houston construction news september 2015

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www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 13 H Number 9 H SEPTEMBER 2015

Toney Construction Services (TCS) was contracted to expand and ren-ovate the ASCO Equipment Inc.

South Houston location. Utilizing TCS cross-trained self-per-form conference, restroom and retail showroom spaces that progressed quickly. This recently completed project in-cludes new limestone-faced reception and retail counters, a rollup-security door, new lighting that emphasizes the high open ceiling, VCT flooring and an expanse of spiral ductwork, finished in the Case Equipment corporate color scheme, com-pletes the transformation. The project team created a functional and modern-industrial retail environment. Kevin Beisert, TCS, was the senior project manager; Chad Jacobson, TCS, was the project superintendent and the architect was OwneRep Group. “Working with existing conditions of the building that had undergone multi-

ple prior expansions was challenging, but not unusual,” Beisert said. “Matching CASE Equipment corporate color, orange, was also a challenge.” Beisert says the project is unique in that ASCO Equipment is also a construc-tion industry professional. ASCO Equipment provides solutions for material handling, contractors, and for new or used heavy equipment. Aerial equipment, forklift equipment, concrete and various contractor supplies are avail-able at this location. The construction team, architect and owner had weekly meetings to discuss progress and timelines. “Barrett Ingram, ASCO Equipment South Houston branch manager, was great to work with throughout the proj-ect,” Beisert said. “It was an advantage to have a client on-site full time to coordi-nate and be available to quickly work The ASCO Equipment retail showroom

Rosenberg

Owner Richard Rhodes and his wife of 24 years, Jan, began oper-ating ProTect Painters in July. The

Rhodes’ live in Cypress and have been ac-tive in the community for more than 20 years. “I was born and raised on a farm,” Rhodes said. “I had to have building skills from an early age. Over the years, I have worked on painting and construction re-lated projects because it is something I enjoy doing.” Rhodes opened ProTect Painting in the Houston market because it is where he and his wife plan to be long term. They love the area. “I feel blessed because the phone has been ringing left and right and we

have picked up lots of jobs since July,” he said. “I am really excited things are com-ing to fruition.” Rhodes wife Jan is a certified public accountant and she helps out with the fi-nancial side of the business. The couple has three children: Dan-iel, 9; Olivia, 13 and Hannah, 16. They en-joy watching their kids play soccer on the weekends. In addition, they have served in vari-ous leadership capacities in their church. Rhodes worked with both youth and adults as a leader, director, elder and teacher. “I was the teaching director for the teen community Bible study for seven

Richard Rhodes is hopeful for the future. Photo by Monique Castria

What began as a small firm in Hous-ton in 1935 is Lockwood, An-drews & Newnam (LAN) today.

Now celebrating its 80th anniversary, LAN has more than 300 employees in offices across the U.S., including San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, College Station, San Marcos, Waco and its corporate headquarters in Houston. Mason Graves Lockwood and Wil-liam McIntosh Andrews started the firm and in 1946, Frank H. Newnam Jr., a civil engineer and classmate of William An-drews at Texas A&M, joined the firm as a partner. In 1956, the firm took on the name it is known by today. After incorpo-

rating in 1961, the firm grew rapidly and established offices in several Texas cities. In 1991, LEO A DALY, an international ar-chitecture and engineering firm, ac-quired LAN, and expanded LAN’s services and its horizons around the world. “Once I became the president in 1997, I diversified the firm into multiple markets of water, wastewater, transit and transportation,” comments Dennis Pe-tersen, president. “The diversification was one of the key elements that I want-ed to implement. As we expanded into these markets, it gave us a pretty broad base to operate from.

Employees at LAN’s Houston office participated in the cleanup along White Oak Bayou Hike and Bike Trail near downtown on Earth Day.

Photo courtesy of Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc.

Houston Construction News • Sep 2015

Inside trackConstruction News ON LOCATION

Ready to help, Carl Carlton handles inside sales at BlueLine RentalS. Sam Houston Parkway E. store. –ab

C.O. Sturdivant founded Whirl-wind Steel in Houston as a power fan and louver company in 1955. In

the early 70s after he passed away, Jack Sturdivant, C.O.’s son, took over as presi-dent and successfully grew the company from a small single plant manufacturing company to a multi-plant company with a nationwide sales presence. In the early 2000s, Ty Sturdivant, Jack’s son, joined the company and is now president. Whirl-wind remains 100% family owned and operated. In the 60s, Whirlwind began manu-facturing metal building component parts when the fan business began to de-cline as air conditioning systems began to dominate the market. The company began engineering and manufacturing complete metal building system shortly thereafter. A new tool in Whirlwind Steel’s toolbox has Ty Sturdivant excited. “One thing that has excited the team

A Whirlwind trend

at Whirlwind Steel recently was the launch of our online quote designer, he says. “This powerful tool allows users to design their building and get an instant quote with a breakdown of cost.” He says the company’s culture adds to its success. “Treat your customer as a partner,” he says. “Having a strong supply chain is critical to supplying high quality prod-ucts at a competitive price. We have ded-icated employees and we practice fre-quent and consistent communication with customers and suppliers.” The company has frequent corpo-rate events at each of its manufacturing plants, as well as lunches for employees and customers periodically and specifi-cally on Thanksgiving and Christmas. “Whirlwind employees enjoy a wide range of hobbies outside of the office in-cluding golf, hunting, fishing, as well as many other activities,” Sturdivant says. –ab

A Whirlwind Steel crewmember works on a pre-engineered metal building in Houston.


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Houston

Houston Editor — Abby BeMent — [email protected] — 832-595-0091

The Houston Construction News (ISSN 1547-7630) is published monthly by Construction News LTD., dba Houston Construction News, and distributed by mail to construction-related companies in Houston and surrounding counties. 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 Houston 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.

Masons rock the Riverwalk

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

erwalk. –mh

Residential Single Family Texas ResidenceContractor: W.W. Bartlett

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

(CTMCA)

Residential Multi Family - 3 Eleven BowieContractor: Brazos Masonry

Architect: HKSSuppliers: Christopher Stuart Cast Stone, Continental Cut

Stone, Blackson Brick Company, Featherlite, Hohmann & Barnard

Chapter: Central Texas Masonry Contractors Association (CTMCA)

Governmental InstitutionalSt. Peter Chancery – Our Lady Walsingham

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

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

Chapter: Associated Masonry Contractors of Houston (AMCH)

Industrial Commercial - The Gates BuildingContractor: Rick Stone Masonry

Architect: Drewry MartinSuppliers: I-10 Stone Source

Chapter: San Antonio Masonry Contractors Association (SAMCA)

Hardscape Landscape - Centennial GardensContractor: Camarata Masonry Systems

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

Chapter: Associated Masonry Contractors of Houston (AMCH)

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

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

MaterialsChapter: United Masonry Contractor Association of DFW

(UMCA)

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

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

Barnard, Acme Brick

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

Contractor: Shadrock & Williams MasonryArchitect: Munoz & Company

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

(SAMCA)

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

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

Chapter: United Masonry Contractor Association of DFW (UMCA)

In the August Houston Construction News on page 10 in an article about Newport Metal Recycling, it should have said that Newport Metal Recycling was purchased by Jamie Held, CEO, and a California investment group. Shane Leonard is COO and Jonathan Hansen is CFO of the company. –cw

Correction


Economic outlookSubmitted to Construction News

The Associated Builders and Contractors Houston Chapter (ABC) held a Membership Breakfast at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Houston Hobby Airport July 10. Guest

speaker ABC’s Chief Economist Anirban Basu spoke about future trends in the economy on a local and national level. –ab

Transferring your construction business to family

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Laramie LacombeOwner

Laramie Crane LLC

Laramie Lacombe spent more than 10 years running cranes for other companies.

With the help of his wife, Tracy, La-combe started Laramie Crane LLC in 2007. “The early days of our company con-sisted of a lot of early mornings, sleepless nights and a whole lot of no’s,” Lacombe said. “My wife and I literally started Lara-mie Crane LLC in an upstairs hall closet in my home. “ The Lacombe’s eventually converted their closet into a very small office. “Next, we moved from the hall closet to another room in our home and even-tually moved to our shop and current lo-cation in July 2012.” Laramie Crane is a family owned and operated full-service crane rental com-pany servicing Southeast Texas. The company works with power, construction and petrochemical companies. In addition, the company has requests, from setting HVAC units and sign work to more specialized lifts such as tilt walls and cell tower erection.

Where were you born and raised, Laramie? I was born and raised in La Porte in Harris County. It was a great place to grow up. Today, I run my company in my hometown. We plan to stay in La Porte for years to come.

What did you like about growing up in La Porte? La Porte has always been a small country town to me. My family and I literally grew up

across the street from a motocross track that was built with lawnmowers, weed eaters and shovels. My whole childhood was based around that track where we could ride our three wheelers every day after school. Not every kid had the opportunity to grow up like that, and I think that has a lot to do with me chasing cranes all these years, as well as owning my own crane company. Cranes are just big three wheelers and four wheelers to me!

What was your very first job as a teen-ager? My first job was working at Kroger’s as a sacker. I worked after school, on the week-ends and during the summertime to make extra money. Where did you graduate high school? I attended and graduated from La Porte High School.

What did you do after you graduated high school? I went into the U.S. Army and was stationed in Europe.

Why did you decide to open Laramie Crane? It had always been my dream to start my own company. I was very determined to make my dream a reality.

Did you have a mentor in the crane business when you opened your com-pany? I didn’t have a mentor in the industry when I opened Laramie Crane. I have learned so much about the industry since I first got started.

What types of changes have you seen in your industry? The biggest change that I have seen in the past five years in this industry is the need for higher safety standards. Many customers have stricter safety standards than in the past. There are a lot of crane companies in Houston that have lost the “good ole’ boy” way of doing business. Over here at Laramie Crane, I try to keep the “good ole’ boy” relationship go-ing and I think that is a reason why we succeed like we do.

What do you like most about running your own company? I love the freedom of running my business, meeting new people and help-

ing customers complete their projects. I just love the crane industry in gen-eral. I’ve been in this business my entire adult life. It doesn’t get any better than this, I guarantee it.

What are a few positive happenings at the company in 2015? A few positive things that have hap-pened at Laramie Crane are that we have added to our office personnel and we added a 50-ton mobile crane to our fleet. In addition, we were just named one of the 2015 Houston Fast 100 companies.

In your opinion, what are the keys to success in your industry? I think to be successful in this indus-try, it takes having good and well-main-tained equipment, certified personnel and great customer service.

I think it is important to strive to achieve consistent and reliable service through honesty, integrity, excellence, and the treatment of others with dignity and respect. Make safety a number one priority too.

Are you married today? Yes, I have been married to my wife Tracy for 17 years.

Do you and Tracy have any children? Yes, we have three kids; Chasity, 20, Rayne, 13, and Cash, who is about to turn 4.

What are a few hobbies you enjoy when you aren’t at work? In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my wife Tracy and our three kids. I also like working out after work, go-ing fishing at the Texas coast and going hunting with my family and friends. I enjoy doing anything in the great outdoors.

Have you and your family traveled anywhere lately? We travel as a family as often as we can. My family and I recently had a great time traveling to Breckinridge, CO for a skiing trip. It was nice to spend time in the mountains with my family. We always have fun together.

What are your future goals for the company? My future goals for Laramie Crane in-volve leading a company that continues to learn as it grows and takes on new cus-tomers, while still providing my old cus-tomers with my on the job, shake your hand, do it right the first time, every time experience that got us to where we are today. I think 2015 is going to be our big-gest year yet and push us through the door that we have been kicking on for the last couple of years. –ab

Laramie Lacombe goes fishing at the Texas coast.


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

Kayak fishing is really taking off! You may have seen these guys slip-ping silently across the water at dawn in what look to be one man battleships. They have a strong looking sleek hull with all kinds of arms and appendages sticking out of them and some even look like floating UFOs outlined in bright col-orful fish attracting LED lights. Most im-portant they are able to quietly access the most remote and tricky fishing spots without any fear of damage to their boat or motor. They can be paddled, pedaled or have their own custom trolling motor.In short, kayak fishermen are often fish-ing where you want to be without fear and for a fraction of the money it may have cost you to get there! The financial upheaval that we went through a few years ago caused some-thing of a revolution in the boating in-dustry. It became difficult for anyone to get financing for a boat and an awful lot of us found ourselves less willing to pay as much for a new boat in our new econ-omy as we used to. It was a hard wake up call. We all know what a resourceful lot fishermen are. It didn’t take long for peo-ple to start adapting recreational kayaks to be used for fishing! Look at the advan-tages. If you can walk down to the water, you can drop in your kayak. No more finding a boat ramp and waiting your turn. You can slip your rig into the back of your pick-up or just car-top it. No more maintaining and dragging a trailer – the money you save on gas can buy you a room! Best of all you can get a fully rigged, (fish finder, gps, baitwell, rod holders, lights and you name it) for a frac-tion of the cost of a conventional boat! All of these things make kayak fishing a very attractive option for beginning an-

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

The new wavein fishing!

Kayak fishing

Kayak fishing at the falls

Sue Johnson, Construction News, and her husband, Scott, went to Alaska in May. They are in front of Marjorie Glacier in Glacier Bay.“Pictures do not do justice to the beauty of nature up there,” said Sue. “I got to check Alaska and seeing humpback whales off my bucket list!

It was a fabulous trip.” –sj

Alaska awesome

A hungry humpback whale opens wide.


In the mix

Satterfield & Pontikes Construction (S&P) reached a milestone in the construction of Cypress-Fairbanks

ISD’s new Cypress Park High School in northwest Houston. Representatives from S&P, Cy-Fair ISD, PBK Architects and construction crews gathered to celebrate completion of the first stage of the project with a topping-out ceremony at the site located

Topping it off

Representatives sign a beam.

The topping out crews assemble for a door prize drawing.

Steel workers prepare to installthe signed beam.

on FM 529 near Grand Parkway Aug. 19. The $127 million school will provide facilities for standard core curriculum subjects, fine arts, athletics, and career and technical education. The 179-acre site will also accommodate a future middle school and an elementary school. Established in 1989, S & P is a general contractor and construction manager. –ab

Nearly 100 contractors gathered at Crisp Bistro in The Heights, filling the bar and back patio areas Aug. 6. The Associated General Contractors Houston Chapter (AGC) held the member mixer. Congrats to Todd Fisher, Pepper-Lawson Con-

struction LLP, who won an iPad Mini at the event. –ab

Joslin Construction

AGC members catch up with friends in the industry.


Green Building

From promise to performance: the LEED Dynamic Plaque

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cleaner water through greener design

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

Amanda Saldivar, Project EngineerBig Red Dog EngineeringSan Antonio, TX

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

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

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

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

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


continued from Page 1 — Dream to reality

Stand out builds

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

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

2014 Outstanding Construction Awards

B1 Building ($0 - $2M) Nolan Creek Pedestrian and Bike Trail Ex-tension, Barsh Company (Centex) B2 Building ($2 - $5M) Mary Couts Burnett Library West Façade,Linbeck Group LLC (TEXO) B3 Building ($5 - $10M) McGregor ISD New Primary School, Ma-zanec Construction Co. Inc. (Centex) B6 Building (Over $75M) Tobin Center for The Performing Arts, Linbeck Zachry Joint Venture (San Anto-nio) DB1 Design Build ($0 - $10M) KSAT12 Television News Station Head-quarters Addition & Renovation, Bartlett Cocke General Contractors (San Antonio) DB3 Design Build (Over $30M) Parkland Logistics Center, Byrne Con-struction Services (TEXO) HC1 – Health Care ($0 - $10M) Parkway Surgical & Cardiovascular Hospi-tal, Skiles Group Inc. (TEXO) HC2 – Health Care ($10 - $30M) Texas Healthcare Outpatient Center Wil-low Park, Ridgemont Commercial Con-struction (TEXO) HC3 – Health Care (Over $30M) Sky Tower at University Hospital, Zachry Vaughn Layton Joint Venture (San Anto-nio) IF1 – Interior Finish-Out ($0 - $500K)Texas Health Ben Hogan Sports Medicine Southwest Fort Worth, Skiles Group, Inc. (TEXO) IF2 – Interior Finish-Out ($500K - $2M)University of Texas, Active Learning Class-rooms Renovation, McCombs School of Business, Sabre Commercial, Inc. (Austin) IF3 – Interior Finish-Out ($2 - $5M) Vogel Alcove, MAPP Construction (TEXO)IW1 – Industrial/Warehouse ($0 - $5M)VA Energy Center, Mazanec Construction Co. Inc. (Centex) RMF – Residential Multi-Family EastTexas Baptist University Centennial Hall, JE Dunn Construction (TEXO)

RSF – Residential Single Family Malone Cliff Residence, Sebastian Con-struction Group (TEXO) SC – Specialty Construction Dock & Deck Additions on Lake Brazos, Barsh Company (Centex)

B5 Building ($30 - $75M) The University of Houston Student Center Redevelopment,Tellepsen (Houston)

B4 Building ($10 - $30M) Parc Binz One, Linbeck Group LLC (Houston)

DB2 Design Build ($10 - $30M) The Treehouse Memorial City, Anslow Bryant

Construction LTD (Houston)

IW2 – Industrial/Warehouse (Over $5M) Greens Crossing Tract A – HD Supply, Dyad

Construction LP (Houston)

Historical Renovation TAMU Jack K. Williams Administration

Building Renovation, J. T. Vaughn Construction, LLC (Houston)

IF4 – Interior Finish-Out (Over $5M) Francis Hall Renovation, Satterfield & Pontikes

Construction, Inc. (Houston)

years, as well as an elder for more than two years,” he said. “Jan has served in various levels of leadership in women’s and children’s ministries.” As a professional, Rhodes says he has a desire to take his skills acquired over a lifetime and direct them to build the painting business. “I enjoy working with people and helping them achieve their goals of pro-tecting and beautifying their homes and businesses,” he said. “I believe a well ap-plied coat of paint can transform a room

and maximize the beauty of that room.” These days, Rhodes says his number one hobby is fishing. If time allows and the moon is right, he can be found on the bay trying to catch a large speckle trout or redfish with his kids. “In the future, I look forward to se-curing more jobs and working with cus-tomers in the field,” he said. “I want to perfect what I am doing now.” ProTect Painters is a painting contrac-tor providing interior painting, exterior painting and accompanying services. –ab

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continued from Page 1 — 80 years moving forward

continued from Page 1 — Equipped for the job

through any unforeseen conditions or project details.” Ingram says for the three-month du-ration of the project, TCS did not miss or overshoot a single timeline and they completed the job for exactly what was bid. “It was an absolute joy for us to do business with TCS,” Ingram said.

Founded in 1994 by David and Linda Toney, TCS is a general contractor special-izing in office build-outs, commercial re-models and new construction. The compa-ny has expanded from its Houston base into New Orleans, Covington, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, LA. Employing 48 people, TCS maintain offices in Cypress and in Cov-ington, LA. –ab

The limestone-faced reception and retail counters

Up and running

Texas Timber Truss has opened an 18,000-sf facility on three acres three miles south of Magnolia.

President Larry, his granddaughter Jodi and grandson Wade Margreiter have a combined 80-plus years construc-tion experience and 40-plus years heavy timber truss experience. Larry Margreiter started Structural Wood Components in 1990, retired and sold the business in 2008. He decided he wanted to continue working in the industry. “We began to receive calls from a lot of people needing timber trusses,” Mar-gereiter said. “Many were from contrac-tors we had built for when we owned Structural Wood Components. “What really made up our minds was when Walt Disney World from Florida contacted us for trusses, which we have built and shipped two very large jobs.” Margereiter says Texas Timber Truss

has a large facility to accommodate mul-tiple jobs at once, which includes a 30-ton crane. “We manufacture our own steel con-nector plates in house with our automat-ed plasma cutter and all trusses are built by hand,” he said. When asked why he enjoys working in his industry Margereiter says he and his grandchildren enjoy woodworking and seeing the outcome of the product. “In my free time, I like gardening, woodworking of any kind and just relax-ing,” he said. “Wade likes spending quali-ty time with his wife and son and watch-ing sports. Jodi attends church and en-joys spending time with her nephews and nieces, kayaking and playing golf. All three of are Houston Texans fans.” Texas Timber Truss supplies heavy tim-ber trusses for both interior and exterior in-stallations. –ab

The 18,000-sf facility three miles south of Magnolia.

“Also, I wanted to ensure that when the bad times hit, and we all knew they would at some point, we would be able to keep moving forward. Since 1998, de-spite the recent economic recession, we have been profitable every year and have grown substantially.” In Houston, LAN has been working on the City of Houston’s Surface Water

Transmission Program since 1988, and the firm served as prime designer on the $270 million Hobby Airport Redevelop-ment project. LAN is a full-service consulting firm that offers planning, engineering and pro-gram management services. LAN is a divi-sion of LEO A DALY. –mh

More than 80 contractor members recently alligned their safety stand-down demonstrations

during a two-week period to support the Occupational Safety and Health Adminis-tration’s National Fall Prevention Stand-Down. The Associated General Contractors Houston Chapter (AGC) held the event. AGC Houston Director of Safety Ser-vices Kim Mason estimates that more than 12,500 construction workers took part in safety demonstrations on fall pro-tection over the course of two weeks - despite massive rainfall and local flood-ing issues that affected construction job-sites. “This is a great way to expose con-struction workers to the common haz-ards of a jobsite, particularly related to falls,” Mason said. “Several of our mem-bers who are safety consultants volun-teered to lead free demonstrations with fall protection gear, ladders, and even

Safety first

test dummies on job sites across the city. “The dummies are strapped correct-ly and incorrectly with safety harnesses and dropped at various heights to show how the body of a worker reacts when falling. It’s a great visual aid tool that hits home the importance of securing prop-erly the fall protection harnesses.” In addition to leading safety demon-strations in both English and Spanish, AGC Houston members also invited ER and Houston Fire Department represen-tatives to talk about fall rescue proce-dures and trauma caused by jobsite acci-dents. “We are always very happy to see safety numbers trending in the right di-rection, but our members’ commitment to safety is not so much on the move-ment of rates, but simply that every indi-vidual on a job site goes home safely each day to his or her family,” AGC Hous-ton President Jerry Nevlud said. –ab

Contractors learn about safety at the safety stand-down demonstration.


Association CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

ABCAssociated Builders & Contractors

Sep. 3: BBQ Cook-Off and ExpoSep. 23: MixerFor more information call 713-523-6222

AGCAssociated General Contractors

Sep. 21: 5th Annual Construction Career Collaborative Golf TournamentFor more information call 713-843-3700

AIAAmerican Institute of Architects

Sep. 3: AIA Houston Artisan of the Year ExhibitSep. 10: Fall Tour Season Kick-Off at Mar-ket Square ParkSep. 11: Bowl-A-TACFor more information: www.aiahouston.org

ASAAmerican Subcontractors Association

Sep. 10: General Lunch meeting, 11:30am “Adapting to the Ever Changing World of Safety in Construction”Sep. 29: Associate Member Happy Hour, 4pm, Kirby’s LoungeSep. 30: Captain’s Party, 5pmFor more information call 281- 679-187

ASCEAmerican Society of Civil Engineers

Sep. 30 – Oct. 2: Texas Civil Engineering Conference (CECON). For more informa-tion: www.texascecon.org

FEDOTFire Equipment Distributors of TX

Oct. 9: 1st Benefit Golf Tournament for Children-Burn Care at Shriners Hospitals, Plum Creek Golf Course, 750 Kohler’s Crossing, Kyle, TX, 11:30am registration, 1pm shotgun start, raffles & contests, din-ner/awards to follow, for more info: www.fedot.org

FPAFoundation Performance Assoc.

Sep. 9: Monthly meeting, 5pmFor more information: www.foundation-performance.org

IECIndependent Electrical Contractors

Sep. 16: Monthly meetingFor more information call 713-869-1976

NECANational Electrical Contractor Assn.

Sep. 1: LU 527 Pension meetingSep. 2: EMT meetingSep. 3: Coastal Sabine Division meeting and CSLMCC meetingSep. 22: Houston Division meeting w/Af-filiatesFor more information call 713-977-2522

NAWICNat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

Sep. 15: Dinner meeting, 5:30pm, HESS Club, 5430 Westheimer Rd.For more info: www.nawic-houston.org.

PHCC Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors

Sep. 9: Member Lunch, Saltgrass Steak-houseFor more info: www.gulfcoastphcc.org

WCAWomen Contractors Association

Sep. 3: Monthly Luncheon, 11am, Mag-giano’s Little Italy, 2019 Post Oak Blvd.For more information:www.womencontractors.org

(972) 202-5000www.southernfastening.com

®

DFW 972-202-5000 Houston 713-688-3781 Austin 512-248-9005San Antonio 210-481-1313 Valley 956-682-0402

Round-Up

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

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

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

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

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Janis Brackett, AIA, LEED AP, has joined Kirksey as vice president and community team leader. Brackett brings 20 years of architectural expe-rience. Her focus will be leading the community team on nonprofit, worship, recreation and multi-purpose projects, as well as business development. Brackett has a Master of Architecture and Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kansas.

Skanska USA announces the following:

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

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

Byron Bevers, PE, has joined Lock-wood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. (LAN) as a project manag-er. In this role, Bev-ers will be responsi-ble for managing the firm’s infrastruc-ture projects in Montgomery County. Bevers, who worked at LAN as a graduate engineer in 2006, has nearly 10 years of experience. Bevers received his bache-lor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Kristen Owen, PE, has joined Johnston LLC as the director of mechanical engi-neering and Larry Pennington, PE, has joined the company as director of electri-cal engineering. Owen has a B.S. degree in Me-chanical Engineer-ing from Kansas State University and brings more than 19 years of en-gineering and proj-ect management experience in healthcare and research design. P e n n i n g t o n has a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineer-ing and brings more than 44 years of electrical engi-neering and project management expe-rience.

LJA Engineering Inc. has hired Ste-ven Boyd, PE, as a project manager in the firm’s Houston land division. Boyd has more than 10 years of civil engi-neering and con-struction manage-ment experience. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering.

Raba Kistner Con-sultants Inc. has hired Erik Knudsen as building enve-lope consultant, serving the Hous-ton and surround-ing areas. He brings more than 27 years of experience to the Raba Kistner team as a project manager, building envelope professional and esti-mator.

The American Subcontractors Association Houston Chapter (ASA) held a Schmooze & Mingle event at The Refinery Aug. 5. Subcontractors visited with other ASA members

as well as individuals from host E.E. Reed Construction LP. –ab

Ready, set, networkSubmitted to Construction News

Shooting starsSubmitted to Construction News

The Associated Builders and Contractors Houston Chapter (ABC) held a Fall Clay Shoot at the Greater Houston Gun Club Aug. 17. –ab


Lift offSubmitted to Construction News

At your serviceConstruction News ON LOCATION

Making things happenConstruction News ON LOCATION

Safety mattersSubmitted to Construction News

President of Onshore, Engineering & Construction Americas David Zelinski, KBR, traveled from the corporate headquarters in Houston to Louisiana to congratulate employees for

achieving a safety milestone at the Dyno Nobel construction site. KBR surpassed 3 million work hours without a Days Away from Work Incident. –ab

Alfredo Perez operates a forklift at JK Welding. He has worked at the company for seven years. –ab

L-R: Andrew Perez, Danielle Ener, Angelica Baca and Jacob Graf have a productive morning at Lansdowne-Moody Co. in Conroe. –ab

Service technician Cesar Flores, Bill Spitzer & Associates and Vaughn Phillips, general service manager, look at equipment at Four Seasons Equipment Inc. in Houston. –ab

If you have visited Hermann Park, you may have seen Patrick Dougherty’s stickwork installation called Boogie Woogie. The installation, made of sticks and saplings,

is a part of Hermann Park’s Art in the Park project. –ab

Stickwork art


Electrical contractors and suppliers attended the 12th annual Casino Night at the Houston office Aug. 14. The 1920’s speakeasy themed event was a success with 250 attendees raising funds for the association. The Independent Electrical

Contractors Texas Gulf Coast Chapter (IEC) hosted the event. –ab

A roaring good time

IEC members and staff are all smiles.

L-R: Elizabeth Burnham, JD Metals and Kandi Lankford, IEC Texas Gulf Coast Chapter

The “Nouveau Lounge” entrance to the party

Let the casino games begin!

From glass to classSubmitted to Construction News

Luke Lucas, Southwest Glass (right) and his wife Viveanne (left) are the proud parents of Caleb (center), the Houston Area Glass Association (HAGA) 2015 Scholarship winner.

Lucas attended Kempner High School in Sugar Land and will attend Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in California. –ab

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