GCR comes to Weslaco Welcome to the coast Vision and foresight

Transcription

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Volume 1
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Number 8
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AUGUST 2013
Welcome to the coast
Vision and foresight
L-R: (back) Ryan McCarthy, shop foreman; Benny Cantu, lead inspector; Ramon Zuniga,
machine shop technician; (front) Matt Richard, vp; Scott Witkowski, president
L-R: Hector Garcia, Joanna Flores, and Noel Flores have grown
Vision Construction strategically to its 10th anniversary.
F
or weeks, the crew at Mav-Tech,
Inc. was hard at work for preparing
for their official grand opening just
last month in Corpus Christi.
Mav-Tech, a branch of Maverick Testing Labs in La Porte, offers a wide range of
materials testing, welder performance
qualifications, and welder procedure qualifications in their nearly 14,000sf facility.
“We do welder qualification testing
for anybody going into any of the refineries, chemical plants, off-shore welders,
pipeline welders,” said Matt Richard, vice
president, who moved over from Maverick
where he was also their VP. “We also do
testing for the companies that hire those
welders and metallurgical testing.
The plan for the next month is to be-
come the new hub for Maverick’s welder
testing coupons, explained Richard. A
2,500sf space allotted for coupon production will take over “production and
shipping of testing coupons hopefully
throughout the Southern United States,
if not the entire United States.”
The company’s work is not limited to
the immediate coastal area; they can service customers spanning the globe.
“In La Porte, we did quite a bit of
work for customers in Alaska, Canada and
Europe,” said Richard. “A lot of stuff can
be done over email and through mail.
They’ll ship something for testing or fly
their engineers in to do testing in front of
them.”
continued on Page 14
T
en years ago, Noel Flores had a vision of founding his own general
contracting company. Today, he has
a company called Vision Construction.
As president, Flores runs the company with his wife, Joanna G. Flores, COO,
and her father, Hector Garcia, CFO.
“We started our company with the
people you see here,” says Noel Flores,
acknowledging his wife and father-inlaw. “And now we’re 74 strong.”
Flores was a project leader for ConocoPhillips, building pipelines and pads
for drilling rigs. His wife and her father
were in finance. Together, they’ve spent a
decade strategically planning every
move that has taken Vision from doing
installations for Lowe’s and Home Depot
in Laredo to managing operations for
several offices from its corporate headquarters in San Antonio.
“We have the company in three divisions; commercial construction, maintenance, and data communications – we
feel that is the future going forward,”
Garcia explains. “We strategically placed
the offices all along the border in the Rio
Grande Valley from Laredo to Del Rio.”
With other satellites in Sugarland
and Pharr, Vision has also opened a new
location in El Paso, since Homeland Security is one of its biggest clients. The company attained HUB and Small Business
Administration 8(a) certifications and
generated revenue with maintenance
GCR comes to Weslaco
W
eslaco welcomed its newest
business, GCR Tire Center, to
the community with a ribbon
cutting ceremony Jun. 20.
Completed in roughly six
months by Jones Construction, the
16,000sf facility will allow GCR to serve
the area’s growing need for the commercial trucking and industrial tire business.
While the pre-engineered metal
building may seem like a typical industrial structure from the outside, it actually
contains a feature – although common to
the business – that is actually one of a
kind.
“The alignment pit is very intricate,”
said Michael Jones, owner, Jones Construction. “They have several classes of
large vehicles they perform alignments
on, and you can’t use the same equipment for an 18-wheeler that you can on a
delivery vehicle.”
Designed by Hunter Engineering, a
specialist in alignment pits for heavy-duty equipment, the feature is the first of its
kind, allowing two different class of vehicle to be worked on at the same time.
“It’s something that hasn’t been
done before, to have heavy trucks come
in from one side, and medium trucks
come in from the other side and basically
both facilities share the same pit area,”
said Larry Fitzgerald, project manager,
Jones Construction.
Only having to allot one bay out of
four for alignment work increases the efficiency of service the company offers its
customers, explained Jones.
“Most of these types of facilities, you
have two bays taken up for alignment
pits: one for big trucks, and the other for
medium-sized trucks,” said Fitzgerald. “It
seems like just a hole in the ground, but
in their business, it is a tremendous asset
The new GCR facility, built by Jones Construction,
took only six months to complete.
Page 2
South Texas Construction News • Aug 2013
Submitted to Construction News
Supply and demand
Industry FOLKS
Mark Archer
Customer Service
Tejas Equipment Rental
McAllen, Tx
F
L-R: Allyn Archer, president and chief operating officer, HOLT CAT; Corinna Holt Richter;
Peter Holt, chief executive officer, HOLT CAT; Elias Longoria, Edinburg Mayor ProTem;
Julian Alvarez, president & CEO, Rio Grande Valley Partnership; Dave Harris;
and Edinburg City Councilman
HOLT CAT held a groundbreaking ceremony for its future full-service facility
in Edinburg, Tx. Jun. 25. The nearly 40,000-sf facility will provide
heavy equipment parts, service, sales and rentals to the customers
of South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. – bt
Learn to fly in South Texas.
Start a new career or fly for fun.
U.S. aviation is expecting severe pilot
shortage for next several years.
We offer and conduct pipeline patrols
with qualified pilots at reasonable rates.
Alpha Tango Flying Services, Inc.
San Antonio, Texas 210-828-4480
email: alpha.tango@sbcglobal.net
or the past seven years, Texas-native Mark Archer has been working with customers at the McAllen
branch of Tejas Equipment Rental, assisting them with their rental needs.
“It’s not something I’ve ever done
before, but I enjoy getting to meet so
many different people and helping
them figure out what they need,” he
said.
Wanting to remain in the Valley
where he grew up, the newly minted
college grad, with a degree in graphic
design, chose McAllen to start a new
life.
Even though he did not know a
soul in McAllen, he chose the town because he would have a better chance
at finding work and also be able to
stay near his family.
“I chose McAllen because it’s the
largest, most populated area in the
Valley. It’s the most business oriented,”
said Archer. “So that’s the reason I
came to this area to look for work.”
While he had done part-time and
freelance work in his field, Tejas Equipment is the first full-time job he has
had.
It may not be what he studied in
college, but he is quite content with
his current career path.
“I do plan on sticking with this and
making a longer career out of it,” said
Archer. “Down here, it’s a little tough
to find the kind of work I went to
school for. There’s not a real high demand for it. It’s not something I really
plan on pursuing – maybe just freelance – but I don’t really see that as a
way for myself to make a very good living. And I’d rather not leave the area. I
like it down here.”
With a seven-month-old daughter
at home, a good job is that much more
important.
Aside from a job he enjoys and
being near family, Archer takes full advantage of the gorgeous weather and
proximity to the coast.
There are so many activities to enjoy in South Texas, he explained.
“You’ve got hunting, fishing, and visiting the beach. Weather permits us to
be outdoors, maybe, 350 days a year.”
When it comes to outdoor activities, nothing beats fishing in Archer’s
book.
“Fishing is my top priority,” he
said. “Hunting is probably the most
practiced hobby down here in the Valley. Most people love to hunt, but I’d
rather fish. When you’re hunting you
gotta be in stealth mode, quiet, camouflaged. When you’re fishing, it’s
more relaxed. Get on a boat and get
away from everybody. No phones. Just
get away and go relax.” –bt
Alamo Crane is
equipped to handle
any petroleum
related work in
the Eagle Ford Shale.
Setting elevators
on sand silo
From El Paso
to Beaumont,
Amarillo to
Brownsville
34 Years of Service
to Texas
www.alamocrane.com
San Antonio (210) 344-7370
Austin
(512) 282-6866
Toll Free
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Woman-Owned Business
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A
Page 3
Pieces falling into place
Building more than buildings
David Martinez, vice president and manager of H&V Equipment Services,
stands in front of the sign marking the lot of the new San Antonio facility.
L-R: Gilbert Martinez, Joel Stone, Derek McDaniel, Jennifer Coldeway
fter spending 13 years operating
his own company and then H&V
Equipment Services out of the
same building, vice president and manager David Martinez moved down the
road to a bigger, better working space.
The new facility was built from the
ground up for H&V, which is headquartered in Corpus Christi, and offers several
operational advantages, which helps
H&V cover South Texas.
“We’re in a better position to service our
customer base and have better accessibility
to providing a larger inventory of product,”
says Martinez. “Plus, we have a more expanded parts department, and most importantly in our business dealing with construction equipment, service is a factor.
“This equipment does a lot of heavy,
hard work, and so, there is a need of
maintenance and service. With the new
facility, we’re able to better offer our customers a good place to bring the equipment. We also have two mechanics who
can go out and service the equipment in
the field as well.
“Right now, we have a startup group
of about six people. Eventually, we’ll
probably double in size as the business
continues to grow.”
Martinez owned Superior Machinery until H&V owner Bruce Harvey
bought him out two and a half years ago.
“He asked me to work with him for
the reason that I have a footprint in this
area,” Martinez says. “I know a lot of people, and I have a lot of experience in this
business.”
When he’s not leaving his mark on
the business, Martinez, 63, enjoys his favorite hobby, riding his motorcycle
through the Hill Country or taking trips to
Big Bend, New Mexico or Colorado.
When he’s not tour riding, he is with
his family. He has been married for 15
years, and has five children and nine
grandchildren with one on the way. –mp
W
hen Louis Spaw co-founded
SpawGlass General Contractors with Frank Glass six decades ago, he set the priorities and philosophy of the company with a simple
quote, for which he is still remembered
among the nearly 300 employee-owners.
“We don’t just build buildings,” Spaw
said. “We build people.”
Joel Stone is one of those people.
“I’ve been with the company for 25
years,” Stone says, noting that he was
there when the employees bought the
company. “I started as an intern out in the
field just doing labor type work. I became
CEO Jan. 1, 2012.”
Stone points out that in addition to
SpawGlass celebrating its 60th anniversary as a company, “We’re celebrating 20
years of employee ownership, which has
been really exciting and makes for a very
rewarding culture.”
SpawGlass emphasizes developing
their people while building commercial
projects as well as senior living and campus housing. The company also has a
civil division. The corporate personnel
are based in San Antonio, and the company has five other locations in Texas, including Austin, Houston, North Texas
(Fort Worth), and South Texas (Harlingen).
Spaw and Glass met at Rice University in the 1930s, but did not meet again
until 1953 when they founded their company. Their first project was enclosure of
a porch for the organist at Spaw’s church.
The cost was $1,080.18. Today, company
revenue is more than $475 million a year.
“I couldn’t imagine myself being anywhere else,” says Stone. “I enjoy it. It
makes it fun to come to work every day,
and it’s a great challenge. The economy
has been a little bit of a challenge, but it
seems to be coming around as well, so
things are looking up and we’ve got a lot
of exciting things happening here.” –mp
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L-R: Ricardo Solis, Metaform Studio
Architects; Monica Guajardo, Slay
Architecture; Elizabeth Gutierrez, scholarship
recipient; Memo Cavazos, Cavazos
Architects; and Monica Salazar, Hickey Pena
Architects
F
or the past couple of years, the Laredo chapter of American Institute of
Architects (AIA) has awarded scholarships to two students aspiring to study
architecture.
With support from Headwaters
Construction Materials and Interceramic, AIA was able to award $1500 in scholarships to Elizabeth Gutierrez and Nathan Idrogo.
A $500 scholarship is given to a high
school senior who has been accepted to
an architectural related program at a university, while a $1,000 scholarship is
awarded to either an undergraduate or
graduate student enrolled in an architectural related program. –bt
STEEL BAR GRATING
Metelmex International
We are your Steel Bar Grating
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manufacturer so we can pass
the savings on to you.
We offer the following:
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Ladders & Platforms
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Stair Treads
Cut to fit fabrication
All products are bare or
galvanized with serrated
or smooth surface.
Contact us at 210.390.1618 or
855-USGRATING
Come by and visit us at
8799 Crownhill Blvd.
San Antonio, Tx 78209
Page 4
Elton Calhoun, Owner
Regional Steel Products, Inc.
Victoria, TX
I
n 1976, after working for Union Carbide as a mechanical engineer for
nearly eight years, Elton Calhoun,
went into business for himself.
With a partner, Calhoun ran a machining and fabrication shop, Sparkman
Industries, until 1986.
Formed just a few years before his
departure, as a sister company to Sparkman, Regional Steel was little more than
a tiny tin building in Sparkman’s backyard.
Within a few years, the steel distribution outfit outgrew its supporting role,
and Calhoun decided to take it on fulltime as its own separate entity.
Are you a native Texan?
No. In 1969, I graduated from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana,
and moved to Victoria after accepting a
job with Union Carbide as a mechanical
engineer.
Are you from Louisiana, or is that just
where you went to college?
I lived on a farm in North Louisiana
until the sixth grade. After moving from
the farm I attended nine different schools
in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas.
My father was a dragline operator working for Atlas Construction Company
dredging and building levies along the
Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. I graduated from high school in Yazoo City,
Mississippi.
What was it like having to move
around so much?
Moving that much is terrible. I did
not enjoy that, and it’s one of the reasons
I looked for owning a business here in
Victoria - so I could stay and live in one
location and have a place for my children
to call home. I was very fortunate, that
moving as much as I did, I ended up in
Yazoo City, Mississippi my senior year. It
was the only year I played high school
football. I received a football scholarship
to Holmes Junior College in Mississippi
and then later received a scholarship to
Louisiana Tech.
Have you always seen yourself running your own business?
My father-in-law had a degree in engineering and my father worked in construction. Both of them encouraged me
pursue opportunities to personally own a
business. So from day one after I left college, I was always interested in looking at
the possibilities of going into business.
There were several ideas along the way,
and finally ended up being a machining
and fabrication shop. Later, the steel
company – for me – was kind of an accident. But it’s been one of the most enjoyable businesses that I’ve undertaken.
Regional Steel wasn’t your first business then?
When I left Union Carbide, a partner
and I started a machining and fabrication
business here in Victoria. That was in
1976. In 1981, we formed a steel company
that operated out of the backyard of the
parent company. Then in 1986, when my
partner and I split, I took Regional Steel
and he took the machining and fabrication business. In 1986, we moved to our
present location, here in Victoria on
Highway 87, with six employees and
started building the business.
Why start the secondary company?
At the time, the parent company we
had was operating with about 100-125
employees. We were machining and building equipment for the oil field. The fabricating company was using enough steel to
support a startup steel supply company.
That was the reason we started Regional
Steel, to supply the parent company and
the local area with steel products.
At that time, we were only envisioning serving the local area surrounding
Victoria, but I later bought out a company called Victoria Iron and Metal, and expanded the territory to about 75 -100
mile radius around Victoria. After we
moved to our present location in 1986,
we really started expanding our service
area and product lines.
Can you tell me about Regional Steel?
We have about 43 employees. In Victoria, we have our warehouse. In 1986 we
started with a 14,000sf warehouse and a
2500sf office. After several expansions,
we currently have a 42,000sf warehouse
and a 4500sf office. We also have a 20acre yard for steel storage. We have the
sales office in Corpus Christi and one
salesman operating out of San Antonio.
We service all of our customers out of the
Victoria warehouse.
We supply steel to South Texas. We
offer service above the product itself. We
have a staff of sales people that understand the steel products and will work
with our customers to provide them with
a product they’re looking for. Our service
areas are from San Antonio to Corpus
Christi to Victoria and beyond.
We supply steel to the industrial
plants, and to the oil and gas industry. We
also supply steel to the local welders,
ranchers, and farmers. We are a much
larger company than we were in 1986. We
Regional Steel was originally started by Elton Calhoun and a partner
to support the pair’s machining and fabrication shop.
still provide the service to the small customers as well as the larger ones, because
they’re the ones that brought us here.
Why don’t you tell me about your family?
My wife and I have been married for
45 years. Her name is Ann. We have two
daughters and a son. Our son lives in
Round Rock, a daughter in Houston, and
a daughter in San Diego, California. Our
daughters are both CPA’s and our son
runs his own business. We have nine
grandchildren. In Houston, the two
grandsons play baseball and football.
They’re 12 and 14 years old and very involved in sports. Then we have an 8-yearold granddaughter in Houston that’s involved in gymnastics, tennis, and other
things. We try to visit them as often as we
can to support their activities. The boys
and girl come down during the summer
– or when they can – to fish and hunt.
Our daughter in California has two
sons that are five and seven and a daughter who is two. Of course, we go out and
visit with them and they visit us as often
as possible. The boys are in soccer and
baseball and various sports and the little
girl just works on being cute. We try to attend as many games as we can when
we’re out there. I’m sure when the boys
get just a little bit older, we’ll hopefully
be hunting and fishing with them. Our
son has three daughters. They are all musically inclined and participate in sports.
How did you meet your wife?
She was a senior in high school on
the junior college campus where I was attending college. She was a cheerleader,
and her mother taught French. I took
French under her mother and somewhere along the way we met and dated
for almost four years – off and on – before
we were married.
We married after my college football
career was over. I played four years of college ball, but I still had one year of school.
We married after my fourth year of college.
Has she had any involvement with either of your business ventures?
Basically, she has come in to the business two or three different times. She
would get things in order; then she would
go back to being a stay-at-home mom
and community volunteer.
Elton Calhoun with his wife of 45 years, Ann Owen Calhoun
Do you and your wife share any activities or hobbies?
My wife and I travel pretty extensively. We’ve been to six different continents.
We’ve been to China, South America, Europe and Russia. Basically, we just got
back here a few months ago from Peru –
on the headwaters of the Amazon and
the rainforest. Every year, we try to get together with some friends, and make
plans for a two-week trip some place.
Last year, we were on a river cruise for
three weeks down the Danube and the
Rhine. Previously, we were in Egypt for a
couple of weeks, cruising on the Nile.
That was 4-6 weeks before the political
uprising occurred. I’d be hard-pressed to
tell you all the places we’ve been. We really travel one to two – and sometimes
three – major trips a year.
My wife and I were not able to travel
when we were a lot younger because I
was too busy trying to build a business.
So vacation was very tough. We’ve tried
to make up for it in the last 10-15 years.
Is there a trip that stands out most?
I would have to say the China trip.
We got to spend some time on the
Great Wall, we saw the Terra Cotta Warriors, and we sailed down the Yangtze
River.
The most beautiful country we’ve
been to is New Zealand. Australia was an
awesome trip also.
Any plans on visiting Antarctica; hit all
seven continents?
We had a chance to go to Antarctica
when we went on a South American
cruise. But the cost just to set foot on the
continent; I didn’t feel was justifiable. It
wasn’t even a sure thing to get to do that.
So really, I have no real plans of making
the seventh continent.
Any place you have to see?
Vietnam. Some of the Asian countries - we haven’t spent very much time
there. But the one thing I would really like
to do, possibly in the next few years, is
spend more time seeing the U.S. We
spent a lot of time in foreign countries,
but we have spent very little time exploring places here in the U.S.
Since making a home for yourself and
your family has always been paramount, do you feel you’ve accomplished that in Victoria?
Victoria is home. Even though my
children live in other places, they call Victoria home.
My wife and I have both been very
committed to Victoria. I am presently
Commissioner for the Port of Victoria,
serve on the Victoria Economic Development Board, serve on the College Foundation Board – which I’ve been president
of –, and the YMCA. I’ve been President of
the Chamber of Commerce, Texas Association of Businesses, and ABC. When we
moved to Victoria, my wife and I both
committed to doing what’s best for the
city, the surrounding area, and the state
of Texas.
How do you find the time for everything?
I have a great staff at Regional Steel.
They take care of the business. I am very
fortunate to have a committed staff and
supportive employees. This allows my
wife and I time to travel and do volunteer
work in the community.
Any plans or goals?
I have this company set up to hopefully continue to grow. Basically, what I
would like to do is spend more time traveling with the family and visiting with the
grandkids. No plans to retire, just plans to
work less. –bt
Page 5
Proposed lease accounting
changes will affect all
Enforceable of forum selection
and choice of law clauses in
litigation and arbitration
Cari Takao, CPA
Fisher, Herbst & Kemble, P.C.
San Antonio, TX
M
ost construction companies lease office space,
construction equipment, vehicles and/or office
equipment. A revised Exposure Draft on lease accounting was issued in May 2013 to increase transparency and
comparability among organizations by recognizing
lease assets and liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information.
Current accounting models for leases require lessees and lessors to classify
their leases as either operating or capital
leases thereby resulting in two different
accounting treatments.
Proposed Guidance
A lessee would recognize assets and
liabilities for any lease that exceeds a
Short Term Lease (a lease, at the commencement date, that has a maximum
possible term under the contract including any options to extend, of 12 months
or less and that does not contain a purchase option).
This revised Exposure Draft requires
an entity to classify a lease as either a
Type A or a Type B lease. The following
criteria are used to determine lease type:
• If the underlying asset is not real property, it is a Type A lease unless one of the
following is met:
a. The lease term is for an insignificant
part of the total economic life of the underlying asset.
b. The present value of the lease payments is insignificant relative to the fair
value of the underlying asset at the commencement date.
If either is met, the lease is a Type B
lease.
• If the underlying asset is real property,
it is a Type B lease unless one of the following is met:
a. The lease term is for the major part of
the remaining economic life of the underlying asset.
b. The present value of the lease payments accounts for substantially all of the
fair value of the underlying asset at the
commencement date.
If either is met, the lease is a Type A
lease.
• If a lessee has a significant economic incentive to exercise an option to purchase
the underlying asset, a lease must be
classified as a Type A.
Under the revised Exposure Draft, a
lessee would do the following:
• For all leases other than Short Term
Leases, a right-of-use asset is debited and
a lease liability is credited, (measured at
the present value of lease payments).
• For Type A leases, amortize the lease liability similar to an amortizing loan and
amortize the right-of-use asset on a systematic basis. The lessee would record
the discount on the lease liability as interest expense separately from the amortization expense of the right-of-use asset.
• For Type B leases, amortize the lease liability similar to an amortizing loan and
amortize the right-of-use asset in each
period so that the lessee would recognize the total lease cost on a straight-line
basis over the lease term. In each period,
the lessee would record a single lease
cost combining the discount with the
amortization of the right of use asset
(yielding same expense as existing rules).
The revised Exposure Draft would require that a lessee and a lessor measure
assets and liabilities arising from a lease
at the present value based on an applicable discount rate using:
• The lease term determined as the noncancellable period, together with both of
the following:
– Periods covered by an option to extend
the lease if the lessee has a significant
economic incentive to exercise that option.
– Periods covered by an option to terminate the lease if the lessee has a significant economic incentive not to exercise
that option.
• The fixed lease includes payments and
variable lease payments that depend on
an index or a rate (such as CPI) but excludes other variable lease payments unless those payments are in-substance
fixed payments.
The final outcome of this revised exposure draft will be dependent on the
comments received by September 13,
2013. Be aware that the accounting treatment proposed will add debt to the balance sheet which could affect debt covenants and common ratios sureties review. We have prepared a spreadsheet
template that you can use to determine
the accounting entries for Type A and
Type B leases under the proposed exposure draft. Please email me if you would
like a copy.
Cari Takao, Shareholder, CPA can be
contacted at ctakao@fhkcpa.com. Fisher,
Herbst & Kemble, P.C. is a full service accounting firm performing assurance, tax
preparation/planning and accounting services.
R. Carson Fisk, Shareholder
Ford Nassen & Baldwin P.C.
Austin, TX
A
dispute that heads to litigation or arbitration will be
time consuming and expensive. If a Texas-based
contractor is forced to litigate or arbitrate a case in a different state, possibly under that state’s laws, the time and expense can increase dramatically. Licensed local counsel may be needed (or required) to help navigate procedural issues and to address points on substantive law. The contractor will be at the
mercy of the local market in determining cost—a significant factor when one considers the difference between the hourly rates of attorneys in the various states. Travelrelated matters will also require additional time and money, in addition to the uncertainty that comes with being involved in such a case.
For projects that take place in Texas,
any disputes that arise would typically be
addressed in Texas, under Texas law.
That, however, can change where the
parties agree otherwise. Owners and
contractors based outside of Texas often
include forum selection clauses in their
downstream contracts, which select a location where any dispute is to be resolved. They also often include choice of
law clauses, which require that any dispute be governed by a certain state’s
laws. More often than not, the home base
of the upstream party serves as the foundation for both types of clauses. For example, a California-based contractor may
require that its Texas-based subcontractors on a Texas project arbitrate any disputes in California under California law.
While Texas is a state that generally
promotes the concept of freedom of contract under which parties can make whatever deals they choose, some contract
provisions are considered unenforceable
as a matter of public policy. Such is the
case with forum selection and choice of
law clauses like those described above.
Under chapter 272 of the Texas Business
and Commerce Code, Texas law provides
that “[i]f a [construction] contract contains a provision making the contract or
any conflict arising under the contract
subject to another state’s law, litigation in
the courts of another state, or arbitration
in another state, that provision is voidable by the party obligated by the contract to perform the construction or repair.” In theory, this statute serves to keep
disputes related to Texas projects in Texas. Such a policy makes sense, as Texas
has an interest in having disputes that
arise within its borders resolved here.
The statutory option may sound
promising for a Texas-based contractor,
particularly one who neglected to review
forum selection and choice of law clauses
before signing a contract. However, vari-
ous courts have limited the effectiveness
of this statute. A federal court in Texas
has ruled that the statute did not apply
to a subcontract agreement on a federal
project at Fort Hood as to permit its use
“would amount to Texas [improperly] exercising legislative jurisdiction over
property located entirely within the federal enclave.” A Texas state court has
ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act,
which governs arbitrations that involve
interstate commerce, preempted the
Texas statute as the statute was inconsistent with the requirements of the Federal Arbitration Act. A federal court of appeals that covers Texas has made a similar ruling as to a Louisiana statute. The
practical effect of these rulings is that
where a federal project is involved or interstate commerce is involved (and the
Federal Arbitration Act controls), forum
selection and choice of law clauses may
be (and in many cases likely) enforced,
despite the existence of Texas statute
that says they may not be.
For a contractor, this entire exercise
can be frustrating. Procedural fights,
which flesh out the standards used by
courts in addressing these matters, are
time consuming and expensive. Contractors need to be informed—at the contract negotiation stage—as to how they
would prefer to address forum selection
and/or choice of law clauses. They certainly should not rely on Texas statutes
and public policy to serve as a means of
protecting them from the inconvenience
and cost of litigating or arbitrating out of
state under another state’s laws.
R. Carson Fisk is a shareholder at Ford
Nassen & Baldwin P.C. in Austin. The firm
focuses on the representation of construction industry participants. He may be
reached at 512-236-0009 or by e-mail at:
rcfisk@fordnassen.com.
Specializing in Industrial Scrap Metal
& Container Service
We buy Aluminum, Brass, Copper, Iron, Stainless Steel,
Steel, Brass & Radiators
2300 Frio City Rd.
927-2727
www.monterreyiron.com
Page 6
Omni keeps South Texas rolling
Contractual indemnifications:
The third party over action risk
Wes Pitts, Assistant Vice President
USI Southwest
Austin, TX
O
kay so we thought most of our problems were
solved when Texas sought to regulate construction
indemnity effective January 1, 2012. Offering non professional legal review of customer’s contracts, I can tell
you that I’ve never seen more dissimilar, lengthy and often convoluted indemnification language in Texas construction contracts today..the “whatever’s” and “whatsoever’s” are more rampant than ever!
Of particular issue is the risk of “third
party over action” in which the lower tier
contractor’s employee, after recovering
Workers’ Compensation benefits, can sue
third parties, including an upper tier (hiring contractor), claiming that their negligence or fault contributed to the injury.
In light of the prevalence of these actions
in Texas, the new law contains an exception for bodily injury to the indemnitor’s
employees, and so this continues to be a
particularly acute issue for Texas contractors. Under those circumstances, indemnification of the indemnitee’s own negligence is still allowed. So is this fair? Well,
first I think that it is important to know
that the new law just states what’s no
longer allowed with exceptions, however, it does not obligate one party to
agree – in other words, just because a
contractor can legally ask another contractor to indemnify them for their own
sole negligence with respect to the hired
contractor’s employee injuries, this does
not force the hired contractor to agree to
this. I am not trying to get you thrown
out from being considered on projects,
because that can and will happen in
many cases when you push back! Let’s
consider this further, really if that hiring
contractor due to their own sole negligence causes your (hired contractor’s)
employee to be critically hurt or injured,
should you have to defend that hiring
contractor if your employee brings suit
against them when you had nothing to
do with the incident at all? Any contractor will likely answer that this is a risk you
must be willing to take, a privilege for being hired and for us allowing your employees onto our job site. Well let’s keep
going and see if you still feel this is a fair
deal. Okay, let’s use an example to make
a point here, your employee is up on the
third floor of a building under construction - the hiring contractor has a debris
detail employee with no OSHA training
under the influence running a forklift
that accidentally runs into or over your
employee – your employee is seriously
injured. Now, recall you’ve signed an indemnification agreement whereby you
agree to hold harmless and indemnify
the hiring contractor even for their own
sole negligence with respect to injuries
to your employees..still legal in Texas!
Well then now not only have you
(the hired contractor) submitted a Workers’ Compensation claim for your employee, but your employee retains an attorney and brings suit against the hiring
contractor – here we come third party
over action claim! The hiring contractor
is then going submit this as claim right
back to you under the terms of their subcontract with you - your insurance carrier
has joined in the fun by supporting you
with an Additional Insured endorsement
issued to the hiring contractor that no
doubt has the “arising out of” wording in
it, because you know that hiring contractor insisted on the AI that dates back 28
years to 1985 or its equivalents, you know
the ones!
At this point you have to additionally
submit this to your Commercial General
Liability carrier to step up and pay for the
defense of the hiring contractor under
the terms of the contract that you signed
with them – yes that’s right you are now
paying for their claim from your employee that was hurt by their own fault under
your CGL policy, all the while your good
employee who’s hurt hasn’t a clue the
position he’s put you into here as he just
assumes you only have the Workers’
Comp. claim on him. Now is this fair?, the
hiring contractor has an operator “under
the influence” with no training that darn
near paralyzes your employee, and now
you not only have a Workers’ Comp.
claim on your hands that is going to kill
your experience, but now you’re also
dealing with potentially very sizeable
CGL claim – a “Third Party Over Action”
nightmare!
Some contractors may say we have
to get work and this is what we buy insurance for and a risk we have to take...okay
that’s fine, but have you seen what the
insurance marketplace has been doing
lately?…rates up, and a $1-$2MM loss on
your record and possibly add another
$1MM from your Umbrella isn’t going to
help you when it comes renewal time
(From Liability underwriter’s, “what is
your insured doing with respect to risk
transfer and avoiding over action claims?,
how much premium do we need to support this account’s losses?”)
How you ask yourself could I have
fared better? Well, at some point maybe
you have to consider, even for employee
claims, only indemnifying that hiring
contractor to the extent that you cause
the loss in whole or in part by any negligent act or omission of yours or anyone
that you directly or indirectly employ, or
by anyone for whose acts you may be liable. But instead you really wanted that
job and you didn’t want to “rock the
boat”, so you signed the contract as presented –after all you’ve got a great relationship with that contractor. Just want
to make sure that you understand again..
the new law does not force you to agree
to this on employee claims – there is just
an exception to the new law whereby in a
Texas construction contract a contractor
can still ask for this kind of what we call
“broad form” indemnity in their contract
on employee claims, but it does not force
you to agree to it.
Your agent should be able to offer
non legal guidance to you in the area of
contract review (this advice should not
replace the need for review by the insured’s own legal counsel), but give your
agent time, after all like I said the “whatever’s ” and “whatsoever’s” are more
rampant than ever out there!
Wes Pitts is a native Austinite with 25
years experience in sales and servicing of
commercial insurance, bonding, employee
benefits, retirement solutions and wealth
management. He is a six-time Pinnacle
producer for USI Southwest, and leads the
Construction Practice for their Austin office.
Wes can be contacted at 512-651-4107 or
at: wesley.pitts@usi.biz
E
Jason Martin and Steven Floyd of Omni Industrial Tire in Corpus Christi
prepare to service a customer in the field.
arlier this year, Omni Industrial Tire
expanded its presence in South Texas by opening a branch in Corpus
Christi: their third in the region.
Founded in San Antonio 12 years
ago, Omni, a specialist in the sale, service
and installation of forklift, construction
and agricultural tires, operates four locations across the Lone Star state including
McAllen and Laredo.
Tires might not come to mind first
when one thinks of vital equipment, but
downtime due to a flat can mean more
than lost time, explained Paul Spalla,
president and owner, Omni.
“People that use heavy equipment
as a profession, they can’t afford to have
the downtime of a flat tire.”
To head off the havoc something as
seemingly as innocuous as a flat can
wreak on a jobsite, Omni offers flat proof
poly tire filling.
It is a two-step process that basically
solidifies the tire, explained Spalla. Making them totally flat proof.
“South Texas, especially with the
rocky terrain, is a very tough market on
tires,” he said. “The technology has been
out there a couple of decades. We’ve just
refined it. So what they buy when they
get their tire filled, they’re buying their
uptime.”
Spalla started Omni Tire more than a
decade ago, “with two people, one little
place, and not much else.”
Omni Tire is not the only business
Spalla has his name attached to. It actually falls under the umbrella of Omni
Wholesale Equipment, Inc., along with a
number of other related subsidiaries all
bearing the Omni name.
Spalla describes the growth of his
business venture over the past few years
as controlled and calculated.
“It was my desire to cover the market, but we took things slowly – took
them one at time,” he said. “First order of
business was finding the right people. As
we found the right people, we found the
rest of the pieces. We’re very fortunate to
be in South Texas. We’d like to continue
to grow and be part of the community –
to give back,” said Spalla. “It’s by far the
most fun I’ve ever had in my career.” – bt
Industry FOLKS
Daniel Johnson
Branch Manager
Otto Dukes Corpus Christi
S
ince he was barely out of high
school, Daniel Johnson has been
working for Otto Dukes Corpus Christi
in some capacity.
“When I started here, I was 19. I
didn’t know anything about anything.
Just did deliveries and started working
my way up.”
More than a decade later, Johnson
is the shop’s branch manager.
While he has been at the construction supply store for about 12 years,
Johnson took a brief hiatus during that
time to work for his family’s flooring
business.
“I left to go work for my parents for
a while. It was a local company they
had purchased. I did estimating there.
Did that for a while, but the company
didn’t make it. I had the opportunity to
come back to Otto Dukes, so I jumped
on that.”
So for the past nine years, Johnson
has been working his way up the proverbial corporate ladder.
“I have many goals, but one for
work is definitely to help the company
move forward, succeed, and grow.
Maybe someday I’ll even have the
chance to become an owner. The current owner started off as a salesman.
Anything is possible.”
As a Texas native, Johnson has
been in Corpus Christi his entire life,
and would not have it any other way.
“Corpus Christi – born and raised. I
love it. Corpus, at times, still has that
small-town atmosphere to it.”
Like a lot of Texans, Johnson also
avails himself of the bounty of wild
game the state has to offer.
“I love going fishing and hunting –
deer, dove, hog – anything I can go after. There’s plenty of it all over the place.
South Texas is the perfect location. You
have the beach right here. You go an
hour up the road, and you get into some
nice hunting country.”
Four years ago, Johnson was lucky
enough to marry a woman who enjoys
some of his favorite activities as much
as he does.
“She really enjoys the beach, and
she got in to racing because of me. We
both love doing that. It makes it very
easy to get along.”
When not otherwise occupied in
one of his outdoor pursuits, on occasion, Johnson has made the nearly seven-hour trek up north to Texas Motor
Speedway.
“I don’t have a favorite driver; kind
of like them all. I’m just a fan of the
sport. Got into it after high school. Had
a friend get me in to it.” – bt
Page 7
Laguna Madre
water conditions
improve
by Capt. Steve Schultz
Sponsored by:
Premier Yamaha Boating Center, Majek
Boats, E-Z Bel Construction, Power Pole
Shallow Water Anchor, Aggregate Haulers, Interstate Batteries, Pure Fishing,
Mirr-O-Lure and Columbia Sportswear.
W
hat a drastic change in water
conditions since my last column.
The stained brown water that
has plagued the Upper Laguna Madre
since the beginning of spring is finally
starting to clear out. I can’t say that it’s
completely gone, but it sure has improved enough for us to see the sand
pockets and grass lines that are key to the
success of catching fish. I guess only time
Larry Roberts, San Antonio, caught this 35-inch redfish along the rocks of the
Kennedy shoreline using live croaker. Fish photoed and measured for a replicia
mount and released by Capt. Steve Schultz.
will tell if the brown tide will stay gone
for the remainder of the year.
With that news, I can report that fishing has improved in the Upper Lagoon
from the JFK Causeway to the mouth of
Baffin Bay. Although the water clarity has
improved, the salinity levels in our bay
systems remain high. The lack of spring
rains and increasing drought conditions
is really starting to become apparent by
the amount of salt on my boat and equipment each day.
Fishing strategies will continue to be
the same as the previous month. Both
STEVE SCHULTZ OUTDOORS, LLC
BAFFIN BAY –– LAGUNA MADRE –– LAND CUT
SPECKLED TROUT –– REDFISH –– FLOUNDER
FISHING AND HUNTING TRIPS
(361) 949-7359
www.baffinbaycharters.com
steveschultzoutdoors@gmail.com
U.S. Coast Guard &
Texas Parks and Wildlife Licensed
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speckled trout and redfish are being
caught around grass flats with scattered
sand pockets. Early morning feeds produce your best bites in three to four-ft.
water while mid-morning and afternoon
bites coming off deeper drop-offs where
water is a bit cooler. We will continue to
work these areas free lining croakers and
piggy perch through the end of the summer. Later in the month we will keep a
keen eye for schooling reds along the
King Ranch shorelines making their way
to the gulf. If winds get calm and your
bite dies early, you may want to try fish-
ing the Packery jetties or even the surf.
Speaking of the surf: Surf fishing
brings a new excitement to late summer
charters that have had so-so trips in the
bay systems. Trips are usually quick when
conditions are right, and limits of trout
are usually a common occurrence. He
who cannot cope with the humiliation of
being skunked should leave surf fishing
to those battered salts that over the years
have come to expect the good with the
bad, the worst with the best. When fishing the surf, one must follow a few guidelines. Surf fishing can be very dangerous
especially when fishing from a boat if a
few precautions are not taken.
Trust not the weatherman, but your
instincts. They will serve you well, especially if you have a faithful beachfront informant who can look out of the window
of his or her beach house, surf shop or
pier concession and provide current lowdown on water conditions. Weather can
change suddenly with just a slight wind
increase making it harder to maintain
balance and footing in the boat.
Along with the heat of summer
months comes dehydration. Everyone
should make sure to dress in light colored clothing, wear a hat or cap and drink
plenty of fluids to keep you hydrated.
Now booking dates for fall months. I
can be reached by phone at (361) 8133716 or by e-mail at SteveSchultzOutdoors@gmail.com. Also please visit my
website at www.steveschultzoutdoors.
com for more info and photos.
Good luck and good fishing.
Page 8
Ken Milam’s Fishing Line
Sponsored by Tropical Marine and Honda Marine
My name is Ken Milam and, for the past 26 years, I have been guiding fishing trips for striped bass on
Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity of getting to know
a good many folks in the construction trade.
Weather’s hot
and the fishing
is too!
spheric pressure changes that can turn
stripers off cold.
T
he last couple of years here on Lake
Buchanan, we have often been doing a lot of fishing and some catching, but this year is completely different.
Knock on wood, ‘cos I don’t want to jinx
it, but this year is turning out to be more
of a fish catching year than we have seen
in quite a while.
Texas Parks and Wildlife always does
a good job of stocking Buchanan with
stripers. We did have a couple of years
where we had to share our normal number of fingerlings with some of the other
lakes that needed help re-establishing
their striper population after being hit by
golden algae. That decrease in stocking
and the drought roller coaster did hurt
our fishing. Anglers and businesses on
Buchanan saw the problem and set about
a solution.
The Lake Buchanan Conservation
Corp. was established with the mission to
do anything possible to restore and
maintain the lake as a premier fishery.
Money was raised and TPWD granted
permission for stocking of hybrid stripers
in Lake Buchanan.
Now we are several years down the
line. The hybrid stocking program has
successfully provided us fishermen with
large numbers of feisty, hungry fish that
are now big enough to keep. As hoped,
the white bass parentage in the hybrid
stripers does seem to make them more
tolerant of the warm summer time lake
water and less skittish about the atmo-
Fish stocking by Lake Buchanan Conservation Corp.
Lake Buchanan Conservation Corp.
has worked to add good brush piles to
the lake for crappie habitat and worked
to help educate folks on the ways to tell
the difference between white bass, stripers and hybrids, so they can more easily
avoid fines for limit violations. Even in
the drought, they are working to take advantage of low water levels to build and
improve launching ramps for better public access to the lake.
So far this year we have had much
improved fishing, limiting out the majority of our charter fishing trips. In spite of
the falling lake level and rising temperatures, we continue to see good stringers
of stripers as well as hybrids. The catfish
have been feeding good on the plentiful
grasshoppers that are flying this year too,
making chasing blue cats just that much
more fun. You should see some of those
big old blues just cruising right below the
surface slurping up grasshoppers! We
even had one striper trip that caught a
nine-lb. largemouth in the frenzy.
Unusual circumstances on the water
can yield some crazy good fishing, and
we are happy to be in the middle of it and
be able to see so many families coming
out to join in the fun. This is certainly the
kind of fishing you want the kids to get in
on, so they can develop a life-long love of
fishing. I’m happy to report that the next
generation of anglers is coming on
strong!
Tight lines, ya’ll!
Ragsdill-McLemore, Magnum Custom Trailers bunch showing kids fishing
Half or Full Day Fishing Trips
All Bait, Tackle & Equipment
Furnished
Your catch Filleted and
Bagged for You
Furnish your TPWD Fishing
License & Refreshments,
and WE DO THE REST!
Ken Milam Guide Service
(325) 379-2051
www.striperfever.com
Page 9
The heat is on
T
he U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has kicked off
a national outreach initiative to educate
workers and their employers about the
hazards of working outdoors in hot
weather. The outreach effort builds on
last year's successful summer campaign
to raise awareness about the dangers of
too much sun and heat.
"For outdoor workers, 'water, rest
and shade' are three words that can make
the difference between life and death,"
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said. "If
employers take reasonable precautions,
and look out for their workers, we can
beat the heat."
Every year, thousands of workers
across the country suffer from serious
heat-related illnesses. If not quickly addressed, heat exhaustion can become
heat stroke, which has killed – on average
– more than 30 workers annually since
2003. Labor-intensive activities in hot
weather can raise body temperatures beyond the level that normally can be
cooled by sweating. Heat illness initially
may manifest as heat rash or heat cramps,
but quickly can become heat exhaustion
and then heat stroke if simple prevention
steps are not followed.
"It is essential for workers and em-
ployers to take proactive steps to stay
safe in extreme heat, and become aware
of symptoms of heat exhaustion before
they get worse," said Dr. David Michaels,
assistant secretary of labor for OSHA.
"Building, road and other construction workers; utility workers; roofers;
landscapers; and others who work outside are all at risk. Drinking plenty of wa-
ter and taking frequent breaks in cool,
shaded areas are incredibly important in
the hot summer months."
In preparation for the summer season, OSHA has developed heat illness
educational materials in English and
Spanish, as well as a curriculum to be
used for workplace training. Additionally,
a Web page provides information and re-
sources on heat illness – including how to
prevent it and what to do in case of an
emergency – for workers and employers.
www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/index.
html.
OSHA also has released a free application for mobile devices that enables
workers and supervisors to monitor the
heat index at their work sites. The app
displays a risk level for workers based on
the heat index, as well as reminders
about protective measures that should
be taken at that risk level. Available for
Android-based platforms and the iPhone,
the app can be downloaded in both English and Spanish by visiting http://s.dol.
gov/RI.
In developing last year's inaugural
national campaign, federal OSHA worked
closely with the California OSHA and
adapted materials from that state's successful campaign. Additionally, OSHA is
partnering with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
for the second year to incorporate worker
safety precautions when heat alerts are
issued across the nation. NOAA also will
include pertinent worker safety information on its heat watch Web page:
www.noaawatch.gov/themes/heat.php.
–bt
A tail of two deer
Lion around
Last summer Brianne
Thoen, South Texas
Construction News editor, took a trip to the
Pacific Northwest. As
a non-native Texan,
she
desperately
needed some respite
from the heat, and
Oregon seemed like
the most logical
choice. Part of her
brief sojourn was
spent in the Port of
Astoria where these
sea lions laze about
the
piers.
They
seemed to be enjoying to cool weather
almost as much as
she did. – bt
“The White Tail Deer were killed on the Ernst Triple T Ranch in Artesia Wells,
just south of Cotulla. It was the boys’ first deer hunt and they both made perfect
shots. Since that time, we have been on a couple of other hunts where they
bagged another deer each and several ducks,” said Elton Calhoun, president,
Regional Steel. “These Grandson hunt or fish with me several time a year, when
they can get time from participating in baseball, football, and basketball.
They are a joy to spend time with.”
Front: Kyle McShaffry and Ryan McShaffry
Back: Elton Calhoun, Regional Steel, and Mark McShaffry –bt
Page 10
S
South Texas Shale
Not so new kids on the block
iblings, Katty Boyd and Brooks
Heights, were born and raised in
the South Texas town of Big Wells.
Growing up on a working ranch, they
know the value of a hard days work.
Growing up on a ranch also exposed
them to working with oil companies something that would serve them well
when they decided to go in to business
for themselves.
“My brother and I wanted to venture
off and do something on our own, as opposed to the family ranch,” said Boyd.
In 2011, the brother and sister duo
founded H2 Land Services, an oilfield land
services company that provides construction, lease crews, maintenance, and cleanup work for companies across South Texas,
primarily in the Eagle Ford Shale play.
Boyd and Heights did not go in to
the business blindly. The pair already had
much of the heavy equipment and
knowledge necessary, having done a lot
of work on their own ranch for oil companies, explained Boyd.
“We started off with about six drivers, 18-wheelers, and belly-dumps,” she
said. “Then in 2012, we ended up with
construction and lease crews. And now
we’re up to 30 employees.”
H2 offers a wide range of services,
explained Rusty Nugent, senior project
manager, who came on board about six
months after the company’s inception.
“We put in locations for drilling operations, go out and build pads, put
roads in, dig reserve pits, tank batteries,
and plumbing on the tanks,” he said.
Boyd’s degree in business administration and accounting has proven invaluable, and the perfect compliment to
her brother’s skill set. While she handles
the books and the business management, Heights is responsible for what
goes on outside the office.
“He runs the guys, makes sure all
equipment and vehicles are in proper
working order – all the outside kind of
work,” she said.
The co-owners hope to eventually
branch out beyond oil field services to
commercial construction work.
“We’ve been visiting with builders
and general contractors more for government and city work,” said Boyd. “See if
we can come in and do some dirt work
for these general contractors.”
The pair hopes their continued success and growth means more than just
padding their bank accounts.
The H2 Land Services staff has grown to a crew of 30 since opening its doors just two years ago.
“Being raised here, we just enjoy being here. We know the area, we know the
people, and we know the companies who
are around. We’ve been here all our lives,”
said Boyd. “We’re here to stay. Hopefully
we’ll be successful and be able to contrib-
ute back to our community. We feel
strongly that being from here, and now
that we have a little more than before, we
can try to redistribute that wealth and invest back in our community.” – bt
A move that paid off
H2 crew in action
W
L-R: Andres Salazar, Nick Kernohan, and Romeo Garza surveying
for an oil project just east of Pleasanton.
hen drilling rigs started leaving
the Haynesville Shale Play about
five years ago for the more fertile soils of the Eagle Ford Play, KSA Energy Services had little choice but to take
a gamble and follow right behind them.
“In the oil and gas business, it’s very
mobile,” said Mike Burns, vice president
and principle, KSA. “You gotta go where
the activity is.”
Not just merely concerned about following the money, one of the company’s
biggest concerns was the ability to support their staff.
“We had a pretty significant staff
working in the Haynesville, who were fixing to be without work if we didn’t do
something,” said Burns. “And we’re all
about creating and retaining jobs for
people.”
When the company, a division of KSA
Engineers, first opened their office in
Pleasanton, the main focus was surveying – precisely the work they had been
performing in Haynesville.
“We’re still doing a lot of surveying,
but we’ve started to move in to more engineering, construction management,
material procurement,” said Burns. “By
partnering with third party providers,
we’re bringing full-service abilities to
these owners.”
Expanding beyond their initial offerings of surveying, KSA can take on the
multiple roles required of developing and
completing projects such as pipelines,
processing facilities, and compressor stations, explained Mitch Fortner, vice president and regional manager, KSA.
“We take on all that overhead and
administrative burden,” he said. “[Oil and
gas companies] don’t have to enter in to
multiple contracts for many different service providers. They enter one contract,
and we take all that on us.”
While the energy division has only
officially be around about 10 years, the
firm has three decades of engineering
experience to draw from.
“We are an engineering firm with
specific surveying abilities, and that’s how
we got in to the oil and gas business. We
come to the table with a strong surveying
foundation. We bring the engineering expertise we’ve built over 30 years of being
in business,” said Burns. “We bring some
unique skill sets that maybe some other
folks may not have.”– bt
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Page 11
Service Providers
Cautious but optimistic
Julio Galan, Branch Manager
LaborMax Staffing
selection, more interviewing.
Finding skilled labor is one of the
more significant challenges in industry.
Corpus Christi, TX
F
or 20 years, Julio Galan, branch manager, LaborMax
Staffing in Corpus Christi, has worked in the staffing
industry. As a former warehouse manager, he is also well
aware of what it is like to be on the other end; going through five different staffing
firms to meet his former company’s needs.
How would you describe the state of
the construction industry?
It’s growing day by day. The Corpus
Christi and surrounding areas are growing a lot. There’s a lot of construction:
new buildings and new hotels especially.
New hotels due to the fact of the oil
boom going on.
There are a lot of people coming in
from out of town and not enough places
to live. Apartments are also in high demand right now. They are building new
apartment complexes and new hotels.
Have you experienced an increase of
business or slow down?
We were doing real well the first
three months of the year, and then it
went down. Now it’s going back up again.
It’s all dependant on the amount of business our clients are doing – how many
and how large their projects are and how
many people they need.
It’s been a challenge – the shortage
of people to fill roles. It’s very competitive regarding salaries. There’s a high demand, but not enough skilled labor. More
of the shortage is with skilled labor. They
are in higher demand.
Is that affecting your business?
When it comes to skilled and semiskilled, especially manufacturing, specialty metal fabrication, we have to work
three or four times harder than what we
have to do to cover general labor. More
How do you deal with that?
We work hand-in-hand with the Texas Workforce Commission. We also place
ads in Craigslist, and we ask our skilled
people; there’s always a pipefitter who
knows another pipefitter, or welder who
knows another welder. Referrals. Recruit
within. That’s probably the best way to
recruit people in the industry, because
Joe Blow has been working in the metal
fabrication or oil industry or electrical industry for the last 10 years; he knows
people.
Have there been significant changes
in staffing in general?
People, especially in shipping and receiving, want workers with computer experience for data entry. Before, everything was counted by hand pretty much.
Records were kept by hand. Nowadays,
they have to have some entry-level
knowledge. Clients want people who
have some computer knowledge.
What are the rewards of working in
staffing?
Finding the right employee candidate for my customer, and finding my
employee the right position so that worker will have a future with my customer.
It’s rewarding to find that balance of the
needs of the customer with the needs of
the worker.
In what direction do you see the industry going?
It is going more of a weekly operation, more than daily operation. Or at least
that’s the way the behavior has been in
South Texas. Right now, our work is 50/50
on temp-to-hire positions. We try to get to
know our daily workers and match them
with steady, weekly customers. We know
the individual we’re sending to our weekly
customer. We know their behavior, and
that helps us weed out who wants to work
a few hours a week, part-time, or full-time.
If the employee is happy, the customer is
happy. It goes hand-in-hand.
The key to this industry is service,
and recruiting the right people for your
customer. –bt
Can he? Will he?
Larry Williams, President
MEMCO, Inc.
Houston, TX
W
ith the construction economy on the uptick in most
Texas markets, contractors are once again in a hiring mode. As you begin to man up, this timely article may
help in the pursuit of selecting the right employees.
(Author’s note: the masculine gender
pronoun “he” is used throughout for clarity
and illustration purposes only, and is not
intended to represent gender bias.)
Most construction hiring personnel
would rather take a beating than go
through the interview part of the hiring
process. Perhaps if the hiring person had
an easy way to find out what he really
needs to learn from an interview, it would
go down a little easier.
To be consistently successful in evaluating new hires, the interviewer must
be able to answer two questions by the
conclusion of the interview:
• CAN the applicant do the job?
• WILL the applicant do the job?
Hiring for skills alone is most often a
losing proposition. Because the “will he”
component tells us about the character
of the person and will more often determine the success of the new hire, regardless of his skill set.
A good method to help you answer
both questions is the KASH system. Rating an applicant in four areas:
•Knowledge
•Attitude
•Skills
•Habits
Assessing an applicant’s knowledge
and skills will help answer the “can he”
question. Assessing him on his attitude
and habits is much more difficult but will
help answer the all-important “will he”
question.
For starters, the interview process
should include an oral or written test to
determine how much the applicant
knows about the various aspects of the
job for which he is being considered. In
the case of craft personnel, for instance,
does he know how to add or subtract
whole numbers and fractions? Can he
read a tape measure? In a trade like dry-
wall, you would want to determine if he
knows the proper spacing of studs or
screws, or the standard sizes of track,
stud and drywall and their uses. All of this
measures the knowledge possessed by
the applicant.
Skills assessment is used to determine competency in performing certain
functions. But the hiring person must be
convinced that the applicant possesses
the skills to use that knowledge.
Whatever position you are trying to
fill, have the person demonstrate that he
indeed has those skills.
Use whatever means at your disposal, you must be able to determine if the
applicant can, in fact, do the job for which
you’re trying to fill.
If he cannot do the job, you must
evaluate whether he has the potential to
acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to the job, given time and training. In
many cases most hiring decisions do not
explore this option – in many cases, the
applicant is just deemed not to be what
we are looking for because he is not
ready for the job “as is.”
If the answer to the above questions
is yes, or yes, with time and training, then
you must now answer the second and
most critical question. Will he DO the
job?
Applicant’s attitude:
How does he describe his past jobs,
past employers and past supervisors? Are
his comments positive or negative about
them? Does he credit others for his success or blame someone else for a lack of
it?
How is his overall disposition? Is he a
sour puss or does he make a lot of positive comments and/or smile when he
speaks? Is he cocky, arrogant, or humble?
Has he ever left a prior employer involuntarily? Why? What were the circumstances?
Applicant’s habits:
Look at his employment history –
have him discuss his past 3-5 years of employment.
Did he complete the application paperwork or try to “blow off” parts of it.
Does he monopolize the interview and
oversell himself?
Can he convince you he is dependable, reliable and can maintain good attendance?? Can he convince you that he
takes direction well, likes to stay busy and
has a good work ethic?
When making your hiring decision,
keep in mind that a person’s knowledge
and skills can usually be enhanced, but
his character is usually cast in stone.
That’s why when I’m hiring, the answer to the “will he” question always
trumps the “can he.” –bd
NEXT MONTH
September 2013
Support Your Industry’s Feature Issue
Green Building Trends
2013
Schedule
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Feb: Construction Safety
Mar: Construction Education
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Apr:Women in Construction
May:Concrete Industry
Jun: HVAC & Plumbing
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Dec: Construction Equipment
Page 12
The many lives of metal
David Vexler, Manager
Monterrey Iron & Metal (MIM)
San Antonio, TX
W
hat is the most common misconception about the metal materials that
MIM recycles or the services that MIM provides?
Although recycling seems to be the cause du jour, it has been around for quite
some time. As my Grandfather likes to point out, it is referenced in the Bible. As it says
in the good book, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
The most common misconception is of the construction and demolition industhat today’s metal recycler is somehow try to know how thankful we are for their
similar to the old junkyard of “Sanford business. We have maintained good relaand Son” fame. Today’s modern recycling tionships with several construction complant consists of high-tech preparation panies for decades and look forward to
and sorting equipment, much of which is building more bridges within the industry.
computerized. In addition, excavators, The recycling process itself is pretty
loaders, forklifts, trucks, etc., are part of straightforward. Materials are weighed,
the mix; not unlike what you would find graded, sorted, processed, and then
shipped off to their final destination, a
at a large construction outfit.
Another misconception would be steel mill or foundry. Materials being prothat recycling “junk” is not worth the cessed are either baled, sheared, or shredtime or money. Any company that watch- ded. We have one of the largest guillotine
es its bottom line closely understands shears in the country and it is capable of
that in this economy every dollar counts. cutting through five stacked railroad
Recycling metals is a good way to put wheels at once. Our new shredder is a
money back into the coffers. It might not beast that can turn a car into baseball-size
be the windfall that one would hope for, pieces of metal in under a minute. For the
but it definitely adds up. It is also a good extremely thick metals, our veteran team
way to save money on waste disposal of torchmen will cut down the piece bit
by bit. There really isn’t a piece of material
and hauling fees.
I also think that because most recy- that we cannot process.
cling yards are out of sight, they are out The vast majority of our material is
of mind for most people. The industry sold right here in the U.S. for recycling.
has been steadily growing and plays a This means jobs, a healthier economy,
key role in the American economy. As of and less expensive new materials for
2011, the recycling industry employed those of you in construction (hopefully).
nearly 140,000 people and was a $100-bil- What do you find most interesting
lion industry. In 2011, 74 million pounds about the end uses for these recycled
of steel were recycled in the U.S. alone. products?
I think that the most interesting part
That is 163 BILLION pounds!
What would you like us to know about is the amount of energy that is saved by
recycling scrap versus mining raw ore. By
how the recycling process works?
First of all, we would like the members recycling an aluminum can, we are sav-
ing 92 percent of the energy necessary to
make one from scratch. For copper, this
number is 90 percent. I have also heard
that the average piece of steel has been
through the recycling process three
times. By recycling one ton of steel, we
are able to save 2,500lbs of iron ore,
1,400lbs of coal, and 120lbs of limestone.
Recycling metals is an easy way to conserve resources, keep our air clean, and
reduce the cost of material, all while making money off it.
What are the key contributions MIM’s
service provides to the construction
industry and the community in general by recycling these materials?
There are several ways in which MIM
contributes to the industry and community. The first, I would say, is the importance of selling to a responsible recycler.
Both the construction and recycling industry deal with several safety issues and
we all want our employees and jobsites to
remain safe. We go to great lengths to provide latest training and techniques for environmental and employee safety. On the
environmental side, we try our hardest to
remain ahead of minimum standards and
employ an environmental consultant that
oversees our operation on a regular basis.
Our record for both environmental and
employee incidents is very good due to
the steps we have taken as a team.
We recently worked closely with the
City of San Antonio and other local recycling yards to write up new regulations for
the industry focused on reducing metals
theft. I’m sure that many of your readers
have experienced metals theft and we
want it to be clear that we don’t want to
buy stolen materials as much as you don’t
want materials stolen from you. Local
yards have taken great steps to hamper
metal thefts. All non-ferrous sales require
a drivers license, thumbprint, make/model/license plate of vehicle, pictures of the
What’s next on your
bucket list?
Big move for RDO
The one thing I’d love to do before I die is
to scuba dive and swim with a manta-ray.
It’s a fantasy, I’ve always loved manta
rays. They’re very majestic.
Martin Adrian, Adrian Enterprises, Inc.
I’m going to be 60 next year, and I want to
go back to France - to Paris and to the
Loire Valley. I want to go to Amsterdam
and see the tulips in bloom. I love to travel. The other thing I want is to go to New
Zealand. And then, to also go to China. I
want to travel and see the world, and sit
in the cafes and watch the people and
just relax.
Nancy Perez, A Clean Portoco
RDO Equipment’s brand new Laredo facility
H
aving outgrown their facilities,
RDO Equipment Co., packed up
and moved just two miles down
the road.
“We had outgrown the old location
and needed a much better facility to better take care of our customers needs and
the business that has grown down there
in the Laredo area,” said Daniel Vargas,
parts manager, who, like his fellow department managers, rotates between the
New Braunfels and Laredo locations.
The Laredo location had proven just
too small to continue handling business
in such cramped quarters.
In fact, the new facility is at least
twice as big, if not three times as big as
the location they just left behind, explained Matt Turner, service manager.
“We have more tooling, and a better
facility to accommodate working on machines and a bigger warehouse for hold-
ing more parts,” he said.
While it was a big move for the
equipment company, everything was
performed over one weekend, and went
very smoothly, explained Turner.
In fact, RDO closed up shop Friday at
5pm, and opened up at the new store
7am, Monday morning, “ready to go.”
“We did the move over the weekend,” said Vargas. “Pretty much everybody at the location pitched in. Two
trucks from Central Texas came down to
help move the machines from the old to
new location. We even had a customer in
Laredo help us transfer a lot of the parts
to the new facility. We had a good group
down there transfering everything over.”
Founded in 1968, RDO is familyowned and operated company employing more than 1,800 team members, with
more than 60 sales and service locations
across the United States. –bt
seller and the material, and a signature.
This info is cross-referenced with the DPS
database of known metal thieves and
stored for future reference. These steps
have deterred metal theft in the city and
have made both of our industries safer.
We will be celebrating our 100th year
as a scrap metal recycler in 2016 and I feel
that it is our service that has allowed us to
stay in business for so long. Over four generations of the Vexler family, we have made
honesty and reliability the cornerstones of
our operation. We offer prompt container
service and honest weights, both keys to
customer service. We also keep ourselves
as up to date as possible with market fluctuations in order to pay the fairest price
possible. When my Grandfather, now 99
years old, was honored with the Lifetime
Achievement Award from Commercial
Metals in Seguin, the award had a quote
emblazoned upon it. It read, “A fair deal is
one in which both parties walk away happy.” We strive to live up to this every day.
What is an issue MIM has come across
recently and how did you resolve it?
The main issue has definitely been
government regulation. Regulations are
strengthening in almost every aspect of
buying, processing, and selling. Due to
the fact most people are uninformed
about our industry, many of the proposed
regulations made little sense and could
have, in fact, shut down the vast majority
of scrap yards. The industry as a whole,
with our national trade group ISRI, made
it our mission to educate the public and
our political officials of the service we provide to industries and communities across
the nation. Working hand-in-hand with
these officials, we have been able to come
to agreement on several bills that benefit
both parties. Even so, stricter regulations
are always being proposed and we try our
hardest to remain informed of these and
comply before any problems arise. –mp
I don’t really have a bucket list. I don’t
know, but I’d like to learn a musical instrument. Maybe guitar. Since I was a kid, I’ve
been learning that. I’ve always been
drawn to music and never really made
the time to learn.
Mario Pena, Hickey Pena Associates
I would love to visit England. My grandmother is from England. She’s from Norfolk. She hasn’t been there since she was
13, but she still has the accent. It’s one of
my dreams, to see where she was raised. I
told her before she passes I would take her.
Heather Simmons,
RCW Energy Services
I think I’ve always wanted to drive up the
coast of California. That would probably
be the next thing. From pictures I’ve
seen, it’s quite beautiful, and I’d like to experience it myself. I think the drive would
just be pleasant. Of course, it would have
to be in a convertible with the top down.
There are a lot of things to that one bucket list item.
Norma Chacon,
Don Krueger Construction
The next item to cross off my bucket list is
simple: go to the World Cup in Brazil in
2014. I’m a very big soccer fan.
Erik Schaal, RCW Energy Services
It’s not really something I’ve thought
about. I think a good vacation. I haven’t
had one in four years.
Eduardo Perez, DWilson Construction
Go on a cruise to Alaska. My husband
wants to go fishing. He’s always wanted
to go to Alaska. In fact, we just talked
about it.
Vicki Thompson, NAWIC Corpus Christi
I guess the one thing I’d like to cross off
my bucket list at some point in time is being able to say that me and my wife are
great-grandparents.
Elton Calhoun,
Regional Steel Products
I’d like to go to Scotland and play golf. I’m
not a big fisherman or big hunter. My one
hobby is golf, and I would really love to
go to Scotland and Ireland to play golf at
all the historical golf courses. It’s kind of
revered over there, it’s where the game
was invented. It’s very traditional, not real
scenic to someone that doesn’t appreciate golf. But there’s just so much history.
Paul Spalla, Omni Wholesale
I guess the next one is to start a family. It’s
a big step. We’re going to take our time
with that one.
Daniel Johnson, Otto Dukes
Page 13
Industry FOLKS
Corpus architect elected
Joanne Herrera, Assistant
Hamilton Electric
San Benito, TX
E
lizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, Richter Architects,
was elected 2014 American Institute of Architects (AIA) first vice president/2015 president,,
at the association’s national convention in Denver,
CO. this past June.
A member of the Corpus Christi chapter of AIA,
Richter currently represents the Lone Star State as a
member of the AIA National Board of Directors, and,
in 2007, served as president of the Texas Society of
Architects.
As an architect with more than 25 years of experience, she has been involved with AIA for a number
of years.
“I’ve always felt that AIA is a good organization to be involved in because you
can always do more together than you
can by yourself,” said Richter. “It’s important to be involved in your profession,
and not just in your own work, because
you want your profession to endure and
to be of increasing value to the clients we
serve. So I’ve been involved with AIA for a
long time.”
Delegates at the convention elected
Richter for the two-year appointment
over three other candidates.
“As AIA president, and first vice president, I will work to harness our collective
energies to be the kind of organization
we want to be – which is a visionary organization that enables its members to suc-
S
ceed in making the world a better place,”
said Richter. “I want to leverage our efforts to shine the light on the power of
architecture to transform lives. I believe
through architecture we can create special moments in everyday living and
working.”
Richter holds a bachelor degree in
architecture from the University of Texas
Austin. She is the CEO of Richter Architects, a Corpus Christi-based firm with a
diverse portfolio, offering a wide range
of services; including, master planning,
design, interior design, programming,
and graphic design. Richter Architects is
the recipient of the 2011 Architecture
Firm Award from the Texas Society of Architects. – bt
Work in progress
ince turning 17, Joanne Herrera
has been working, and in wildly
different fields; including, the food industry, a gas station, a pawnshop, and
now an HVAC company.
For nearly six years, Herrera has
been employed at Hamilton Air Conditioning, Electric & Plumbing as, “secretary, assistant, whatever Thea Wiley,
the executive financial officer, needs.”
For most of her working life, Herrera has held down more than one job
at a time.
“I’ve always held two jobs. I don’t
have a particular reason. I just always
try and stay busy.”
These days, Herrera is only drawing one paycheck, but it does not
mean she is taking it easy.
In her spare time, she – along
with her twin sister – take care of
goats.
“We have a little herd. Even
though we’re nothing alike, this is
something we wanted to do together.
Our other two siblings think we’re
crazy, but we just love it.
“I have three and she has more
than I do. Mine are pets. I’ve named
them all. I’ve even named hers.”
So after a long day at work, Herrera can be found tending to Billy,
Toothpick, and Red.
“I can have a stressful day, but go
out there with them, and the stress is
gone.”
While Herrera is happy with her
little herd of goats, they are being
kept on three to four acres of borrowed land.
“One day I will have my own land,
maybe 10 acres. My goal is to raise
pure bred Boars, they’re a type of
show goat. I would love to find a nice
piece of land. I don’t mind staying
here in the Valley either. Start up a little herd of five or 10 goats, maybe
even a horse.”
Herrera is no stranger to life on a
ranch. While growing up, she and her
siblings spent their summers at her
grandparents ranch.
“When we were small, my grandparents had a ranch. They had goats,
cows, horses, mules, donkeys, the
works. We loved going over there every summer – loved being on the
ranch, dirty as can be, not a care in the
world. It was just so peaceful. There
was no electricity, nothing out there.
It was pure ranch land. We had the
best time.” – bt
Submissions
Round-Up
Round-Up
The Texas Mid Coast chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) will
soon be moving to their new location. The new building would not be happening if not for the generosity and hard work of ABC members who are doing
everything from site work to construction. –bt
This is a monthly section for brief company announcements of new or
recently promoted personnel, free of charge, as space allows.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Email (w/digital photo, if available) by the 15th of any month,
for the next month’s issue (published 1st of each month).
Email info to appropriate city issue, with “Round-Up” in the subject line:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
San Antonio:
saeditor@constructionnews.net
Austin:
austineditor@constructionnews.net
Dallas/Ft. Worth: dfweditor@constructionnews.net
Houston: houstoneditor@constructionnews.net
South Texas:
STeditor@constructionnews.net
Association Calendar
Content submitted by Associations to Construction News
ABC- Coastal Bend
AGC- South Texas
Associated Builders & Contractors
Associated General Contractors
Aug. 7: First Wednesday Mixer, 5:30pm.
Sponsor and Place TBD.
Aug. 22: GC
Fulton*Coastcon
Mixer
hosted
by
ACCA - Coastal Bend
NAWIC - Corpus Christi
Air Conditioning Contractors of Amer.
Nat’l Assn. of Women in Construction
Aug. 15: Meeting, noon-1pm, Portis’
Kountry Kitchen, located in the Wells Fargo Building basement, 615 N. Upper
Broadway.
Aug. 20: Dinner Business meeting, Public
Welcome, The BBQ Man Restaurant,
5:30pm networking, 6pm meeting. Nancy Rich with Carriage Services on Pre-Funeral planning. $20. Contact Vickie
Thompson at 361-299-6278.
AGC-Rio Grande Valley Chapter
Associted General Contractors
Aug. 15: Captain’s Party and Membership Mixer. AGC office in Harlingen. starts
at 6pm
Aug. 17: 28th Annual Fishing Tournament, South Padre Island
Aug. 21:Texas State HUB Certification
Seminar. 2-4pm at AGC office in Harlingen. Free registration. Limited seating.
Must RSVP. Call 956-423-4091
Submissions
Send your Calendar events to:
STeditor@ConstructionNews.net
Structural Steel Products
Pipe & Tubing
Metal Building Materials
Ornamental Iron & Accessories
Cast Iron Spears
Fittings
Decorative Castings & Designs
Toll Free
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Cutting Supplies
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2042 W. Thompson @ Port San Antonio
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Page 14
Fish, food, fun
A
ssociated Builders and Contractors
(ABC) Texas Coastal Bend chapter
held its 19th annual fishing tournament, Jun. 12 and 13.
Over the two-day event, members,
family and staff enjoyed the gorgeous
weather and fresh ocean air at Mile Marker 37 in Corpus Christi.
The fishing tournament wasn’t the
only fun to be had; food, drinks, a raffle
for a kayak, as well as silent and live auctions were also on tap. –bt
The fish are measured and weighed.
continued from Page 1 — Welcome to the coast
Mav-Tech works closely with Maverick, as the two share responsibility of expanded services; including, engineering
and consulting, chemical analysis, corrosion testing, SEM analysis, and micro/
macro hardness testing, research and development, and quality assurance and
quality control.
“We work hand-in-hand with Maverick. Some of the services we offer, we don’t
have the equipment for,” said Richard.
“Anything we can’t do here, we just ship it
overnight to them and they finish up what
we’re not able to do. There’s really no reason – at least right now – to have the same
equipment in two locations.”
While renovating an existing space
to suit their needs has been an arduous
task, Richard, a Corpus Christi native, is
glad to be back home.
“I jumped at the chance,” said Rich-
ard. “I was first on the list to come down
here.”
All the renovation work has been
worth it, not only because Richard is back
home, but also because the location
could not be better.
“We have a great location. We’re
right next to all of the refineries and
things of that nature, right along I-37,”
said Richard. “You can’t beat that.”
Despite a recent grand opening, the
shop has been completely functional for
quite some time. Only the final touches in
giving it some curb appeal remain.
“We’re finishing painting, replacing
carpet, some lights, just aesthetics now.
Doing a few things to make it look pretty,” said Richard. “Mechanically and business-wise, it’s fully functional.”
Their facility is located at 7325 IH-37
Corpus Christi, Texas 78409.
continued from Page 1 — Vision and foresight
Walker Arnold proudly shows off his catch
Robert Arnold, NALCO, with daughter,
Kenzie Arnold
work to get lines of credit and significantly increase its bonding capacity.
“It’s been a strategic move every
time,” states Flores. “We’re careful. We
don’t just jump into something. If we’re
not familiar with it, we familiarize ourselves with it and make sure it’s a good
move. And we learn by our mistakes.”
Garcia and his daughter are originally from San Antonio. While living in Laredo for 13 years, Joanna met Noel Flores,
who was born and raised in Mirando City,
near Laredo. The move to San Antonio
was a difficult choice but another highly
strategic one.
Being based in San Antonio allows
Vision big city advantages, including
working with one of its biggest clients,
since a lot of its work is governmental,
and the ability to team up with primary
contractors on projects.
“We’re poised for growth and all the
work that is coming in and potentially addressing all the economic need,” Garcia
comments. “There are no jobs in those
areas. And these are better-paying jobs
than the minimum wage.”
Flores adds, “We’re all about creating
jobs and helping the community. And
helping small businesses like this one we
started. We’re all about helping those
that are willing to take a step and come
into the construction industry.” –mp
continued from Page 1 — GCR comes to Weslaco
that allows them to only take up 25 percent of their space, and handle two operations at once.”
The 16000sf facility also includes
2200sf for office, reception and kitchen
areas. Half of the remaining space is dedicated to a warehouse, while the other
half is for four service bays used in vehicle
maintenance.
Built on three acres of land, the building sits on 45,000sf of heavy-duty concrete that can withstand the rigors of
18-wheelers, trailers, heavy construction
equipment, heavy farm equipment, and
other assorted large vehicles.
To add a bit more visual interest to an
otherwise typical PEMB, wainscoting and
masonry bands were added across the
front of building, explained Jones. The
extra touches perform double duty in
adding not only curb appeal, but durability as well.
Because construction – from groundbreaking to ribbon cutting – happened
within a matter of months, the project
regularly had 40-60 workers on site on a
daily basis.
“We had people on top of people be-
cause of time constraints,” said Jones.
Even with a strict schedule to follow,
construction was relatively trouble-free,
he explained. “We didn’t have any inspection issues or bad weather. It went
pretty smoothly.”
The new facility is one of 22 across
the state, and is not the first in South Texas. GCR – a subsidiary of Bridgestone/
Firestone - has had a presence in the Valley since 1985 with a location in Harlingen. Despite the move, GCR will not be
abandoning the city. The move is more of
an expansion; the old location being converted into a retread business, explained
Jones.
Development services for the project were provided by KJS Group of Dallas Texas, design and construction services provided by Jones Construction of
Weslaco.
Founded in 2007 by Texas-native Michael Jones, Jones Construction handles all
manner of private, commercial work. The
construction company has completed a variety of projects in its six-year history, including; pharmacies, office buildings, and
airport hangars. –bt
The new facility is a 16,000sf pre-engineered metal building,
surrounded by roughly three acres of land in Weslaco.
Page 15
Page 16
An architect of photography
Larry Pearlstone has an eye for architectural photography.
W
Residential property, McAllen
One Shoreline Plaza, Corpus Christi
hen the sun hits a building just right, that’s
where you’ll find Larry Pearlstone, Pearlstone
Photography. Chances are that Pearlstone has
been there all day long waiting for the shadows and
natural light to be perfect for his shots.
He’s an architectural photographer, and he’s hired
by owners, developers, and contractors to make their
properties look absolutely, well, picturesque.
“The one I did of the Muzak building, that took nine
hours,” says Pearlstone. “I got there in the afternoon,
about 3 o’clock, shot it, waited for the clouds to be just
right, and shot it again. Then, I waited until nighttime.
There’s a hallway back there, and when they turn the
lights on, you see the glass block stands out.”
At 80 years old, Pearlstone has been in the business
more than half his life, switching careers from being a
sports photographer about 45 years ago.
If you ask him what drew him away from sports to
take photos of homes and commercial properties, he
simply replies, “Buildings don’t talk back.”
As he spreads stunning examples of his past work
across the desk, including shots of the Alamo and a picture of the Space Shuttle Columbia when it was at Kelly
Air Force Base, he defines the weather as one of the biggest challenges in his line of work.
“These aerial shots, I waited three weeks for the
weather to be right,” he comments, pointing to some
pictures he has taken from the air.
Based in San Antonio, Pearlstone has traveled all over
Texas taking photos for his clients. His photographs have
also been published, including shots of Trinity University
that appeared in the Harvard Architecture Review.
Pearlstone enjoys the freedom of his job and the
challenge of getting the best view of the architecture he
admires through the lens of his camera. –mp
Atrium, University of Houston at Victoria
St. Luke’s Medical Towers, Houston

GCR comes to Weslaco Welcome to the coast Vision and foresight

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