentially,” says Claudio, “so did Utility Structures and so did Central Precast. Each had their own market segment, their own focus, and their own customer base. After a few years, instead of taking from the profits each company reinvested into growth and expansion, hence here we are sixty-five years later. We’re based in Ottawa with control over the Eastern Ontario market. We ship products to Toronto on a daily basis, and some that are quite unique and specialized go across the border and down South to Florida.”

Claudio describes how each of the companies were working independently for some time until they realized the synergies between them, for example when it comes to buying power. While they were strong as independent entities, they could be a powerhouse in unison. “We had a company reorganization in 2018 and by 2020 my role became about bringing the three companies together. I deal on a bigger scale when it comes to buying cement and aggregates, some of our key components, as opposed to everybody working independently. We’re also reorganizing our accounting department and bringing in an ERP system to make things a lot more efficient and better from an inventory control point of view. We’re in the midst of this transition and it’s going really well.”

From the early 1990s economic slump to the more recent worldwide pandemic, The Precast Group has navigated several industry ups and downs. As such, many of the projects from their sixty-five-year portfolio capture a significant moment in time and tell a unique story about the ever-changing construction industry. After the 9/11 attacks, for example, Utility Structures provided both the US Embassy and British High Commission buildings with special custom design security barriers. “Not only were the barriers extremely large,” says Claudio, “but given the circumstances we also had to work to very tight timelines.” Further back, in 1999 and 2000, there was a big boom on fiber optics and two large companies came to Canada to put a route across the nation. “Central Precast and Utility Structures reaped the benefit of that boom,” says Claudio. “That goes down as one of our biggest jobs of all time. One of the companies represented multimedia and they were buying manholes from us to run their fiber optics. At the same time Central Precast was providing them with concrete storage buildings, because at every certain distance they had to have a distribution or a booster station. The reason they liked our buildings was because they were vandal-proof, fire-proof, and maintenance free. They were complete concrete enclosed structures with concrete walls, floors, and roofs. We must have sold about five hundred of those sheds, and as far as manholes go, we must have sold about three thousand across the two-year project.”

In the mid to late nineties, when Toronto was going through a period of unprecedented growth, they were building a small subdivision in Brampton called Springdale which they planned to develop into 100,000 homes with 500,000 occupants in ten to fifteen years. “They approached us to make them concrete street lighting poles” says Claudio of the project. “At first it was five-hundred poles, then another five hundred, then every year after that another five hundred. It was hard to keep up at first, we were smaller then and didn’t have the infrastructure or the people. I said to my uncle Luigi at the time, how are we going to do this? and he said, don’t worry about it, just get the job and we will figure it out. That was one of his mottos – never dwell on how you’re going to pull this off, he always said we’ll figure this out. And we did.”

Luigi Mion’s motto has stood the test of time and is one that can be applied to many of the issues by which the construction industry is faced today. The labor shortage, for example, is causing a huge strain on the industry, however it remains an overwhelming positive that the work is as abundant as it is. Everything else can be figured out along the way.

Along with the ongoing labor shortage the construction industry is also up against high interest rates and inflation, but while a lot of employers are all doom and gloom Claudio remains optimistic. “We’re bullish in our industry and our market segment,” says Claudio. “The housing market is very strong in Ottawa, and we’re closely related to that. M CON provide the pipes and manholes, Utility Structures provide the transformer bases and utility poles, and Central Precast provide the interlocking stone. Also, our government tends to put money into infrastructure to keep the economy moving and a good portion of our products go towards the infrastructure we build. So, I would say the future is bright for The Precast Group.”

Claudio wraps things up with a nod to the driving force behind the company, and that is its people. “I like what I see,” says Claudio. “The third generation are young and ambitious and have a different mindset to my uncle and dad. We love their energy, and we love their ideas. They shed new light on things and when you blend that with us the result is quite optimistic.” The Precast Group have experienced sixty-five years of success and longevity and this, Claudio says, has a great deal to do with the dedicated employees they have. “We recently celebrated a fifty-year anniversary for an employee, and he’s still working. We also have many who have been with us for thirty, thirty-five, and forty years. When employees spend their entire career at The Precast Group it gives myself and John (President) a lot of pride.”

Between the longstanding employees who have been with the company for up to fifty years, and the third generation of fresh new minds coming up the ranks, The Precast Group is in good hands.

It is no secret among construction industry professionals that prefabricated and modular structures are the way of the future. What was always a popular approach from its introduction into the market decades ago has become even more so, with the industry moving rapidly towards a culture of speed, cost-efficiency, resiliency and sustainability. In the last ten years, precast concrete has become the fastest growing concrete in the world, a statistic that comes off the back of this heightened demand for prefabricated and modular buildings. In Canada, the precast concrete industry is represented by the Canadian Precast Prestressed Concrete Institute (CPCI).

CPCI is a research institute, trade association, and the leading technical resource for the precast concrete industry in Canada. It is described by Managing Director Brian Hall as “a joint industry initiative that develops, maintains, and disseminates the Body of Knowledge (BOK) necessary for designing, fabricating, and constructing sustainable and resilient precast concrete structures.” BOK refers to the collective knowledge of an industry that is relied upon to design and build with a specific material or system, and it is from this BOK that building codes, design guides, education programs and certifications are derived.

As an organization CPCI is, like the precast concrete it represents, structurally sound. It stands strong at 45 members and 56 manufacturing plants across Canada with over 500,000 square feet of plant space available for producing precast concrete. In fact, CPCI members produce 80% of all the precast concrete manufactured in Canada. This presence alone is representative of the industry’s scale, but what exactly is it about precast concrete that yields such growth and demand? “Fast production, life cycle cost effectiveness, low maintenance, and structural strength,” says Brian. “The inherent benefits of precast prestressed concrete make it the best choice for many projects.” To provide further insight into the durability of precast concrete Brian talks about the materials megapascal (MPa) which is a measure of the compressive strength of concrete. “Ordinary concrete is about 15-25 MPa while precast concrete is usually 35 – 55 MPa he says. “Right now, we can produce high-performance precast that’s 70 -100 MPa, so to manufacture a building that will last for a hundred years is not a problem.” Brian also says that on the aesthetic side of precast concrete “the creative dimensions of shape, texture, colour and pattern make for attractive buildings.” He adds that when it comes to sustainability “the onsite waste is almost nothing as the precast components are finished in the factory then delivered to the project”. Another sustainable benefit of precast concrete is how easily it can be power washed to look like new again, which is not the case for other building materials in the market. 

Precast concrete is far from a hard sell, and therefore the rapid growth of it as a building material of choice is very easily justified.

CPCI and its members play a huge part in the growth of the precast concrete industry in Canada through their advocacy work, which is in constant evolution and follows construction industry trends. A huge part of this advocacy work is their commitment to attracting skilled labour and promoting the benefits of a career in the precast concrete industry. “The manufacturing workforce shortage is real,” says Brian, “which means the precast industry has to rethink and enhance our interviewing, hiring, and retention practices. Since the largest labour pools are millennials, Gen Z, and new Canadians, we need a new focus on how to effectively hire and integrate these sectors into our workforce.” CPCI’s Guide to Skilled Labor Pool Developmentis being produced to help every member plant attract, train, and retain the best manufacturing talent in the precast concrete industry.

In the same way that skilled workers are beneficial to the industry, the industry offers benefits to the skilled worker. With the growth of precast concrete, there is no shortage of work out there and so CPCI is on a mission to promote the industry for what it is – an opportunity to be part of something forward-looking. As part of their advocacy work as far as building the workforce is concerned, CPCI makes sure to extend the precast opportunity to those who may need it most.

CPCI works closely with the Canadian Government as well as the Canadian architectural, engineering, transport, and parking associations, all of whom have an invested interest in the growth of precast concrete and the potential benefits of embracing it. This includes the Cement Association of Canada, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada & Regional Chapters (RAIC), Construction Specifications Canada (CSC), Transportation Association of Canada (TAC), Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE), Canadian Parking Association (CPA), Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and the Canadian Building Envelope Council, among others. As precast concrete is a more sustainable approach than traditional building methods, much of CPCI’s advocacy work is naturally focused on the drive towards a more sustainable built environment. CPCI along with Kearns Mancini Architects and Coreslab Structures presented at the Canadian Green Building Council National Convention in Toronto in June on the Putman Family YWCA the first Total Precast Concrete Passive House (PH) structure. A case study on the project is available on the CPCI website under resources/publications.

“The maturing of digital tools has radically changed the modular-construction proposition,” Brian says.

Brian attributes much of the industry’s growth in recent years to the rise in digital tools and 3D modelling that are available today. CPCI got into 3D modelling about fifteen years ago and Brian says that it’s been a godsend for the industry and members, in particular architects and engineers who love to be on the cutting edge of new technology. “The maturing of digital tools has radically changed the modular-construction proposition,” Brian says. “For instance, by facilitating the design of modular components and full modules and optimizing delivery logistics. Designer and client perceptions of prefabricated structures are beginning to change, particularly as 3D modelling design tools help improve the visual appeal of them.”

Precast concrete came about in the 1950s, embraced first by Nordic countries such as Norway and Sweden which needed to build quickly in the post-war era. It wasn’t until the 1950s that Canada’s one of the first prefabricated buildings was erected – a condominium building that stands strong today as a World Heritage site. Though it has been around since then, it is in the last 20 years that precast concrete started ramping up to its full potential. Because it remains a new phenomenon for many, there is a knowledge gap to be filled. Behind everything, CPCI’s drive is to fill that knowledge gap through education. Their Learn on Demand program, for example, is a continual series of educational courses for architects, engineers, real estate developers, academics, students, government officials and construction professionals who want to learn more about precast concrete products and services. Learn on Demand is available 24/7/365. Participants listen to a 45 50-minute presentation and then answer questions relating to the course content. Upon completion, you’re sent a certificate of participation to qualify for Professional Development Hours and/or Continuing Education Credits.”

Another successful educational service delivered by CPCI is their Lunch & Learn Presentation and Plant Tour Program, which involves educational presentations at client offices during lunch and plant tours throughout the year to share how precast concrete is manufactured. Twenty-two years ago, CPCI started a program called National Precast Day. Another channel through which CPCI provides the construction industry with quality education, National Precast Day sees members across Canada open their precast plants to demonstrate how precast components are manufactured and the many benefits of building with precast concrete. “In the last 22 years National Precast Day has hosted over 50,000 students and AEC professionals,” says Brian.

In Brian’s words, these educational programs “help those in the construction industry to keep current, master new knowledge and skills and plan for the future. In doing so they have the potential to be one of the primary forces in the improvement and revitalization of the construction industry.” With the prefabricated and modular building industry on the rise and organizations like CPCI working tirelessly to advocate and educate within it, the future looks bright for precast concrete. The industry as a whole is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% over the analysis period until 2026, and in Canada, it is CPCI and its members who are set to lead the way in making this a reality.

CPCI is pleased to announce, in 2022, the launch of a 2030/2050 Net-Zero Roadmap Initiative, an important step to decarbonizing our industry by 2050. The roadmap will align with the broader Canadian and international cement and concrete industry efforts by the Cement Association of Canada and the GCCA – Global Cement and Concrete Association and will also support international climate action industry efforts like the Paris agreement and #COP27 to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5C. The industry has established several working groups on benchmarking, production, design and construction, carbonation, and communications. The Canadian precast concrete net-zero roadmap and action plan is expected to be published by late 2022 and initiated in Winter 2023.

For more information contact CPCI at Toll-free: 877 937 2724 |Email: [email protected] | Web: www.cpci.ca

Brian J Hall, B. B. A., MBA
Managing Director
Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute
Vice-Chair – Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Foundation

“KIRCO is a national commercial real estate development, investment, construction and facilities management firm,” says Quinn Kiriluk, offering a worthy attempt at describing all that KIRCO is in just one short sentence. “We are primarily focused on two industry verticals,” says Quinn. “One being senior living and healthcare and the second being corporate real estate, which covers any type of facility from industrial, manufacturing, R&D, laboratories, offices and headquarters.”

Quinn is the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of the family owned and family operated company, and he joins me today alongside Adam and A.J. to tell me all about its four- decade long journey towards nationwide success. “ KIRCO was born and raised in Michigan,” he tells me. “An overweight portion of our business has been in Michigan State and the Midwest.” KIRCO was founded in 1974 and is a partner company of KIRCO MANIX, the construction side of the organization providing the highest quality pre-construction, design build, and construction management expertise. With over 100 years of experience and $4 billion of successfully delivered projects across the country, KIRCO MANIX have truly played their part in the resurgence of the Midwest.

“Obviously, being in the Detroit area, a lot of our work and our history is with the automotive industry.” This insight comes from AJ Washeleski, head of Business Development at KIRCO MANIX. “We’ve ridden the waves of a lot of the Japanese companies coming in the eighties and the European companies coming in the nineties and early noughties.” This leads us nicely on to a recent project of KIRCO’s: Webasto’s North American Automotive HQ. Adam Manix, Director of Corporate Real Estate, delves deep into the project which all three agree, KIRCO are extremely proud of. “The project itself was a renovation and expansion of a building that was originally built by our company thirty years ago,” he says. “It was originally designed by an Architect based down in Mexico, so it’s got some unique features and design elements compared to other buildings you see today.” The Webasto HQ building represents KIRCO’s forty-sixth building in Auburn Hills, a suburb of Detroit where a lot of the automotive companies are based and in Adam’s words “a prime location for them.”

Working out of North America’s automotive hub, KIRCO and KIRCO MANIX have come to specialize in projects of this nature. They recently completed the Mercedes-Benz North American Headquarters, a two-thousand square foot facility in Farmington Hills. The project, on which they worked alongside renowned architectural and design firm Gensler, started just six weeks before the COVID-fueled shut down of Michigan. “Imagine it,” says Quinn, “everyone is excited to get going and to hit schedules, and then all of a sudden the site is shut down.” During that time the team at KIRCO didn’t take their foot off the pedal and instead put their heads together – virtually – to figure out how to navigate the unknown territory that was a global pandemic. Six weeks later, when the State of Michigan finally recognized construction as the essential industry that it is, they hit the ground running. “We had a great team who all worked together to make sure lead times of materials were being handled in an appropriate manner,” Quinn says. “It took an extra level of discipline and focus by everyone to get it done.” To alleviate some of the supply chain issues that continue to haunt the industry today, KIRCO purchased materials up front and stored them in containers on site. “With all that,” Quinn says, “we were able to maintain the schedule.”

Much of KIRCO’s portfolio falls within the well-known automotive sector, but an industry vertical of theirs that we may be less familiar with is laboratories. Ann Arbor, a suburb of Detroit in the University of Michigan area, is home to Wacker Chemicals North American Headquarters. The 140,000 square feet of lab and R&D space handles the most volatile and abrasive chemicals on the planet and was expertly developed by KIRCO to that effect. Wacker Chemicals are originally headquartered in Germany and so the new development required a lot of lab and custom equipment, including an onsite nitrogen generator, to be imported. “A lot of that equipment fell victim to the supply chain issues,” Quinn says, “so we had to work around them. We used a helicopter to hoist the Nitrogen Generator into the penthouse because we had to enclose the building so we could finish the interiors.” AJ picks up where Quinn leaves off and tells me that “when we couldn’t get roofing materials in the proper sequence, we worked with a roof manufacturer and designed an alternative insulation method, and we still got them to honor the warranty.” Quinn, Adam, and AJ all agree that this particular project is a great example of KIRCO’s ability to, as AJ puts it, “improvise and think things out on the fly with our subcontractors, designers, and clients.”

Another project that started deep in the throes of lockdown, Wacker Chemicals HQ was completed without a face-to-face meeting ever taking place. “We got through the design development phase and got site plan approvals and construction contracts, all virtually,” says Quinn. “We broke ground on the project in October of 2020 and, believe it or not, we just completed it last week within one week of our original schedule.” It is clear from such success stories that the team at KIRCO place a great deal of importance on getting the job done on time, and this speaks to their collaborative approach to doing business. Quinn says: “One overreaching theme that’s emerged in this post-COVID era is that clients should no longer look at construction and development teams as commodities, but as partnerships. All of us working together instead of saying force majeure or not my problem – that is what’s required now.”

Speaking more on the pandemic, Quinn tells me about how KIRCO managed through the past two years that were unlike any they had ever seen before. “It was a struggle trying to run a real estate and construction company remotely without being able to collaborate in a room together,” he says, “but we managed through it well and didn’t lose a single employee.” While all of their job sites lay idle during those uncertain weeks in early 2020, the KIRCO team themselves did not. “We put all of our focus into the community. We had Project Managers helping the healthcare system by getting kiosks and booths together for COVID testing. Our local healthcare system was part of a clinical trial for early COVID treatment, and they were desperately in need of funds, so we stepped up and contributed towards those.” As well as that, KIRCO took part in the development of COVID treatment centers for homeless people in the city of Detroit. “It was unchartered waters for everybody,” says Quinn, and we certainly didn’t just look inwards.”

“Another project that started deep in the throes of lockdown, Wacker Chemicals HQ was completed without a face-to-face meeting ever taking place.”

Adam goes on to talk about how KIRCO’s handling of the pandemic ultimately speaks to the positive culture embedded deep within the company. He says that “when your back is against the wall with something so unexpected and everyone steps up, comes together, puts their heads down and gets the job done – I couldn’t be prouder.

Because development, construction, and facilities management all fall under the KIRCO umbrella, it makes sense for them to gear their focus towards long-term ownership. “Whether it’s an asset we’re going to own and lease or one we’re just building for a client like Webasto and Mercedes, we’re doing everything through the eyes of an owner. We have the rallied, brainstorming and coming up with solutions and thinking outside the box.” This approach will lead KIRCO into the future and the next stage of their journey, in which they plan to focus on their main disciple for which they are confident there will always be a demand. “Despite all the challenges we’re seeing globally and economically,” says Quinn, “there’s always going to be that demand for corporate real estate and senior housing. The product types we focus on may differ, for example we may look into more mission critical type facilities, but we will remain focused on those demands.” In terms of growth projection, Quinn says that KIRCO are committed to the national growth they are already experiencing. “We’ve got a project in a new state almost monthly,” he says. “We’re active in seventeen states today, and we only hope that we continue to see that number grow.”

To close out our conversation which was insightful and informative in equal measure, Quinn says: “We’re not perfect, there’s still challenges ahead, and we haven’t got it all figured out yet, but we feel pretty good about where we’re at.”

Occhino Corp is a Buffalo-based asphalt paving and road construction company with deep roots in Western New York. To their community in Buffalo and beyond they are a go-to contractor for road construction, parking lot construction, concrete construction, new site development, sewer installation, and various types of utility work. “An extremely versatile company,” as current CEO Lee Occhino puts it. Occhino Corp also serve Buffalo as an emergency road and utility contractor in times of need, reinforcing their reputation as a reliable asset to the community.

First established in 1955 with a fleet of just four trucks that hauled gravel products, Occhino Corp in its original form was a far cry from the multi-faceted utility and construction company that it is today. What it still is, though, is a truly authentic family business that remains under Occhino ownership. When Lee joined Occhino Corp he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and original founder Anthony A. Occhino and his own father Anthony John, becoming the third generation of Occhino to lead the company. But Lee’s involvement in Occhino Corp started unofficially back when he was just a kid, as is often the case with family businesses. He and his brother Tony were raised on Occhino Corp soil where they would help their father and grandfather with odd jobs, two future Occhino leaders in the making. All things considered, the sense of continuity that permeates through Occhino Corp is tangible. This stability is currently evidenced by the involvement of Lee’s and Tony’s children who, unsurprisingly, also demonstrate considerable skill and dedication. The family atmosphere; underpinned by a combination of diligence, trust and skill, is evident throughout my conversation with Lee and Tony and is clearly weaved into the very fabric of the company.

Before Lee came on board Occhino Corp was focused primarily on trucking, snow removal and small demolition jobs. In the early 1980s Lee got to work on expanding into residential and commercial paving, site development work and general contracting. This opened Occhino’s doors to a wider customer base and scope of service. “Back then I worked for the company doing driveway paving and smaller construction, “Lee says. “Then in the 1990s when my grandfather passed away and my father retired, my brother Tony joined me as a partner.” It was in 1999 when Tony came on board full time and together the pair grew Occhino into the versatile construction company it is today.

“In 2000 we did our first project for the NY State Department of Transportation and from there it really blossomed,” says Tony. ”Today we do everything from heavy highway road reconstruction to milling and paving of roadways. We also do a lot of school capital projects which consists of sports and athletic fields, specialty fields, rebuilding of infrastructure, and site work like sewers and water lines.”

“Anything from grass to road, you name it,” Lee adds. “We take a field and a bunch of trees and turn it into a site where somebody can put up a building, and we do all the site work for them.” Occhino Corp serves the Buffalo and Western New York region not as a client, but more like an extension of family. “We service both roadways and commercial businesses. To us, that’s our larger family and we want to make sure that our work always shines through.”

“Occhino Corp takes huge pride in every project it works on.”

As part of this commitment to quality, Occhino Corp ensures that the highest standards of safety are at the helm of all they do. Many of their employees are enrolled in programs such as civil engineering, surveying, and additional safety courses. All field employees have completed OSHA Safety requirements. “Because we started out as a trucking company,” Lee says, “we try to take care of our truckers and other employees and to get everyone home safe, while also updating our equipment regularly and keeping a nice clean site.” Occhino Corp has between forty and sixty employees depending on the time of year, and in the wintertime when business is slower they provide those employees with the opportunity to upskill. “If an employee wants to better themselves or do something that’ll move them up in the world we help them find classes and pay for a lot of it,” says Lee. “Because better employees make a better company.”

Because Occhino Corp is people-orientated they are by default safety-orientated too, and this extends to their clients as well as their employees. “We do work in places like chemical industrial manufacturing plants who are big on safety,” says Lee. He goes on to talk about some standout projects from Occhino Corp’s extensive portfolio, all of which are delivered to the highest safety and quality standards. In the spotlight is a project for Conway Beam, a family-owned truck dealership based in New York. “Two years ago we helped Conway Beam through a little bit of a rough patch getting a project off the ground,” says Lee. “We took twenty-six acres of wooded lowland, filled the property, and turned this site from wooded lowland into one of the biggest Mack Mobile dealerships in North America.”

Occhino Corp went on to win an AGC Award for this particular project along with Gernatt Asphalt Products who supplied product. The Association of General Contractors (AGC) Awards recognize the most pioneering of projects in the American construction industry. Coming out on top of their category among some of the most innovative paving projects in the region was a true reflection of Occhino Corp’s dedication to their craft.

Having experienced so much growth in earlier years, Occhino Corp is fortunate to be in a place now where they don’t want to get much bigger. Instead, they want to maintain what they’ve built over the years while bringing in fresh new talent to help the company evolve along with market trends. “We buy lots of new trucks and equipment and we try to keep up to date and running smoothly. And not only equipment – it’s the same with personnel too. We try to keep our personnel up to date through education and introducing fresh new minds to lead us through the changes the world is going through.” Occhino Corp has been around the block enough times to know first-hand that the construction industry is ever-changing. It’s clear that they are committed to keeping up with the changing demands of the industry and whatever challenges it may present, with a flexible, innovative and open-minded approach that is paramount in construction today.

“The truth is that the construction industry is getting a lot tougher these days, with a lot more white-collar and younger people coming out of college who just don’t have the experience,” says Lee. It’s no secret that the construction industry today is often plagued by inexperience and staff shortages, which ultimately has a negative impact on a company’s bottom line. “We recently brought in a new partner named Tony Milone who is a licensed Professional Engineer, and we’d like to keep the company growing with new younger partners,” says Lee. It is this investment in the future of the company and the people within it that allows for the expansion of knowledge and expertise, which is exactly what is needed to stay competitive in the ever-evolving game.

The ‘personal touch’ that underpins all that Occhino Corp does is evident in the relationships they share with both employees and clients alike. When it comes to the company’s clients Lee and Tony take inspiration from the handshake business on which they were raised. Like their father and grandfather before them, they know the importance of client relationships and they do all that they can to maintain them. “Occhino Corp takes huge pride in every project it works on. This is a company that does not merely complete projects to the required specifications. Our attitude is always to do the best job we possibly can for our customers by going the extra mile. In doing this, we have created and maintained many relationships over the years. This has all been based on a trust that is built on the handshake deal mentality.” It is this unyielding commitment to employee and client satisfaction that sets Occhino Corp apart from the crowd and keeps them on the path of success that’s been paved for generations.

Any company that’s been around for the past three decades knows a thing or two about major industry shifts, from the economic crash of 2008 to the more recent global pandemic. Champion Site Prep is a Texas-based earthwork, site preparation and excavation company who have been navigating the construction industry since 1985 with a proactive approach to its ever-changing demands. “We started out as a small shoestring company working on projects as small as gas stations and fast-food restaurants,” says President and CEO Trey Taparauskas. “We perform earthwork and paving now for projects large and small, specifically focused on the private commercial industry including offices, high rise, restaurants, banks, retail, industrial, and municipal.” In a catch-all phrase that cleverly captures both their scope of work and their commitment to quality service, Champion uses the slogan ‘We’ll move the earth for you.’

During their first twenty year period in business Champion grew slowly to approximately 100 employees and expanded their customer base but they stayed relatively small into the 90’s and early 00’s. Then, in 2003, Trey was hired with the task of taking the company to the next level in terms of growth. Champion experienced marginal growth during that time despite the industry struggles that came with 2008 but it wasn’t until some years later that the company rose to the height it stands at today. That growth, as Trey explains, was largely down to Champion’s ESOP buyout of the original owner in 2014. “That’s when we lit the fuse and the rocket really started heading up,” Trey says. “That, along with the exceptional Texas market and Champion’s renewed commitment to our customers and employees, has allowed us to over double in number of employees and triple in annual revenue. We were successful before the buyout but now we are a top tier company.”

ESOP is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan that offers workers interest in the company in the form of stock shares. It’s a ‘grow together’ approach that goes further than making employees simply feel like they are part of the company’s overall success by offering them tangible proof that they truly are. “It was definitely unique to me, the management team, and our employees, but over time it’s become the fabric of who we are,” says Trey of the business model. “We were the little guy for many years at the beginning which kept us out of the market for bigger work, but the ESOP helped us establish a more personal atmosphere which has had a positive impact on our bottom line. Our margins and company culture have both benefited from the involvement of a full team and areas of safety, work engagement, teams, and productivity have all seen the positive effect of the program.” Champion believes that each individuals success leads to positive results for the company as a whole, and the ESOP is what helps them set up their employees for that success. “Each employee can become a stock owner within one year of employment. It allows employees to feel like they’ve got skin in the game because they actually do – they get a stock report of their shares every year. We’ve grown the value of our stock by 500% since the buyout and every individual has a little piece of that. Some of those stock accounts have grown rapidly.” The program blurs the lines of hierarchy between owner and employee to make for a more fair, balanced, and opportunistic environment. Trey also says that being able to add some long-term benefits to compensation packages for each individual employee has helped Champion retain the best people, which is more than half the battle in the construction industry today.

Speaking of the success Champion has experienced since 2014, Trey mentions some of the standout projects that have kept them busy over the years. Texas is one of Northern America’s fastest growing educational hubs, and often it is Champion who are first on the ground to make that happen. “We’re very proud of our association with the largest universities in the region,” he says. “We’re a huge part of the school and university building that’s going on here. We’ve performed work for the University of Texas for over twenty years including stadium projects, new buildings, roadways, arenas, and sports fields. We’ve also got three projects at Baylor University in Waco including their new premier basketball arena, dormitory, and football practice facility. Additionally, we’ve got many projects at Texas State University, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Saint Edward’s University and Southwestern University. Having performed well for these organizations in the past does get us in the driver’s seat for their big projects when we are competitively bidding for them.”

“Big enough to undertake the largest projects, yet small enough to maintain the loyalty, quality, and teamwork that has made us successful.”

Trey goes on to talk about Champion’s work for H-E-B, the premier grocery company who are rapidly expanding throughout the Texas region. “We work as a large subcontractor on many of their new grocery projects which are a big deal in the Austin, San Antonio, and Waco areas. We’ve done over $25 million on H-E-B projects alone. We’re currently working in Temple, Texas on a $90 million plus freezer and processing center, the largest industrial investment H-E-B has ever made. It’s a 350,000 sq ft facility, like what you’d have in your kitchen or garage except with fully automated robotics and packaging. It’s a really exciting project and we won it on a competitive bid proposal along with the previous relationships we’ve built.”

It is these kinds of projects that represent the scale Champion has grown to since their humble beginnings in the mid-eighties. They plan, humbly, to continue in that direction. “We are very fortunate to be in this region that is experiencing growth,” Trey says speaking of the Austin construction market and the wider Central Texas area, “but we’re also in a particular space and market that is affected by regional, economic and world events. We try to balance growth with a conservative outlook so that we don’t get out over our skis, as we say. We take all the good we can get when the market is growing without putting ourselves in a position to go under if things slow down.”

Champion’s successful ESOP buyout in 2014 and the steady growth that’s come with it has placed the company in a position that is fully aligned with their very philosophy: to be big enough to undertake the largest projects, yet small enough to maintain the loyalty, quality, and teamwork that has made us successful. “We don’t want to be the biggest contractor performing earthwork and excavation in our region, but we do want to be the best,” says Trey. “We try to just take it as it comes and expand along with the market without having to branch out into other regions or lower prices to gain market share. We’re just riding the wave at the moment. Currently were in the top tier of premier earthwork contractors in our region and we plan to grow while also working hard to maintain our service level and our employee work environment, which we believe is what sets us apart.” The future of Champion Site Prep is all about steady growth, cautious optimism, and a lifelong commitment to always putting the employees first. The unique business model they have built over time has put them on the path to achieving all of their goals, together.