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Satterfield & Pontikes Construction is currently renovating the historic Building 427 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas with a new method of strengthening the load-bearing brick walls without changing the appearance of the building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in the 1920s to house military families, the building will now provide office space for the Army post.According to the San Antonio Business Journal, the contractor is adding stainless steel post-tensioning rods inside the brick walls to meet the Department of Defense requirements for progressive collapse protection from blasts. While improving the building to meet a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, they are making the renovations in keeping with historic preservation guidelines. A press release from Satterfield & Pontikes states:
Reshaping the Construction Industry
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Saied Alavi, operations manager at Marek Brothers Systems Houston, recently visited Guadalupe “Lupe” Ramos at a job site where Marek is installing drywall in medical office space for Baylor Clinic & Hospital. Lupe came through Marek’s workforce development program, and is currently an employee with the rank of “Helper” on the Marek Career Path. In the video below, Saied talks with Lupe and his Marek “Coach”, Kevin Mathews, about how Lupe came to work for Marek and the difference his job has made in his life.Lupe was familiar with the construction industry growing up because some of his uncles install ceilings for companies in California and Texas. A few weeks after graduating high school, he filled out an application at Marek in Houston after hearing about the company from one of his uncles. He was initially planning to apply to be an acoustical ceiling trainee, but while he was at the office applying for work, someone pointed out Buddy Britt, training coordinator at Marek,
April 18, 2012
CareerCast, an online career search firm, released its 2012 rankings of the Best and Worst jobs in the United States. Construction jobs have climbed out of the basement where they were 2 years ago and are now showing steady improvement. That is a good indicator for the industry and for those who are considering construction as a career.The annual survey ranks the top 200 jobs on the basis of five factors: environment, income, outlook, physical demands and stress. This year’s rankings show that construction jobs are steadily moving up the ladder.The 2012 listing shows that Brick Masons rank 72 on the list, higher than Electrical Engineer at 73, Elementary School Principal at 74, Stockbroker at 77 and Attorney at 87. Plumber were ranked 75th on the list. Electricians were 81st. Construction Foreman ranked 86th on the list above Teachers (92), Clergy (93), and Airline Pilots (104).The job of Construction Worker was ranked at number 173, a marked improvement from 2010 when the same job was listed in the 10 worst jobs at 193.
April 17, 2012
I attended the Bisnow – Office of the Future breakfast on Tuesday, April 3rd, and was once again impressed with the overall quality of the event and the information. I was part of a fairly large Marek contingent, as we were partnering with Office Furniture Innovations (OFI) and Modular Architectural Interiors (MAI). We had an exhibit highlighting our Novawall and Mecho Shade systems for the design and brokerage communities. This was not my first Bisnow experience as I had attended several previously. The crowd at this event was a little different due to the “Office of the Future” theme, and consisted of a significant number of design professionals, as well as those brokers who were interested in the office of the future theme. The Marek exhibit drew considerable interest and several quality leads were generated. In addition, we held a drawing for an iPAD based on business cards dropped in our box.
April 16, 2012
Each year about this time over 400 species of birds that migrated south for the winter begin their Spring journey northward across the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Coast flyways. Those of us in the Houston Region get the pleasure of watching them arrive just in time for the blooming of our trees and azaleas.Early bird watchers have reported that this year they have seen one of the rarest bird species to visit the region since the last business cycle, the German Climbing Crane. They are magnificent and are easily recognizable to anyone who is lucky enough to see them on their migration northward. They are tall and move with incredible grace as they peer over the landscape.They usually are fairly short when they land, but they grow to towering heights in a short span of time.
April 13, 2012
This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to listen in on approximately 4½ hours of testimony on workforce training programs in Texas. The hearing was held by the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce who have been charged to study whether such workforce training programs currently meet business and worker needs in Texas. On the whole, the discussion was positive because there was a definite recognition by all presenters, as well as by the members of the committee, of the need to focus more on “career ready” as opposed to only “college ready” students. It seems there is a wide variety of career opportunities available to high school graduates with the proper skills training.
April 12, 2012
According to an article in today’s Denver Post, “The Denver-Aurora-Broomfield metropolitan area added 6,300 construction jobs from February 2011 to February of this year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Associated General Contractors of America.”That puts the Denver Metro area on top of the list of areas that created new construction jobs in February. That is good news for skilled construction workers in the Denver area who have had a long cold winter – and I am not talking about the weather. Several new large projects are creating the need for project superintendents and foreman.
April 11, 2012
A few years ago we began conducting an annual goals workshop at my company. In many ways this workshop is really about communication. Our office has approximately 80 folks. Having a meeting with 80 people can be a bit challenging. But we persevere because we have our own goal: learning how to ask.“What do you think we should focus on in 2012? What are the things that are keeping you from doing your job? What can we do to help you achieve your goals?”The goal setting meeting affords us an opportunity to listen and learn. This is not as easy as it sounds. Our leadership team is comprised of folks who are used to getting things done. No time to talk about why we “have always done it this way”. But our goal setting meetings have changed that.I should clarify here that this process did not come quickly. We still have a few folks that are uncomfortable being asked, and a few cynics who are hard to convince. But again, we persevere because we know that
April 09, 2012
Succession planning for family-owned construction firms is fast becoming the elephant in the room as owners age and the chances of successfully addressing the issue diminish with each generation.According to the business law firm Jordan Ramis PC, 95% of all construction companies are family owned or closely held. Many of those owners are 60 and above and that is where the issue lives. Many owners have no idea how to address the issue. Their families are dysfunctional, their kids don’t want to be involved in the business, and many of them have done little or nothing to create a succession plan for the possible leaders in their firms who might take over and continue the company into the future. The chances for success are against them.
April 05, 2012
Join SER's 47th Anniversary Gala in Houston on April 20, 2012.A few months ago the Construction Citizen team toured the offices and training facilities of SER – Jobs for Progress and wrote about this Houston organization which helps people from low-income neighborhoods turn their lives around by finding careers in a variety of fields including construction. In the video below, Executive Director Nory Angel walks through the facility explaining room by room many of the services SER offers.She talks about the variety of clients who come to SER and the steps a client takes when coming to SER for help getting a job. These include evaluation, working with a “career coach”, and “business etiquette training”, which goes beyond job-readiness skills such as resume writing and includes tips for building rapport with interviewers. Client/students also take different training courses, depending on their interest. These courses include classroom training as well as “hands on” training. Some of the products which have been produced such as traditional rustic wooden ice chests and Adirondack chairs may be available for purchase online next year.
April 04, 2012
