San Antonio Construction News September 2015

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After discovering a passion for de-sign build, Kevin Reid established Reid & Associates (R&A) in Albu-

querque, NM in 1990. Two years ago, he expanded operations by opening Reid & Associates of Texas in San Antonio, where Reid, founder and CEO, lives today. Born and raised in Texas, Reid grew up and attended the University of Texas in Austin. After graduating with his de-gree in architecture, he practiced archi-tecture in Austin and Dallas, but he be-came frustrated and realized he wanted to do more than just the design. “I wanted to be able to fully integrate that design through the completion of a project,” recalls Reid. “So, the construc-tion side of the business gained a lot of

interest for me.” He went to work for the Wray Com-pany, out of Arizona, where he saw many advantages to the fully integrated ap-proach of having the architectural and engineering design team at the table with the contractor from the inception of a project. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of his company, Reid is still the sole owner. The vice president in charge of construc-tion companywide for R&A is John Bon-ney, who also lives in San Antonio and runs the San Antonio office. In Texas, R&A’s biggest markets are industrial manufacturing and warehouse projects and senior living facilities.

The titans of industry at Titan Development and Reid & AssociatesL-R: Kirsten Galvan, John Bonney and Kevin Reid

Currently led by its fourth genera-tion, O’Krent’s Abbey Flooring Center is celebrating its 100th an-

niversary this year. Upon the centennial milestone, the current president and COO, Sam O’Krent, happens to be the namesake of the founder, Samuel O’Krent. Sam’s great-grandfather started the company in Cincinnati in 1915. Before he ventured into the floor covering business, he was a cap manufacturer, and accord-ing to family legend, he made hats for John Philip Sousa’s band. In 1936, during the Depression, he moved his flooring business to San Antonio. Samuel’s only son, Ted O’Krent, helped him move the business into its

first Alamo City location on St. Mary’s Street in the heart of downtown, where they had outdoor plumbing. At the time of the move, Ted’s son and Sam’s father, Arthur O’Krent, was 2 years old. In 1949, they moved to the San Pedro location, where the business remained until relo-cating to its current location on 1604 in 2001. Now, under the leadership of Sam and his wife, Margie O’Krent, vice presi-dent and CFO, the company is celebrat-ing its 100th anniversary with three give-aways of $10,000 worth of product, with no purchase necessary, to give back to the community. “The beautiful thing that’s been

Sam and Margie O’Krent are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the family business, O’Krent’s Abbey Flooring Center. Photo by Allan Smith

The Texas Rangers are legendary in law enforcement. Founded by Ste-phen F. Austin in 1823, the rangers

have nearly two centuries of history and stories to pass on to future generations. That’s why The Koehler Company was proud to take on the new Texas Rangers Heritage Center in Fredericksburg. The project covers a little over 10 acres at 1618 Hwy 290 East, and the prop-erty is owned by the City of Fredericks-burg. The Retired Texas Rangers Founda-tion, Koehler’s client and owner of the heritage center and recently completed structures, has a 99-year lease on the property. After 18 months of work, Koehler achieved substantial completion on Phase I in early August. With a budget of $3.8 million, work is being funded by do-nations and released in stages with the heritage center building to be built at a later date.

The front end of Phase I involved a lot of utility work to get the necessary in-frastructure in place, including utilities for the heritage center building. This in-cluded relocating a 12-inch water main and a 2-inch force sewer. The project team had to set up gas, domestic water, sewer and telephone lines, among other primary services before starting work on the structures. Koehler built three main structures on the property. The pavilion, approxi-mately 135 feet by 65 feet, is a large, open-air gathering area that will be used for events, including fundraisers and weddings. The pavilion also has an en-closed kitchen, storage room, mechani-cal room and janitor room as well as men’s and women’s restrooms, all of which are air-conditioned. Another structure on the property is a monument replica of a Texas Ranger’s

The Koehler Company recently completed work on the Texas Rangers Heritage Center,Phase I, in Fredericksburg.

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Ever since Ashley Hohmann found-ed the company in 2002, Hohmann Development Services (HDS) has

been a supplier and installer of toilet par-titions and Division 10 specialties, but re-cently, HDS added hardware, bringing retail counter sales into the business. Lo-cated at 2560 Boardwalk St., HDS is hop-ing to fill a void that was left when the area’s lone local supplier recently closed. “We recently acquired the toilet par-tition and hardware inventory from Ed Flume Building Specialties as they have recently gone out of business,” explains Blake Dicke, director of marketing for HDS. “For years, as Ashley put it, trucks would just drive there automatically be-cause they were the long-standing pro-viders [for this type of hardware]. Now, we’re the new source for toilet partitions and hardware in San Antonio.” Hohmann, who is still owner of HDS, has a longtime business relationship with

Flume, which was owned by his son, Ly-don, at the time it closed. Hohmann went to work for Ed Flume right out of high school and worked his way up from the bottom of the ladder, staying with the company for more than 20 years before venturing out on his own. When they heard about the compa-ny closing, they began talks and officially took possession of the hardware inven-tory and partitions about two months ago. In order to spread the word to Flume’s customers that HDS acquired the inventory, Flume allowed HDS to place signage on their property. Dicke notes that many people do not know Flume has closed or where to get these sup-plies. “We look forward to assisting them going forward,” he added. HDS supplies, services and installs Divi-sion 10 specialties as well as commercial and residential windows and doors. –mh

L-R: Blake Dicke, Ashley Hohmann and Ernest Hernandez, head of installation, are spreading the word about the new hardware inventory and counter sales at HDS.


David Garza always felt like family at Pyramid Stone Co. In July 2012, Frank Monaco Jr., owner of Pyra-

mid Stone Co. retired, and Garza took over as Pyramid Cast Stone Co. to sus-tain the Pyramid family legacy. “I really appreciate what Frank has done for us here, helping us out with the company,” says Garza. “I still consider him a part of the company.” Frank’s father, Frank Monaco Sr., and his uncle, Jimmy Palmeri, estab-lished the company just over 75 years ago. Frank Monaco Jr. hired Garza and taught him everything about drafting and production, which he did for 32 years before taking over and still does today. Garza also worked closely with Frank’s mother, Clara, until she retired. Since he took over the company, Garza, 55, has his son, Derek, 24, working at Pyramid, helping with the drafting and takeoffs. His vice president, David Dan-iels, helps him run the business, doing

The top of the pyramid

production and estimating, also. Garza notes that, except for the amount of office work he does since tak-ing on Frank’s former duties, nothing has changed since he took over Pyramid. They still do things the way they always did. He says they still do their drafting on board, “the same way it’s been done for over 100 years, by hand.” Some of those projects done by hand at Pyramid include the Mother-house Chapel at University of the Incar-nate Word, all of the signs for the mis-sions, NuStar and almost all of the Valero headquarters. “After I get out of work, I go straight home and do some more work,” Garza says with a laugh. “I do takeoffs at the house also, and I study the plans. I work seven days a week. I come in on Satur-days and Sundays just to do a lot of catching up and to get familiar with the jobs. It’s something that I enjoy so it re-ally doesn’t seem like work.” –mh

Today’s leadership at Pyramid Cast Stone Co.,L-R: Derek Garza, David Garza and David Daniels


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Gasoline – On Road Diesel – Off Road DieselOn Site Fueling – Wet Hosing – Temporary Loaner Tanks

We Loan City Approved UL-2085 Vaulted Tanks

210-666-6002Brent & Mark Marshall

L-R: As part of the team at Plant Architects and Plant Outfitters, divisions ofRobert Ober & Associates, Andrew Matjasko, project management director, and

Michael Esposito, structural engineer, work on industrial projects related to material handling, primarily for the energy sector, including work in the Eagle Ford Shale

in South Texas and the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. –mh

Plants in the shaleConstruction News ON LOCATION

Joshua BaptistaBrandtSMW Local 67Apprenticeship Program

Texas Apprentice

After waiting and waiting as one of 450 applicants to the apprentice-

ship program at Sheet Metal Workers’ (SMW) Local 104 in Northern Califor-nia, Joshua Baptista’s number finally came last fall. In October, he moved to Texas, transferring to the SMW Local 67 ap-prenticeship program here in San An-tonio and working as a sheet metal ap-prentice at Brandt. Since then, he has been working on projects that include the Methodist Hospital and renova-tions at the AT&T Center. His wife, Reina, had moved to San Antonio about two years ago where she had family who could help her with their second child. But Baptista says that in the pre-apprentice stages, he had to wait and test through that process before he could relocate. His pastor in California was a sheet metal journeyman and told him about the benefits of the apprenticeship pro-gram and the union. While his wife was doing her internships as a medical as-sistant and finishing school in Texas, Baptista started on the path to becom-ing an apprentice. Having completed his first year in the program, he is now a second year apprentice. Since arriving in Texas, he has been working 12-hour days. Outside of work and class, he is a full-time dad, spend-ing time with his daughters, Angelina, who is 8 years old, and Sophia, 2. Ange-lina has started gymnastics and Sophia

seems interested in following her big sister’s footsteps – or flips and tumbles. When it comes to his own hobbies, Baptista says, “I like to build things. I like to do construction. I like to do things with my hands. When I was a kid, I was always playing with Legos and stuff like that, and as an adult, I’m always making things. I just made my wife a wind chime out of scrap sheet metal materials.” Before he entered the sheet metal field, Baptista started in construction right out of high school, working as a carpenter for 10 years. Living in Califor-nia for most of his life, he was born in Berkeley, grew up in Los Angeles for 14 years and lived in San Jose in the Bay Area before coming to Texas. His goals for the future include providing his family with a permanent home and joining a new local church. In California, his family suffered due to the financial crisis, and when he was in need, the help he received made a big difference. While he was still living in the Golden State, he vol-unteered with his church to feed the homeless. He hopes to get involved again in giving back to the community through his church and setting a good example for his children. –mh

The Associated General Contractors (AGC) San Antonio Chapter hosted its Midyear Economic Forum Jul. 21 with 150 people attending the luncheon at Sunset Station.

L-R: Mario Hernandez, president of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation; Kristian Pearson, chapter president; and Ken Simonson, chief economist

for AGC of America –mh

Pulling into the midway stationSubmitted to Construction News


Yuda DolinerOwner/CEO

Fencecrete America

210-587-7634www.GPSofTexas.com

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Fencecrete America this year, Yuda Doliner, owner and CEO, came

halfway around the globe to find the place he calls home today. From his childhood growing up in Israel to raising his children here in San Antonio, where his company is still based today, Doliner took time to reflect on where he and his family have been and the dreams he has achieved. In November, he will turn 63, is a grandfather and plans to continue grow-ing his company with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

What was it like growing up in Israel? I was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Is-rael. At the age of 18, I went into the Army. I spent four-and-a-half years as an officer, and I spent my four-and-a-half years on the frontline.

How would you describe your experi-ence in the war zone? What you hear on the news is noth-ing. I spent a lot of time at the north bor-der and the south border. I served in the ’73 war. I lost a lot of soldiers and friends in my time at war.

What did you do after the Army? I started work in construction. You go into the Army at the age of 18 after high school, and I stayed in the Army lon-ger, against my parents’ wishes. But I wanted to start in construction with my dad. He was a road contractor – dirt mov-ing and roads. In the meantime, I started going to the university for structural en-gineering. I graduated in 1978. And I met my wife, and I got married in ’78.

Tell me about your wife. I met my wife, Ofira, and two weeks later, we decided to get married. We met on Mar. 10, 1978, and on Jul. 10, 1978, we got married. We’ve been married 37 years now. I love her to death. She is my partner in life. She’s the best lady in the world. From day one, she was all about raising the kids, and she is active in all kinds of organizations. I am also involved in a few community organizations.

Do you have children? I have one son, Adir, who is in Austin. He is an ER doctor. And I have one daugh-ter, Dorine, who is married and is in New York. Both of them are married and hap-py. I have one grandson.

How did you get started in the con-struction industry? I worked with my father, and six months later, I left him and I started a con-struction company. I was a very young contractor in Israel. I got a push from my father – financing. And from there, I took it on myself. I returned every penny to my dad, and I went out on my own.

Tell me about your parents. Both of my parents, Joseph and She-ly Doliner, are holocaust survivors. My fa-ther suffered a lot. He was originally from Vienna, Austria. My mother was originally from Romania. They got married before the Second World War. Both of them were put in concentration camps during the Second World War. I visit Washington D.C. quite often, and I visit the Holocaust Museum. There are stories about my dad there, stories in the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem about him. I’m very proud of him, what he achieved going to Israel. His brother came to Florida after the war and made a different life. My father was completely different going to Israel. I have a sister that’s living in Israel to-day. When my parents went to Israel after the Second World War, the British arrest-ed them in Cyprus, and they had been in the [internment] camp for one year in Cy-prus. After that, they moved to Israel. A lot of places, wherever I can, I put a sym-bol to remember them.

Why did you leave Israel? There was a big financial problem in Israel. The currency changed from the lira to the shekel, and the economy was at the bottom. I decided to take a system that I developed in South Africa – two-sided fence walls – and bring it to the United States. I knew somebody here, and they told me to bring it to the Sun Belt. I landed here in San Antonio. I made it here, and I’m happier here than any-where else. I have offices in Houston that do bigger volume than San Antonio, but I don’t move to Houston. I have offices in Austin, Oklahoma City, Dallas, but San Antonio is my home. I raised my kids here. Actually, my daughter is African-American, because she was born in South Africa [laughs]. I was one of the first ones to develop this double-sided wall system. And in ’79, I left Israel to go to South Africa first. We had a big project there to do, and I start-ed to build there. And in 1985, I moved here. I came to San Antonio first, and then my wife and the kids came.

Do you feel you went a different direc-tion from structural engineering when

you started your company? In the building industry, I’m involved in structural all the time. I didn’t take my license from Israel to here. I could go for my license here and do it in one year, but I’m more excited about business, about growing the company, about seeing peo-ple who have worked here for 30 years now.

So, some of your employees have been with the company since the very be-ginning. What is your feeling towards your employees? When the recession started in 2008, I brought all the workers together – and we have about 200-something workers. I said, now, there’s not enough work, but everybody is working, and everybody is getting paid – no pay cuts. The company didn’t lose a dime, and I didn’t care if we did make a dime. I was looking everyone in the eye to make sure they knew they had a job and a family, because they give their life to me and I give it to them. I think every employee’s success is my suc-cess and my success is his success. Today, I would be happy to hire any employee that is looking for a job and is willing to work. Our doors are open al-ways, and this company is willing to grow and take people in. I want to get people to work.

What interests do you pursue outside of work? I own a professional soccer team in Israel. I came back recently from Israel, and I go all the time. Soccer is my life. From day one, I was into soccer. The team is Hapoel, and the city is Ramat Gan. We won the Israel Cup in 2003 and 2013. We’ve played in the Europe Cup. I was a shareholder in the team up until about four or five years ago and then I bought out all the shares. I’m very involved with the team. I have managers there, and this is my baby – after my grandson [laughs].

Did you ever play soccer? At a young age, yes, I did. I played for the same team that I own today. I started at 6 years old and I played until I was 16. I played centerfield.

Were you on a soccer team in school? In Israel, you don’t have education for sports in school like you have in the United States. In schools here in the Unit-ed States, kids who want to play basket-ball, football or whatever they want, they

have professional coaches. In Israel, that does not exist. In Israel, after school, your parents have to pay money to send their kids to join a private school for soccer, basketball or whatever sport they want to play. It’s all private there.

You’ve traveled a lot. What are some of the places you have been? I’ve been in 90 percent of Europe, ex-cept Russia. I’ve been in the Middle East. I’ve been in Africa – Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. I’ve been in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama – I’ve been to a lot of areas around the world.

What was your favorite to visit? Europe. Specifically, Italy, because of the architecture. Last week, I was in Swit-zerland in the mountains. It was beauti-ful, 60 degrees. I enjoyed it, and it was beautiful to see it, but number one for me is Italy. Number two is Alaska to see the nature there.

What’s the number one reason you travel? To run away from the headaches [laughs]. Once a year, I take a cruise with my wife, because this is the best way to run away; the phone doesn’t ring. When you’re on the cruise, you cannot hear the phone, because there’s no connection. I can clear my mind. Usually, when I go out for soccer games or I go overseas, I al-ways answer the phone. It doesn’t matter what time of night. I’m always attached to the phone. My wife said, “Only on the cruise, this is your real vacation.” What are you most proud of after 30 years of being in business here? I came in the worst time in Texas. You couldn’t sell a nail in Texas. Everything was dead. It was the bigger recession in Texas in the ‘80s. I’m proud of this, of Fencecrete America. I’m proud of every job that we’ve done in town. We’ve got people who call me for [concrete fences built] 25, 28, 30 years ago, and they have a problem in the wall. We are there to fix it. I stand behind the job. I stand behind the company. All my foremen and managers, I tell them the client is right. It doesn’t matter – fix it. Send a call for five minutes or for an hour, and don’t try to charge. We want them to be happy. Quality will talk. If you’re hap-py with my wall, your neighbor will come to us also. –mh

Yuda Doliner founded Fencecrete America in San Antonio in 1985, and he has grown the company to include four branch locations and more than 200 employees.

MadCat Metals.com

Architectural and Light Fabrication

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Light Steel FabricationArchitectural MetalsDecorative Ironwork

Dumpster Gates & LaddersBrackets, Bollards, CanopiesCNC Cutouts, Retail FixturesWrought Ironwork Rails & Gates

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Recognizing excellence in all forms

The Associated Builders and Contrac-tors (ABC) South Texas Chapter hosted its 2015 Excellence in Con-

struction Banquet Aug. 6 at the San Anto-nio Country Club. –mh

Central Electric

Specialty Contracting Community/Public Service

St. Mary’s Alumni AssociationFiesta Oyster Bake

Specialty ContractingElectrical: Commercial – Less Than $2 Million

HealthSouth Rehab Center

Specialty ContractingElectrical: Industrial – Less Than $2 Million

Randolph Air Force Base Hangar40 Electrical Upgrades

Specialty ContractingInteriors: Acoustical, Drywall, Millwork or Plaster

Baker TriangleTobin Center for the Performing Arts

Other Construction – Less Than $2 MillionAlpha Building Corporation

Jaime Zapata Boat Ramp, Pier & Kayak Launch Pad

Institutional – Less Than $5 MillionAlpha Building Corporation

Tarleton State UniversityPedestrian Mall & Island Plaza

Other Specialty ContractingCommercial – Less Than $10 Million

Keystone Concrete PlacementTobin Center for the Performing Arts

Industry Professional of the YearVanessa Johnson

Frost Bank

Subcontractor Member of the YearJesse Hernandez

TDIndustries

General Contractor Member of the YearRob Crow

Alpha Building CorporationVolunteer Member of the Year

Jay YoungLone Star Reprographics

Historical Restoration – $10 to $100 MillionJoeris General Contractors

Alamo Stadium & Convocation CenterRenovations

Specialty ContractingMechanical: Commercial Less Than $2 Million

TDIndustriesPhipps Professional Offices

Institutional –$25 to $100 MillionBartlett Cocke General ContractorsTexas A&M University-San Antonio

Central Academic Building & Patriot Casa

Renovation Less Than $4 MillionAlpha Building Corporation

Texas A&M UniversityRudder Auditorium Renovation

Alpha Building CorporationHarvey-Cleary BuildersHuser Construction Co.

Middleman Construction CompanyMK Marlow Company

2015 Chapter Safety Awards

Saulsbury IndustriesSmithers Merchant Builders

Southwest Electrical Contracting ServicesTIC-The Industrial Company


Recognizing excellence in all forms

DiamondHarvey-Cleary Builders

Keystone Concrete PlacementSaulsbury Industries

W.G. Yates and Sons Construction Co.Platinum

Bartlett Cocke General ContractorsCCC Group

Garney CompaniesInternational Mechanical Services

Leonard ContractingMiddleman Construction Company

Moore ErectionSmithers Merchant Builders

Southwest Electrical Contracting ServicesTDIndustries

TIC-The Industrial Company

Public Works/EnvironmentalGarney Companies, Inc.

ClearWater Ranch Well FieldDevelopment and Delivery Project

Industrial - $25 to $100 MillionTIC-The Industrial Company

Charles D. Lamb Energy Center

Infrastructure: HeavyPesado Construction CompanyAlamo Guenther Sewer Siphon

Commercial – $2 to $5 MillionW.G. Yates and Sons Construction Company

United Cooperative ServicesHood County Office

Specialty ContractingMechanical: Commercial $2 to $10 Million

The Brandt CompaniesSt. Anthony Hotel Historic Renovation

Commercial – $10 to $25 MillionKoontz Corporation

Pape-Dawson HeadquartersNew Office Building

Historical Restoration – Less Than $2 MillionAlpha Building Corporation

San Pedro PlayhouseRoof Renovations

Mega-Projects – More Than $100 MillionTIC-The Industrial CompanyGhent CCR Transport Project

Commercial – $5 to $10 MillionJoeris General ContractorsJoeris Office Headquarters

Supplier Member of the YearTony Pierzyca

GoldAerohead Mechanical,

A Divison of Aerohead GroupAlpha Building Corporation

Huser Construction Co.Journeyman Construction

Koontz CorporationMK Marlow Company

Skanska USASilver

A/C Technical ServicesBaker Triangle

Joeris General ContractorsJordan Foster ConstructionKeller-Martin Construction

Marek Brothers SystemsMetropolitan Contracting Company

Seretta Construction TexasSpawGlass Contractors

T&D Moravits and CompanyThe Koehler Company

S.T.E.P. Awards

Chairman’s AwardRaul Carillo, OSHA

Houston, TX (1913)713.868.6111Dallas, TX (1956)972.466.0900San Antonio, TX (1968)210.828.3325New Orleans, LA (1969)504.889.0811Las Vegas, NV (1989)702-435-5053Miami, FL (1997)305.884.5311Los Angeles, CA (2011)818.884.1166Customer Support Center713.868.6111

Over 100 years of building relationships

Since 1913, Fisk has been one of the nation’s leadingproviders for the design, installation and maintenanceof electrical systems, structured cabling applications,integrated electronic security systems, and buildingtechnology solutions.


www.constructionnews.net TexasStyle

publishing the industry’s news

San Antonio Austin Dallas/Fort Worth Houston South Texas

Transferring your construction business to family

Michael Kuchar, CPA, Shareholder of Construction GroupDoeren MayhewHouston, TX

If you’re among the baby boomers marching toward retirement, it’s critical you develop a plan to transition

out of your leadership role in your construction compa-ny. Succession planning in the construction industry should cover everything from naming a successor to choosing the right method for shifting ownership to that suc-cessor and perhaps other family members.

Find the Best Candidate The most important question ad-dressed in any succession plan is, who will lead the enterprise? If your construc-tion business is family owned, finding a successor can be difficult. Family mem-bers may be qualified but have no inter-est in taking the reins. Or they may be in-terested but lack experience. To deal with such challenges, take time now to develop future leaders. Iden-tify children or other key employees you believe hold leadership potential and ex-pose them to all aspects of running the business. Give them a well-defined path to find out what they need to do to be-come leaders of the business. And design appropriate fringe benefit and deferred compensation plans, as well as incentive pay, to help retain them until you step down.Make It a Family Affair It’s important that you encourage the entire family, whether or not they’re active in the business, to participate in planning and understand the financial and personal consequences of an unsuc-cessful succession. A common issue is how to equitably divide assets among heirs when only some of them will receive ownership in-terests in the business. If there are suffi-cient liquid assets, consider purchasing life insurance to provide for any children who won’t be involved in the business, giving ownership interests to only those who will be involved. Or, establish a fam-ily trust so the entire family shares the risks and benefits.Transfer Ownership The simplest way to transferring ownership of your construction compa-ny is to sell it to family members, if they want to buy it and can afford it. You can also transfer ownership by gifting interests over time, but there are potential gift tax liabilities associated with this approach, and you won’t gener-ate an income stream to carry you through retirement. A trust may be a better alternative for transferring ownership without creat-ing harsh tax obligations. One option is a

grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT), which will provide you with income for a term of years and then distribute the re-maining assets to your beneficiaries. The transfer of assets into the GRAT is a taxable gift, but the annuity you receive reduces the value of the gift. Interest rates also affect the value of the gift. Keep in mind that if you die before the end of the annuity period, the trust as-sets will be included in your estate and the tax advantages will be negated.Get Your Advisors Involved No matter whom you choose as your successor, get your construction CPA, lawyer, insurance advisor and a family business consultant involved to help as-sess your circumstances and create a suc-cession plan. Along with selecting a vehicle to transfer your assets, the plan should state to what extent you’ll stay involved with the company after you leave. If you stay too involved, you may inadvertently in-hibit your successors from succeeding. Your plan should create a manage-ment structure that will survive your de-parture and keep the business on sound financial footing while ensuring ade-quate liquidity to fund your retirement or a buyout. Include a buy-sell agreement in the succession plan. It allows you to re-strict transfers of ownership interests, and can help minimize income and es-tate taxes.Start Now While everyone talks about the need for a succession plan, too few actually fol-low through with developing one. It’s critical that you start the process at least several years before you plan to retire, and ideally a decade or more in advance of that target date.

Michael Kuchar, CPA, is a Shareholder and leader of Doeren Mayhew’s dedicated Con-struction Group in Houston. A top 100 U.S. firm, Doeren Mayhew’s CPAs and business advisors serve more than 500 suppliers and general and specialty contractors doing business domestically and abroad. For more information, visit www.doeren.com.

Non-owned automobiles on company businessMark Gaskamp, CSP, CRM, CIC, CPCU, ALCMManaging DirectorWortham LLC Austin, TX

Are you “financially safe” on the Texas roadways? Ac-cording to the Insurance Information Institute you

have better than a 1 in 10 chance of being involved in an accident with an uninsured motorist. And even if the

other party does have insurance, in Texas the current minimum liability limits are $30,000 for each injured person, up to a total of $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage per accident. This basic coverage is called 30/60/25. Is that enough to pay for your doctor bills, lost wages or your damaged vehicle?

Why is this a topic for a construction newsletter? Well, most construction op-erations have what is referred to in the insurance world as “non-owned” auto ex-posure, that is, individuals who are driv-ing their personal vehicles (i.e. not owned by the company) on company busi-ness. Any job superintendents, field staff, safety manager, etc… driving their own vehicle during the work day for business purposes other than the commute to and from work fall into this category. Should an individual be involved in an accident while in the scope of employ-ment, their personal auto coverage is pri-mary and the company’s insurance cov-erage is secondary. It is a good risk management prac-tice to not only require a certificate of in-surance for auto coverage from those driving on company business on a regu-lar basis, but require minimum limits of coverage, so the company’s insurance does not become financially responsible. 100/300/100 or a $300,000 combined single limit are the generally accepted standard for most organizations and commercial insurance carriers. Why should the limits be increased beyond the state minimums? Well, prob-ably half the vehicles on the road today cost more than $25,000, so if you hit one of those vehicles, the physical damage limit may not be enough to pay for the car. That means if you have state mini-mum limits and you cause an accident resulting in totaling a $75,000 Ford Rap-tor, the additional $50,000 comes out of your pocket. The same is true for a liabil-ity suit, which could far exceed the $30,000 minimum limit. The good news is the cost to increase

the limits is nominal. I had our personal lines staff provide an estimated premium change to increase limits from 30/60/25 to 50/100/50, the cost was about $50 per year. To increase up to 100/300/100, the cost was another $50. So for about $100 per year, you can get four times as much coverage. My experience has been that many drivers are not even aware of the risk or the minimal cost to increase their limits. This is an good topic of discussion with your drivers, to encourage them to in-crease their insurance limits from the state minimums to those outlined above, to not only benefit the organization by insulating your commercial auto policy, but as good “personal risk manage-ment” for those individuals driving on our busy Texas roadways.

Mark Gaskamp is a managing director for Wortham Insurance & Risk Manage-ment in Austin. He is a part of the Wortham Construction Industry Practice Group where his responsibilities include partnering with clients to manage safety and risk manage-ment exposures to reduce their cost of risk. He previously served as a Risk Control re-gional supervisor and as a senior under-writer for St. Paul and Travelers organiza-tions and as a national risk consultant for Corporate Systems. He is actively involved in the Association of Building Contractors and Association of General Contractors safety committees, and is a national faculty member of The National Alliance's Certified Risk Manager's (CRM) program. For more information contact Mark at (512) 532-1536 or [email protected] or visit www.worthaminsurance.com.

Past editions can bedownloaded at

www.ConstructionNews.net

Did youknow?


Digging into a new HQSubmitted to Construction News

L-R: The leaders of KFW Engineers & Surveying, Blaine Lopez, Billy Classen, George Weron, Steven Krauskopf and Craig Fletcher, broke ground Jul. 17 on their new

headquarters in Shavano Park. –mh

Personal Protective Equipment Joann NatarajanCompliance Assistance SpecialistOSHAAustin, TX

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that employers protect workers

from workplace hazards that can cause injury or illness. Controlling a hazard at its source is the best way to pro-tect workers. However, when engineering, work practice

and administrative controls are not feasible or do not provide sufficient protection, employers must provide personalprotective equipment (PPE) and ensure its use. PPE is equipment worn to minimize exposure to a variety of hazards. Examples include items such as gloves, foot and eye protection, protective hearing protection (earplugs, muffs), hard hats and respirators. On May 15, 2008, a new OSHA rule about employer payment for PPE went into effect. With few exceptions, OSHA now requires employers to pay for personal protec-tive equipment used to comply with OSHA standards. The final rule does not create new requirements regarding what PPE employers must provide. The standard makes clear that employers cannot require workers to provide their own PPE and the work-er’s use of PPE they already own must be completely voluntary. Even when a worker provides his or her own PPE, the employer must ensure that the equipment is ade-quate to protect the worker from hazards at the workplace.

Examples of PPE that Employers Must Pay for Include:§ Metatarsal foot protection§ Rubber boots with steel toes§ Non-prescription eye protection§ Prescription eyewear inserts/lenses for full face respirators§ Goggles and face shields§ Fire fighting PPE (helmet, gloves, boots,proximity suits, full gear)§ Hard hats§ Hearing protection§ Welding PPE

Employers are not required to pay for some PPE in certain circumstances:§ Non-specialty safety-toe protective foot-wear (including steel-toe shoes or boots) and non-specialty prescription safety eye-wear provided that the employer permits such items to be worn off the job site. (OSHA based this decision on the fact that this type of equipment is very personal, is often used outside the workplace, and that it is taken by workers from jobsite to job-site and employer to employer.)§ Everyday clothing, such as long-sleeve shirts, long pants, street shoes, and nor-mal work boots.§ Ordinary clothing, skin creams, or other items, used solely for protection from weather, such as winter coats, jackets, gloves, parkas, rubber boots, hats, rain-coats, ordinary sunglasses, and sunscreen§ Items such as hair nets and gloves worn by food workers for consumer safety.§ Lifting belts because their value in pro-tecting the back is questionable.

§ When the employee has lost or inten-tionally damaged the PPE and it must be replaced.

[email protected] x232

You missed the notice deadlines, but a sham may keep you from turning into a pumpkin!

West W. Winter, PartnerMcNelis + Winter, PLLCSan Antonio, TX

When faced with non-payment for work performed or materials provided for the improvement of con-

struction projects in Texas, the most powerful remedy available to contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers is the mechanic’s and materialman’s lien. Statutory mechan-ic’s liens are governed by Chapter 53 of the Texas Property Code and, if timely and properly perfected, secure payment rights against the project. In addition, contractors having an agreement directly with the project’s owner may be able to avail them-selves of constitutional lien rights that exist independently of any notice or recording requirements, pursuant to Article XVI, Section 37, of the Texas Constitution.

While mechanic’s lien rights are well know and frequently asserted in the con-struction industry, some lesser known nuances in the law may apply to salvage mechanic’s lien rights in certain situa-tions where a subcontractor or supplier has missed the required pre-lien notice deadlines. One such situation involves Sham Contracts where the purported owner and general contractor are essen-tially one in the same.

Sham Contract Provision As set forth in Section 53.026 of the Texas Property Code, when a person contracts with another, and that other person controls or otherwise is con-trolled by the owner “through ownership of voting stock, interlocking director-ships, or otherwise”, the person perform-ing the labor or furnishing materials is deemed to be in a direct contractual rela-tionship with the owner and has a lien as an original contractor. The same result occurs when the contract was made by the owner “without the good faith inten-tion of the parties that the other person was to perform the contract.” When the Sham Contract provision applies, the unpaid subcontractor or sup-plier should be considered to be in a di-rect contractual relationship with the owner and gains original contractor sta-tus. Along with original contractor status, the unpaid subcontractor or supplier also has lien rights as if it were an original contractor. Accordingly, the mandatory notice requirements generally applicable to subcontractors and suppliers for per-fecting statutory mechanic’s liens should not apply, and the unpaid subcontrac-tors or suppliers may be able to perfect their lien rights as original contractors despite a failure to comply with the Prop-erty Code notice requirements. Another benefit derived from the Sham Contract statute is that a constitu-tional lien is available to a person per-forming work or supplying materials to a sham contractor if such work or materials

are covered by Article XVI, Section 37, of the Texas Constitution (i.e. buildings and articles). The recent appellate court deci-sion of Trinity Drywall Systems, LLC v. Toka General Contractors, Ltd. confirmed this benefit in holding that the Sham Con-tract statute, by improving the subcon-tractor’s position in the construction con-tract chain, allows a subcontractor hired under a sham contract to assert and en-force a constitutional lien because he is deemed to have a direct contractual rela-tionship with the owner.

Other Considerations Even though a constitutional lien is self-executing, a lien affidavit should still be filed of record in the county where the property is located to protect the en-forceability of the lien against subse-quent good faith purchasers. Be aware that suit must also be filed to enforce/foreclose a mechanic’s lien claim within the applicable limitations periods or the lien will be extinguished. Contractors, subcontractors and suppliers facing non-payment should closely scrutinize the specific parties, facts and circumstances involved as early as possible so they may be fully informed about the requirements for proper lien perfection and whether they may avail themselves of any applicable legal nu-ances to salvage their lien rights and ef-fectuate payment. Whether or not a me-chanic’s lien has been perfected, unpaid parties involved in construction projects will typically have other viable causes of action including breach of contract.

West W. Winter is a partner at McNelis + Winter, PLLC. A LEED Green Associate, West serves on the board of the Construc-tion Law Section of the San Antonio Bar As-sociation and has been listed as one of the Best Lawyers in San Antonio for Construc-tion Litigation. West can be reached via email: [email protected].


Last year, A-Lert Building Systems added A-Lert Components to the company’s New Braunfels location.

“A-Lert Building Systems of New Braunfels has manufactured metal building and roofing components for [our] own use in constructing self-storage facilities and installing commercial standing seam roofs for decades,” explains Tammy Frost, components manager. “This includes metal panel, purlins and light structural, and trim. The decision was made to actively offer these products to the public, and in November 2014, A-Lert Components was born.” Established in 1977, A-Lert Roof Systems started out doing retrofit metal roofing – taking a flat roof and pitching the roof up to a slope. The company has done this work for projects including a large Homeland Security facility in Virginia and Air Force bases across the U.S. One of their most recent jobs was reroofing the City of Houston Fire Department.

These employees represent just a fraction of the workforce based outof A-Lert’s New Braunfels location.

Through the establishment of A-Lert Building Systems in 1997, the company evolved to do self-storage facilities, which is currently their biggest market. “We have evolved now to where we have a general contracting service,” says Neil Berry, president of A-Lert’s building and roofing divisions and vice president of A-Lert’s holding company, Centurion Industries. “Not only do we provide the building itself, we provide all [general contracting] services. “We used to buy all of our components to erect self-storage facilities,” he says. “Then, we bought all the equipment to manufacture them ourselves after a few years. Now, we manufacture the large percentage of all the components it takes to build these facilities here in New Braunfels.” A-Lert companies are divisions of Centurion Industries. A-Lert has an estimated 150 employees based out of New Braunfels. –mh

The sum of its components

In the last five years, Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation has increased its presence in San Antonio,

expanding office space with a new location on Embassy Oaks and increasing its local workforce from a few people to 24. Oscar Michael Garza, San Antonio division manager, credits Louis Jones, Richard Zamora and David Balli with establishing the office in 2009. As a team, they have worked together in expanding the operation through major projects in San Antonio and throughout the South Texas region. Dannenbaum does public infrastructure, hydrology and hydraulics, transportation, land development, airports, and ports and harbors projects. Currently, the firm’s biggest jobs in San Antonio are the I-10 Managed Lanes project, stretching from FM 3351 to La Cantera Parkway, and the I-10 West Perimeter project, which includes a new interchange at I-10 and Old Fredericksburg Road.

Some of the team members in Dannenbaum Engineering’s San Antonio office

Garza, who earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from UTSA, mostly does transportation engineering. He enjoys being able to see the differences their work makes on a daily basis. As an active member of the engineering community, Garza has served as president of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) South Texas Section and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) San Antonio Chapter. In 2014, he received the ITE Texas District Younger Member of the Year Award. Recently, he received the ITE Rising Star Award, and he was nominated into the Leadership San Antonio (LSA) program Class of 2015. Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. is a full-service civil engineering firm established in 1945. Jim Dannenbaum is the president and CEO. The corporate office is in Houston with branch offices in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Laredo, McAllen and San Antonio. –mh

A larger local footprint


This year, Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the entire Peanuts gang will be pitching in to make this a very special Construct A Kid’s Christmas

(CAKC). Last year, the Construct A Kid’s Christmas Gala moved to the Freeman Coliseum Expo Hall because the biggest event in the San Antonio con-struction industry welcomed the most attendees in its history. With the theme “It’s a Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Charlie Brown,” this year’s gala promises to be even bigger still. The 15th annual gala, which will be held Dec. 3 from 5:30-11pm, will be moving to Exhibit Hall C, which is approximate-ly 67,500sf. “The auctions and raffles were a huge success last year, which enabled us to donate double the amount from the previous year,” says Karen Rid-out, Ridout Barrett and CAKC co-chair. Hoping to top that success, this year’s gala will host another big raffle item – a barbecue trailer that one lucky winner will be proud to take to ev-ery cook-off in town. See the ad on page 14 for more juicy details. Sandee Morgan, CAKC secretary/treasurer and co-chair, adds “Last year was our first year with a live band, and due to that success, we are happy to announce Texas Unlimited Band will be per-

The gala has gone Peanuts

Pickett PorterfieldTerritory ManagerH&E Equipment

Industry FOLKS

One thing Pickett Porterfield finds really satisfying about the equip-

ment rental business is building long-term relationships with customers as a territory manager at H&E Equipment. “What I really like so much about the equipment rental business is when you come to discover that your custom-ers really do rely on you, and it’s a two-way street,” observes Porterfield. “These relationships that you forge are based on mutual trust and respect.” He also notes that the business is

very time-sensitive, saying that if a cus-tomer has a need, that need is immediate. The juggling act of making sure custom-ers have what they need when they need it is in addition to the other aspect of his job, which is to generate new business. Before he joined H&E, Porterfield worked for a homebuilder. Before he built houses, he worked in the turf field of live grass. The company he worked for pro-duced, sold and installed live grass, and they did a lot of business with construc-tion companies, doing golf course reno-vations and playing fields in sports stadi-ums. He ran the San Antonio and Austin operations and did project management. Before all that, he was an aspiring writer with an affinity for travel writing. Over the course of several years, he and his wife, Julianna, took five big trips all over the world, spending three months in

South America, five months in China and India, three months in Southeast Asia and three months in the Middle East. He wrote about their travels with varying degrees of success. Some of his publication credits include online content for the travel sec-tion of the San Antonio Express-News. Porterfield grew up in San Antonio and went to Churchill High School, where he was involved in FFA. He earned his de-gree in communications from Texas Tech University in 1998. Outside of work, he spends his time with his wife, being outdoors, often at the river. The couple lives a few blocks from the Comal River in New Braunfels. They do a lot of gardening at home. He likes to swim, snorkel and go bicycling. He and Julianna have been married nearly eight years. She worked at a coffee shop he frequented, and the two dated for

four years before getting married. Today, she works as a high school Spanish teacher. “Personally, we’re looking forward to starting a family and all that entails,” he says of goals for the future at 39 years old. “Professionally, I look forward to continu-ing to build my territory and my customer base. I’ve been with H&E for a little over two years now, and I’m really happy with H&E.” –mh

forming again this year! Everyone raved about the incredible job they did, and the band members were all amazed at the turnout of the San An-tonio construction community com-ing together for this worthwhile cause.” Early registration/payment pric-

ing for sponsorship is: Corpo-rate $1,650, Gold $550, Program $275, Table for 10 $700, Individ-ual Tickets $65. Early registra-tion prices are only available before 10/31/15. After that date, pricing changes to: Corpo-rate $1,850, Gold $650, Program

$325, Table for 10 $775, Individual Tickets $75. Guests are encouraged to bring an unwrapped toy for a Bexar County foster child who might not otherwise receive a gift under the tree. Toys col-lected at the gala will be added to the annual Con-struct A Kid’s Christmas Toy Drive, held the next day, Dec. 4 from 10am-2pm at the Construction News office, 4047 Naco-Perrin Blvd. The unwrapped toys, gifts and gift cards col-lected are donated to Bexar County Child Protec-tive Services to be distributed to Bexar County fos-ter children. Associations participating in the 2015 gala in-clude the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), Associated General Contractors (AGC), American Subcontractors Association (ASA), Build-ers Exchange of Texas (BXTX) Education Council, Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA), Construction News Ltd., Hispanic Contrac-tors Association (HCA), Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC), Mechanical and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (MCA-SMACNA), National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors (PHCC), Surety Association of South Texas (SAST) and Texas Air Conditioning Contractors of America (TACCA). –mh

It’s Construct A Kid’s Christmas, Charlie BrownThursday, December 3, 2015

5:30 to 11 pmThe Expo Hall at Freeman Coliseum

A Peanuts Themed Eventbenefi ting the Bexar County Foster Children

Tickets include Full Buffet, Beer & Wine • Cash Bar will be availableMusic by Texas Unlimited Band • Dancing • Casino Games

Everyone attending is requested to bring an unwrapped gift or toy for the kids.

Register Early Before10/31/15 and Pay:

Corporate Sponsor $1,650Gold Sponsor $550Program $275Table for 10 $700Individual Tickets $65

Beverage Sponsors $1,000Casino Sponsors $1,000

Diamond Sponsor $2,500Only 2 Available ONLY 1 LEFT!

Corporate Sponsor $1,850Gold Sponsor $650Program $325Table for 10 $775Individual Tickets $75

Register After10/31/15 and Pay:

Other SponsorshipLevels

For Registration, Sponsorship Opportunities or to donate Auction Items, please contact Gala Co-Chairs:Sandee Morgan [email protected] OR Karen Ridout [email protected]

A 501(C)3 non-profi t organizationwww.CAKC-SA.org


PRO-LINEPAVEMENT MAINTENANCE

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Fall intoRedfish Action

by Capt. Steve Schultz

Sponsored by:Premier Yamaha Boating Center, Majek Boats, E-Z Bel Construction, Power Pole

Shallow Water Anchor, AggregateHaulers, ForEverlast Hunting and Fishing

Products and Columbia Sportswear.

As September rolls around, most sportsmen are starting to get the itch for shooting something. The

first of the month kicks off opening day for dove season in the north and central zones across the state and while a lot of folks will be lining up their sights on dove, we will be sighting in on redfish. This is the best time of the year for herd-ing schooling reds in the Laguna Madre.

Dan McCarty of San Antonio still getting it done with this 31-inch redfishcaught along the shoreline of the King Ranch. Great to see him on the water.

Photo by Steve Schultz Outdoors.

Typically starting in mid-to late Au-gust, schools of bull reds and drums can be found frequently along the banks of the King ranch shorelines chasing bait as they make their way to the Gulf of Mexi-co. These schools (some ranging from 20 to 300 fish), can make for a full day of rod bending, muscle aching action you only read about in magazines and on the in-ternet. After Labor day weekend, most of the vacationers are headed back north and this relieves a lot of pressure on our bays.

Catching redfish can sometimes be very challenging due to their very picky eating habits. I’ve seen reds follow a gold spoon for yards only to turn and swim away at the last minute. There are several different strategies when fishing for reds. Wading the shallow flats around shell reefs and grass beds is one of the most enjoying techniques and also my favorite. These areas can also be worked with a shallow draft boat rigged with a good trolling motor or a push pole.

When wading for reds I like using a 1/8 oz. Johnson Gold Weedless Spoon at-tached with a 20# shock leader and a swivel. This spoon is small enough to work slow in shallow water and won’t spook the fish like some of the bigger baits will. If the wind is up and stalking quietly isn’t a factor try using a topwater plug like a Top Dog Jr. or a Super Spook. These baits will more than likely trigger some larger redfish as they imitate a mul-let in distress. When working topwater lures for reds, remember to work them slow and don’t jerk too soon when you get a blow-up. Redfish mouths are on the bottom of their heads and they must turn sideways or attack from the top to inhale the surface bait.

Live bait is another effective tech-nique for producing big boxes of redfish. Local marinas have gone to great lengths to catch and keep bait alive for guides and sport fishermen. Croakers and Piggy Perch are the main live baits during this time of the year. Shrimp will be making their way back into the bay system as the waters get cooler. Fall marks the start of a new fishing season with fewer boats on the water and less pressure in your favorite fish spots. Come down and enjoy the cooler weather and some of the best fishing Texas has to offer. To schedule your next bay fishing trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716 or 361-334-3105 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Good luck and Good Fishing.

Send to:

[email protected]

or call Mary at 210.308.5800

Have an outdoor photo or story

you’d like to share?


Texas Built - Texas Tough

Robert Bowen 210-273-4133

PicNic Tables ★ Benches ★ Chairs ★ Party TablesSport Tables ★ Cafe Tables

Texas Tables

[email protected]

Made to order with the Taste & Style of Texas Choose your Size ★ Opt ions ★ Stain Colors

TEXAS PARTY TABLE

★ ★ ★ ★ Proud of Our Heritage ★ ★ ★ ★

RANCH STYLE

Ken Milam’s Fishing LineSince 1981, Ken Milam has been guiding fishing trips for striped bass on Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country,. You can hear Ken on radio on Saturday and Sunday mornings, 6-8

AM on AM 1300, The Zone – Austin, or http://www.am1300the zone.com

If you spend much time on the water you may have noticed something new happening in the fishing community.

Kayak fishing is really taking off! You may have seen these guys slip-ping silently across the water at dawn in what look to be one man battleships. They have a strong looking sleek hull with all kinds of arms and appendages sticking out of them and some even look like floating UFOs outlined in bright col-orful fish attracting LED lights. Most im-portant they are able to quietly access the most remote and tricky fishing spots without any fear of damage to their boat or motor. They can be paddled, pedaled or have their own custom trolling motor.In short, kayak fishermen are often fish-ing where you want to be without fear and for a fraction of the money it may have cost you to get there! The financial upheaval that we went through a few years ago caused some-thing of a revolution in the boating indus-try. It became difficult for anyone to get financing for a boat and an awful lot of us found ourselves less willing to pay as much for a new boat in our new economy as we used to. It was a hard wake up call. We all know what a resourceful lot fishermen are. It didn’t take long for peo-ple to start adapting recreational kayaks to be used for fishing! Look at the advan-tages. If you can walk down to the water, you can drop in your kayak. No more

finding a boat ramp and waiting your turn. You can slip your rig into the back of your pick-up or just car-top it. No more maintaining and dragging a trailer – the money you save on gas can buy you a room! Best of all you can get a fully rigged, (fish finder, gps, baitwell, rod holders, lights and you name it) for a frac-

The new wavein fishing!

Kayak fishing at the falls

tion of the cost of a conventional boat! All of these things make kayak fishing a very attractive option for beginning an-glers just starting out and seasoned pros alike. It’s not a problem if your fishing buddy can’t go, and if he can go, he can have his own kayak and end the competi-tion for who gets what part of the boat. Kayak fishing works for any kind of fishing you want to do. It is easy to learn about. You can go online and find fishing forums pertaining to whatever you want to learn. It doesn’t matter if you like crap-pie fishing along a quiet freshwater shoreline or you want to shark fish at the coast. It is being done! Go check any lo-cal kayak shop and you will see the latest in fishing innovations. There are even several good tournament trails with nice pay outs out there! Best of all, if you want to get started, this is a good time to do it. You know fishermen, there are always a better boats and better gear on the horizon, so people are always upgrading their equip-ment and selling what they have to trade up. The price is right, so you can often get top notch boats and accessories. Even if kayak fishing doesn’t turn out to be for you – bear in mind there are more kayaks sharing the water with you, so keep a watchful eye out while you are running across the water.


BAFFIN BAYLAGUNA MADRE

LAND CUT

SPECKLED TROUT

REDFISHFLOUN DER

FISHING AND HUNTING TRIPS

STEVE SCHULTZOUTDOORS, LLC

www.baffi nbaycharters.comsteveschultzoutdoors@

gmail.com

(361) 813-3716(361) 334-3105

U.S. Coast Guard &Texas Parks and Wildlife Licensed

Out of their 20,000 leaguesSubmitted to Construction News

Mike McGinnis, Allen & Allen Co., was very proud of his children at the 80th annual Deep Sea Roundup in the Junior Division. All of the kids caught fish, and three of the fish placed with one getting the sportsmanship. Cali Valuk (far left) had the second

place jack fish and the second place Spanish mackerel. Ty McGinnis, (third left) won the sportsmanship award for the piggy perch contest, which had over 400 kids participating.

Dylan McGinnis (far right) won first place Spanish mackerel. –mhGary and Maria Joeris, Joeris General Contractors, took a 14-day motorcycle ride

through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. This is one of the stunning views they stopped to enjoy in Switzerland. –mh

European road tripSubmitted to Construction News

Advanced reel controlSubmitted to Construction News

Right: Angel Robledo, a service technician for Advanced Door Control, caught this first place redfish in the San Anto-nio Firefighters Kayak Fishing Tournament.

The anglers at Advanced Door Control have been very busy dominating the waters of Rockport this summer. –mh

Left: Brad Maze’s 16-year-old son, Weston Maze, a soph-omore at Smithson Valley High School, caught this 29” speck-led trout wading a shoreline using soft plastic lures.


Shooting for kids to succeed

Join us at these specialevents. For further info,call Debbie at830-606-5556, orwww.samca.net

Sept. 11 Sporting Clay Tournament & BBQ Cook-Off San Antonio Gun Club $100 per Shooter $50 per BBQ Team

Oct. 21 Night Time Golf Tournament Alamo Golf Club $75 per Golfer

We provide a full line of rock, masonry, stuccoand foundation materials along with mixers,

saws, scaffolds, and hand tools

San Antonio Location7480 FM 1560 North210-695-8222

Converse Location9513 Kneupper Lane210-651-7394

Call or come by and one of our people will be glad to help you

We do custom rebar fabrication for alltypes of projects, including shop drawings.

Niznik Concrete hosted the 26th annual SA Youth Charity Fun Shoot Aug. 8 at the National

Shooting Complex. Proceeds from the event benefit the SA Youth centers that reach out to help local at-risk kids. The fundraiser brought in approximately $92,000. Highlight Drywall and Paint bought the HEB camping trip sponsor-ship this year, and the high bidder was EDP Concrete. –mh

Winners:Pro Division1st: Dustin Patrick, White Cap Construc-tion Supply (98)2nd: Martell Adams, Security State Bank & Trust (97)3rd: Tony Rivera, Martin Marietta (97)Open DivisionClass A1st: Bill Ethridge, Plains Capt. (97)2nd: J.M. Alinez, Plains Capt. (95)3rd: Caleb McCarthy, Bexar Concrete Works (94)Class B1st: Sean McGarity, Keystone Concrete Placement (76)2nd: Mark Gilstrap, CL Concrete (76)3rd: Jim Forestello, American Roofing (76)Class C1st: Jacob Thormaehlen, White Cap Con-struction Supply (63)2nd: Nicholas Espinoza, Sun Coast (63)3rd: Chris Towns, Emrey Partners/Stew-art Services/Bison Materials (63)

1st Place – Open Division, Class B

1st Place – Ladies Division, Class A

1st Place – Youth Division, Class B;Gun Winner

1st Place – Youth Division, Class C; Gun Winner

2nd Place – Youth Division, Class A; Gun Winner

Ladies DivisionClass A1st: Taylor Cleaveland, Swat Construction (77)2nd: Dana Touchet, Swat Construction (70)3rd: Valerie Erskine, Johnston Industries (67)Class B1st: Priscilla Reyes, Sun Coast (48)2nd: Melissa Mahan, EDP Concrete (48)3rd: Jordan Forestello, American Roofing (45)Class C1st: Shirlee Sanders, WPI (37)2nd: Rhonda Langewennig (36)3rd: Jenna Christesseon, Lynwood Build-ing Materials (34)Youth DivisionClass A1st: James Warman, David Lavelle (85)2nd: Daniel Kranz, David Lavelle (85)3rd: Taylor Cleaveland, Swat Construc-tion (77)Class B1st: Molly McKinney, David Lavelle (66)2nd: Nicholas Espinoza, Sun Coast (63)3rd: Caden Lou, Sun Coast (59)Class C1st: Kaden Truss, GNW Concrete (47)2nd: Lane Duricher, Quick Ice (47)3rd: Justin McGarity, Keystone Concrete Placement (46)

Doug Niznik, right, was hard at work running the show and giving out the awards.


80 years moving forward

What began as a small firm in Houston in 1935 is Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (LAN) to-

day. Now celebrating its 80th anniversa-ry, LAN has more than 300 employees in offices across the U.S., including San An-tonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, College Station, San Marcos, Waco and its corporate headquarters in Houston. Mason Graves Lockwood and Wil-liam McIntosh Andrews started the firm and in 1946, Frank H. Newnam Jr., a civil engineer and classmate of William An-drews at Texas A&M, joined the firm as a partner. In 1956, the firm took on the name it is known by today. After incorpo-rating in 1961, the firm grew rapidly and established offices in several Texas cities. In 1991, LEO A DALY, an international ar-chitecture and engineering firm, ac-quired LAN, and expanded LAN’s servic-es and its horizons around the world. “Once I became the president in 1997, I diversified the firm into multiple

markets of water, wastewater, transit and transportation,” comments Dennis Pe-tersen, president. “The diversification was one of the key elements that I want-ed to implement. As we expanded into these markets, it gave us a pretty broad base to operate from. “Also, I wanted to ensure that when the bad times hit, and we all knew they would at some point, we would be able to keep moving forward. Since 1998, de-spite the recent economic recession, we have been profitable every year and have grown substantially.” In San Antonio, LAN has worked with SAWS as a design consultant and provid-ed general engineering consultant ser-vices for VIA’s 12-mile, $70 million Primo Bus Rapid Transit Service along the Fred-ericksburg Road corridor. LAN is a full-service consulting firm that offers planning, engineering and pro-gram management services. LAN is a divi-sion of LEO A DALY. –mh

San Antonio employees enjoyed a night of fun at LAN’s annual bowling night.Photo courtesy of Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc.

In November of last year, Chuck Gon-zales officially added solar to his ser-vices as an electrical contractor and his

electrical company of 15 years, AAAC Electric, became Solar Electric Texas. When Robert Watson, Solar Solu-tion Arizona, wanted to expand the company, he decided to partner with Gonzales and his wife, Melissa, who is one of the lead salespeople for the new company, which sells and installs solar systems and still does electrical. “Chuck and Melissa have lived in San Antonio their whole lives,” says Watson, Solar Electric Texas CEO. “They are die-hard San Antonians, and it’s a family-run business, just like I have in Arizona with my whole family working for the solar company. It’s just a great fit.” Gonzales is grateful to Watson and his mother, Dottie Watson, the primary owners of the parent company, for the opportunity to start Solar Electric Texas. He also appreciates the leap that their two main installers, Robert Sidoma and

One big solar family

Zach Hayes-Taylor, took in coming here from Arizona to do solar training and then relocating to San Antonio to stay with the new company. In the last year, Solar Electric Texas has welcomed a total of 20 employees to its family, including more of Gonzales’ own family. His brother, Mike Gonzales, who worked for him at AAAC, takes care of the electrical side and helps out on the solar side at times. His nephew, Stephen Castillo, is also a lead salesperson. His sister, Lisa Pastrano, and son, Chuck Gonzales Jr., are also involved in the business. Gonzales notes that since his family is in the business for the duration, they will be the same ones there for their cus-tomers through the life of the solar sys-tems’ 25-year warranties. Solar Electric Texas is an electrical con-tractor that specializes in solar. Most of the company’s work is residential with light commercial. –mh

Chuck Gonzales, left, brought his family into Solar Electric Texas when it started in November, and today, the company has a total of 20 people.

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Building homes and offices out of shipping containers is one of the ways that some of today’s owners

are trying to simplify their properties and take them off-grid. Kyle Kuenemann discovered that there was a need for a lo-cal source of shipping containers and conex in San Antonio. So, he started Con-tainer Solutions in May. As owner of general contracting company Diamond K Customs, Kuene-mann was building a high-end hunting camp for a client and had difficulty find-ing a good source of shipping containers at a price he felt was reasonable. The versatility of the containers lends them to a variety of repurposed uses across the construction industry, and Container Solutions already has custom-ers in various markets, converting them into livable, commercial or storage space. In early June, Kuenemann did a 20-ft commercial office with 100-percent com-

Uncontained reuse

mercial finishes – commercial-grade cab-inets, commercial storefront glass, and as a high-security office, it has eight security cameras on it. He’s also currently working on a 40-ft custom hunting camp that will be 100-percent off-grid with its own gen-erator along with a water catchment sys-tem and water pumps. “They’re long-lasting portable living units, and what makes them good is the fact that they are portable,” says Kuene-mann. “They’re cheaper to move than mobile homes and mobile offices, and I think the trend to go smaller and live sim-ply is part of what’s really driving this. “We’ve sold some to construction companies already [for use on jobsites]. We sell them to the public, but our goal is to get more into the construction indus-try.” Container Solutions is a supplier of con-tainers, including storage, cargo containers and conex, for sale, lease or rent. –mh

Kyle Kuenemann’s new company, Container Solutions, is a local source for shipping containers that can be transformed into an office, like this one, or a livable space.


Stand out builds

The Texas Building Branch of Associ-ated General Contractors traveled to beautiful Squaw Creek Resort in

Lake Tahoe July 28-31 for the 2015 con-vention. Twenty-two projects were given Outstanding Construction Awards from the annual competition. –cw

2014 Outstanding Construction Awards

B1 Building ($0 - $2M) Nolan Creek Pedestrian and Bike Trail Ex-tension, Barsh Company (Centex) B2 Building ($2 - $5M) Mary Couts Burnett Library West Façade,Linbeck Group LLC (TEXO) B3 Building ($5 - $10M) McGregor ISD New Primary School, Ma-zanec Construction Co. Inc. (Centex) B4 Building ($10 - $30M) Parc Binz One, Linbeck Group LLC (Hous-ton) B5 Building ($30 - $75 M) The University of Houston Student Cen-ter Redevelopment, Tellepsen (Houston) B6 Building (Over $75M) Tobin Center for The Performing Arts, Linbeck Zachry Joint Venture (San Anto-nio) DB1 Design Build ($0 - $10M) KSAT12 Television News Station Head-quarters Addition & Renovation, Bartlett Cocke General Contractors (San Antonio) DB2 Design Build ($10 - $30M) The Treehouse Memorial City, Anslow Bryant Construction LTD (Houston) DB3 Design Build (Over $30M) Parkland Logistics Center, Byrne Con-struction Services (TEXO) HC1 – Health Care ($0 - $10M) Parkway Surgical & Cardiovascular Hospi-tal, Skiles Group Inc. (TEXO)

HC2 – Health Care ($10 - $30M) Texas Healthcare Outpatient Center Wil-low Park, Ridgemont Commercial Con-struction (TEXO) HC3 – Health Care (Over $30M) Sky Tower at University Hospital, Zachry Vaughn Layton Joint Venture (San Anto-nio) Historical Renovation TAMU Jack K. Williams Administration Building Renovation, J. T. Vaughn Con-struction, LLC (Houston) IF1 – Interior Finish-Out ($0 - $500K)Texas Health Ben Hogan Sports Medicine Southwest Fort Worth, Skiles Group, Inc. (TEXO) IF2 – Interior Finish-Out ($500K - $2M)University of Texas, Active Learning Class-rooms Renovation, McCombs School of Business, Sabre Commercial, Inc. (Austin) IF3 – Interior Finish-Out ($2 - $5M) Vogel Alcove, MAPP Construction (TEXO)IF4 – Interior Finish-Out (Over $5M)Francis Hall Renovation, Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc. (Houston) IW1 – Industrial/Warehouse ($0 - $5M)VA Energy Center, Mazanec Construction Co. Inc. (Centex) IW2 – Industrial/Warehouse (Over $5M)Greens Crossing Tract A – HD Supply, Dyad Construction LP (Houston) RMF – Residential Multi-Family EastTexas Baptist University Centennial Hall, JE Dunn Construction (TEXO) RSF – Residential Single Family Malone Cliff Residence, Sebastian Con-struction Group (TEXO) SC – Specialty Construction Dock & Deck Additions on Lake Brazos, Barsh Company (Centex)

Health Care 3 (Over $30M): Capital Improvements Program, University Health System,Zachry Vaughn Layton

Design Build 1 ($0-10M): KSAT-12 Television News Station Headquarters Additions & Renovation, Bartlett Cocke General

Contractors

Building 6 (Over $75M): Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Linbeck Zachry Joint

Venture

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) hosted the second annual Sal-sa Taste-Off & Cook-Out Aug. 7 at

Rusty Lyons Softball Field. –mh

Photos by Tim Stocks

Salsa league takes the field

As the salsa champs of the day, RVK Architects won the Golden Molcajete.

L-R: Maribel Robles; Samantha Robles, Architectura S.A. intern; Tomas Solorio; Jorge Robles

L-R: Brady Dietert, Genni Wenrich, Heath Wenrich, Tobin Simpson and Sergio Vela serve up food to go with the salsa.


10843 Gulfdale San Antonio, TX 78216210-829-1793

Serving the construction industry for over 28 years

Reeling in the builders

The Greater San Antonio Builders As-sociation (GSABA) held its Saltwater Fishing Tournament Jul. 31-Aug. 1 in

Port Aransas with 35 boats and approxi-mately 175 participants. –mh

WinnersGuided Division1st: Bella Vista Homes

1st Place Team - Guided

1st Place Team - Unguided

2nd: Mike Hollaway Custom Homes3rd: Monticello HomesUnguided Division1st: Urban Concrete Contractors2nd: GVTC3rd: Bella Vista Homes

The YouthBuild San Antonio graduation ceremony was held Aug. 13 at the George Gervin Youth Center. In this 8-week program, 20 students between the ages of 16 and 24 learned marketable construction skills as well as career planning and preparation

for postsecondary education. The Associated General Contractors (AGC) San Antonio Chapter provides the necessary training for YouthBuild. –mh

Building up the next generationSubmitted to Construction News

in CONSTRUCTION NEWSis the

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continued from Page 1 — Covering a century continued from Page 1 — A Texas titan

continued from Page 1 — Monuments to legendary lawmen

The company’s largest client is a company that Reid co-founded with Ben Spencer in 1999. Merging R&A’s devel-opment division, which specialized in in-dustrial, call centers and offices, with Spencer’s retail development, they part-nered to form Titan Development, which is a wholly separate company. “[R&A] provides all of the design build, construction, due diligence – it re-ally acts as an internal delivery system for the development company on all things related to design and construction,” Reid explains. “Depending on how busy Titan is on any given annual basis, they range from 50 to 70 percent of our total work-load, and then the other 30 to 50 percent

is what we call third-party construction that Reid & Associates does for other owners.” Examples of the work R&A is doing for Titan currently include an Elan senior living facility outside of Austin and a large Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in La Cantera in San Antonio. R&A is also working on three separate Titan Industrial Parks in Schertz, Selma and New Braunfels. Reid & Associates is a design build gen-eral contractor specializing in private com-mercial and industrial projects. The com-pany is based in Albuquerque, NM with an office in San Antonio and a division in The Villages, FL. –mh

passed down from the generations is the involvement in community,” says Sam. “Any success we’ve ever had has been be-cause of the community of San Antonio. San Antonio is supporting us, so we give back in a very big way – not only finan-cially from donations, but our own per-sonal involvement. Margie and I are in-volved in lots of different nonprofits, and we also encourage any of our staff to do the same.” Sam and Margie have served togeth-er on the board of the Cancer Therapy Research Center (CTRC) and the South Texas Blood & Tissue Foundation. Sam has served as chairman of the Rotary Club of San Antonio and as president of the board of directors for the North San

Antonio Chamber of Commerce and the World Floor Covering Association. Though they have been involved in many charitable causes, the biggest and most personal is the Arthur O’Krent Golf Classic. Sam’s father passed away from heart disease. When the American Heart Association was unable to support its lo-cal golf tournament, the couple took it over, and this will be their 13th year. They believe this is the year they will hit the $1 million mark for their fundraising. O’Krent’s Abbey Flooring Center is a family-owned store with products that in-clude carpeting, ceramic tile, natural stone, wood and cork floors, and vinyl and lami-nate floor coverings. –mh

badge that is 33 feet across and roughly 5 feet high at the center. The monument is comprised of 40 precast concrete pieces, made specifically for the monument. Ranging in weight from about 3,000 to 7,800 pounds, the precast pieces were made at a plant and delivered to the site. “At the base, 10 bronze plaques will be installed,” explains Gary Lynch, proj-ect manager. “They will have all the names of the rangers who have died in the line of duty over the years, starting back with the Indian wars and the Mexi-can War through the Alamo and up to the current day.” The third structure erected on the property is a campanile, a bell tower, with limestone veneer. The campanile will serve as the gateway and front door to the future heritage center, where peo-

ple will be able to learn about the Texas Rangers. Koehler also built an amphitheater adjacent to the pavilion. Approximately 80 feet across with a fire pit, the amphi-theater will host functions, reenactments and live storytelling. The stories will serve to educate children on the importance of the Texas Rangers in the past and pres-ent. “The Texas Rangers will come in and talk to the kids about the taming of the Nueces Strip in the Wild Horse Desert, what McNelly’s Rangers did in the late 1800s,” says Steve Koehler, president of The Koehler Company. “They’ll tell stories about how Frank Hamer captured Bonnie and Clyde. Those are all Texas Rangers’ stories. “This isn’t so much a museum as it is an educational facility for our children to understand what the Texas Rangers are and what their five traits are: dedication, integrity, respect, courage and determi-nation.” The site also features two detailed Western sculptures of Texas Rangers that harken to the past. Koehler built stands for and installed the sculptures. The superintendent on the project

The Koehler Company built the pavilion, which will host fundraisers and other events at the Texas Rangers Heritage Center.

was Kent Willmann. The architect was SKT Architects, out of Fredericksburg, and the landscape architect was James Keeter. Smith Structural Engineers, out of Austin, did the structural. Subcontractors on the job were Al-len Keller Company, Underground Fire Line Company, Texas Parking Lots, Rio Tejas, C.L. Concrete, Universal Precast Concrete, Dean Mitchell Masonry, American Welding & Fabrication, C&C Erection, Home & Ranch Improvements, H&M Construction, Blackburn Plaster-ing, Durst Sheet Metal and Roofing, Al-pha Insulation & Waterproofing, Beick-er Insulation, Dumas Hardware Com-pany, Alamo Door Systems, JK Bernhard Construction Co., River City Coatings, Alamo Tile & Stone, Alvarado Painting, Eagle United U.S.A. dba Ameritex Flag and Flagpole, Klinger Specialties Direct, Pogue Sculpture Gallery & Foundry, The Bosworth Company, ITZ Electric and Bonded Lightning Protection Systems. The Koehler Company does general construction and architectural millwork. Started by Charles Koehler in 1954, his old-est son, Steve Koehler is the president and his son, Greg Koehler runs the architectural mill. –mh

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Green Building

Cleaner water through greener design

Steve Lin, Senior Project ManagerBig Red Dog EngineeringSan Antonio, TX

Amanda Saldivar, Project EngineerBig Red Dog EngineeringSan Antonio, TX

In Texas, rain is precious. After the last several years of relentless drought, the

spring brought record levels of precipita-tion across the Lone Star State. When we finally get rain, it can have its drawbacks, including some problems that can be re-duced through green building – or green engineering. Every day, contaminants build up on the concrete and pavement, and then rainwater washes them all away. That storm runoff we see with an oily rainbow film floating on the surface gets washed into creeks and rivers. This is just one of the environmental issues Low Impact De-sign (LID) aims to address. “It’s what we refer to as best man-agement practices (BMP),” says Steve Lin, senior project manager at Big Red Dog Engineering. “There are some municipali-ties that require LID as part of their proj-ects, such as the City of Austin. It is cur-rently optional in San Antonio, but we feel it’s going to be more prevalent here in the coming years.” Many LID features are associated with water quality and the treatment of stormwater. One technique uses bio-swales, which capture stormwater runoff

and aid in filtration so that anything washing off the pavement of a parking lot, for example, can be filtered before the harvested rainwater is discharged into a nearby creek. With San Antonio sitting on top of the Edwards Aquifer zone, development above the aquifer has requirements to treat and filter the water, but Lin points out that the southern half of the city does not have a water code along those lines. Lin observes, “Most of the LID fea-tures are an option and above and be-yond your standard developer’s intent, but we do find these LID features are more predominant in downtown San An-tonio – projects that use rainwater har-vesting and they’re integrated within an irrigation system, and a lot of bioswales.” Other features that LID uses towards water quality improvement include planter boxes and sand filtration. Divert-ing stormwater through a planter box al-lows the soil to act as a filter. The same is true of sand. And in particularly urban settings, putting a garden on the roof-top, or a “green roof,” where the garden acts as a filter and the underlying drain-age system captures the water, the runoff

coming out of the gutter system will be relatively cleaner. These filtration methods actually clean the water, removing contaminants from standard litter to oil and coolant drippings. Also, when developing an un-touched site, these LID features might be able to offset some of the tree mitigation or tree replacement. “The City of San Antonio has its spe-cific tree requirements,” explains Aman-da Saldivar, project engineer. “If we were developing on a completely green site – undeveloped with several trees – when trees are knocked down, the city requires that a certain ratio gets replanted [tree mitigation], or there is a fee that you can pay instead of having to plant those trees.” She notes that it is possible to incor-porate some of the previously mentioned LID features as an option in lieu of mitiga-tion, and having a LID feature would be considered eligible for LEED points, but since it’s not in the city’s code yet, these credits are determined on a case-by-case basis.

Engineers are one of three primary parties involved in the LID process. Archi-tects and, in many cases, the landscape architect, work together with the engi-neers to make these features part of the design. Lin notes that some of these fea-tures require what they call “engineered soils” because the soils have to meet some sort of permeability range, and in that case, the design team may also enlist the help of a geotechnical engineer to achieve the proper utilization of the LID feature. “I personally feel that LID is going to be introduced into code in the future, and I believe, the way development is headed, that you’d see more LID features being utilized and integrated in projects,” predicts Lin. Saldivar adds, “And in the long run, we’re helping ourselves, especially when it comes to [issues of] water contami-nants and polluting of local streams and rivers.” Big Red Dog Engineering is a civil and MEP engineering firm based in Austin with offices in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. –mh

From promise to performance: the LEED Dynamic Plaque

Gautami PalankiU.S. Green Building CouncilWashington, D.C.

Since its earliest days, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has pushed

the boundaries of green building design, construction and operation with a com-mitted team and expert volunteers from across the industry. Known for develop-ing the Leadership in Energy and Envi-ronmental Design (LEED) building rating system, USGBC’s mission of market trans-formation is alive and well. LEED is used by 65,000 projects worldwide. After 15 years of growth and evolution, the indus-try is ready to embrace performance measurement, adding to the promise of lower impact. The LEED Dynamic Plaque offers this dimension, measuring out-comes from sustainable strategies imple-mented in buildings. The LEED Dynamic Plaque helps properties gather building data to visual-ize a robust, yet simple, LEED Perfor-mance Score on scale of 1 to 100. The score updates as often as new data is provided and reflects the building’s en-ergy use, water use, waste management, indoor air quality, occupant satisfaction, and carbon emissions. Any building or commercial interior space can receive a

performance score, by manually or auto-matically submitting measured data (e.g., kilowatt hours of energy, gallons of water, interior carbon dioxide levels, etc.), and any LEED-certified project can use it to recertify to LEED every 12 months. Recertification follows the famil-iar LEED certification levels, i.e., a score of 80+ reflects Platinum. Project teams using the LEED Dy-namic Plaque give it high praise. The JBG Companies, Akridge, and the Tower Companies led the adoption of the LEED Dynamic Plaque in Washington, D.C. To-gether, they represent approximately 20 million square feet of LEED registered and certified space in the District. The companies use the platform in select properties to manage holistic building performance and collaborate with build-ing users, demonstrating leadership and innovation. Jessica Long, sustainability manager with The JBG Companies, is a key player in the development and adoption of the JBG Commercial Sustainability Program. She sees sustainability as a growing con-cern for investors, a means to improve

the value of assets, and take responsibili-ty as environmental stewards in a com-munity they own and develop buildings in. The sustainability group continues to engage building users, the primary drivers of resource use, in lowering the environmental impact of the building. Long says, “The LEED Performance Score provides a succinct way to communicate information beyond energy and strategi-cally identify areas for improvement.” At Akridge, corporate leadership, in-ternal policies, and community involve-ment are the building blocks for goal achievement as they endeavor to lead the industry in innovative sustainability practices. Kaitlin Brokaw, senior property manager at the Homer Building, an out-standing combination of new develop-ment and historic preservation, describes a “commitment to a long-term vision that entails using new technology and consci-entious planning to minimize negative environmental impacts on the city, the region and the planet.” The organization’s efforts to increase visibility and transparency are evident from the publicly available key perfor-mance indicators on their website. The LEED Dynamic Plaque proactively sup-plements these ongoing efforts, provid-ing up-to-date scores for participating properties and annual recognition through LEED recertification. Communication and collaboration are as important as implementation when it comes to sustainability efforts and special projects, agrees Eugenia Gre-

gorio, director of Corporate Responsibili-ty at Tower Companies. The LEED Perfor-mance Score provides a tangible metric that resonates with stakeholders and en-courages action, while making it simple to aggregate data through automation and increasing visibility into the portfo-lio. Gregorio says, “When making busi-ness decisions, we always consider the triple bottom line—people, planet, prof-it—and find ways to make all three align to yield successful projects that have a positive impact on the environment, our stakeholders and the overall community, and make business sense with viable eco-nomics.” Tower believes sustainability is not only a responsibility but also an opportu-nity to improve building operations, re-duce operating costs, train staff, and at-tract and retain like-minded clients who have their own corporate sustainability goals and values that align. JBG, Akridge, Tower, and other orga-nizations worldwide are aligning opera-tional metrics with strategic corporate goals and taking steps to improve ongo-ing building performance, lower costs, and enhance user experience in new and existing projects. Are you ready to take the next step and begin your perfor-mance story? Gautami Palanki is a Building Perfor-mance Consultant for the U.S. Green Build-ing Council. She will discuss LEED: New Ap-proaches for Building Performance at Greenbuild 2015 in Washington, D.C.


Green Building

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No signs of slowing down

Paul S. Brown, Co-Founder and PresidentBautex Systems LLCSan Marcos, TX

In your opinion, what is the current state of the local construction indus-

try? The commercial construction indus-try is booming all across the state of Tex-as right now, and we don’t see any signs of a slow down yet. We work across the entire state – from Houston to El Paso and Brownsville to Amarillo - and have seen very steady work for contractors and suppliers throughout the summer.

What sparked your interest to get in-volved in your industry? In 2007, we saw a clear opportunity to bring to market a completely integrat-ed wall system solution that was capable of meeting the more stringent building and energy codes that are being adopted across the state, and also provide a high-

er level of fire and windstorm safety as compared to traditional building sys-tems.

What are a few trends you see in green building in recent years? The push for higher building perfor-mance is a key priority in the architecture, engineering and construction market, and will be for decades to come. Energy efficiency and life safety building codes are the main drivers, but owners are in-creasingly looking for cost-effective ways to improve the efficiency, safety and in-door environmental quality of their buildings.

What are the rewards of the industry? We enjoy working with architects, engineers, contractors and building sci-

ence experts who are at the leading edge of a high-performance building renais-sance. Being able to contribute to the conversation around what truly makes buildings perform across a variety of cli-mates and uses is very satisfying to me personally.

What are the keys to being successful in the industry? Selling solutions to challenges and opportunities rather than simply selling products. A building is only as strong as its weakest link, so a systems-approach to building design and construction is vital-ly important. As product vendors, we must understand how our products work in tandem with other building systems to provide the desired levels of perfor-mance.

In your opinion, what is the most sig-nificant challenge the green building industry faces? Designers, builders, and suppliers must keep building performance and measurement central to sustainable de-velopment initiatives. We think energy efficiency, life safety, indoor environmen-tal quality, durability and longevity ap-peal to owners for different reasons. In-novation is happening in all areas from

design and construction to materials and building systems. All of these things ulti-mately drive performance and make sus-tainable development successful.

What advice would you give to a young person interested in working in your industry? Be curious. Don’t just ask what to do, also ask why you are doing it. Find out what the building science is behind the way we design and construct buildings. With the science and technology avail-able today, the opportunity to be innova-tive and push the performance envelope has never been better. Building codes continue to be key drivers for the adoption of high perfor-mance building materials and systems. Many cities have already adopted the more stringent 2012 building codes, and several cities, including San Antonio and Amarillo, are among the first to adopt the new 2015 building codes that will require even higher levels of performance. As a company focused on building science and innovative technologies, we are ex-cited to be working with architects, engi-neers, contractors and owners to re-spond to these challenges in a pragmatic and cost effective manner. –ab

Green and getting greener

Scott Gerhardt, Acting ChairU.S. Green Building Council Central Texas-Balcones ChapterAustin, TX

In your opinion, what is the current state of the local construction indus-

try? The last five years have brought sus-tainable building practices into both the commercial and residential mainstream. Commercially, there are many financial case studies now showing the financial benefits of building green with the LEED metric: 1.) LEED Certified projects oper-ate at greater efficiency and thus lower cost; 2.) LEED Certified projects have greater long term value and command higher lease rates because of this, and because people want to be in these envi-ronments. Simply put, whether the building is for living, working, learning or playing, green buildings are more productive for people. Texas and our Central Texas area are lead-ers nationally, with 650M plus square feet LEED Certified or LEED registered. If Texas were a country, we would be

number four in the world for LEED Certi-fied space. Local leaders like the cities of Austin and San Antonio, Austin Green En-ergy, Dell Childrens Hospital, UT, and homegrown corporations like HEB are us-ing innovative practices with LEED to green their properties. Our chapter has created the Texas Green Building Market-place as a resource for developers, own-ers, architects and engineers to find green building professionals and prod-ucts.

What sparked your interest in green building? I have always been passionate about conservation and environmental sustain-ability principles. Growing up in the country instills you with love and respect for water, land and air. I was then privileged to work for Milliken & Co for many years, one of the environmental leaders of American in-

dustry. It was through Roger Milliken's commitment to environmental excel-lence and carbon footprint reduction, and his support of a fledgling US Green Building Council vision, that I was able to meet Rick Fedrezzi and help charter the first USGBC chapter in Florida. I saw firsthand the incredible waste involved in our commercial construction industry and the "throw away" mentality of our practices. I wanted to help change that.

What are a few trends you see in your industry in recent years? My specific part of the pie is com-mercial interiors: flooring, furnishings, etc. I have been involved with many large projects as well as ongoing corporate campus operations, and the following trends are evident: • There is organizational commit-ment to green buildings and operations (from the top!) • The use of technology such as real time metering and smart HVAC controls has improved. • There is more training of staff in green practices and integration of con-servation techniques. • In addition, there are reclamation/reuse options for many materials tradi-tionally sent to landfill. • Product suppliers are raising the bar with greener product design and manufacturing.

What are the rewards of the industry? Our reward in championing green development practices is to know that we are making very significant strides in practice and in awareness. We are mak-ing a difference for the future.

In your opinion, what is the most sig-nificant challenge your industry fac-es? As in every pursuit, hard work and persistence pay off. But also, the need for creative thinking has never been greater, and the wonderful perspective of asking "Why not?" is a great motivator to posi-tive change. One of our local treasures, the Center for Maximum Building Performance (Pliny Fisk and Gail Vittori) have trained interns for years in asking "Why not?" and many of these former students are now doing fantastic work. Any student wanting to work in this field has great resources locally to learn and grow, and great educational pro-grams at UT, Texas State and other col-leges to take advantage of. Many offer concurrent LEED accreditation.

What advice would you give for a young person interested in working in your industry? Seek out the best mentors you can find, and soak up knowledge from them. Always ask "Why not?" Keep your curiosi-ty and grow your network! –ab


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Round-Up This is a monthly section for brief company announcements of new orrecently promoted personnel, free of charge, as space allows.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Email (w/digital photo, if available) by the 15th of any month,

for the next month’s issue (published 1st of each month).Email info to appropriate city issue, with “Round-Up” in the subject line:––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

San Antonio: [email protected] Austin: [email protected] Dallas/Ft. Worth: [email protected] Houston: [email protected] South Texas: [email protected]

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Masons rock the Riverwalk

As part of its annual conference, the Texas Masonry Council (TMC) held its 2015 Golden Trowel Ban-quet Aug. 7 at the Westin on the San Antonio Riv-

erwalk. –mh

Residential Single Family Texas ResidenceContractor: W.W. Bartlett

Architect: Curtis & Windham ArchitectsChapter: Central Texas Masonry Contractors Association

(CTMCA)

Residential Multi Family - 3 Eleven BowieContractor: Brazos Masonry

Architect: HKSSuppliers: Christopher Stuart Cast Stone, Continental Cut

Stone, Blackson Brick Company, Featherlite, Hohmann & Barnard

Chapter: Central Texas Masonry Contractors Association (CTMCA)

Governmental InstitutionalSt. Peter Chancery – Our Lady Walsingham

Contractor: W.W. BartlettArchitect: Jackson & Ryan Architects

Suppliers: Amerimix/Oldcastle Architectural Texas, Mustang Metal & Supply

Chapter: Associated Masonry Contractors of Houston (AMCH)

Industrial Commercial - The Gates BuildingContractor: Rick Stone Masonry

Architect: Drewry MartinSuppliers: I-10 Stone Source

Chapter: San Antonio Masonry Contractors Association (SAMCA)

Hardscape Landscape - Centennial GardensContractor: Camarata Masonry Systems

Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, White Oak StudioSuppliers: Mezger Enterprises, Revels Block, Brick Co.

Chapter: Associated Masonry Contractors of Houston (AMCH)

Block/CMU - The Robert M. Rogers Nursing and Health Sciences Center

Contractor: Skinner Masonry; Architect: Smith Group JJRSuppliers: Acme Brick, Featherlite, Headwaters Construction

MaterialsChapter: United Masonry Contractor Association of DFW

(UMCA)

Education (K-12 - Mohammedi Masjid ComplexContractor: Camarata Masonry Systems

Suppliers: Mustang Metal & Supply, Upchurch Kimbrough, Siteworks, Headwaters Construction Materials, Hohmann &

Barnard, Acme Brick

Education (College, University) - Texas A&M University San Antonio – Central Academic Building & Auditorium

Contractor: Shadrock & Williams MasonryArchitect: Munoz & Company

Suppliers: Acme Brick, Featherlite, Siteworks, Kirby Stone Co.Chapter: San Antonio Masonry Contractors Association

(SAMCA)

Restoration - City of Fort Worth Public Safety Training CenterContractor: J&E Masonry; Architect: Komatsu Architecture

Suppliers: Acme Brick, Builders Equipment & Supply Co., Hohmann & Barnard, Quikrete, Texas Building Products

Chapter: United Masonry Contractor Association of DFW (UMCA)

Skanska USA announces the following:

Tony Destefano is promoted to senior director and human resources hub lead-er for the central United States re-gion. With the com-pany since 2006, he will serve on the HR/communications leadership team and will be responsible for HR in TX, IN, LA, NC, OH, SC, TN and VA. He earned his bache-lor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Marquette University and his mas-ter’s degree in engineering management from Oklahoma State University.

Cliff Haehl joins the company as vice president of business develop-ment for Texas. With more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry, he will be responsible for leading Skanska’s sales strategy. He earned his bachelor’s degree in corpo-rate communications for the University of Texas at Austin.


Association CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

ABCAssociated Builders & Contractors

Sep. 14: Annual Fall Golf Tournament; Fair Oaks Country Club; for more info, email Ruby Trejo at [email protected]

AGCAssociated General Contractors

Sep. 16: CLF View From the Top, Urban Ecology Center, 8400 NW Military, 5:30-7:30pmSep. 23: Fundraising Event for State Sen-ator Jose Menendez, The Petroleum Club, 5-6:30pmSep. 24-25: PMDP Module 3: Project Ad-ministration, AGC office, 7:30am-5pm

AIAAmerican Institute of Architects

Sep. 13: Canstruction Build DaySep. 14: Can-Opener for Canstruction Exhibition at North Star MallSep. 17: Small project practitioner’s pro-gram on marketingSep. 24: Lecture & Book Signing by Brantley Hightower, AIA for Courthouses of Central Texas Sep. 28: Chapter meeting; tour of Hotel Emma; RSVP required

ASAAmerican Subcontractors Association

Sep. 10: Pour-Off & Texas Hold ‘Em Mixer, 6pm, Aggie ParkSep. 15: General meeting, 6:30pm, The Barn Door Restaurant

ASCEAmerican Society of Civil Engineers

Sep. 30-Oct. 2: Texas Civil Engineering Conference (CECON); for more informa-tion, visit www.texascecon.org

CFMAConstruction Financial Mgmt .Assn.

Sep. 22: Chapter luncheon; Petroleum Club, 8620 N. New Braunfels; 11:30am-1pm; RSVP to Stephanie at 210-828-6281, ext. 1575, or [email protected]

FEDOTFire Equipment Distributors of Tx

Oct. 9: 1st Benefit Golf Tournament for Children-Burn Care at Shriners Hospitals; Plum Creek Golf Course, 750 Kohler’s Crossing, Kyle; for more information, visit www.fedot.org

GSABAGreater San Antonio Builders Assn.

Sep. 7: Office closed for Labor DaySep. 10: Associates Happy Hour

Sep. 17: Building BelieversSep. 18-20: Fall Home and Garden ShowSep. 21: BuildPAC Golf Tournament

HCA de San AntonioHispanic Contractors Association

Sep. 9: Night with San Antonio Scorpions versus Carolina Railhawks, Toyota FieldSep. 23: College Night; Alamo Colleges Workforce Center of Excellence; 6-8pmFor more info call 210-444-1100

IECIndependent Electrical Contractors

All events are at the IEC office unless otherwise stated.Sep. 7: Labor Day, IEC office closedSep. 8: IEC school year begins, 5:30-9:30pmSep. 19: Electrical Maintenance Techni-cian Class, 8am-5pm; 15th annual Golf Tournament, Olympia Hill Golf Course, 9am startSep. 21: Continuing Education class, 5- 9pmSep. 28: NPFA 70E Class, 5-9pmFor more info call 210-431-9861 or visit www.iecsanantonio.com

MCA–SMACNAMechanical Contractors Association

Sheet Metal & A/C Nat’l Assn.

Sep. 2: Regular & Associates meeting, Oak Hills Country Club, 11:30am, speaker is game warden Kathleen StumanSep. 9: Joint Labor/Management Meet-ing Plumbers/Pipefitters, MCA-SMACNA office, 11amSep. 16: Joint Industry Fund meeting, Oak Hills Country Club, 11:30amSep. 30: 38th annual Hunter’s Sympo-sium, Bexar Community Range, 1pm

NAWICNat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

Sep. 9: General meeting, Petroleum Club, 5:30pm, installation of new officersSep. 2-5: AMEC, Omni Hotel, Nashville

PHCC Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors

Sep. 10: Clubhouse Membership meet-ing; Silverhorn Golf Course; 11am; topic is local high school trade programsSep. 12, 26: Plumbers Continuing Educa-tionSep. 16-19: OSHA 10 for Plumbers & 48-Hour Journeyman Prep CourseFor more info: www.phcc-sanantonio.org

RCATRoofing Contractors of Texaas

Sep. 16-18: 40th Annual Conference & Trade Show; Fort Worth Convention Cen-ter and Omni Hotel, two-day trade show with 80-plus exhibitors, live demos, door prizes, educational seminars, golf tourna-ment and welcome to North Texas recep-tion; WinR luncheon and annual awards banquet followed by a celebration for the 40th featuring Preston Scott Band

SAABESA Assn of Building Engineers

Sep. 23: Membership Luncheon, 11:30am

SAMCASan Antonio Masonry Contractors Assn.

Sep. 11: 20th annual Sporting Clay Tour-nament & 15th annual BBQ Cook-Off; San Antonio Gun Club Sep. 30: Membership meeting; Pap-padeaux Restaurant, 76 NE Loop 410; noon; $30 per personFor more information, contact Debbie at 830-606-5556

SDASociety for Design Administration

Sep. 24: Principal Appreciation lun-cheon; The Barn Door, 8400 North New Braunfels Ave.; noon-1pm; topic is Hemi-sphere development update; for more information, email [email protected]

A rainbow for Bexar County CPS

The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) San Anto-nio Chapter celebrated its 57th

birthday Aug. 5 at the Petroleum Club. More than 50 members and guests at-tended. As is tradition, the chapter past presi-dents hosted the fundraiser for commu-nity projects and scholarships. This year, the birthday celebration was “rainbow”-themed, because the funds raised went to the Rainbow Room at Bexar County Child Protective Services (CPS). “The Rainbow Room is an emergency resource room at Bexar County CPS that stocks items such as diapers, formula, school supplies, car seats, clothing, lice shampoo and other necessities for chil-dren that come into the system with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” explains Sandee Morgan, a past presi-dent. “The San Antonio Chapter of NAWIC supports the Rainbow Room throughout the year, collecting Easter baskets, school supplies and Christmas gifts for children who are taken into custody of Bexar

County Child Protective Services.” The celebration included games and door prizes with Nora Romero emerging as the big winner of the evening with an iPad, wine basket and lottery basket. The event brought in a “mountain” of school supplies for delivery to the Rainbow Room and raised $1,300 toward chapter’s community service project to furnish, decorate and paint visitation rooms at Bexar County CPS. –mh

NAWIC San Antonio’s past presidents L-R: Judy DeWeese, Martha Simpson, Becky Wynne, Sandee Morgan, Celeste Estep, Jennifer Swinney, Robbie Nelson and Dana Calonge

L-R: Rachel Kin, Malitz Construction, Jennifer Swinney, ASA; Nora Romero, MCA-SMACNA

and ASA

continued on Page 29


Cleaning up the GuadalupeSubmitted to Construction News

Employees of Martin Marietta Materials were among more than 300 participants in the 12th annual Upper Guadalupe River Authority Clean Up Jul. 25. This is the sixth

consecutive year that Martin Marietta volunteers have joined the effort. –mh

When Family Violence Prevention Services (FVPS) brought its Pa-rade of Playhouses event to San

Antonio, F.A. Nunnelly Co. offered its hands and hammers to the fundraising effort. Several Nunnelly employees partici-pated in the build of a playhouse, built within specific size parameters, to be raffled off, raising money for the Bat-tered Women’s and Children’s Shelter of San Antonio. The build team donated their time on the weekends for about a month-and-a-half, logging roughly 160 hours of work on the project. “This was such a good cause to help support FVPS for the work that they do in this area,” says Blaine Beckman, project manager. “But also, Nunnelly realizes that the relationship in the community is extremely important for us, and that the

Helping build a safe haven

community, our subs and our clients have been the reason that Nunnelly has been in existence for 93 years.” All material and time was donated. Beckman notes that some of their subs and suppliers donated materials for the build, including Allen & Allen Company and Allegiance Flooring. He also credits Nunnelly’s Herb Garcia and Kyle Wis-niewski with donating a lot of their time to put the playhouse together. They made sure the playhouse was colorful, bright and warm. They also add-ed an accent of purple, which is the color for family violence awareness. The play-houses submitted were put on display at North Star Mall and La Cantera. Nunnel-ly’s playhouse, which Doug Nunnelly dubbed the “Hobbit Hole,” was exhibited at La Cantera. –mh

L-R: Kyle Wisniewski, Blaine Beckman, Herb Garcia and Rick Nanez were some of the team members at F.A. Nunnelly Co. who volunteered their time to work on a playhouse for charity.

TACCATexas Air Conditioning Contractors Assn

Sep. 17: General meeting; The Club at Sonterra; 11:30am; economic update with Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio Branch; members and first at-tendee free, additional $20/person; RSVP requiredSep. 18-19: 22nd Annual TACCA-GSA Fishing Tournament; Corpus Christi; an-glers $100/person; guided package $275/person, includes entry and guide; non-fishing attendees $30/person in-cludes Friday and Saturday; mandatory check-in at Doc’s Steaks & Seafood Friday 6-9pm; weigh-in Saturday 3-4:30pm at Doc’s with dinner and awards followingSep. 30: Websites, SEO & Digital Market-ing: Everything You Need to Know; HTS DXS; 1:30-3:30pm; TACCA GSA members $30, non-members $45For more info, contact Dawn Thompson at [email protected] or 210-901-4222 or visit TACCAGSA.org

USGBCU.S. Green Building Council

Sep. 10: The Central Texas Collaborative Launch; Penn Field Building C Atrium, 3601 S. Congress Ave., #100, Austin, 5:30-8pm

continued from Page 28 — Calendar

Fourth-generation recycler Jeff Vex-ler takes pride in getting dirty ev-eryday at Toucan Recycling.

“I'm proud of my recycling roots, and having my boots on the ground, I've learned a great deal about the diversity of industry in San Antonio,” he says. “The men and women I deal with everyday are extremely hard working, friendly folks, and there is a real kinship and sense of community among us blue-collar types. “We're a very family friendly yard,” Jeff says. “Many parents come with their kids in tow to teach them the value of re-cycling, and when the kids leave with their allowance money in-hand, it shows them that a penny saved is a penny earned.” Having lent some assistance to his brother, David Vexler, when David founded the company in 2008, Jeff took over operations about two years ago as his brother focused on Toucan’s parent company, Monterrey Iron & Metal. Though Toucan is a collection sta-tion, approximately 80 percent of the ma-terials that come through its door are processed in some way at the yard before leaving. With cleaning, sorting, stripping

To the metal born

and shearing – among other processes – being carried out onsite, Jeff is trained to operate all of the machinery at Toucan. Toucan has three other full-time em-ployees, including David Stokum, assis-tant manager, and Lorenzo Flores, scale operator. Jeff also has one part-time em-ployee, Arturo Diaz, who has been an extended member of the Vexler family for more than 30 years. The yard is open six days a week, and on his Sundays off, Jeff spends his time coaching the Alamo City All-Stars. The traveling Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team is comprised of about 15 kids, ages 15 to 17, from Alamo Heights High School where Jeff played high school basketball. During the spring and summer, Jeff and his team travel to com-pete in tournaments to keep the players sharp and improving during the off-sea-son. Jeff also likes to play golf, snorkel, and spend time with his wife, Catharine, who is pregnant with their first child. Toucan Recycling handles household recyclable materials as well as commercial and industrial scrap metals, both ferrous and non-ferrous. –mh

The Toucan team L-R: Lorenzo Flores, Arturo Diaz, Jeff Vexler, David Stokum, Frank Bravo


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Employees of HJD Capital Electric were among 100 golfers and volunteers who participated in the second annual Enrique Barrera Parkway Golf Classic Aug. 3 at

Brackenridge Golf Course. The benefit offset the taxpayer costs for the renaming of Old Highway 90 in honor of Westside public servant Enrique Barrera, who passed away in 2007. L-R: Willie Ng, president, Blue Armor; J.C. Herrera, project manager, Capital;

Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran; Kristi Villanueva, deputy program manager, Capital; Councilman Ray Lopez –mh

Golfing for a namesake Submitted to Construction News

Take the shot, fire up the pit

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) San Antonio Chapter hosted its sixth annual Shoot ‘N’ Skoot Jul.

31 at the National Shooting Complex complete with a barbecue cook-off. –mh

Winners:Red CourseTeam: Zachry Team 1 – Travis Mross, Adam Saur, Vic Rosen, Curtis Schwartz, Terry Coram (196)Men Individual: Aaron Caldwell, Trane (46)Blue CourseTeam: TTG – Tae Hwang, Randy Ortiz, Rick Barrera, Cody Haby, Dylan Amons (171)Men Individual: Randy Ortiz (50)Women Individual: Marcella Palaferri-Howard, Custom Building Products (34)Yellow CourseTeam: Hart Lumber – Clark Curnutt,

Smokey Butler, Dwayne Frerich, Brad Fre-rich, Kenny Kotara (240)Men Individual: Kenny Kotara, Hart Lum-ber (53)Women Individual: Claudia Chavez, Spec-trum Lighting (21)Green CourseTeam: Datum Engineers – Larry Rickels, Tim Stocks, Craig Rios, Chris Morris, Tony Battle (201)Men Individual: Chris Morris, Datum Engi-neers (47)Women Individual: Carolyn Pike, Marmon Mok (41

Green Course Team Winner:Datum Engineers

Blue Course Team Winner: TTG

Cook-Off Winner: Alamo Architects

Yellow Course Team Winner: Hart Lumber

Red Course Team Winner: Zachry

What’s the storybehind your name?

My first name, I’m named after my dad. My last name, I guess the joke is that ev-erybody always asks how to spell it. It’s the simplest possible name on the face of the Earth, and everybody asks me how to spell it. I always say, “Somewhere back down the line when they were doing the census, I would assume that my name was probably a whole bunch of letters and they either couldn’t read it or didn’t want to write it all down, so they just truncated it and made it New.”

John New, Freese and Nichols

There’s really only about three families in the United States that still carry the last name Blazi, and we are all extremely close. They live up in South Bend, IN and in Austin, and that’s about it. My grand-mother is very big into genealogy, and she searched all over, and they tracked our last name. We’ve only found a few that we did not know about, but my fa-ther grew up with a majority of the ones left when he was born up in Pennsylva-nia. In the U.S., all of the people that hold the last name Blazi are related to us.

Tim Blazi, Drash Contracting

As far as I know, I was named after Bran-don, MS, where my grandparents grew up. They moved here before I was born. My wife’s name, Colette – her grandfa-ther’s name was Coley, so she was named Colette.

Brandon Riddle, AmeriCRANE

My name is Yehuda, and people didn’t know how to pronounce it. And I decided to change it to Yuda. It’s from the Bible.

Yuda Doliner, Fencecrete America

I am Neil Berry Jr. My father was a Marine Corps veteran, and he was on Iwo Jima, 5th Division Marine Corps, and the way he served our country, I’m proud to carry his name on and to pass that on to my son and grandson.

Neil Berry, A-Lert Building Systems

The first name is easy – I was named after my great-grandfather. The last name is the interesting one. O’Krent is a unique name. You don’t see many O’Krents around, and that’s because my grandpar-ents threw in the apostrophe without telling any of the living relatives at that time. And I think it probably had to do with the move from Cincinnati getting a fresh new start in San Antonio.

Sam O’Krent,O’Krent’s Abbey Flooring Center

Fraser is an old Scottish name, and the only exciting thing I’ve done associated with the old Scottish heritage is visit Fra-ser Castle in Scotland nine years ago.

Gary Fraser, JMEG

I don’t know the origin of my name. What’s interesting about my name is my real last name is Sherman. I was adopted, and that’s something not a lot of people

know. So, Reid is actually my adopted name from my stepfather.

Kevin Reid, Reid & Associates

The Kuenemann name is from Germany, and my ancestors settled in the Freder-icksburg area and opened Kuenemann Hardware, which ended up getting bought out by Lowe’s.Kyle Kuenemann, Container Solutions

My name is Jesus Martin Rendon, and I shortened it to J. Martin for [working at] my company. People at home call me Jesse, and people in the field call me Marty.

J. Martin Rendon, Voltron Electric

When people ask me how I got that

name, most of them ask me if I was born in Dallas. I tell them no, I was not born in Dallas; it’s just that my parents couldn’t spell Waxahachie! Actually, my dad had a good friend he went to school with named Dallas and he liked the name so my parents chose that name for me.

Dallas Cloud, Moore Erection

There’s no story behind my name, but my name is spelled differently than people pronounce it sometimes. Because Marcia can be spelled Marsha, sometimes when I’m introducing myself and someone can’t remember my name, I will say, “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha” [from “The Brady Bunch”], and then they immediately re-member.

Marcia McKinley, Insite Architects


Winners:Guided1st: No Nombras – Rob Butler, Coleman Cunningham, David Poole, Ken Utley2nd: Cibolo Boys – Butch Evans, Justin Ev-ans Sr., Justin Evans Jr.3rd: Rippin Lips – Kyle Pressler, Chris Juri-ca, Kristopher Pressler, Travis Quicksall

Hooked on fishing

The Texas Society of Professional Sur-veyors (TSPS) Alamo Chapter hosted its 10th annual Hook, Line & Survey-

or Fishing Tournament Aug. 8 at Redfish Bay & Boathouse in Port Aransas. –mh

1st Place Guided

1st Place Unguided

Unguided1st: Welding Rods – Greg Mokrey2nd: Tom Maurice3rd: Sherwood Surveying – Jason Mox-ley, Ellen Buck, Wade Birmingham, Steve Middleton

Largest Trout: Joe LeosLargest Red: Keystone ConcreteMost Spots (Redfish): Tom Maurice

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Seize the summer

As the weather began heating up and sum-mer started winding

down, SpawGlass hosted an employee picnic for its Austin and San Antonio di-visions Aug. 1 at Landa Park in New Braunfels. –mh

L-R: Erin and Justin Calvin, building services manager,

with their baby, Elin; Melodye Tomsu, business

development manager; Russell Jenkins, operations

manager; Laurie Ingle, vice president of human

resources

Rosemary Robles (center), laborer and craftsman, brought her family to enjoy the

festivities.

L-R: Shirley Stange, receptionistand Mary Most, receptionist

L-R: Angela Perfetti, risk management, Houston; Joel Stone, CEO; Laurie Ingle(Photo bomber Bill Venable, Austin building services manager)

Electrical runs in J. Martin Rendon’s family. So, when the master electri-cian started his own company, Vol-

tron Electric, in May of last year, he brought his father and brother on board, too. Rendon’s father, Victor, is a senior journeyman and has been an electrician for more than 40 years. When he was younger, he would help his father put in plugs and switches during his summer breaks from school. His father had the idea for them to venture out and do electrical work on their own, and Rendon says that he took a leap of faith. Now, his father is one of his project managers, and his brother, Nestor, a journeyman electrician, is in charge of special systems operations. At 34 years old, Rendon has a total of six employees and considers himself blessed to have a growing company that he wants to continue to grow. Voltron does approximately 70 percent commer-cial work, which includes projects such as

Finding his own voltage

seafood restaurant Costa Pacifica and five Little Caesars that were ground up construction. He remembers trying to come up with a good name, and one day, thinking of the word “voltage,” he was sitting at a red light when a string of trucks went by with a name on the side that had “tron” as a suffix. “I said one of these days that’s going to be a bunch of Voltron trucks,” recalls Rendon. “I said that sounds catchy, and that’s where the name emerged.” Before starting the company, Ren-don studied electronics at ITT Technical Institute, but instead of soldering com-ponents as a technician, he was only re-placing them. So, he went through the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union program to be-come an electrician. Serving San Antonio and the surround-ing area, Voltron Electric does commercial and residential as well as prefab electrical. –mh

The Voltron family trio L-R: J. Martin, Victor and Nestor Rendon

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San Antonio Construction News September 2015

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