The construction industry is a very fragmented industry. This is among the reasons one does not see the large-scale technological advances like you might see in other sectors. Having said this, I was with a group of young project managers today, and I was telling them how “things used to be.” Before power screeds and …
Last Saturday evening, when I attended KultureCity‘s KultureBALL, I was reminded once again what can happen when a grassroots idea gets the right leadership. Julian Maha and his wife Michele Kong, both medical doctors, founded KultureCity in 2013 after their oldest child was diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Ever since, their goal has been education, inclusion and to provide the alteration of public spaces, making …
This week, I visited one of our projects that covers several acres. It’s not ready for permanent power, but also needs power in a lot of locations. In the past, we’ve run conduit to a stationary board, which works, but has its downfalls. If there is too much load demand, breakers get tripped and the whole …
Not too long ago, I was traveling home on a Friday evening and passing through the Chicago airport. I was walking up to an escalator–one of those long, steep ones that takes you down to travel under the tarmac to the next concourse–and noticed no one was traveling down. As I approached, I realized the situation. There was an elderly …
I recently had the opportunity to listen to Raphael Bostic of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta speak at the Civil Rights Institute. My takeaways from that afternoon were primarily focused on workforce development in current times. As a business community, there is a need to ensure students have an eye toward the workplace, understanding which opportunities are …
Our economy is edging up by the quarter. While I do not believe 4.5% GDP growth is sustainable, it would be nice to think we will be somewhere around 2 – 2.5% at year’s end. We are still the world’s leaders right now, and this makes me smile. About this time in the cycle, it …
A few years ago, I had a conversation with the former CEO of a large international construction company. We talked about a lot of things that day, but one topic that stuck with me is failure’s role in success. When hiring an executive for his company, he often looked for someone who had lost at least …
We are members of an FMI group with 6 other contractors spread coast to coast. We meet semi-annually to discuss strategy, and most recently, culture. On a that visit, I was exposed to a quote from Peter Drucker, maybe said by others as well: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s true in many ways. Culture is an aloof concepts, “that special something,” …
As we continue to densify, sound control can be a huge challenge. This goes for all types of existing and new construction, and for all types of occupancies. Just like water, sound will infiltrate where one least expects it. In a recent project, we installed a specialized noise control system to completely separate the framing from the …
Last week we were in Las Vegas to attend ICSC RECon, which I have always considered a family reunion of retail. It’s a chance to visit with longtime friends and make a few new ones each year. It seemed to me that this year’s conference had a definite emphasis on the “customer experience.” Stores are shifting towards being a bit more customized, and …
A new corporate headquarters was recently completed near our place. It’s sleek, well-designed and sends the right message. When talking to one of their leads, I asked why they chose Gensler for the design. The answer: “They make things painful in the beginning, drilling hard on the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ before they ever get around to what …
We are midstream in the renovation of a Gulf Coast project, and one of the exterior skin clad products we are using there is Nichiha, a fiber cement siding. EIFS seemed to be the king of the hill for many years, and they are also innovating with their products, but there are now several other …