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™CONSTRUCTIONCONSTRUCTIONSouth Texas

New hat for old building

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Bridging the old and new Elevating family business

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For more than 60 years, the elevator company established in Harlingen by the Hale family has flourished –

despite dire early warnings from the local bank president. According to Frank Hale, president of Rio Elevator Company Inc., the business grew slowly but steadily after being founded by his father Sidney Hale as Elevator Maintenance Company in 1951. “The president of First National Bank, Mr. Evan Hurst, told my father the Valley couldn’t support an elevator company,” Frank Hale remembers. Sidney was a mechanic for Otis Elevator Company when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942. After his service and a few more years with Otis, Sidney

L-R: Vice President Kevin C. Hill; Contract Sales, Amanda Hill; Office Manager,Maria Elena Cano; President Frank M. Hale; Construction Tech, James Grayson

and his wife Freda, who served as bookkeeper, opened their own elevator company from their dining room table. Subsequent offices were located around town, with the last location at 113 W. Madison where the company remains today. The name changed in 1964, and in 1971, son Frank, who had been working for larger elevator companies upstate, moved home to partner with his father. Frank became president in the late 1980s. By necessity, Frank was the first Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation elevator inspector in the Lower Rio Grande Valley through the first three years of Texas’ enforcement of the

Koening Contractors has been a family contracting business since the early 1940s – and in Victoria,

that means many community connec-tions have been established through the years. So when Bruce Rogers, of Rogers Home Medical and Rogers Pharmacy, de-cided to open another pharmacy loca-tion, a relationship between the sons of the two businesses led to a new project. Zak Koening, son of Oliver Koen-ing Jr., who’s father, Oliver Koening Sr., started Koenig Contractors, went to school with Stephen Rogers, son of Bruce Rogers, who owns the Home Medical store and now five pharmacies. Confused yet? Well, the people of Victoria aren’t, as these relationships are the normal course of business in small towns across Texas.

And the home of the new Rogers Pharmacy, on North Navarro Street, also has a history – which most people there can probably remember. Starting life as a gas station in 1967, the building has been the home of a market, a convenience store and, most recently, a Subway res-taurant. “It has worn many hats,” Oliver Koen-ing Jr. says. The fact that the building on North Navarro started life as a gas station did not cause too many issues for the project since the gas tanks had long since been mitigated. But the aroma of freshly-baked bread from its most recent incar-nation was another issue. “Eliminating the Subway odor was the hardest part of the renovation,” Rog-ers said.

A cheerful blue roof is a new “hat” for a Victoria building.

Jorge Perez, owner of Perez Consult-ing Engineers in McAllen, remembers walking across the old Roma-Ciudad

Miguel Alemán International Bridge to visit friends and relatives in Mexico. And as an adult, Perez is on a mission to get the historic bridge named to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Historic Civil Engineering Landmark list. “It is important to our profession that we recognize structures such as this that symbolize the essence of civil engineering and how these are visible examples of what civil engineering is all about,” Perez explains. “In general, the civil engineer’s work is hidden to the public, some being underground, some being behind walls

and ceilings, some being below your car’s tires, and some taken for granted in the potable drinking of water, etc.” The old suspension bridge that served as a portal between Roma, TX and Ciudad Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas, Mexico was built in 1928 and funded by private monies at a cost of $120,000. It was part of a string of international bridges built during that time over the Rio Grande River – and is the only one left standing. The bridge is already a National Historic Landmark in the U.S. (1984) and Mexico. In 1978, the bridge was closed to traffic after a new concrete bridge was built next to it and in 1980, efforts to get

The old Roma-Ciudad Miguel Alemán International suspension bridgesits next to the new concrete version.

San Antonio Spurs!

South Texas Construction News • July 2014

Ubaldo Parra and Sergio Gonza-lez have worked together for 15 years, so starting a business to-

gether was not too much of a stretch. In March 2014, the two men opened the doors of LED Electric and Lighting Con-tractors in Laredo. Parra, president and general manag-er, and Gonzalez, vice president and pur-chasing manager, have skills that com-plement each other. Parra is a master electrician with comprehensive experience in the repair and maintenance of motors, control pan-els, and major mechanical and electrical systems, including timers, circuit break-ers, feeders, coils and relays. Gonzalez has spent the last 30 years honing his skills as a warehouse manager and purchasing agent, which includes providing assistance to project staff on job sites and building those necessary re-lationships with suppliers. “Most of the field employees and of-fice staff have known each other for over 10 years,” Parra says. “Coming to work ev-ery day is like going to a family gathering

No red light here

because we have all been around each other so long that we are family and that is the core of LED Electric and Lighting Contractors’ foundation.” Growth is the keyword for the new company, with a San Antonio office scheduled to open in July. “This will allow us to better serve our customers in San Antonio and the sur-rounding areas,” Parra explains. The company, a full-service commer-cial, residential and service electrical con-tractor, aims to be progressive and envi-ronmentally friendly, according to Parra. “Our focus is to use our current re-sources and provide a hybrid solution that will combine existing technologies and new technologies to be cost effective,” Parra says. “Our company’s colors are blue and green since we focus on green tech-nologies and recycling. We worked closely with our graphic designer to visually proj-ect this, through a modern logo.” The company provides a variety of services, plus specializing in data and communications. –cw

The staff of LED Electric and Lighting Contractors, including Sergio Gonzalez, far left, Ubaldo Parra, far right, and Rosa Vasquez, office manager.

Inspired design

Jaime Del Carpio, owner of JDC Landscape Architecture in McAllen, was a triathlete in California when he

came across a landscape architecture magazine. “I was competing in the triathlete cir-cuit in California,” he recalls. “I discovered this profession by picking up a magazine. I read about it and researched it and fig-ured it was perfect for me and my per-sonality.” His love of the outdoors, coupled with the story of another triathlete who had made the move into landscape archi-tecture, propelled Del Carpio into action. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1997 with double degrees – one in landscape architecture and one in envi-ronmental studies. “I liked that landscape architecture wasn’t landscaping, it was designing ex-terior spaces for where we live,” he said. His career journey took him from California, where the owner of the com-pany he was working for asked him to temporarily man his office in Palm Beach, FL. After more than three years, the office closed in 2009 due to the recession. Del

Jim Del Carpio at the DeLeon Middle School project.

Carpio came to Texas hoping to find a job. He applied for a position with the city of McAllen through Texas Workforce Development and after submitting a winning design for Quinta Mazatlan, a historical adobe mansion and nature and birding center located in McAllen, Del Carpio spent the next 16 months with the city. In May 2013, he opened the doors of JDC. “My firm is different from the run-of-the-mill engineering office,” he says. “My practice will consist of designing public and private spaces to public agencies and private institutions and individuals. It will entail a sustainable approach to developing the sites/gardens and all it’s resources, along with intended use by the owner(s) and users.” To date, Del Carpio has had and is working on several major projects, in-cluding designing the landscaping for McAllen-Miller International Airport, Hi-dalgo International Bridge and DeLeon Middle School parking lot. His next big project is the softball fields at McAllen Municipal Park. –cw

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The South Texas Construction News (ISSN #2327-4670) is published monthly by Construction News Ltd., dba South Texas Construction News, and distributed by mail to construction related companies in the South Texas area. All submissions should be mailed to our editorial offices. We reserve the right to edit any materials submitted. No fees for materials, copy or photographs submitted will be due unless agreed upon in advance in writing. Submissions will be published at our discretion on a space-available basis. Construction News, Ltd., dba South Texas Construction News, will not be liable for errors in copy or in advertisements beyond the actual cost of space occupied by the error. Publisher reserves the right to reject any advertisement at any time.

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The Associated Builders and Contrac-tors Inc. – Texas Coastal Bend Chap-ter held its June First Wednesday

Mixer at South Texas Ice House. Owned and operated by Billy Cain, Fishbone Safety Solutions, is one of the chapter’s most active members. From sponsoring the June mixer and other ABC-TCB fund-raising events, to serving on the chapter’s board of directors, Cain and the team at Fishbone Safety Solutions work hard to do as much as they can for ABC-TCB. –cw

Cain do!

Billy Cain and Angie DeLaCruzfrom Fishbone Safety Services

2014 ABC-TCB Board Chairman John Davidson, center,and owner of South Texas Ice House, Phil Hurst.

The clouds poured rain on the play-ers, but they endured the weather and still had a blast at this year’s As-

sociation of General Contractors – Rio Grande Valley Chapter (AGC) Golf Tour-nament in Rockport, Jun. 19. Carlisle Insurance stepped up and supported a putting contest with a Scot-ty Cameron putter for first place and more great prizes. –cw

Winners:1st: Hub City Overhead Door - Rusty Gar-rett, Dave Dungan, Zack Clements, Bran-don Price2nd: Ferguson Enterprises - Adam Har-rington, Chad Burkhart, John Picarozi, Tom McDonald3rd: B&C Equipment - Darin McCreery, Chris Baugh, Richard Kolb, Bubba Bos-worthLongest Drive: Zack Clements, Hub City Overhead DoorsClosest to the Pin: Matt Martini, Pro Tech Mechanical

1st place went to Hub City Overhead Door.L-R: Rusty Garrett, Dave Dungan, Zack Clements and Brandon Price

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If you’re reading our paper, chances are you either make deci-sions for your company, or know someone who does. With so many construction com-panies out there – plumbing, HVAC, general contractors, suppliers, you name it – there’s a decent chance we haven’t covered you. If you’d like to be in our paper, give us a call. Our editors are always happy to hear from our readers. There are a bunch of different places a company can be featured in a paper. You can take an “Photo News” photo – that’s where you provide us with a snapshot and get a few of your unsung heroes in our paper.

We tell your stories!

We can write an “Industry Pro-file,” or a general story about your company, what it does, and how it got started. We can even get you in our “Great Outdoors” section, if you’ve got ANYONE in the company who hunts, plays sports, hikes, or anything that’s outside and remotely active, we want you to share it. So, come on. These stories are free, and we generally need only about 5-10 minutes of your time to interview you. You read us. Your customers read us. Your friends read us. What do you have to lose?

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Dickie FriedrichsOwner

REFCO

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Adding his own contributions to an already-established family business, Richard “Dickie”

Friedrichs is the hardworking owner of REFCO, a company in Pharr, TX that specializes in architectural building materials. But Friedrichs is not all business – he’s a proud native “Valleyite” and feels blessed to have an extended “family tree” around him.

Where is your family from? I am a life-long native Valleyite. My parents were from Houston. My dad graduated from the University of Houston with a chemical engineering degree, but before he got a job in that industry he became a salesperson for a glass company. His territory was South Texas – from Corpus Christi to the Valley. He met Mr. Palmer on one of his trips and over couple of years they became friends and he made my dad an offer to come to the Rio Grande Valley and work for him, which my dad fortunately accepted. Most of my relatives are in Houston.

Your father Richard E. Friedrichs started this company? Yes. The Richard E. Friedrichs Company (dba REFCO) was founded in Aug. 1978 in Pharr by my dad after a long employment at Palmer Building Supplies in Pharr. Palmer’s was the Home Depot, Lowe’s, McCoys in the Rio Grande Valley before any of those places existed. I still have a picture of Mr. Palmer in my office, as well as a picture of my dad. I admire both of them. Mr. Palmer was a great businessman.

Tell me about high school and college I went to McAllen High School. I was interested in drums and baseball. For the first two years of college at the University of Texas, I pursued music for a little while, but my dad told me going to college was not a career, so I buckled down and for the last three years, I went to school year round so I could graduate and come home to work at REFCO. I began working in this industry in 1978 while also attending college. I would come home at least one weekend a month to master key locksets, mostly. My full-time career started in Dec. 1983 and I have been here ever since. My dad said, I’ll pay for your college, but you need to get something out of it. I respected that. Thirty years later - now I realize what he meant. I get it.

What was your degree in? I hoped one day to run the business and thought a business degree in personnel management was a good choice. If I had to do it over again, I would definitely go with numbers, maybe accounting. My dad died in a car accident when I was 33 and in charge of a small section of the business. I was not involved in the day-to-day business, like the banking, insurance, contracts, etc. Literally overnight, I was in charge.

Tell me about your employees. We are a small company. Except for a couple of people, everybody has been here at least 4 years. There are some with more time, like Mando in the shop, who has been with us 25+ years and Vicki Delgado. She is vice president and has been here 35+ years. I lean on her a lot. She is that once-in-a-lifetime person you come across if you are lucky, a member of my family without a doubt.

Where did you meet your wife? Sharon was 2 years behind me at McAllen High School. We didn’t hang out, but I knew who she was. I didn’t really know her until I graduated from college and moved back to McAllen. She was here, I was here, her parents and my parents were Country Club members and friends, etc. I asked her out and we dated for a couple of years before we got married. Now we’ve been married for 27 years and have three great sons: Trey, the producer at the TV station KWTX in Waco; Ryan, a junior at Texas A&M University; and Austin Connor, who works with me here and is the future of this company.

How has your business changed over the years? When my dad was running it, he had it compartmentalized into different divisions, steel, glass, etc. There was a manager to run each center. Shortly after he died, I got out of the business of installing things, garage door, flooring etc. and we became more or less a true distributorship. Currently, we install only a fraction of what we sell, but if a sale does involve any labor, it runs through The Door Doctor – a repair/replacement service-oriented business division that I started. Connor wants REFCO to offer more. He wants to get more into the installation business. He wants to focus more on “turn-key” projects. He is young and very hungry for business. He wants more and I understand that. Connor recognizes that anybody who has a credit card can order a flagpole online from whoever has the cheapest price and have it shipped to wherever. To add value, you have to offer something different and we believe that is installation. You started The Door Doctor? Yes. Since construction is seasonal, I was searching for a cash flow stabilizer and came up with The Door Doctor service/repair concept. While not a new concept, it was new for us in the way we focused on it as its own division. Service contracts are that stabilizer for us.

What is the key to success? I believe we have been successful because we provide good products at fair prices, along with good customer support. You can’t have one without the other. We are not always the low bidder but that doesn’t always matter. Relationships come into play. We’ve been here since 1978, have a future plan in place and we believe that matters to our customers.

Who were your mentors in life? My dad was my main business mentor. He not only started, grew and operated a difficult business, he was mayor pro tem of McAllen and extremely civically involved. My dad had the respect of everybody. Additionally, we were members of Distributors Council for a long time. DC is a national group of like-minded business owners similar to ours and over the years, I met a lot of successful people who taught me different ways of running these kind of businesses, especially soon after my dad died.

A family photo taken on Father’s Day. L-R: Dickie Friedrichs, Dickie’s mother,Sadie Friedrichs, Sharon Friedrichs and Connor Friedrichs

What do you like to do outside of work? I like spending time with my mom, she’s 87. I’m thankful to have her around, especially since I lost my dad unexpectedly. I go over there and we just hang. I try to save Sunday morning for her and take her out for pancakes at IHOP – her favorite place. I watch anything that has to do with the stock market – I like to play the equity options. I find it fascinating dealing with probability and volatility. You have to protect yourself on the minus side but be more aggressive towards the plus size. It takes a lot of practice. You could do it for a lifetime and never master it. Kind of like golf, one day great and the next day not so much, but what is the difference between the two days? –cw

The REFCO gang: sitting, L-R: Esmer Moreno and Connor Friedrichs;standing, L-R: Tony Ramos, Armando Parada, Vicki Delgado, Dickie Friedrichs,

Rick Perales, Jose Hinojosa and Al Leal


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“GATE OPERATORS FORRESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL

FARM and RANCH”

Website construction anddesignLee Ann Collins, CPAGorman Trubitt, PLLCDallas, TX

We all know the various, obvious forms of construc-tion, but there is one that is often over looked that

plays an important role in today’s business. Website construction and design is crucial when determining the authenticity of a company. Today, the majority of

people will look up a company before deciding to do business with them. It is impor-tant to know who you work with, before working with them. Constructing a website that accurately reflects a business’ experience, mission, clients, employees and level of work it provides can be the making or breaking point in gaining new clients.

Being that website creation and renova-tion is now a common, constant thing a company needs to maintain, it is consid-ered a business investment that can be tax deductible. The IRS has established rules in the past that are considered as pertaining to software costs being ap-plied to web design.

In a recent article conducted by Thom-son Reuters/Tax & Accounting, it was stated that the “sophisticated program-ming languages will qualify as software,” meaning that it will fall under “software guidelines” and considered deductible under “safe harbor” rules. This is only one of the several ways that web design and upkeep can be deducted or amor-tized (ratably deducted), but it is impor-tant to know which route the company is eligible for.

If the website has been purchased by the company or an individual the design costs can be amortized over a three year period. Another option to consider if the website was purchased is when the soft-ware was put into service, if it was before 2013 it becomes section 197 property, therefore, eligible for Code Sec. 179.

For companies who have designed the website “in-house” there is the option of

claiming the costs as either “currently deducting,” subtracting the costs in the same year they are paid, or using the three year rule.

However, if the web design costs are not considered as software, the costs can be deducted under “useful life.” The com-pany may deduct these “non-software portions” over the expected time the de-sign will be used.

Thomson Reuter/Tax & Accounting’s ar-ticle continues to explain the variances for the portions of the website that are advertisements, the company can use the currently deductible claim over a “multi-tax period, depending on its use-ful life.”

For more information on how to correct-ly deduct your company’s website costs, please visit http://cpa-services.com/Special%20Articles/Deducting%20Busi-ness%20Website%20Costs.pdf or get professional help and advice by visiting www.lgt-cpa.com.

For more information about this article or any other items, please contact Lee Ann Collins, Partner at Lane Gorman Trubitt PLLC at (214) 461-1466.

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Retirement readinessJoe Carroll Rust, Jr., Risk Advisor, Wealth ManagementInsurance and Bonds Agency of Texas P.L.L.C.San Antonio, TX

The last time I wrote an article on 401(K)’s in July of 2009 we discussed Retirement Plans and being a

Fiduciary.

Since then, 408(b) (2) and 404(a) (5) were added to the list of responsibilities to assure your plan has “reasonable ex-penses and performance” in the push for transparency. The deadlines for distributing some of the disclosures were pushed back multiple times and we had to jump through hoops getting ready for them. This article isn’t about regulations, fee disclosures, or fiduciary issues because sometimes that’s not the most important thing to a plan and its participants. In the Summer of 2010, I was at Port Aransas trying to enjoy a family vacation. We had just been through the Flash Crash that May when the Dow dropped 1000 points, and the market reacted again when the US Treasury was down-graded in August by S&P. I fielded over 20 calls in 2 days. Not one 401(k) participant could care less about paying .15 % more or less in fees, performance versus their peer group, or how their plan was benchmarked to oth-er plans. They wanted to know if their re-tirement nest egg was going to be OK, and if they were invested properly. A ma-jority of them were over 55. As a firm we have done hundreds of enrollment and education meetings. Pri-or to these events, we sent a risk toler-ance and diversification questionnaire out to plan sponsors, knowing people were nervous. Realistically, it’s all but im-possible to get participants to spend as much time planning for retirement, or even filling out this simple 5 minute risk tolerance and diversification question-naire, as they would for a summer vaca-tion. The fact is, more of an emphasis should be placed on participant retire-ment readiness and education by plan sponsors. According to Mutual Fund Company Fidelity, the average retiree will spend more than $220,000 on health care costs alone. A recent social security letter dated May 13, 2013 stated without changes, in 2033, unless the system changes the Social Security Trust Fund will be able to pay only 77 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits. Without a plan to address this, can anyone really ex-pect someone to answer the question, “Is my nest Egg going to be OK?” In life it’s

hard to build anything without a plan and your retirement isn’t any different. The good news is that many 401(k) providers now spent capital on built-in Retirement Planning Software that can be customized and saved through their participant site. The plan sponsor with some of these companies can see what percent of employees have completed a plan using the software and even mea-sure what percent of the employees are, in fact, ready for retirement. Many 401(K) providers are starting to have this plan-ning program on their landing page. Another important point of empha-sis is Education. Some of your employees may be tech savvy and some may not. That shouldn’t stop you from developing an education plan for your participants. Providers now have campaigns that can be built that include utilizing education workshops, Payroll Stuffers, e-mail cam-paigns, and workbooks. Some compa-nies have even developed an Education Policy Statement to aid administrators in implementing these plans based on a needs assessment. A combination of utilizing new re-tirement readiness tools and education available through providers and advisors can help your employees be active in their plan and appreciate what they have. The most successful and profitable com-panies we deal with realize that there can be a significant return on their invest-ment in Human Capital. Their retirement plan should be a large part of this. In summary, if you are looking at plan options, focus on the tools that help your employees participate and reach their goals. If they don’t participate or have a goal and plan to meet that goal, then fees and performance really don’t matter. A fund earning 8% or 9% doesn’t help an employee contributing nothing or not enough.

Joe Carroll Rust, Jr. covers the San Antonio and DFW offices for Insurance and Bonds Agency of Texas. He can be reached at:210-697-2251 or emailed at: [email protected]


Through the years

The Associated Builders and Contrac-tors – Texas Coastal Bend Chapter (ABC) held its 26th annual Golf Clas-

sic at River Hills Country Club May 12. With over $1,300 awarded in cash prizes, and over 30 teams that participated, the event was a huge success that exceeded expectations. Thanks to the generosity of the participants, ABC-TCB was able to raise a significant amount of scholarship money for the students at Craft Training Center of the Coastal Bend. The staff at ABC-TCB would also like to extend a spe-cial “thank you” to this year’s sponsors, donors, committee members and volun-

“Fore” the students

teers. It’s because of them that ABC-TCB continues to have successful events! The chapter’s next event is the annual fishing tournament July 17-18. –cw

Winners:1st Place - United Rentals: Charles Zur-ovec, Danny Atkinson, Dustin Wilson, Jeff Vermillion2nd Place - Omni Industrial Tires: Jason Martin, Paul Spalla3rd Place - Equipment Depot: Dan Tuller, Fidencio Montez, Larry Bates, Tom Cross-land

Prosperity Bank team

Protect yourself withCertificates of InsuranceJason Wagner, PartnerWagner Saenz Dority, L.L.P.Houston TX

Certificates of Insurance are critical to the construc-tion industry, whether you are a general contractor,

an independent contractor, a subcontractor, a land-owner, or an equipment lessor. Brokers and agents is-

sue Certificates so that you can win the bid, begin your work, or deliver equipment. However, numerous pitfalls exist when you receive Certificates without ensuring you’ve actually been named as an additional insured or the referenced policy actually covers you.

As a holder of a Certificate, you should never rely on a Certificate to define or confirm insurance coverage. While some courts consider Certificates “worthless documents,” they are simply snapshots of the basics of insurance coverage and, on their face, do not grant any rights to the holder. Even the Texas Supreme Court made it clear to holders that, if they accept the Certificate at face value with-out investigating coverage exclusions and limitations, they do so at their own risk. Under state law, Certificates can no longer quote contract terms, attach an insurance policy endorsement, or con-tain any language that could be consid-ered as amending the policy itself. Rath-er, Certificates can only use language ac-tually included in the insurance policy. This requirement will lessen -- but not eliminate -- the possibility of agents and brokers misrepresenting the extent of in-surance coverage. When that does hap-pen, however, the defrauding actors will not escape liability to the holder, even if their fraud or misrepresentation directly contradicts the coverage.

Relatedly, if you want to be named as an additional insured, a general statement on the Certificate indicating you have been named as one is insufficient if the policy doesn’t specifically identify you as an additional insured. To protect you from phantom coverage, brokers and agents are prohibited from checking the “Additional Insured” box unless the hold-er is specifically endorsed as an addition-al insured on the insurance policy itself.

Insurance companies must only send out cancellation notices in accordance with the terms of the policy, which rarely re-quire notice to be sent to additional in-sureds or Certificate holders. Since insur-ance policies can be cancelled at any time for non-payment of premiums, a sudden and un-informed cancellation can create major problems for the holder.

What are your options to reduce your risk? These five steps are a good start:

• You should make sure your correct name is placed in the “Certificate Holder” section and the correct name of the par-ty who purchased the insurance is identi-fied in the “Insured” box and correlates to the named insured.• Rather than being satisfied with issu-ance of a Certificate, you should require a copy of the full insurance policy, includ-ing endorsements, to verify you are spe-cifically named as an additional insured. If you cannot get the full policy, you should secure at least the additional in-sured endorsement from the policy.• You must keep in mind that “named insured” is not the same as “additional in-sured” and that endorsements that may appear to add coverage can be rendered meaningless by exclusions in the main policy. If you are unfamiliar with insur-ance policies, you should have someone who fully understands insurance cover-age (either your risk management de-partment or your attorney) review the entire policy for common exclusions such as “completed operations,” “your work,” and “contractual liability.”• You should be aware of the cancella-tion provisions in the policy. Your risk management department or your attor-ney should insist on having the addition-al insured endorsement state that the additional insured gets the same rights as the named insured, in the event of a cancellation. Alternatively, you should have the party from whom you’re seek-ing the Certificate contractually agree to provide notice of cancellation to you.• You should retain full policies and endorsements for two years past the pol-icy period’s ending date.

Being an active participant in the Certifi-cate process, rather than passively ac-cepting them, will ensure that you are protected to the fullest extent possible.

Jason Wagner, a partner at Wagner Saenz Dority, L.L.P., in Houston, provides litiga-tion and consulting services to individuals and businesses in the construction industry throughout Texas. He can be reached at (713) 554-8450 or at [email protected]. The business has been around in the

same town since the 1940s, it has just undergone a few slight name

changes through the years. Now known as Swanson Construction Systems and owned solely by Casey Swanson, the business was started by his grandfather, Alf Swanson, as Swanson and Kruss, a lath and plastering company in Alamo, TX. In 1982, brothers Leland and Kevin Swanson bought the company and changed the name to Swanson Plastering Co. And a little more than a year ago, Casey Swanson changed the name once more and took over the business. Through all the names changes, however, the family business has stayed in the same line of work – construction. Alamo is a small town of about 18,000 souls located 10 miles from McAllen. It’s where Swanson grew up. He graduated from McAllen High School and received a business degree from the University of Texas – Pan

American. But he kind of knew he was going to be in the family business. “I’ve worked here since I was a kid,” he says. “After college, I started learning how to estimate and be a project manager. “I guess I was dumb enough to stick around.” There are several employees who have been with the company for a long time, including at least one who has 25-plus years. Several others have 10 years or more. Recent projects include the new Cinemark Theater in McAllen – a $160,000 job, as well as Walgreens and the Harlingen Sam’s Club. Swanson is married to Jackie and they have three daughters. Two of those daughters and Casey enjoy participating in triathlons, when he is not hard at work. It’s a family business that has undergone some slight changes, but continues to serve the community. “We’ll keep trying to slug it out,” Swanson says. –cw

The Swanson family, L-R: Suzannah, Casey, Scarlett, Jackie and Shelby Swanson


BAFFIN BAY –– LAGUNA MADRE –– LAND CUTSPECKLED TROUT –– REDFISH –– FLOUNDER

FISHING AND HUNTING TRIPS

(361) 949-7359www.baffinbaycharters.com

[email protected]

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

STEVE SCHULTZ OUTDOORS, LLCEurope’s riverwalkSubmitted to Construction News

Summertime action heating up

by Capt. Steve Schultz

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

Power Pole Shallow Water Anchor, Aggregate Haulers, Interstate Batteries,Pure Fishing, Mirr-O-Lure and Columbia Sportswear.

One of the most anticipated holidays of the summer is upon us, and no doubt the

bays and beaches will be packed with families in search of making memo-ries of a lifetime. The 4th of July is probably my favorite holiday of the year, marking our Independence. It is also one of the hottest times to be on the water. This year things just might be better than the previous years. Fishing has really picked up since my last column and reports from fellow guides and customers who have been on the water say conditions have improved drastically in the last several weeks. Reports of cleaner water conditions down south and lighter winds have made catching fish somewhat more consistent.

One thing you must remember about

this time of the year is that it’s going to be crowded on the water so you best get an early start. With water temperatures starting out in the up-per seventies and reaching the mid to upper eighties by mid afternoon, one must adjust to these changing condi-tions. I’d concentrate on fishing quiet shallow areas at first light and move deeper as the day progresses. Many areas along the King Ranch shoreline can be reached very early in the morning by prepared anglers who have planned their trip the night be-fore. Most anglers wait till the morn-ing of their fishing trips to gas and oil the boat, prepare snacks and lunch, and rig their favorite rod and reel. This is wasting the most valuable fish-ing time of the day. By the time you get the boat launched and to your fa-vorite fishing hole, most likely some-

one has fished that area or has run through it. One must have some sort of plan before you even leave the dock. Always have a secondary loca-tion planned out in case someone has beat you to your first spot. Early morning areas to start out include the King Ranch Shoreline from the CPL Power Plant to Compuerta Pass head-ing into Baffin Bay. If you get a real early start and want to fish further south, try fishing the South Shore of Baffin Bay from Los Corrallos to White Bluff. This area offers a vast amount of shoreline, which can be fished shal-low over sand and grass, or deeper later in the day over rock structures. It is a great shoreline to wade fish if the winds get up later in the day. Another area, which is holding fish lately, is the spoil islands south of Bird Island. This stretch of small chains of submerged

and exposed islands are excellent habitat for both specks and reds. Continuous miles of grass beds and scattered sand pockets help keep this water filtered and clear even when the winds reach peak gusts.

The update on my injury remains the same as last month. I’m still doing therapy three days a week and pool therapy four days a week. By my next column I should have an update from my doctor and a better idea on when I will be back on the water. Until then, I will still be booking trips thru other guides so don’t hesitate to call with all your fishing needs. I can be reached at 361-949-7359 or 361-813-3716, or e-mail me at [email protected]. Good luck and Good Fishing.

SHARE YOUR PHOTOS . . .fishing, hunting, skiing,

biking, racing, orany outdoor activity or sport.There is no charge to you.

Email to:[email protected]

or call 210-308-5800(home office)Ask for Cyndi)

Venice’s Grand Canal is lined with palaces. The single-story white building on the right is the former mansion of Peggy Guggenheim. Today, the building is a museum that

houses her private art collection of masterpieces. Photo taken by Mary Hazlett, Construction News editor, on her vacation to Italy.


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

Testengeer’s Pavement Angels ran in the Beach to Bay Marathon, a 26.2-mile relay on May 17. This marathon is scheduled every year on Armed Forces

Day to proudly honor the men and women serving in the United States mili-tary. The Testengeer Pavement Angels finished with a time of 4 hours,15 minutes - 50th place out of 315 teams in the women’s open division

and 649th place out of 2,500 total teams.

Running to honorSubmitted to Construction News

The last few weeks I do believe it has remembered how to rain! Over and over during the first part of the year

the forecasts for the Colorado River wa-tershed would indicate the possibility of showers, but those rains seemed to dry up and blow away before they could ar-rive. Finally we were blessed with sneaky rain showers that turned out to be much more productive than the weatherman dreamed and we are seeing Lake Bu-chanan begin to rise! We have come up a little over 3.5 feet! That may not sound like a lot considering we still have over 29 feet go to get full again, but this time of year it is a miracle to see the water level rise instead of fall.

The rain came at just the right time too. I know we have several trees on our place that have died and a bunch more that seem to just be barely hanging on. Already they have better color and are putting on new growth. The deer will be able to manage better too. Now there is tall, soft green grass for the does to lay their fawns down in and the trek to find food and water for them won’t be so long and dangerous. The farmers and ranch-ers are breathing a sigh of relief too. Whether it continues to become a more normal rainfall pattern or goes back to dry again, at least this has been some moisture in the plus column and that buys time for us to get through the drought.

It sure does get me to looking for-ward to the lake coming on up. With all the trees and brush that have grown up in the lake bed since the lake dried up we will get to see Lake Buchanan and any other lake that has been dry become fish-eries like we haven’t seen in years. There will be a period of time when vegetation will have to decay under water and while that can be a smelly process, it puts a lot of nutrients in the lake. Algae will bloom, shad will spawn and everything else that feeds on them will have plenty to eat while they spawn their young. There will be an abundance of new structure in the lake for fry and fingerlings to hide and grow in and quicker than you imagine we will have more fish than you can shake a rod at!

Meanwhile, while the lake is still low we are seeing the best fishing we have had in years. The stripers and hybrids that are stocked yearly because they won’t reproduce naturally here are get-ting up to good keeper size and they don’t have near as far to run before we can catch up with them. The same holds true for the rest of the fish too. I can’t re-member a crappie fishing season as good as we have had this year and I bet the humpback bluecats will be a lot of fun this summer too.

If you haven’t made the trip yet to get in on some great fishing in an unusu-al setting, you might want to make a point of getting here. I bet you wouldn’t want to miss it!

Is that rain?

Raining at Lake Buchanan

Half or Full Day Fishing Trips

All Bait, Tackle & EquipmentFurnished

Your catch Filleted andBagged for You

Furnish your TPWD FishingLicense & Refreshments,

and WE DO THE REST!

Ken Milam Guide Service(325) 379-2051

www.striperfever.com


Want people to know you’re in the neighborhood? Say it with a heaping helping of crawfish!

Morrison Supply Company hosted a crawfish boil for the grand opening of its new Dallas location at 3200 Irving Blvd. (the company also recently opened an El Paso location). To add to the fun, the Jun. 19 event, called the Schmooze and Min-gle” was hosted in collaboration with the American Subcontractors Association. “ASA wanted to start having social gatherings at members’ respective busi-nesses,” Randy Hazzard of Morrison Supply, says. “We felt like this would be a great opportunity for everyone to see our new Dallas PVF location.” The 150 attendees were treated to generous piles of crawfish and – for those who couldn’t handle the hotness (one guest was seen liberally applying Chap-stick after his meal) – some milder-flavored burgers and barbecue. Participating ven-dors included Milwaukee Valve, Viega,

Something to “craw” about!Aquatherm, Uponor and Milwaukee Tool. For ASA, the event was mutually beneficial. “Another purpose of the ‘Schmooze & Mingle’ was to give the industry a chance to network with the opportunity to spotlight one of our member compa-nies,” ASA Executive Director Beverly Reynal says. “Morrison graciously of-fered to host the first one, providing the venue, food and drinks. We had a tre-mendous response from the members, and already have two members commit-ted for next year.” Full of good food and wearing strings of plastic party beads featuring tiny craw-fish, guests could hardly bring them-selves to leave the fun. “We are looking forward to making this an annual event,” Hazzard says. Wholesale distributor Morrison Supply Company specializes in plumbing, HVAC, pipe, valves, fittings, utilities, oil and gas supplies, appliances and lighting. –mjm

L-R: Glen Miller, Westway Salesand Randy Hazzard, Morrison Supply

L-R: Midco Sling & Cable’sDre Gantt and Joey Dry

L-R: Steve Hargrove, Hargrove Electric and Gene Johnston, Johnston Products

L-R: Drew Roberts, Morrison Supplyand Les Davis, DSI

L-R: Candace Jones, Gerdau, Jeff Yarbough, Williams Scottsman and Doug Olson,

EyeSite Surveillance

L-R: Jeremy Harr and Jeff Cates, Alecom Metal Works

L-R: Larry Luskey and Glenn Sims, Trinity Sling

L-R: Cody McGhee, Morrison Supply; Chris Procopio, McCarthy; and Matt Duckworth, Randy Fritts and Randy Hazzard of Morrison Supply

L-R: Paula Rhoden, Acton Mobile; Lori Chung, Johnston Products; Doug Cook, City Wide Mechanical; Theresa Ragan, McGraw Hill; and David Meyer, Trade Management

L-R: Samantha Cotton and Danota Meeks,C-Con Services


San Antonio Spurs2014 NBA Champions

This year our Spurs won their fifth NBA Championship. All of us who follow the team were so proud of

their accomplishment. The many fans that have supported them this and every year before shared in the glory to the fullest.

We filled up AT&T Center to cheer them to victory. Hundreds of thousands went

to Commerce Street to hoot and holler that winning night. We lined the River Walk to see them float by and we set a record for the number of people to ever be in the Alamodome that final event.

The San Antonio Spurs are always a class act. It starts at the top with the ownership and runs throughout the organization. We are always proud of the character

they display and their community involvement.

Coach Popovich was named the 2013-2014 NBA Coach of the Year, and R.C. Buford, General Manager, was named NBA Executive of the Year.

Our hats are off to Peter Holt and the ownership group, to Pop and the rest of

his great coaching staff and crew that makes the organization run smoothly and to all the Spurs players.

Only in South Texas. Next year, number 6.

Buddy DoebblerPublisher

Photo by Gary Miller


Electrical Industry

NEXT MONTHAugust 2014 Support Your Industry’s Feature Issue

Call for Ad SpaceReservations

• San Antonio• Austin • Houston• Dallas/Fort Worth• South Texas

(210) 308-5800

Jan: Construction ForecastFeb: Construction SafetyMar: Construction Education

Apr: Women in ConstructionMay: Concrete IndustryJun: HVAC & Plumbing

July: Electrical IndustryAug: Service ProvidersSep: Green Building Trends

Oct: Specialty ContractorsNov: Architecture & EngineeringDec: Construction Equipment

2014Schedule

Service Providers

Workforce remains a challenge

Martin Adrian, Vice PresidentAdrian EnterprisesCorpus Christi, TX

Although the economy has built up some steam since the 2008-09 recession, workforce development

continues to be a big issue across all facets of the construction industry.

Martin Adrian says getting and educating good employees remains a challenging aspect of the electrical industry.

What is the biggest challenge facing the electrical industry? “The kids we are getting out of high school – we are putting them into the apprenticeship program … we put 30 kids in the program and four years later, we only have six to eight graduating. “That has a lot to do with the caliber of people trying to enter the trade. One of the things I’ve been saying for years is the schools are trying to teach everybody to do a desk job and not everybody is going to want to sit at a desk with a computer in front of them.

“In Corpus Christi in particular, only two CCISD schools have shop. Some of the other districts within the city have shop. It seems like they left shop at the schools that were heavily Hispanic and minority. All skin colors will work in this type of job. “I used to go speak at one of the high schools that has shop once or twice a year. I would tell them, not everybody is going to go to college – this is a great trade to get into and have a decent living while getting paid to learn. “We are still not getting that higher caliber smart student, in general. You get one every once in awhile that ahs the drive and he stands out. He’s going to be a foreman in four years and the rest will be helpers.

What advances have you seen in the industry? “Everything I have seen over the last decade has been made so we can save on labor. A lot of products out there are pre-fabbed for you and they are made so you are spending the least amount of time on the job as possible or doing it with less employees. “Tools have crept in price. Electricians are playing the stock market every day even if they don’t know with the copper market all over the board. It’s great if you bid the job at $3.80 for copper and then buy it for $3, but it can also go the other way. “Copper theft is a big problem on every job site. When the less skilled trades start showing up, things start disappearing. That’s not to say the higher paid trades don’t have it too. “I had a $600 roll of wire stolen form

my shop a year ago and spent $5,000 on a security system. I haven’t had any stolen since. “One bad apple spreads the cancer around for everybody. “We now buy wire by the barrel – 3,000sf or four or five different colors and the barrel weighs 750 pounds. That’s a lot harder for somebody to steal than a 30-40lb reel of wire.

What makes this a good job? “When you walk away from a project, you feel that sense of pride that your employees did a quality job and you are giving your customer a great product. I try to provide incentives to my upper management so they can save me labor and treat the wire like it is theirs. At the end, whatever we have in savings in labor and material, I give them a bonus.” –cw

Times are getting better for electrical contractors

John M. Grau, CEONational Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)Bethesda, MD

The pragmatic optimism that gets elec-trical contractors through good times

and bad has given way to even more pos-itive perceptions. The times are good and getting better. The need to rebuild America’s power infrastructure and make it smarter, cou-pled with growing demands for all types of construction services, places us at the precipice of a major boom. In fact, the biggest concern in our industry right now is attaining enough qualified electri-cians to do the work ahead. But I don’t have any worries about electrical contractors’ ability to satisfy in-creasingly demanding customers. In re-cent years, ECs have become not only more diversified, adding more and more high-tech services to the mix they offer, but also more sophisticated as true ener-gy contractors. The lean times handed us a blessing in disguise by inspiring a new appreciation of the “bid less, sell more” concept. It is gaining acceptance as con-tractors reap the benefits of building re-lationships with existing customers, ac-tively pursuing new customers, and pro-moting long-term benefits rather than

low contract price in either case. This approach to business develop-ment is reflected in the wide diversity of work electrical contractors are doing cur-rently. The majority — 92 percent — still perform electrical/power distribution work that provides a big chunk of their revenue. But the chunk has been eroding since 2004, when it accounted for 69 per-cent of annual sales. Recent research commissioned by NECA found that, on average, electrical contractors derive only about 44 percent of their revenue from traditional power and lighting ser-vices. The rest comes from work involv-ing power quality, communications and systems connectivity, and all types of en-ergy solutions. Expanded participation in energy-efficiency projects and electric vehicle charging stations is particularly dramatic and can be linked to the contractor’s in-creasing sophistication. About 20 per-cent of EC firms have a separate person or department responsible for business de-velopment. About 12 percent offer per-formance contracting services by provid-ing customers with flexible financing so-

lutions and performance guarantees, just like an energy service company. NECA is providing its members with special assis-tance in these areas, and the percentages are growing. Those sophisticated contractors also have a healthy appreciation for learning. In particular, they are expressing more in-terest in acquiring training for their work-ers in such “hot-button” areas as automa-tion controls, commercial automation systems, and green and sustainable elec-trical construction as a prerequisite to growing their services into new markets. Fortunately, such training is offered at NECA-IBEW facilities all across the nation, often with leading electrical manufactur-ers as training partners. Contractors are also interested in learning more about topics addressed through NECA’s educa-tional services, including estimating, fi-nancial management, developing new business opportunities and increasing productivity. However, the most popular topic among those who plan to take training in the next 12 months is still the National Electrical Code. Electrical contractors are also interested in learning about the new edition of NFPA 70E, Standard for Electri-cal Safety in the Workplace — and teach-ing their customers! Successful ECs cre-ate a “culture of safety” within their com-

panies that defines responsibilities for all project stakeholders. It’s all about im-proving information exchange and build-ing better relationships between con-tractors and customers, including mutu-ally beneficial relationships that extend beyond the duration of the project. In fact, today’s electrical contractors are distinguished for taking on new roles, working more closely with customers, and assuming more responsibilities for project delivery. Electrical contractors can be building information modeling (BIM) experts/modelers, energy man-agement solutions (EMS) providers, mas-ter systems integrators (MSI), building energy modeling experts, commission-ing agents, energy solutions providers or auditors, energy service companies, all of the above, or something else altogether. The common core is membership in an industry where increasing diversification, business sophistication, and — yes, opti-mism — matches their own.

John M. Grau is the Chief Executive Officer for the National Electrical Contractors As-sociation (NECA). Mr. Grau became NECA’s chief staff officer in April 1986. Previously, he was Executive Vice President of the Mil-waukee Chapter, NECA, and served as a field representative associate with the NECA Western Region.


MUSTANG COLT SERVICESServing Customers HonestlyElectrical Contracting • Commercial/Industrial

Special Projects

San Antonio, TX 210 494 7100Weslaco, TX 956 969 5703

At the National Associa-tion of Women in Con-struction (NAWIC) –

Corpus Christi Chapter May meeting, winning high school students who com-peted in this year’s CAD De-sign Drafting Competition were announced. This year’s students were tasked with designing a home for an older couple ready to downsize from a 10,000-sf home to a 3,000-sf home. With 16 grandchil-dren, the couple had some specific requirements for their retirement home. –cwWinners:1st: Marco Bustamante2nd: Omar Lagunes3rd: Nicholas Smith

Future of design

Marco Bustamante and Lisa Huerta

L-R: Alfonzo Gonzales Bruni, CAD instructor; 2nd place winner Omar Lagunes;1st place winner Marco Bustamante; and Lisa Huerta, CBT, CAD chair.

Not pictured, 3rd place winner Nicholas Smith

NAWIC Corpus Christi #4 CAD Winners Banquet, front row, L-R: Vickie Thompson,Darlene Lee Omana, Teresa Smith and Virginia Llanas; back row, L-R: Vanessa Garcia,

Michelle Patton, Lisa Huerta, Alfonzo Gonzales; 2nd place winner Omar Lagunes, 1st place and Region 7 winner Marco Bustamante, Cathy Beaudin, newest member Lisa Newman

and her daughter Jessalyn, and Fernando Omana

NAWIC members, judges and students go over the winning plans.

Living within the tradelabor shortage

Gregg Hayes, Operations ManagerDausin Electric CompanySan Antonio, TX

When the economic downturn led to fewer people entering the construction workplace, Gregg Hayes

realized what that would mean a few years down the line. Being in the industry for a long time, he has seen this happen before.

“I’ve seen this happen whenever we have an interruption in work flow,” says Hayes, operations manager for Dausin Electric. “We don’t have jobs to offer young men, and those young men that are new in the trade, when they can’t get a job, they change trades. So, you don’t have a good blend of the workforce.” In a labor-intensive industry where work is picking up again and companies such as Dausin are in hiring mode, this can mean that costs are going to rise. With no jobs for younger workers, there are fewer apprentices and young helpers. Hayes observes that he’s seeing more journeymen come through the door, which is a higher-dollar employee, be-cause of their experience and training. He points out that because journey-men invest so much time in their career, they tend to stay with their profession, weathering downturns such as the recent recession. Meanwhile, many apprentices who are younger with less time invested in their training find it easier to change ca-reers to weather a harsh economic climate. “There are more [journeymen] than there are three- or four-year helpers, be-cause of supply and demand as far as market goes,” explains Hayes. “So now what happens is if I have, say, $5 an hour people working and no apprentices, say at $2, $3 an hour? I have a high compos-ite, which drives the cost of labor up. “I’ll use examples, and these dollar amounts aren’t necessarily today’s wag-es, but just for comparison: if an eight-year journeyman makes $5 an hour, and I hire another journeyman at $3 an hour, the composite rate in that case would be to add those two up and divide by two, a composite of those two people’s wages. Now, magnify that over 50 employees. If all my people are in that range because they’re all journeyman, then the compos-ite rate is high. “Now, if I can hire three-year appren-tices for $2 or $3 an hour, and I hire a jour-neyman and four [apprentices], once you do the math on that, our composite rate comes down, meaning that our average wage would be $2.50 an hour, or what-ever it would be. Now, when we bid on work, we have to see what our costs are, labor being the biggest cost. So, if all I have are journeymen working, my com-posite’s high, my cost is higher.” Asked what could be done about

Electrical Industry

this problem, Hayes states that the issue can’t be resolved, because construction companies and people like himself work-ing in the industry have to live within the shortage of young help and newly in-creased composites. “The only way I can control my com-posite is trying to get a better balance of journeymen versus helpers,” he says. “When your wages are forced up because of supply and demand, you don’t get your composite down. So, the margins have to lift. The job costs themselves will lift.” Companies have to balance their job costs as well as their wages, since Hayes notes, “They’ll go to work for $5 an hour across the street if you’re only paying $3 on this side.” While commenting that costs are also driven upwards since everyone hires from the same work pool, which means enticing workers through benefits pack-ages and higher wages, he adds, “We don’t want to get in a bidding war for the help. If I’m going to hire from my com-petitor, they’re going to hire away from my work pool.” As a company such as Dausin accu-mulates an abundance of work, the ones who do the hiring, such as Hayes, are finding that there isn’t an abundance of help. Though Hayes approximates that their work volume in dollars has in-creased this year over last, he emphasizes that it is costing more to perform that work, due in part to the higher cost of la-bor, which is due to lack of qualified ap-prentices and helpers. Hayes estimates the current work-force at Dausin is comprised of half jour-neymen and half helpers. If he had to put an ideal number on it, he says, in his opinion, it would be a 4 to 1 ratio for helpers to a journeyman. “Right now, part of that is also cost driven,” he says. “Ideally, in a perfect world, they would all be eight-year jour-neyman electricians. That way, you could field the most experienced group of per-sonnel out there. I’m just afraid that we wouldn’t get much work, because we would not be competitive. “So, we fight quality versus competi-tive. If the dollar bill is what drives us – and it does – we have to control our costs as much as produce quality work.” –mp


Round-UpSubmissions

This is a monthly section for brief company announcements of new or recently promoted personnel, free of

charge, as space allows. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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

next month’s issue(published 1st of each month).

Email info to appropriate city issue, with “Round-Up” in the subject line:––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––San [email protected]@constructionnews.netDallas/Ft. [email protected]@constructionnews.netSouth [email protected]

Round-UpAssociation CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

ABC- Coastal BendAssociated Builders & Contractors

Jul. 17-18: Annual Fishing Tournament, Marker 37 Marina. Contact Felicia at 361.289.5311 or [email protected] or check the website at abctcb.org.

AGC- South TexasAssociated General Contractors

Jul. 4: Office closedJuly 11: Fishing Tournament, Bluff’s Landing. Call Debbie at 361.289.0996 for more information.

AIA - Corpus ChristiAmerican Institute of Architects

Jul. 25: Code Academy, 8am to 5pm, Del Mar College West Campus, Emerging Technologies Building. Spectrum Light-

In memory

Richard Thayer, 58, of Floresville, passed away Jun. 12. He was born Dec.

15, 1955 in Galveston to Edison and La-Verne Thayer. Thayer was a 16-year em-ployee with Bartlett Cocke. He is survived by his wife, Sharon Lynn (Hohmann) Thayer; father; sons, Colton Roy and Clayton Dean Thayer; daughters, Vicotria (Thayer) Garrett and husband Levi and Cortney Thayer; sisters, Marilyn Basham, Tracy Mangione and hus-band John and Nancy Thayer and numer-ous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother and brother, Jimmy Thayer. Funeral services were Jun. 14. Inter-ment was in Mission Burial Park South Cemetery, San Antonio.

The Trevino Group Inc. has promoted Justin Kelly to chief estimator based out of the Houston cor-porate office. Kelly will be responsible for estimating all cap-ital projects originating out of the corpo-rate office as well as providing estimating support to Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Antonio and Galveston divisions. He has more than 15 years experience as a project esti-mator in the higher education, institu-tional and health care fields.

Alonzo FrancoSenior CADD Manager

Bullseye Surveying

Industry FOLKS

As soon as Alonzo Franco’s Face-book page, South Texas Pens, pops

up, the viewer is grabbed by the stun-ning photo of a hand-crafted pen. Crafted with different finishes and natural materials from all over the world, Franco’s woodworking is his life away from his job as a senior CADD manager at Bullseye Surveying in Cor-pus Christi. “It clears my mind because I am working with wood tools, and that can be dangerous,” Franco says. “It takes my mind completely off my job.” Not that he doesn’t love his job, too. After receiving a degree in drafting and design, his first job was with a sur-veying company. “I fell in love with it,” he says. “It’s fairly fast paced. I’m always working on something different. Typically, jobs don’t last long.” But after staring at a computer screen all day long, he realized he need-ed something to unwind. Born on the island of Galveston, his family moved to Sinton when he was young to be closer to family. His father was a builder, so Franco had a hammer in his hand at an early age. “As I grew older, I got my own tools and began to work on smaller projects,” he said.

But it wasn’t until about five years ago that Franco got serious about his hobby. He not only crafts writing instru-ments, he makes beautiful furniture, such as shelves, coffee and end tables and mantels, as well. And he usually uses mesquite. If you get into regular hard-woods, most people want to stain them to mimic a color,” he explains. “Mesquite has such a naturally beauti-ful color, you are really doing it an in-justice to stain it.” It doesn’t hurt that mesquite grows liberally in Texas. “We are really spoiled here,” Fran-co says. “Some people here consider it a nuisance, but people from outside of this area pay exorbitant prices for it.” You can find Franco’s work on his Facebook page or at one of the shows he exhibits at – usually Saxet trade shows in Robstown. –cw

Juan Borjon, EIT, has joined Terracon as a project manager for Materials Services in the Pharr office. Borjon helps oversee daily operations in several materials and g e o t e c h n i c a l engineering projects. He is a 2009 graduate of The Univ. of Texas at Austin, where he earned a B.S degree in civil engineering. Before coming to Terracon, Borjon served in engineering and project management positions where he gained experience with civil engineering and land development projects for the public and private sectors. He is also a member of the Amer. Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

HOLT CAT has named Edward Craner senior vice president, strategy and marketing. Cra-ner has been with HOLT since 2008, most recently serv-ing as vice presi-dent of strategy and marketing. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Communications from Eastern Washington University and a Master of Business Administration in Strategy and Marketing from Saint Mary’s College of California.

ing. Call Debbie at 361.887.2124 for more information.

ECATEarthmoving Contractors Assn.

Jul.18-19: 56th annual membership meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn, Victo-ria. Friday, skeet and trap shooting; Satur-day, awards banquet. Contact 830-629-1620 for more information.

NAWIC - Corpus ChristiNat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

Jul. 15: Dinner Business Meeting, public welcome, The BBQ Man Restaurant, 5:30pm networking, 6pm meeting, $20. Contact Vickie Thompson 361.299.6278 or 361.438.0593.

Richard "Rick" Albert Labunski, 67, passed away Jun. 18. He was born Jun. 16, 1947 in

Rockford, IL He graduated from Montana State University, where he received a Bachelor of Archi-tecture Degree. Rick was the owner of Labunski Associates Architects for over 35 years. He start-ed his architecture practice in Harlingen and on South Padre Island in the early 1970s and quickly gained notoriety for his designs of dozens of island condominium projects. Throughout his career he was awarded numerous public school, retail, in-dustrial, medical, and hospitality projects throughout the Valley. His work in-cluded thousands of buildings. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). He is survived by wife, Dee, of Harlingen and children, Andrea Nelson, Car-rie Shimek, Cameron Labunski, Robby and Matt Lovell; nine grandchildren; fa-ther, Albert; and brothers, Tim, Pat and Gerry. He was preceded in death by his mother, Lillian. Services were Jun. 23. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Tip of Tex K-9 Rescue, 1514 S. 77 Sunshine Strip #24, Harlingen, TX 78550.

In memorium


What is one thing you wish you were good at?

continued from Page 1 — Bridging the old and new

continued from Page 1 — Elevating family business

continued from Page 1 — New hat for old building

elevator code. He resigned after several national elevator inspection companies opened shop in Texas. “It was just a bit awkward inspecting my own elevators,” he said. Although Sidney Hale passed away in 1999, he and wife Freda’s community service, which included Civil Air Patrol,

Kiwanis, churches and the Texas State Tuberculosis Hospital, is continued today, with the Frank Hale family. Additionally, the family business has been like a family for key employees – some have been there more than 20 years. –cw

Not “fore” the superstitious

Friday the 13th did not prove to be unlucky for three of the ten teams that came out to enjoy the 7th an-

nual American Institute of Architects – Corpus Christi Chapter (AIA) “Fore the Birdies” Golf Tournament on June 13. The tournament was at the Lozano Golf Course and raised money to support local college students as they continue their architectural education with the hope that they will return to the area to live and work. –cw

Photo credit: Pilar Montez

Winners1st: M&D Flooring 2nd: Largin Construction 3rd: TBC Commercial Construction Longest drive men: Jimmy ArcherLongest drive women: Jerry Jo MarginClosest to hole: Gary Hargrove

1st place team: M&D Flooring, Mike Dennis, Danny Duff

Being a people person. But if I had an awesome super power I would want the power to influence people to do any-thing.

Tracy Nitsche Ruether

Learning new software programs on my own and technology in general.

Jackie Foster

Prescience.G.A. Lewis

Learning technology.Jo Anne Tuck

Teleportation.Debbie Wertheim

Singing.Debbie Aucoin Schaeffer Moore

Singing. But also, right now, I want to teleport off the planet into a new time zone.

Cary Fischer

Following through on my great ideas I have at 2 a.m.

Cyndi Wright

Koening agreed with that and added that giving the old building a facelift was challenging, as well. “Demolition was probably the big-gest aspect of the job,” Koening says. After the building was gutted, with only two restrooms remaining, Koening Contractors started rebuilding the interi-or of the historic building from the ground up. Being a small, family company, Oliver took on most of the duties of project manager. A specialized design team, Pharmacy Design Group, located in McKinney, TX, were integral in designing custom-made cabinets for the $165,000 project.

According to owner Bruce Rogers, all of his pharmacies are different. “They all have their own footprint,” he says. The bones of the 1,600-sf structure were left intact, with a new coat of paint on the exterior and a new blue roof. On the interior, Koening Contractors installed a new floor, new ceiling, new lighting and electrical to finish the project, which took about three months, with an additional three months before move in for state li-censing of the new pharmacy. “I’ve known Bruce for 20-30 years,” Koening says. “The job went very well.” Koening Contractors performs mostly residential and light commercial jobs.–cw

Inside the newest Rogers Pharmacy on Navarro Street

the bridge named to the ASCE list began. In 2004, the suspension bridge was designated as a “Sitio Artistico Nacional” by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes of Mexico. In March of this year, the 86th anniversary celebration was held on the U.S. side of the bridge and attended by representatives of the City of Roma, Starr County and Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas. Perez remains hopeful that the project will come to fruition, since it has the support of the Texas ASCE, the Rio

Grande ASCE branch and TxDOT. “We are still awaiting the support of the Mexico ASCE Section for the nomination,” he said. Meanwhile, Perez remembers with fondness his early days and the connection to the old bridge. “The only thing separating the two countries is this bridge, which is walking distance from both cities,” he said. “In my case, the bridge was probably 8 to 10 blocks away. The bridge was and is very important to the local culture.” –cw

A photo from 1928 shows the suspension bridge at its beginning.

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Tejas Equipment Rentals has been doing business in Texas since 1975 and is now opening a new and used

sales division in San Antonio. Started in McAllen, Tejas soon opened stores in Harlingen, Edinburg and Brownsville. In 2009, Tejas opened the first San Antonio location on Fischer Rd. and in 2011, Tejas opened its 6th store at 6380 Randolph Blvd. “Both locations have proved to be a tremendous success,” said Patrick Welch, recently promoted to equipment sales manager. “We have expanded our fleet of equipment and staff to numbers that were not even projected until 2016.” The new division at the Randolph lo-cation is headed by Welch, a San Antonio native and U.S. Navy veteran. “We would like to be able to offer our customers an option to purchase some slightly-used equipment at a discounted

Tejas expands

price,” Welch explains. Tejas will be offering traditional fi-nancing, lease purchase options, as well as a rent-purchase option. Tejas recently signed an agreement to be a dealer for the “Wacker Neuson” equipment line and will have an Open House at the Randolph Blvd. location on July 17 to promote the new line, com-plete with barbecue, door prizes and demonstrations. Everyone is encouraged to stop by and visit with the staff, enjoy lunch and check out the new location. “We are excited to be a part of a line of equipment with growing popularity in the U.S.,” Welch said. “We will now be able to offer excavators, wheel loaders and skid loaders, along with the well-known Wacker Packers and Plate com-pactors that everyone is familiar with out in the field.” –cw

Patrick Welch at the Randolph Blvd. location.

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Architects, designers, engineers and contractors took their tools to East Beach in Galveston May 31 for the annual sandcastle competition. The Hous-

ton Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) hosted this year’s contest. On the day of the event, the teams stretched along the beach, sculpted their sand piles and worked non-stop for five hours. The judging of the sandcastles was rated on originality of concept, artistic execution of the concept, technical dif-ficulty, carving technique and utilization of the site. –ab

Honorable Mention (6th Place) and Best Architectural Theme: PGAL - A Kool-House WarmingSydney Lenior Public Favorite: HDR-HPCC - Silly Sculp-tors, Sand is for KidsBest Traditional: Gensler - A Very Merry Un-BirthdayMost Lifelike: CDA Architects - Sand-trifugal ForceAnnual AIA College Challenge: Prairie View A&M Univer-sity School of Architecture - WHO MOVED MY BUILDINGBest Team T-Shirt: Curry Boudreaux Architect - Whac-a-Minion

Castles in the sand

Gold Bucket Winner (1st Prize): Matrix Design Inc.Enter the Dragon

Honorable Mention (4th Place), Stars and Stripes and Best Signage: Kirksey

Muppet Rushmore

Silver Shovel Winner (2nd Place): GenslerA Very Merry Un-Birthday

Honorable Mention (5th Place): Cardno Haynes WhaleyThe Original Hunger Game

“That’s Entertainment”: Brown & Gay Engineers Inc.The Swimming Dead

Bronze Shovel Winner (3rd Place): The Dow Chemical Co. Super Sand Bros.

Most Complex: Pfluger Architects – Sandknot

Most Hilarious: University of Houston Recent Graduates Sasq-Watching

Best Costume: English + Associates ArchitectsWe Like Big BundtsThe Dow Chemical Co. team (Bronze Shovel Winner)

The Gensler team (Silver Shovel Winner)

The Matrix Design Inc. team(Golden Bucket Winner)

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