south texas construction news october 2015

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Project delivers for expectant moms

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Armstrong going strong Proof in the roof

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Trick or Treat!

Armstrong Lumber, founded in 1946 in Corpus Christi by Mac Armstrong, has recently under-

gone some progressive changes. Earlier this year, local businessmen Kent Nielsen and Willard Hammonds became the third owners of the compa-ny – and they’ve brought some positive upgrades, according to salesman Gary Hayak, who has been an employee for more than 20 years. “It’s been an improvement,” Hayak says. “In the last two months, we’ve al-most doubled our sales. It’s on the right track.” Manager Rick Hayley was asked to step in and help by Patsy Litchfield, widow of the second owner, Bob Litch-

field, and has been on the job for 18 months. He says capital improvements, increased inventory and a buffing up of sales staff by Nielsen and Hammonds have made a big difference. “Our service is what makes us differ-ent. The previous owner was very en-trenched locally and that’s how he built it up to where it is,” Hayley says. “The cur-rent owners are also local and because of their local knowledge, sales have in-creased by 20 percent. July and August showed the highest sales in years.” Hayley, who interrupted a career change of his own from home builder to professional real estate inspector, has stayed on the job for several reasons.

Rosendo Alaniz and Gary Hayak help Armstrong Lumber offer customers great service.

Baldwin Roofing in Corpus Christi was founded in 1991 by president and owner Ron Taylor and partner

Lupe Garza. Taylor says the company is all about satisfied customers. “We do the job like it is supposed to be done,” says Taylor, who has been in the Corpus Christi area since 1974. “We are strictly word of mouth. We don’t even have to put our name on our trucks. We have a particular clientele of contractors. We have a strange philosophy – we like to get paid!” Taylor says many of the employees are long-term, including office manager Alice Ramon, who has been with the company for 25 years.

“We treat them like human beings,” he says. “They are paid well for what they do.” Employees enjoy a Christmas party, hams and turkeys at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Christmas bonuses. Safety is a paramount concern to Taylor and Garza. “We drug test randomly,” Taylor says. “We like potential employees to have some knowledge of roofing. We believe very strongly in safety. Fall protection is very important.” To make sure, Taylor says the company contracts with a safety company in San Antonio that provides a local representative to lead regular safety meetings.

Alice Ramon, back left, has been with the company 25 years; owner Ron Taylor, back right; and sitting, Julia Gonzalez.

For South Texas moms who are ex-pecting an addition to the family, CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Kleberg

recently delivered a $600,000 upgrade and renovation to its labor and delivery department. Barcom Construction Inc. in Corpus Christi was the general contractor on the project. “This project is unique because Bar-com originally built the Labor and Deliv-ery building,” says Elaine Hoffman, who, along with husband Dave Hoffman, founded Barcom Construction in 1986. “It was Barcom’s first multiple story build-ing. Now, 16 years later, Barcom gets to do the renovations.” The project began on Feb. 16, 2015, finished in June 2015, and was estimated at $205,000 for the general contractor’s part. The renovations covered an array of items.

“We’re very proud and thankful of these new renovations that allow us to better serve our patients and their fami-lies,” said Heidi Cantrell, Women’s Servic-es manager at CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Kleberg. The Labor & Delivery wing received new flooring updated with vinyl wood planks. The hallways and patient rooms were given a fresh coat of paint, along with new cabinets made with plastic lam-inate faces, and new countertops made from solid surface and quartz. The old wooden handrails were removed and up-graded to aluminum handrails with a vi-nyl cover. Patient rooms were upgraded with plumbing fixtures, solid surface countertops, and paint. The nurse’s sta-tion was remodeled with new counter tops, cabinets, flooring, windows, and ceiling tiles.

Staff and patients alike are enjoying the newly-remodeled and upgradedlabor and delivery unit.

South Texas Construction News • Oct 2015

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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Overcoming obstacles and achiev-ing mastery and success are some of the definitions of the word vic-

tory. Now, a long-time Corpus Christi general contracting firm is putting that definition to work by rebranding itself. Started in 2002 in Corpus Christi, KJM Commercial evolved into Victory Building Team in August. “We are rebranding,” says comptrol-ler Marissa Moya. “We want to have a name that more represents our current team and who we are and what we want within the construction industry.” The company, with 30-35 employ-ees, is owned by Christopher Hamilton, president, and Jeremy Baugh, vice presi-dent. Moya says the new name was picked after plenty of discussion. “We put it out there that we were in the process of changing our name and we wanted to get some feedback,” she says. “There was collaboration among quite a few people, including people within the team, clients, vendors, subs and engineers. We had a lot of input from a lot of different companies.” For this company, the name victory has special meaning. “What we want it to represent is that we are a highly-efficient, highly-connect-ed team – within and outside of our com-pany,” Moya said. “We have this little say-ing that we do: #alwayswinning.” Victory Building Team does both commercial and residential work, most of that is commercial. Working throughout

the state, the company does ground-up, remodel and renovation, as well as ten-ant finish out projects. Victory Building Team works on public projects, including educational, federal and municipal, as well as private projects such as a recent-ly-started project for a Harley-Davidson retail store in Laredo. Core values include safety, doing it right the first time, making deadlines, ex-ceeding expectations, being fair and hav-ing fun. Moya says the company culture is the same for employees and customers. “We really strive to have a deep con-nection with our employees and our cus-tomers,” she says. “Dream and we can help guide you. It’s a very two-sided rela-tionship and we keep the lines of com-munication open.” She says the company understands the nurturing relationship it has with its employees. “We are very supportive of our em-ployees,” she says. “They give a lot.” –cw

The Victory Building Team is building deep connections within and without.

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Alfonso A. SotoPE, F.ASCETerraconPharr

Industry FOLKS

Alfonso A. Soto, PE, F.ASCE, Terracon principal and manager of Geo-

technical and Construction Materials Testing services, has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), an honor only 4 per-cent of engineers achieve. “For more than 24 years, I have been involved with civil engineering, both practicing and teaching,” Soto says. “I became a member of ASCE in 1997 and have participated in several association initiatives. It is an honor to receive the distinction of being named a Fellow in ASCE.” Soto came to U.S. in 1995 from Ma-racaibo, Venezuela to earn a Masters Degree at Texas A&M University Col-lege Station. After graduating, he worked for Black & Veatch in Kansas City. IN the fall of 1998, Soto went back to Venezuela where he spent almost three years in a firm with his father. “Politics and the economy got in the way,” he says. “It became very un-stable.” In 2001, Soto and his family came back to the states, where he joined Ter-racon in San Antonio. He transferred to the Rio Grande Valley in 2006. Soto says he has always been ded-icated to helping groom the next crop of engineers. “My dad was a consultant and col-lege professor,” he explains. “I was try-ing to be like him and follow in his footsteps. I decided it is a good way to honor the profession that has given so

much to me.” In the fall of 2009, he was invited to teach a Geotechnical Engineering course at the University of Texas Pan-American (UTPA) in Edinburg (now the University of Texas Rio Grand Valley) where the civil engineering program was beginning to take shape. Since then he has been a contributor to the growth of the UTRGV Civil Engineering program. He was instrumental in the creation of the students’ Society of Civil Engineers (SCE – in route to be-come affiliated to ASCE) and is actively serving UTPA ASCE Chapter as a pro-fessional advisor, serving also as a role model to students and young engi-neers. “I am happy to have spearheaded that effort every semester to open their eyes to what they are getting into in this profession,” he says. He is married to Veronica Soto-Smith and has three children: Paul (21 and a senior at UT Austin), Danny (18, Aggie by birth and a freshman at UTSA) and Isabella (11 and a 6th grader). When not working, Soto can be likely found on the golf course, supporting his kids and wife in their sports and Zumba events, respectively, and cheer-ing for the San Antonio Spurs. –cw

Casey Vickrey started landscaping at 5 years old, working with his fa-ther. Growing up with that experi-

ence eventually led him to start Bench-mark Landscapes in 2002. Last year, his company opened a branch in Corpus Christi. When farming took a downturn in the early ‘80s, Vickrey’s dad moved the family from their farm in Dickens to Mid-land, where he worked a schedule of sev-en days on and seven days off in the oil field. To help fill those days off with something he and his son could do to-gether, Vickrey’s father started a small landscaping company on the side. Today, at 38, Vickrey’s company aver-ages 400 employees total between its four locations. The company has a large commercial maintenance division, an ar-bor division with a certified arborist on staff, and a design division with two li-censed landscape architects and five de-signers. As someone who enjoys fishing and the water, Vickrey hadn’t been to Corpus

Christi since he was a child, but a visit in recent years surprised him with opportu-nities large enough to open a branch there. “Corpus has a lot of growth potential – projected growth from where it was 10 years ago to where it is now to where they’re expecting to be 10 years from now,” explains Vickrey, noting that it was surprisingly similar to Benchmark’s mar-kets in other locations, particularly multi-family. Vickrey travels to the Corpus office at least once every two weeks, visiting with Taylor Dawson, branch manager, and the rest of the team, checking quality control and customer service, and mak-ing sure they are on track with projects including Texas A&M’s satellite office and Flint Hills. Benchmark Landscapes does exclu-sively commercial work, including hard-scape and irrigation. The company is based in Austin with offices in New Braunfels, San Antonio and Corpus Christi. –mh

Members of the Corpus Christi team at Benchmark Landscapes

Community strong

Architectural firm Rawley McCoy & Associates PLLC (RMA) is celebrat-ing 20 years in Victoria.

The firm was founded in 1995 by Rawley McCoy and remains the only ar-chitecture firm in Victoria, according to Vice President Billy Berger. When Berger became a partner in 2012, the firm was renamed to reflect that change to Rawley McCoy & Associates. Berger had worked for years at RMA as an architect. “RMA believes good business is built on strong relationships, as evidenced by the number of repeat clients we have served,” Berger says. “Our clients share in our vision for the community, and we un-derstand active client participation and communication are key to successful projects that meet both our clients’ and our community’s needs. We also believe that our employees shape our company and future, and we provide a learning en-vironment that encourages growth and development in their careers and pro-

motes them as dedicated members of our community.” The company also participates in the Associated Builders and Contractors Mid-Coast Chapter (ABC) golf tourna-ment each year. Berger describes the firm as being multi-faceted. “We are architects and interior de-signers,” he says. “We provide site analy-sis, schematic design, construction docu-mentation, master planning, interior de-sign, conceptual imaging and 3D graph-ics, among other architectural related services.” The firm has a long-standing rela-tionship with Victoria Independent School District and Victoria College, Berger said. “Recently, we started an endowed scholarship at Victoria College,” he said. RMA donated $15,000 to the Victoria College Foundation to create the RMA Architects and Interior Designers En-dowed Scholarship. –cw

Shown at the presentation, front row, from left, are William Berger, Rawley McCoy & Associates vice president; Tom Butler, VC president; and Rawley McCoy, RMA president. Back

row, from left, are Jennifer Yancey, VC vice president of college advancement and external affairs; RMA architects Patrick Ohrt, Alice Yates and Brad Kocurek; Dennis Hughes, project manager; Ryan Sprinkle, interior designer; project managers Brian Parker and Leslie Book;

Dolores Snider, administrative assistant; Christopher Pyler, project manager;and Amy Mundy, VC Foundation executive director.

The pro’s at Ag-ProConstruction News ON LOCATION

Johnny, Jodie, Les, Kenneth and Joe paused from their busy dayfor a quick photo at Ag-Pro in Taft, TX. –cw


It was a full house at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center in Corpus Christi last month for the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce’s "Designing Healthy Communities"

Luncheon with Mayor Nelda Martinez and AIA President Elizabeth Chu Richter. L-R: Mayor Nelda Martinez, Olivia Farrera, Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA and Connie Rivera,

WKMC Architects/AIA-CC TxA director –cw

Full houseSubmitted to Construction News

Key employee protection:Preserving your businessKirk Quaschnick, PresidentMogul Wealth Strategies, LLCMcKinney, TX

As a construction company owner, you recognize the importance of insuring your building, inventory, and

equipment. These assets are vital to the success of your company. But have you considered what would happen

if a key employee died unexpectedly or became disabled?

Key employees are the foundation of a successful business. They are business owners, supervisors, project managers, CFOs, or any other individuals who are sources of leadership and profita bility, and who would be extremely difficult to replace. Unless the proper steps are tak-en, the death or disability of a key em-ployee can be devastating to the finan-cial well-being of your company.

The Solution: Key Employee Protec-tion Funding a plan to protect key em-ployees may give your business the ad-ditional funds it needs to:• Hire and train replacements.• Replace an employee’s contribu tion to profits.• Maintain the confidence of clients and creditors.• Meet possible loan obligations if the key employee was also a guarantor on busi-ness loans. There are three basic options for funding the costs associated with the sudden loss of a key employee: cash ac-cumulation or a sinking fund, borrowing from a bank, or life insurance.

Option 1 - Cash or Sinking Fund In this option, a business establishes a savings plan, much like a bank account, to protect itself from the death or disabil-ity of its key employ ees. At death, the cash in the savings plan is used as a source of funding. Unfortunately, this method has several drawbacks:• A savings plan accumulates funds over time. What if funds are needed tomor-row?• Accumulated cash could cause an accu-mulated earnings problem.• Any growth on the accumulated funds may be income taxable.• A savings plan may be depleted to pay for other expenses.• The business owner(s) will pay dollar for dollar, thus depleting the amount of cash that could be used elsewhere.

Option 2- Borrowing Funds In this option, funds are borrowed, usually through a bank loan, to replace the financial loss caused by a key employ-ee’s death or disability. Drawbacks of this

option include:• A potential slowdown in business growth due to additional loan repay-ments.• A reduction in future profits may occur because of the loan repayment.• The business owner(s) will pay dollar for dollar plus interest.• The company’s credit may be adversely affected due to greater debt.

Option 3 – Insurance Purchasing life and/or disability in-surance on your key employees can be a cost-effective way to safe guard your business and minimize the impact of a key employee’s death or disability. Life insurance and/or disability insurance can provide your business with the following advantages:• Funding with insurance is easy to ad-minister.• Funds are available even if death or dis-ability occurs the day after coverage be-gins.• Although the premiums are not deduct-ible, the life insurance proceeds at death are generally received income tax-free to the business.

Funding the Future Plan The business applies for a life insur-ance policy on the life of a key employee. The business is the owner and beneficia-ry of the policy. As policyholder, the busi-ness pays premiums to an insurance company for the policy as long as the key employee is alive and an employee. Should an insured key employee die, the death benefit proceeds from the insur-ance policy would pass generally income tax-free to the business, providing an im-mediate cash source for debt repayment, liquidity, or other related concerns. Kirk G. Quaschnick, CLU, ChFC, ARPC, is the president and co-founder of Mogul Wealth Strategies, LLC in McKinney, TX. Since 1992, Kirk has helped his clients in fi-nancial, business, and estate planning, as well as financial advising, investment advi-sory and wealth management services to business owner executives and individuals. For additional information on the informa-tion or topic discussed, please contact Kirk at 214-420-7152, or email him at [email protected].

The HR to-do list just keepsgetting longerCyndi Mergele,, SPHR, SHRM-SCPPadgett Stratemann & Co.San Antonio, TX

It’s been a busy summer for employment law changes and there are more changes to come. In June, the U.S.

Supreme Court issued two significant rulings. The first confirmed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was finally (or at least for now) the law of the land. The second ruling recognized same sex marriages.

ACA Compliance. Employers who issue 250 or more W-2s are required to report the cost of employees’ healthcare insurance on the W-2. “Applicable large employers” (employers with 50 or more FTEs) will be required to complete, pro-vide to employees, and file Forms 1094 and 1095. Information must be reported for 2015 in early 2016.

FLSA. In July, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposed change to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The proposed change would re-quire employers to pay overtime to any employee who earns a salary of less than $50,440 per year. This could have signifi-cant impact on the construction industry, as it means, regardless of the work per-formed, an employee who is paid $24.24 per hour or less must be paid overtime.

On July 15, 2015, the DOL issued Ad-ministrator’s Interpretation 2015-1 provid-ing further guidance (and strong warn-ing) regarding the challenge of employ-ers continuing to misclassify employees as independent contractors. It is impor-tant to note this interpretation specifi-cally cites the construction industry in providing an example: “Example: A highly-skilled carpen-ter provides carpentry services for a con-struction firm; however, such skills are not exercised in an independent manner. For example, the carpenter does not make any independent judgments at the job site beyond the work that he is doing for that job; he does not determine the sequence of work, order additional mate-rials, or think about bidding the next job, but rather is told what work to perform and where to perform it. In this scenario, the carpenter, although highly-skilled tech-nically, is not demonstrating the skill and initiative of an independent contractor (such as managerial and business skills). He is simply providing his skilled labor. In contrast, a highly-skilled carpenter who provides a specialized service for a variety of area construction companies, for example, custom, handcrafted cabi-nets that are made-to-order, may be demonstrating the skill and initiative of an independent contractor if the carpenter markets his services, determines when to order materials and the quantity of mate-

rials to order, and determines which or-ders to fill.”

The interpretation also states that the DOL has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and a number of states (including Texas) to share informa-tion obtained in audits to insure compli-ance with DOL regulations. Companies need to carefully examine their indepen-dent contractor relationships to ensure compliance with IRS, DOL, and Texas Workforce Regulations. Misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can cost an employer back wages for un-paid overtime and unpaid federal and state taxes. And, on Monday, Sept. 7, 2015, Presi-dent Obama issued an Executive Order Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors that will require federal con-tractors and subcontractors to provide seven days of paid sick leave per year to all employees. The Order states that af-fected employees must be permitted to earn no less than 56 hours of sick leave per year and can carry over any unused balance into the following year. The Sec-retary of Labor will issue regulations re-lated to this Order no later than Septem-ber 30, 2016. It will become effective for government contracts in 2017. As the HR to-do list continues to grow, it is important for construction companies to invest time and resources to ensure proactive compliance. While there is cost to proactive compliance (hir-ing a human resources professional, a hu-man resources consultant, or an employ-ment attorney), it is far less costly in terms of reputation, legal cost, back wag-es, taxes, and penalties.

Cyndi Mergele is the Senior Manager of Human Resources Consulting for Padgett Stratemann & Co., one of Texas largest, lo-cally-owned CPA and business advisory firms, with offices in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. Cyndi assists clients with hu-man resources strategy, staffing and re-cruiting, policy and program development, merger and acquisition strategy, and solv-ing their most complex work force issues. For more information, please contact Cyndi at 210-828-6281 or [email protected].


Fountain of roof

The networking flowed for Texas’ roofing industry Sep. 16-18. The Roofing Contractors Association of

Texas (RCAT) hosted its 40th annual con-ference and trade show, a three-day get-to-know-you extravaganza featuring fun-for-all events. It all kicked off Wednesday morning with a foreman-only class and an RCAT board of directors meeting at the Omni Hotel. However, business quickly turned to pleasure at RCAT’s golf tournament at Fort Worth’s Waterchase Golf Club Pavil-ion. The North Texas Roofing Contractors Association (NTRCA) then made everyone feel at home with a “Welcome to North Texas!” reception and awards dinner. While exhibitors prepared their booths Thursday morning at the Fort

Worth Convention Center, seminars and educational programs were held for at-tendees. A ribbon cutting started off the RCAT trade show, which featured more than 80 roofing industry exhibitors. That evening, attendees walked the red car-pet at the “BIG 4-0 Celebration” and awards ceremony and kicked their heels up to the tunes of the Preston Scott Band. Some attendees may have retired early from the festivities due to Friday morning’s RCAT license exam, but for those not testing, more seminars, educa-tional programs and the trade show awaited. Finally, it was back to business for the RCAT board, which held a final meeting before saying “Happy Trails” to their good time in Cowtown. –mjm

ABC Supply Co. inc.

Equipment Depot

National Roofing Contractors Association

CertainTeed

Ross Manufacturing LLC

Southern Shingles

SPEC Building Materials

West End Roofing Siding & Windows

You’re insured against the big-ticket rip and tear damages, right?Stephanie O’Rourke, PrincipalCokinos, Bosien & YoungSan Antonio, TX

There is no question that the installation and subse-quent removal of defective work or product will

leave a mark. Such damage might be reasonably thought of as “physical injury” or “impaired.” However, if you are considering whether such damage might by covered by your insurance policy, the meaning of phrases such as “physical injury” and “impaired property” may not be so clear. In fact, the Fifth Cir-cuit has recently determined those phrases to be so ambiguous in the context of GCL policies as to require interpretation by the Supreme Court of Texas.

In U.S. Metals v. Liberty Mutual Group, 589 Fed. Appx. 659 (5th Cir. 2014), U.S. Metals supplied flanges to be used in non-road diesel facilities in Exxon refiner-ies. After the flanges were irreversibly welded into place, testing revealed the flanges were defective and did not meet the applicable industry standards. Exxon removed all 350 flanges and eventually settled with U.S. Metals for approximate-ly $6 million. Metals submitted the claim to Liberty Mutual Group, but Liberty de-nied the claim, arguing that the rip and tear damages were excluded by the poli-cy by the following standard exclusions: m. Damage to Impaired Property or Property Not Physically Injured; “Proper-ty damage” to “impaired property” or property that has not been physically in-jured, arising out of: A defect, deficiency, inadequacy, or dangerous condition in “your product” or “your work”; or A delay or failure by your or anyone acting on your behalf to perform a con-tract or agreement in accordance with its terms. This exclusion does not apply to the loss of use of other property arising out of sudden and accidental physical injury to “your product” or “your work” after it has been put to its intended use. The policy defined the term “im-paired property” as: 8. “Impaired property” means tangi-ble property, other than “your product” or “your work”, that cannot be used or is less useful because: It incorporates “your product” or “your work” that is known or thought to be defective, deficient, inadequate or dangerous; or You have failed to fulfill the terms of a contract or agreement; if such property can be restored to use by the repair, re-placement, adjustment or removal of “your product” or “your work” or your ful-filling the terms of the contract or agree-

ment. However, the policy did not define the terms "physical injury" or “replace-ment.” Noting the lack of controlling au-thority on the interpretation of these terms, the Fifth Circuit asked the Su-preme Court of Texas whether “physical injury” and “replacement” in the context of the “your product” and “impaired property” exclusions are ambiguous. Among other things, the Fifth Circuit asked “[D]oes ‘replacement’ of the in-sured’s defective product irreversibly at-tached to a third party’s product include the removal or destruction of the third party’s product?” In the past, injured insureds have at-tempted to avoid the exclusion by argu-ing that contrary to the requirements of the definition of “impaired property,” the property could not be restored to use by repair or replacement of the named in-sured’s product or work if it required con-siderable destruction of other property. Under the certified questions, the “rip and tear” associated with repair and re-placement of an integrated part will sim-ply be regarded as part of the excluded property damage to impaired property, rather than third party property, and may be excluded. Oral argument was heard by the Court on Sept. 9, 2015. Not surprisingly, numerous Amicus briefs have been filed to assist the court with its interpretation of these common exclusion terms. As rec-ognized by the Fifth Circuit, “The Texas Supreme Court’s interpretation of these terms will have far-reaching implications due to the commonality of these exclu-sions within CGL policies.” Stephanie O’Rourke is a principal of Cokinos, Bosien &Young, a full service law firm with offices in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin. For more information on our services, please visit www.cbylaw.com

National Women in Construction Corpus Christi Chapter (NAWIC) recently installed its 2015-2016 officers. L-R Director Julia Smith, PS Engineering; Director Michell Patterson, Maverick

Engineering Inc.; Treasurer Vickie Thompson, Dixie Pipe Sales; Secretary Cathy Beaudin, CCA, CIT; Vice President Patricia Livas, Turner Industries Group L.L.C.; President Vanessa Garcia,

Skid-O-Kan; and Master of Ceremony Amanda Kirchoff, RSK Transport LLC. –cw

It’s officialSubmitted to Construction News


Vance Dawson IVOwner

Dawson’s Recycling & Disposal

Gregory, TX

All five of the Vance Dawson’s, from Vance Dawson the first through Vance Dawson the fifth, are men

who live large and prefer to travel their own path. Four of the Vance Dawson’s re-main close, meet up for meals daily and understand what family means and how happiness in life doesn’t always mean more money. Vance Dawson Sr. brought his family to the Portland, Tx. area from the Rio Grande Valley in 1952. Since that time, through five generations, there have been several businesses that bear the Dawson name, including Vance Dawson IV’s Dawson’s Recycling & Disposal in Gregory, TX.

Tell me some background on the Daw-son family. My grandfather started the first lum-beryard, Dawson Lumber Co., in Port-land. In the late 60’s, he and my dad start-ed Dawson Pipe & Cable, providing to feedlots, dairies, ranches. After awhile, they dropped the pipe part of it and kept the cable part. This company is still operating today. In 1996, I was helping dad and grand-paw. We had started buying cans to help the community with recycling.

And that was your start in the recy-cling business? In 1997, I took a personal loan for $30,000. I gave it to my dad and grand-paw, for a wire stripper and a small shear, which left me with $4,000 to buy materi-als with. In 1998, I saw a truck at a stop light piled with more sacks of cans than I had ever seen in my life. I got them to follow me to our location and gave them prices on handling their recycling business. I had no idea who it was. It wasn’t un-til I paid them that I found out it was the Naval Station in Ingleside. That was a blessing from God. We had that contract until 2010.

What happened next? In 1999, we bought the first piece of what is now home to Dawson’s Recycling & Disposal. In Feb. 2000, we had our grand open-ing, but by mid 2001, the scrap market was plummeting. A customer called and asked if we wanted to haul trash. We decided we had to do what we had to do to stay afloat, so we branched into the disposal business. Terry Ruth is the right hand man and dispatcher here. He’s been with me since 1999, when he and I have held every posi-tion here. We were the scale person, the casher, sales, the driver… When the business was just getting off the ground, Terry and I did every-thing. On slow days we’d sit in here and play Tiger Woods Golf on the computer and when the phone rang, we’d argue about which one of us was going to go drive the truck. I bought my first new roll off truck in 2001. It was $97,000. We just bought our 12th one. It was $192,000.

What kind of interesting stuff do you find coming into your scrap yard? We got two gooseneck loads of cas-kets. We’ve gotten holy water dispensers from churches. My fiancée, Nina, and I went to an outdoor arts and crafts festival, she found some wind chimes made from acetylene tanks. They wanted $400! I told her I have eight of those in the yard I cannot get rid of - don’t you dare buy those. Now, I drive her through the yard ev-ery Sunday and she brings things home and refinishes them.

You are still close with your father and grandfather, right? We have breakfast together almost every morning and lunch almost every other day. We discuss what’s going on, we trade suggestions and tips. They were my mentors. I was the first one to graduate from high school and I went to college but I didn’t like it. Dad and grandpaw also did a lot of “horse-trading” and they’d take me with them when I was a kid. I knew I didn’t want to do just one thing my whole life. My goal was to make it to my 21st birthday and celebrate in Las Vegas! When Kristie (his ex-wife) turned up pregnant at 18, I had to hitch it up and do the right thing. In this business, I am doing some-thing different every day.

What advice would you give someone starting out? Don’t focus on how much money the job pays. Focus on what makes you hap-py. Dad and grandpaw built their busi-ness to a point where they had to grow or stay put. They decided to stay put. I was 18 or 19 and asking them, “why don’t we grow?” Grandpaw said if you want to add something you can, but we are happy here at this point.

I didn’t understand that until about Nov 2000, when we were so busy we didn’t have time for anything else. I’d be coming in at 4:30 a.m. and Ter-ry would be here at 5 a.m. He still comes in really early. Sales slumped again, in 2008, but ev-erything is doing OK right now.

What is your philosophy towards cus-tomers and employees? Service is what we base our business on. Nobody can touch us as far as service goes. That’s why we are buying a new truck and not just new boxes (roll-offs). I’m not going to shortcut. One truck can only service so many boxes. If you want to keep up you must buy the truck and not just the boxes. I was raised where a handshake is a handshake and my word is my word. So when we say something we mean it. Word of mouth is the best advertisement. The business runs like a family. We have great teamwork and great players. The average employee turnover is nine years. Nobody here is a number and we have an open door policy. We don’t like liars, cheaters and thieves. I probably would have lost this busi-ness when I went through my divorce if the team here had not taken care of things.

Tell me about your children. My daughter Amber is 22. She just graduated from college with a degree in animal science and business. My son, Vance “Bubba”, is 19 and works in the business with me. He also works for his grandfather and great-grandfather. My son Hunter is 11 and Justin, my soon-to-be son, is 18.

What do you like to do when you are not working? Travel. Nina and I just got back from a trip to the Dominican Republic. We prefer

to travel out of the country. We spent five nights and six days there. We hired a cab driver, Santos, for a whole day and asked him to take us away from the tourist ar-eas. We wanted to see how the people there really live. We went to his hometown, where we had beer and played pool in a bar while he went home and got his wife and son so we could take them out for a nice meal. We were dismayed to find out that most children only go to school until they are 12, then they go to work and work 16-hour days. Only wealthy children contin-ue in school. It makes you come back and ask yourself, “what are you complaining about?”

Learning about this inspired you and Nina, right? The people are so friendly and car-ing. Their main concern is they want bet-ter for themselves and better for their children. Santos’ son is 9 years old and we are trying to establish a way to help him con-tinue to go to school – a good school. We are getting married there next year.

What else do you like to do? We have a small ranch – people call it the Funny Farm. We have some Texas Longhorns, two llamas, three pigs, a horse and two minia-ture donkeys, and our dog, Daisy. Nina likes to garden, mostly flowers, but she is learning the vegetables. She is an RN supervisor at South Texas Surgical Hospital. We like to visit friends and just hang out with the kids. –cw

Vance Dawson IV and Terry Ruth have been working together atDawson’s Recycling & Disposal in Portland since 1999.

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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)

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

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

I know you are awfully busy with work and family and now it’s getting to be hunting season, but you need to pay

attention to this proposed amendment to the Texas Constitution. We need to protect our right to hunt and fish in Texas from outside pressure from the Federal government or anyone else to restrict or remove our current privileges. Don’t just take my word for it. Check it out for yourself. A good place to start for just the facts is: http://ballotpedia.org/Texas_Right_to_Hunt,_Fish_and_Harvest_Amendment,_Proposition_6_(2015) I always encourage people to get outside and bring their kids out to hunt or fish or camp and hike. We have an ob-ligation to pass our love for the outdoors down to our young people. Already we have seen a decrease in people enjoying our state and national park resources. Fewer and fewer hunting and fishing li-censes are being sold to people under the age of 40. Without the revenue gen-erated by our participation, access to the great outdoors will dwindle. Outdoor equipment retailers are concerned with

this trend too. The worst part of this is the decline in the number of people who understand the importance of outdoor life to our own health, happiness and

well-being. That is why this state consti-tutional amendment is so important. We have finally come to a time when the people who are coming to power in our

Protect our right to hunt and fish in

Texas! Vote “yes” forProposition 6 on

November 3

society and our government may not have enough of a connection to the out-doors to understand the impact of the changes they want to implement. Our existence and the very heritage of our county have been built upon our ability to procure food for our families and pass the knowledge of hunting and fishing down to the next generation. In more recent times it has been the effort and money spent by sportsmen that have paved the way for research and con-servation of the fish, animals and habitat we so cherish. We understand important role we must play to preserve the bounty we have been given, and harvesting game is an important and necessary tool to prevent overpopulation and disease in animals as well as providing our families with a safe, healthy alternative to pro-cessed meats, (and it tastes better too). When you get right down to it, I hate to think what would happen to our peo-ple if the lights go out a couple of genera-tions down the line from losing our right and opportunity to hunt and fish. If for no other reason, the knowledge of how to sustain ourselves and the right to do it should be protected. Please make the effort to go and vote on this very important issue! So of-ten we tend to overlook things like amendments in the grand scheme of things. Then further down the line we find where something has become law that we don’t approve of – simply be-cause we didn’t take the time to vote and a bunch of busy bodies did vote it in. Vote for Proposition 6 in the Nov. 3, 2015 election and let your voice be heard!

‘40s fishing family

Lunch coming right up!Submitted to Construction News

Carlo Hernandez, owner of AC-I Service Air Conditioning & Heating in Brownsville, and his girlfriend, DeeDee, took a three-day bay fishing vacation with guide Capt. Noel Ledesma. Here Carlo and DeeDee show off some good-

looking trout for lunch. –cw

Blue and cool waterSubmitted to Construction News

Vance Dawson, Dawson’s Recycling & Storage in Gregory, TX., and his fiancée Nina spent part of their summer in the Dominican Republic where they were able to enjoy

swimming in the beautiful waters. –cw


At the riverSubmitted to Construction News

South Texas Construction News editor Cyndi

Wright and husband Jay Hutchison took

their annual September vacation to the Texas Hill Country on the Frio River. The day’s tranquility was not affected by friendly

kayakers passing by. –cw

Out of the cloudsSubmitted to Construction News

It was a spectacular sighting!This water spout was seen Sept. 19 in

Port Aransas. Photo by Deni Townsend

Recreating Mother Nature

“Welcoming Waterfall”A landscaped stone entry path and impressive waterfall

welcomes guests to this restaurant. The water thenstreams through the interior and onto the outdoor

decks with mini-waterfalls bringing interestingmovement to this modern design.

“Majestic Sculpture Garden”Lush foliage surrounds this gorgeous water feature which

is accentuated by majestic sculptures and colorful artpieces. The two ponds are connected by a babbling

stream and provide the owners with a lovely setting forenjoying their beautiful plants.

“Modern Zen Garden”This modern Koi pond was designed using the golden ratio, an ancient mathematical equation. It’s 60-ft. inset stream re-

solves into a spiral, highlighted with hundreds of golden fiber optic lights simulating the stars in the constellation.

“A Fish Lover’s Dream”A state-of-the-art pond operated by two fish hatchery style

drum filters and nine custom made bakki showers.This makes the pond the ultimate wastewater treatment

facility for a large number of Koi.

“Flower and Koi Garden”This pond offers the ultimate home for large

fish and planter boxes.

“Sun room Sensation”The above ground waterscape adds luxury to the owner’s

sun room and includes an eight-ft. water wall adorned with custom ferns and fancy-tailed goldfish.

“Fountains Galore”This design reflects a variety of Taylormade fountain

projects, including disappearing waterfalls, pots, streamsand grand entryway pieces

As the first employee with Mermaid Waterscapes, Taylor Miller began designing and building wa-ter features and ponds in 2002. Soon after, he be-

came instrumental in completing each of the company’s projects, including a project recognized as the Number 2 pond by Koi USA magazine. In 2008, Taylor founded Taylormade Waterscapes, where he continues to focus on creating beautiful, low maintenance water features and ponds. Across his ca-reer Taylor has worked on more than 400 water features for both residential and commercial clients across Cen-tral Texas, including projects for Zilker Park Botanical Gardens, St. Edward’s University and the LCRA. “In all projects, I balance the design creativity with a strong commitment to customer satisfaction and quali-ty service. I extend this commitment well beyond the completion of a project by providing ongoing mainte-nance and care tips and services,” says Miller. “I enjoy the

great outdoors. I often camp and visit natural waterfalls and springs. I love the raw beauty not made by man. Mother Nature is a beautiful thing.” When asked which project was his favorite, he said he enjoys building new construction projects and that he really enjoys the creativity he can express to help people make visions come to light. He likes providing people with the right equipment and education to ac-complish a low maintenance water feature. When asked which project was his biggest chal-lenge, he said, “Each project comes with its own set of challenges. Some are harder than others but it is the end result that makes it all worth it. “There is no project too big,” he added. “My com-pany specializes in advanced filtration and mechanics. This will ensure that one will get a low maintenance pond with superior water quality.” –rd

www.constructionnews.netpublishing the industry’s news


Steel steadyConstruction News JOB SIGHT

J&N Welding and Fabricators Corp. in Penitas, TX. is busy unloading steel for a new La Quinta on Ware Road in McAllen. –cw

Javier Sanchez, project manager for AFC Builders LLC in Pharr, shoots a smile out to South Texas. –cw

Sunny smileSubmitted to Construction News

ROFA Architects Inc. and Stantec Architects were awarded three Stars of Distinction in the 2015 Design Awards for the Texas Association of School Administrators and School

Boards for the design of the Harlingen CISD School of Health Professions. –cw

Gold starsSubmitted to Construction News

OK, all you anglers out there! Can you identify this rather handsome fish that was caught outside of Rockport off Goose Island? We’ll post it on our Facebook page

after Oct. 1 and we’d love to have everybody “weigh” in. –cw

What is it?

A new company established in the Rio Grande Valley in July by Her-man Garza will provide construc-

tion materials testing, and special and geo-technical investigations. The company, called RGV STRATA, is located in Mercedes. “I will provide services to the lower South Texas region,” Garza says. “I hope to expand to other market areas in Texas where I have seen the competition not being able to provide services in a timely manner.” Garza said a mentor once predicted that he would fall into a hole and never get out. “Here we are now with the office opened up,” he says with a laugh. Funding for the new company came from several supporters, as well as Garza himself. “I started the company myself with the support of a lot of local people,” he

Always on

says. “When I pitched the idea, they were very supportive. There are also a few si-lent partners encouraging the idea, in-cluding one that will join the firm soon.” Pledging to answer the phone any time of day, RGV STRATA is all about cus-tomer service. “The company's philosophy is to pro-vide the services in a very timely manner and add a more one-to-one approach to projects,” Garza said. “The company slo-gan is ‘You just can't turn it off’.” He says the new company and its employees will soon take part in Rio Grande Valley Associated General Con-tractors (RGV-AGC) events at the local level, for now. Hopefully, in a few months, the office will throw a Christmas party where as many people as can be will be invited. The holiday event may also be the com-pany’s open house. –cw

The tools of the trade for RGV STRATA, a new business in Mercedes.


Specializing in Industrial Scrap Metal& Container Service

We buy Aluminum, Brass, Copper, Iron, Stainless Steel,Steel, Brass & Radiators

2300 Frio City Rd. 210-927-2727 www.monterreyiron.comLooks like the future is bright at Terracon for Stephanie Rendon, Sylvia Quinones, Frances

Villarreal and Michelle Soto who are showing off their new custom sunglasses. –cw

The future’s so brightSubmitted to Construction News

Turning the Page

for your Growth, Strength & Profi tsConstruction News

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Halloween fun

Keep Construction News in mind this year when your office undergoes a spooky transformation and the ghosts and goblins come out to play! Send your photos

from Halloween to [email protected] Bob Kennedy, president of Ken-Air Indoor Air Quality Inc. in Portland, TX., makes a

brief stop at the recycling center during his busy day. –cw

Doing his partConstruction News ON LOCATION


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(210) 308-5800Architecture & Engineering

Regular session of the 84th Texas Legislature

Mike WhiteTexas Construction AssociationAustin, TX

The 84th Texas Legislature completed its Regular Session on June 1, 2015.

The Texas construction industry will ben-efit from the passage of the following bills:

Consolidated Insurance Programs (CIPs) – SB 1081 Effective Jan. 1, 2016, principals of a CIP will be required to provide certain in-formation about the CIP to a contractor who is to be enrolled in the CIP not later than 10 days before the date the contrac-tor enters into a construction contract. This information will allow the contractor to compare the coverage provided by the CIP to the contractor’s own insurance and will allow the contractor to make an informed decision on whether to enter into the construction contract. In addi-tion, a contractor may request in writing from the principal a complete copy of the insurance policy that provides coverage under the CIP.

State Budget - HB 1 The state budget for the biennium beginning Sept. 1, 2015 appropriated just under $1 billion for construction of new state buildings. In addition, approximate-ly $630 million was appropriated for de-ferred maintenance projects at state fa-cilities. This became effective Sept. 1, 2015.

Higher Education Revenue Bonds - HB 100 This bill authorizes certain higher education institutions across the state to issue $3.1 billion in revenue bonds to fund 64 construction projects over the next two years. This became effective Sept. 1, 2015.

Pre-Litigation Requirements for Con-do Owners’ Associations in Defect Cases- HB 1455 This new law restricts condominium unit owners’ associations in condomini-

ums that have eight or more units from filing lawsuits or initiating arbitration proceedings to resolve a claim relating to the construction or design of a unit on behalf of all of the owners unless they first obtain an inspection and written in-dependent, third-party report that iden-tifies and describes the condition of the specific units or common elements that are subject to the claim and obtain ap-proval from unit owners holding more than 50 percent of the total votes in the association at a regular, annual or special meeting. This law became effective Sept. 1, 2015.

Public-Private Partnerships - HB 2475 In 2011, legislation was passed that established a process for governmental entities to contract with private entities to construct, finance, and operate a vari-ety of facilities, including ports, pipelines, parking garages, hospitals, schools, and other public works projects. State high-ways were not included. Performance and payment bonds are required to be in place before the start of any public-pri-vate partnership project. The new law establishes a center for alternative finance and procurement within the Texas Facilities Commission to consult with governmental entities re-garding best practices for procurement and financing of qualifying public-private

partnership projects and to assist gov-ernmental entities in the receipt of pro-posals, negotiation of interim and com-prehensive agreements, and manage-ment of qualifying public-private part-nership projects. The creation of the center is intend-ed to increase the use of public-private partnerships by Texas governmental en-tities. This law became effective Sept. 1, 2015.

Construction Manager-At-Risk Used by a Governmental Entity - HB 2634 This measure amends the Govern-ment Code to remove the exception to a prohibition against a governmental enti-ty’s project architect or engineer serving, alone or in combination with another person, as the construction manager-at-risk. The new law is intended to eliminate conflicts of interest in certain govern-mental construction contracting. This law became effective Sept. 1, 2015. Mike White, vice president of govern-mental affairs, is a graduate of Texas A&M University and received a law degree from the University of Houston. White came to TCA in 2010 with thirty years of diversified responsibilities in governmental and public affairs arenas for two major multi-national corporations, a public agency, and a busi-ness organization. –cw

The pre-school-year crunch

Mark Eichelbaum, Vice President and COOCram RoofingSan Antonio, TX

During the summer, school work keeps the construction industry busy. As

soon as kids get out for the summer in early June, contractors move in, and as soon as kids go back in late August, con-tractors have to finish and clear out. Mark Eichelbaum, Cram Roofing, says that it takes coordination and the ef-forts of the team to get jobs done before the kids come back for the new academic year. He adds that parents and teachers, and sometimes even owners, might not realize what goes into making the school beautiful for when they get back. If there is still minor work to be done, some only see that the roof isn’t done and the impression can be that the con-tractors had all summer to do it. “A lot of the time, we’ll be substan-tially complete – in other words, the roof is on and there may be some details still to be done or punch list items to be done,” explains Eichelbaum. “Those we can still do after the kids are back, but we have to work around the school sched-ule. So, we may not be able to start until 4 o’clock in the afternoon after kids have

gone home for the day. It requires a lot more coordination.” He also points out that there is a lot of steps and juggling that goes on during the summer reroofing season. The sum-mertime construction period is generally about 10 weeks. On the small side, some projects in that period might be repair projects around $5,000 to $10,000, or they are hired to do the flashing for a new AC unit. Such a project might require a crew of two to three guys for two to three days. On the larger end of the scale, they might be reroofing an entire wing of a school, which might be 300,000sf of roof-ing. Those projects might require a crew of about eight guys working six days a week for nine weeks. The various projects over the course of just 10 weeks can run everywhere in between those two extremes. On aver-age, Eichelbaum says their reroofing projects have a crew of six to eight guys, depending on the job, and it might be 15,000 to 20,000sf of roofing surface that is being re-covered. Those projects might take about

four to five weeks, but they might also begin the project with the idea that it will be done by the end of June and then they will move on to the next one. How-ever, if it rains – which it did to an unusual degree this June – that can push the en-tire schedule back. Sometimes, the general contractor might not be ready for the roofers to come in and do their work. In that case, they might not be ready on one building and have the roofer work on another building first, but that other building might require a different crew. “It’s a lot of moving pieces, and the general public may not necessarily real-ize that,” he says. “There are all types of different roofing systems, and we inter-nally have different crews for the differ-ent kinds of roofs that specialize in those areas. The general public may just say, ‘I just need a roof.’ But it’s a metal roof, and we want to send you our metal roofer. If it’s a singly-ply roof, we want to send you our single-ply roofer. “If it’s through a general contractor and you throw in all the other specialty trades – well, we can’t flash an AC unit un-til the AC unit has been put in place by the HVAC contractor, and if the HVAC contractor gets pushed because of weather or one of their other projects or the materials haven’t been approved yet – they go through the same process [with submittals] that we do – that can affect our piece of the puzzle.” Delays can also happen regardless of months of advanced planning. When Cram is working directly for the school district, they bid on those projects in Jan-uary or February, even though they can’t

start until June. Knowing the job is coming up, they do all their preparatory work in the spring-time. A lot of times, the clients specify what type of roof they want, and Cram finds out what color the principal or dis-trict representative wants and other minor details. The submittal package goes to a consultant or the clients’ architect or de-sign professional for approval. Once ap-proved, Cram can order the materials. Sometimes, however, Eichelbaum notes that June comes and they cannot begin, despite being ahead of the game. As examples of reasons why, he says they might not be able to start fabricating the metal because the client hasn’t chosen a color, or they haven’t received their ap-proved submittals so they do not know what to order. With all of these issues factoring into a two-and-a-half month work schedule, Cram might only have two or three proj-ects in a summer, but this summer, Eichelbaum explains it was triple that many projects. With a very wet June to contend with, the trademark South Texas heat, and all of the aforementioned problems that may arise, Eichelbaum says their an-swer is to put in that much more over-time or manpower to meet the deadlines for completion. Cram Roofing was established in 1986 by Gary Cram, who is still owner and presi-dent of the company today. Having recently celebrated his 13th year with the company, Mark Eichelbaum is vice president and COO. The roofing contractor does commer-cial and governmental work. –mh


In tune for six decades

Music City was the setting for women in construction to hit all of the right networking notes

Sept. 2-5. The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) hosted its 60th annual Meeting and Education Conference in Nashville, TN, bringing to-gether South Central Region chapters to celebrate the harmony of their unique sisterhood. Highlights of the “Sounds of Suc-cess” event, held at the Omni Hotels and Resorts, included a mini trade show, an installation luncheon, meetings, semi-nars and workshops and an awards gala. Some members also took part in some sightseeing in Tennessee’s capital, in-cluding catching a Dwight Yoakam con-cert at Ryman Auditorium and visiting Nashville’s famed eateries. “Nashville AMEC was terrific!,” says NAWIC Corpus Christi Chapter President Lisa Huerta. “The educational and infor-mative seminars were very good. Seeing old and new sisters/friends was great. Getting to meet our Region 5 sisters with whom we have recently merged was ex-citing! Great ideas were flying every-where. As always, I left with the feeling of empowerment and new energy.” –mjm

Installation luncheon

Installation luncheon

L-R: NAWIC South Central Region director Jennifer M. Swinney and executive vice

president Dede Hughes

L-R: Corpus Christi NAWIC chapter president Lisa Huerta CBT of Kendal Erosion poses with Elvis and Lisa Haney of NAWIC’s Tulsa chapter

2014-2015 National President Sandy Field and Corpus Christi chapter president Lisa Huerta at the region South Central Dinner

held at Rodzio Grille in Nashville


Association CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

AIA - Corpus ChristiAmerican Institute of Architects

Oct. 15: Lunchtime CEU, noon-1pmLocation to be announcedOct. 20: Monthly meeting at Water Street Seafood Company, 309 N. Water St., Cor-pus Christi. 5:30pm social, 6pm Presenta-tion/Meeting. Dinner is free to architects, associates and affiliate members. Interns are $5 and other guests are $20

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

Oct 20: Dinner Business Meeting, public welcome, The BBQ Man Restaurant, 5:30pm networking, 6pm meeting, Pro-gram-AMEC Report. $20. Contact Vickie Thompson at 361-299-6278 or 361-438-0593, to get more information or check out nawic.org or nawiccorpuschristi.org

SCTMCSafety Council of the Texas Mid-Coast

Oct. 3-6: Occupational Safety & Health Standards for the Construction Industry. Contact Betty Birdwell at 361-552-7823 x6 for more information.Oct. 6-8: MSHA Instructor Training Course, $600. Contact Betty Birdwell at 361-552-7823 x6 for more information.

Submit calendar items to:

[email protected] call Cyndi for information

210-308-5800

Share your story

So many of you have been a part of Construction News since it was first founded in 1998, and then expand-

ed into markets throughout Texas, in-cluding South Texas in Jan. 2013. Perhaps you have participated as an advertiser, as a subject of one of our articles or have been a faithful reader (or all three!), and we sincerely thank you for supporting our paper all of these years. But, do you know the history of Con-struction News? Buddy and Reesa Doebbler, who were involved in the construction indus-try, founded this paper at their kitchen ta-ble in their hometown of San Antonio. The couple wanted to recognize the myriad accomplishments of the men, women and companies in a publication that would be circulated to all segments of the construc-tion industry. Remembering their begin-nings in the industry and the many people who helped them, they also wanted to be able to give back by promoting compa-nies that were just getting their start. Their concept was so well received, they soon produced Construction News for other markets: Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and, most recently, South Texas. These five monthly editions show-case the good work (and good works) the people and companies in our industry perform every day. We are proud to fea-ture them, and always appreciate when readers let us know they enjoyed a story, recognize someone they know, tell us what they or their company are doing or recommend someone we should feature. Our paper highlights the construc-tion industry in so many different ways. Beginning on our Front Page, Construc-tion News features a local project that has been recently constructed, outlining the process and featuring the final result. Our “Spotlight” takes a deeper look into the lives of construction business owners – how they started in the indus-try, what motivates and inspires them, their hobbies, interests and families. The “Great Outdoors” section, one

of the most popular in our paper, is a great place to show off your latest hunt-ing, fishing, vacation, marathon, vehicle or pet photos. Our editorial content explores topics and provides coverage of statewide and national events that you will not learn about anywhere else. In “Industry Folks,” we help you get to know the industry employees behind the desks, the drills and the phone lines that you might have the good fortune to do business with. The editors also take “Job Site” pho-tos of projects underway and “On Loca-tion” photos of office staff as they go about their workday. Finally, there are our “Industry Pro-files,” which focus on local companies, the fascinating reasons behind their es-tablishment, their employees and their company culture. On a personal note, I love writing about the construction industry because I’m reminded every day that people are still keeping the American Dream alive though their work. It doesn’t matter if I interview the person who owns a hand-ful of tools and a pickup truck or a multi-million dollar construction business, ev-eryone has a “history” worth sharing. I meet people who say, “I read your paper every month!” When I ask if they’ve ever been featured, however, many say no, insisting that they’re not very inter-esting and that they have nothing to say. They do have something to say, and so do you. You have a story, or you know someone in commer-cial construction who does. I hope you’ll con-nect with me so we can share it with Construc-tion News readers. All you have to do is call me at (210) 308-5800 x148, email me at [email protected] … or take me up on the offer when I meet you at an event! –cw

Partnered for the future

To ensure the longevity of MK Mar-low Company beyond the day in the distant future when founder

Mark Marlow decides to retire, Marlow has brought his vice president, Todd Thomas, into a partnership. Now a co-owner of the business, Thomas came on board a little over three years ago. He and Marlow clicked right away. Soon, they were talking about a potential partnership, and two years ago, they began building up to a buyout. Now, Marlow explains that they are on a 10-year program that is part of his long-term exit strategy. “[I had] a commitment to all the peo-ple we brought in to keep the company going, to have continuity when I started to slowly back out of the company,” ex-plains Marlow, who is 53. “We needed a next generation to take over, and since I don’t have any family as such that would take over the business and Todd and I work so well together like partners any-

way, it was a natural progression of things.” Thomas, 46, feels part of his new po-sition and responsibility encompasses “due diligence to take the company and make it better than it’s ever been.” He notes that, currently, they’re aiming to pick up work in the Austin area, and one of his goals is to open an office in Hous-ton within the next year or two. When Thomas graduated high school, he joined the Army bringing him into airborne infantry. After five years, he got out of the military and went into con-struction, starting as a laborer sweeping floors. He worked his way up to opera-tions through the field, spending 20 years with a company in Central Florida until the economic downturn brought him to San Antonio – and subsequently MK Mar-low – three years ago. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, MK Marlow Company is a drywall and acoustical contractor that is based in San Antonio. –mh

Mark Marlow and Todd Thomas already shared the responsibilities of running MK Marlow Company. Now, they share the ownership of the business, too.


What was yourfirst car?

continued from Page 1 — Armstrong going strong

continued from Page 1 — Project delivers for expectant moms

“I like the new owners,” he says. “I like the improvements they’ve made. They have given me the freedom to do as I see fit and to treat the employees as I see fit. I like working with this staff.” Many of the 16 employees have been with the company for years. Hayley says the company treats employees fairly.

“I wouldn’t expect them to do any-thing I wouldn’t do,” he says. “I try very hard to see things through their eyes.” Armstrong Lumber sells lumber and construction-related materials to a mainly commercial and industrial clientele. –cw

Reputation is high on the list of priorities for Baldwin Roofing. “There are some good roofing contractors in Corpus Christi,” Taylor says. “We think we are right up there with them. We don’t bid jobs to be the

continued from Page 1 — Proof in the roof

A beige Volkswagen beetle. Mine was a hand me down from my older sister. At that time, I was at the University of Texas in Austin and most of my friends didn’t have a car. We would all cram into that bug and go around town to dinner or a swim. John and I had that car when we were first married and eventually traded it in on a larger sedan. It was a great car!

Bibi Dykema, Dykema Architects Inc., Corpus Christi

My very first car was a 1980 Olds Delta 88. It was huge! I remember having to put my foot all the way to the floor to get it over the Harbor Bridge.

Connie G. Rivera, WKMC Architects Inc., Corpus Christi

Wellllll…. I had been hoping for a very long time to get a nice, new car when I turned 16 like some of my friends, but my parents didn’t see things as I did… I end-ed driving what was used for years a landscaping and maintenance truck for our company. It was a horrible 1992 GMC Sierra with torn red fabric interior that smelled like maintenance-man ciga-rettes. The truck shook violently when I got on the highway, had bad steering, and the glove box door fell off if you opened it, but of course, I became fond of it after a year or so.

Nick Gignac, Gignac Architects,Corpus Christi

1965 Mustang that my parents got me for my 16th birthday. Wish I had it back to-day!

Darlene Lee Omana CCA, CIT, CCRRCGill Roofing Co. Inc., Corpus Christi

Here is a picture of my first truck - a 1991 Chevy 4X4, it was a few years old when I got it so I enjoyed working on it with my dad. That was back when you could actu-ally still work on cars!

Philip Ramirez, Turner, Ramirez & As-sociates Architects, Corpus Christi

My first car was a 1986 Chevy Camaro IROC Z28. She was gray. It was a hand-me-down from my older brother. She-Chexk was 4 years old when I got her and my dad repainted it for me. I loved jam-ming out to Whitesnake’s “In the Still of the Night” on my Pioneer speakers. Ap-pended is a very similar one.

Jorge A. Flores, P.G., Terracon, Pharr

A 1977 Chevrolet Monza. Orange with a tan vinyl hard top, this car has so many stories but the most memorable was hav-ing my CB and the handle Ms. Peanut. My best friend and I use go all over Corpus Christi in my car, it was a graduation gift from my Mom and Dad. After I traded it in a few years later, my best friend saw it in Alice, Texas – she said it brought back memories. I loved my first car!

Debbie Montez, AIA, Corpus Christi

My dad was a highway patrolman and he bought one of his old patrol cars. It even had a spotlight you could work from the driver’s seat. It was fun in high school to go “bushwacking” (shining the light into cars on “lovers lane”) We got chased a couple of times but this car had a 454 en-gine and could outrun most cars. It was a lot of fun! Thank goodness gas was really cheap back then!

Sue Johnson, Construction News

cheapest. We look after quality – that’s our main goal.” The company is currently doing jobs across the state of Texas, including in San Marcos, McAllen and San Antonio. “We are spread out,” Taylor says. –cw

Added specialized equipment for the nursery and delivery rooms brought the cost of the total to $600,000 for the hospital system. “Every project comes with its own challenges and special circumstances,” Elaine Hoffman says. “On this project in particular, scheduling construction work was a major concern. The nurse’s station had to remain open and operational dur-ing the renovations. The construction in the patient rooms had to work around rooms that were not occupied. Because the wing remained operational, Barcom had to ensure on maintaining a safe and secure worksite with all the traffic of nurses, patients, and visitors. The safety of its workers and others is always a prior-ity. While working in the nursery, workers had to ensure safety protocols of not only the contractor’s safety policy but also the hospital’s safety and security policy. The amount of debris, noise, and equipment used was a major factor while working in the nursery. Barcom and its subcontrac-tors used the highest level of safety, secu-rity, and professionalism during this proj-ect.”

Barcom has a workforce of 26 indi-viduals, consisting of ten superinten-dents, seven project managers, two esti-mators, and seven administrators. Ron Taylor, project manager, has been em-ployed with Barcom since the start of the company in 1986. Ryan Younger was the project manager assigned to this project and Don Williams was the superinten-dent. Don has worked as a superinten-dent on numerous Christus Spohn proj-ects for 12+ years. The architect chosen for this project was CLK Architects. Bar-com has maintained a working relation-ship with CLK for 25 years. “Barcom has worked with Christus Spohn for many years,” Elaine Hoffman says. “The owners are flexible and easy to work with. We have maintained a good working relationship with them through the years. Don has enjoyed working with them on numerous projects and feels they are a great organization to work with.” Barcom works with customers in both the private and public sector, spe-cializing in certain projects and general-izing in others. –cw

A ribbon cutting and open house were held on July 30.

Barcom Construction Company’s Ryan Younger and Don Williams look over project blueprints in the Corpus Christi company’s office. –cw

The thinkers and plannersSubmitted to Construction News

Aubrey Humphrey, Stephen Hodges, Scott Segner, Bobbi Cole and Amber Rinard are ready to help customers at their location of Fastenal at 4530

Leopard St. in Corpus Christi. –cw

Fastened tightConstruction News ON LOCATION


A reeling deal

Testengeer employees at the Port Lavaca location decided to celebrate college day this past month with a large showing of maroon! –cw

Mostly maroonSubmitted to Construction News

SpawGlass South Texas Division held the 11th annual SpawGlass Fishing Tournament Sept. 11-12 on

beautiful South Padre Island. There were 54 boats who entered the tournament and the proceeds will be split between the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley,

Alan Simon of OmniTrax is presented with his 1st place red fish trophy from SpawGlass

South Texas President Eric Kennedy.

Texas State Technical College and Walk for Women. Everyone had a great time and are looking forward to next year's tourna-ment! Congrats to the winners!

Chris Lowery of United Rentals

Eric Kennedy of SpawGlass, and Trent Hausenfluck and Buster Smith of D&F Industries, Inc.

SpawGlass South Texas ladies, L-R: Margie Lopez, Veronica Gutierrez, Maggie Zuniga

Heather McDonough, Michael Emmons, Kan Phaobunjong, Keith Girard of SpawGlass

McCoy’s Building Supply in San Benito threw a breakfast taco morning customer appreciation event in September with support from the company’s vendors. Pictured

center are store manager Mario Villarreal and assistant manager Lawrence Jarvmillo. –cw

Breakfast taco morningSubmitted to Construction News

www.constructionnews.net

south texas construction news october 2015

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