(409,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','EBMI Asks: Where\'s the Growth?','none','Growth, Electrical Board, panel','none','<p>The title of an Electrical Board Missouri and Illinois (EBMI) panel presentation: &ldquo;2009-2012: Where Is the Growth?&rdquo; was enough to raise eyebrows on its own. But the presenters further challenged the audience to take risks in new markets, and in some cases to turn down work in order to stay true to sound business practices. <br /><br />Those attending the triennial EBMI&nbsp; economic forecast panel, held this year on Jan. 22 at Ameren UE headquarters, heard a decidedly different story from that presented by panelists three years ago.<br /><br /><img alt=\"Where\'s the Growth? \" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/wheres-the-growth.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />New markets and ways of doing business offer a path of out of the current downturn,&nbsp; the panelists told St. Louis construction management executives. But there are even more pitfalls than usual in a market filled with inexperienced competitors, bad credit, and a desire to find work at any price, they were told. <br /><br />Thomas A. Garrett, assistant vice president, of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis quoted from the December edition of the Fed&rsquo;s &ldquo;Burgundy Book&rdquo;:<br /><br />&ldquo;Economic activity in the St. Louis zone remains weak,&rdquo; Garret said.&nbsp; &ldquo;Retail activity has been down across the board, and retailers are mostly pessimistic about the near future. Declines in manufacturing and services have continued, as firms in many sectors report plans to reduce employment and/or output. Residential real estate remains weak, although commercial real estate markets have been more stable. Bank lending has fallen as lenders report tighter standards. The agricultural sector remains a bright spot, with generally higher yields and good crop conditions.&rdquo;<br /><br />Garrett told those in attendance that the revised St. Louis employment numbers for the current period may reveal a worse employment situation. On the national level, he said, flattening home prices, rising equity prices, better credit conditions, and low energy prices all suggest a rebound in mid-2009 followed by above-trend growth in 2010.<br /><br />Jim Lucy, chief editor of <em>Electrical Wholesaling </em>magazine suggested that the educational and sustainability markets are two bright spots in an another wise grim picture. Demographics are the driver behind the continuing growth in education, particularly in K-12, Lucy said. <br /><br />A variety of factors &ndash; from energy costs, to social consciousness, to incentives offered by utilities &ndash; point in the direction of opportunities in the green/sustainability market, Lucy said. <br /><br />Tom Finan, publisher of <em>St. Louis CNR</em> and director of business development for Paradowski Creative, also touched on the growth opportunities in the sustainability market, as well as the Obama stimulus programs, and the education market. But he urged those in the audience to pay more attention than ever to working within their strengths and to not succumbing to working with companies whose poor business practices and relationships would make them a no-go during good times. He urged them to research potential projects and customers and encouraged them to confirm customers&rsquo; ability to pay. <br /><br />&ldquo;There is no good business with bad people,&rdquo; Finan said.<br /><br />He told the audience that by identifying areas within the growth niches that align with their companies capabilities,&nbsp; and by marketing through the recession, they would come out of the downturn stronger and faster. <br /><br />Other speakers on the panel were George Biderman account manager &ndash; St. Louis for McGraw Hill Construction/Dodge, who presented the McGraw Hill forecast, and Richard Mark of Ameren, who shared Ameren&rsquo;s green power initiatives.</p>','none','The title of an Electrical Board of Missouri and Illinois (EBMI)  panel presentation: \"2009-2012: Where Is the Growth?\" was enough to raise eyebrows on its own. But the presenters further challenged the audience to take risks in new markets,  and in some cases to turn down work in order to stay true to sound business practices. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/wheres-the-growth.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none');
INSERT INTO `exp_weblog_data` VALUES (356,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','MoDOT Ready to Go with Economic Stimulus Projects','none','MoDOT, Pete Rahn, Ready to Go','none','<p>The Missouri Department of Transportation is ready to go with 34\ntransportation projects that could be awarded within 180 days of\npassage of an economic stimulus package that contains at least $25\nbillion for transportation infrastructure investments nationwide.&nbsp; The\nprojects, which would total about $510 million, would create about\n14,000 jobs and have a $2.4 billion impact on the state\'s economy.&nbsp;\nGiven additional funding beyond $510 million, significant portions of\nfour additional highway projects totaling roughly $290 million could be\nunder way in 2009.</p>\n<div id=\"contenttxt\">\n<div id=\"bodyArea\"><form action=\"/eMoDOTWeb/prepareNewsDisplay.do\" method=\"post\" name=\"newsDisplayForm\">\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>\"We stand ready to quickly deliver 34\ntransportation improvements that would mean jobs, increased safety and\na better quality of life for Missourians,\" MoDOT Director Pete Rahn\nsaid.&nbsp; \"These are much-needed projects that will benefit Missouri\ncitizens, and we urge Congress to act positively on an economic\nstimulus package that includes a minimum of $25 billion for\ntransportation infrastructure projects.\"</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Ready to Go\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"122\" src=\"/images/uploads/ReadytoGo.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"244\" />Rahn said federal\nfunding for infrastructure projects would have a vital ripple effect.&nbsp;\nIt would create jobs for road builders and designers and demand for\nrelated supplies and services, as well as further economic development\naround the improvements.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>\"The job creation will go beyond just\nthose building the projects,\" Rahn said. &nbsp;\"Suppliers, retailers,\nrestaurants, hotels and other businesses will benefit.\"</p>\n<p>MoDOT\nwould be ready to go with about $137 million of work on Interstates 70,\n44, 55, 35 and 29.&nbsp; Approximately $60 million would go toward fixing\nthe state\'s lettered routes in rural Missouri.&nbsp; The rest would be used\non a variety of transportation projects throughout the state.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>\"Under\nour proposed plan, all forms of travel would benefit, not just\nhighways, and projects would be spread throughout the state to ensure\nall regions reap some of the economic gain,\" Rahn said.</p>\n<p>Seventeen\nof the proposed projects are already included in the state\'s five-year\nconstruction program, but would be sped up, some by up to four years.&nbsp;\nProjects would then be added to the statewide construction program to\nreplace those that were accelerated.&nbsp; Seventeen are new projects that\nhave been identified as regional priorities and on which environmental\nwork and preliminary design are already under way.</p>\n<p>Rahn said\nCongress should not be concerned road and bridge improvements couldn\'t\nbe put into place fast enough to provide the desired economic relief.</p>\n<p>\"We\nknow we can award $510 million worth of work or more within 180 days of\nthe stimulus bill\'s passage, with a considerable amount in less time,\"\nRahn said.&nbsp; \"Investing in our infrastructure is the best course of\naction Congress could take.&nbsp; Not only would it provide an immediate\neconomic shot in the arm, but it would yield the long-term benefits of\nsafer highways and enhanced quality of life.\"</p>\n<p>Rahn said any\nstimulus package couldn\'t come too soon.&nbsp; He noted many states have had\nto delay projects because of the decline in revenue generated by fuel\nuse and motor vehicle sales.&nbsp; While MoDOT has not yet had to postpone\nor cancel projects, state revenues are down almost 5 percent for the\nfirst four months of the fiscal year - about an $18 million decline.&nbsp;\nIf the trend continues, the state could face a $73 million shortfall by\nthe end of the fiscal year.</p>\n<p><strong>MoDOT\'s Ready-to-Go Transportation Projects</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Adair County, Route 63 </strong>-\nConstruct 6 miles of new two-lane roadway on four-lane right of way on\neast side of Kirksville from Benton Way to southern Route 6\nconnection.&nbsp; <strong>$18 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Atchison County, Route 136</strong> - Painting, new deck and bridge repairs on Missouri River bridge at Brownville, NE.&nbsp; <strong>$9 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Barry/Lawrence/Christian/Greene Counties, Route 60 </strong>- Construct alternating/intermittent passing lanes from east of Chapell Drive in Monett to Kansas Avenue in Republic.&nbsp; <strong>$23 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Barton/Bates Counties, Route 71</strong> - Convert four at-grade intersections at Route 52, Route 126, Routes\nDD/EE and Routes V/C to interchanges as part of I-49 upgrade.&nbsp; <strong>$27 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Benton County, Routes 83/65/7</strong> - Painting and/or rehabilitation of bridges on Route 83 over Truman\nLake near Mockingbird Road; Route 65 over the Osage River near Warsaw;\nand Route 7 over Truman Lake (Osage Arm Bridge and Grand River Arm\nBridge).&nbsp; <strong>$19 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Boone County, Route 63/COLT Railroad</strong> - Build railroad bridge over Route 63 north of Route B in Columbia.&nbsp; <strong>$9 million </strong></p>\n<p><strong>Cape Girardeau County, SEMO Port</strong> - Construct new rail line above flood region.&nbsp; <strong>$1 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Clay County, Route 1 </strong>- Sidewalk improvements from Vivion Road to 72<sup>nd</sup> Street.&nbsp; <strong>$1.5 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Clay County, Route 169 </strong>- Sidewalk improvements from Route 92 to Route KK.&nbsp; <strong>$1.5 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Clay County, Route 210</strong> - Widen to four lanes from Eldon Road to Route 291.&nbsp; <strong>$32 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Clinton County, Route 35 - </strong>Resurface north and southbound lanes from north of Shoal Creek to north of Route 116 near Lathrop.&nbsp; <strong>$18 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Cooper County, Route 70</strong> - Pavement improvements on westbound lanes from 0.3 mile east of Route B to Lamine River.&nbsp; <strong>$7 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Crawford County, Route 44</strong> - Pavement rehabilitation on westbound lanes from 0.6 mile west of Route H to Phelps County line.&nbsp; <strong>$2 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Franklin County, Route 44</strong> - Pavement rehabilitation on eastbound and westbound lanes from Route 30 to east of Bourbeuse River. &nbsp;<strong>$44 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Greene County, Route 65</strong> - Widen to six lanes from I-44 to Route 60 (James River Freeway).<strong>$37 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Jackson County, Route 150</strong> - Widen from two lanes to four lanes from Horridge Road to Route 291.&nbsp; <strong>$17 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Johnson County, Knob Noster Rail Project</strong> - Construct 0.86 mile of parallel track near Knob Noster and Route 23.&nbsp; <strong>$7 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Johnson County, Skyhaven Airport</strong> - Construct new airport apron.&nbsp; <strong>$2 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Lafayette County, Route 70</strong> - Pavement improvements on eastbound and westbound lanes from Jackson County line to Odessa.&nbsp; <strong>$8 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Miller County, Route 17</strong> - Replace Osage River bridge 1 mile east of Tuscumbia. <strong>$9 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>New Madrid County, New Madrid Port</strong> - Construct railroad extension and warehouse.<strong>$2 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Pemiscot County, Route 55</strong> - Pavement rehabilitation on northbound lanes from Arkansas state line to I-155.&nbsp; <strong>$11 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Pemiscot/New Madrid Counties, Route 55</strong> - Pavement rehabilitation on northbound and southbound lanes from I-155 to Scott County.&nbsp; <strong>$22 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Phelps County, Route 44</strong> - Major pavement rehabilitation/reconstruction on westbound lanes from\nBusiness Loop 44 (Rolla) to Sugartree Road Interchange.&nbsp; <strong>$12 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Platte County, Route 29</strong> - Resurface pavement and shoulders on northbound and southbound lanes at various locations from Route 273 to Vivion Road.&nbsp; <strong>$12 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>St. Charles County 364/94/Page Avenue</strong> - Extend Page Avenue from 0.4 mile east of Jungermann to 0.3 mile west of Central School Road.&nbsp; <strong>$49 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>St. Louis County, Route 67 </strong>- Pedestrian improvements from I-270 to Old St. Charles Road.<strong>$1 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>St. Louis County, Route 141</strong> - Add turn and auxiliary lanes from Route 40/I-64 to St. Luke\'s Hospital Drive in Chesterfield, and Town and Country.&nbsp; <strong>$8 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>St. Louis County, Route AC </strong>- Pedestrian improvements from Route 67 to I-270.&nbsp; <strong>$1 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Scott County, Sikeston Memorial Municipal Airport</strong> - Overlay runway at Sikeston Airport.<strong>$3 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Statewide Minor Routes </strong>- Provide 700 to 1,400 miles of pavement improvements to statewide lettered rural routes.&nbsp; <strong>$30 - $60 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Statewide Transit </strong>- Purchase 200 public transit vehicles statewide.&nbsp; <strong>$10 - $20 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Taney County, Route 76 </strong>- Sidewalk improvements from Roark Valley Road to Gretna.<strong>$1 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Wayne County, Route 34</strong> - Widen, build shoulders and straighten two locations between Route N and Piedmont.&nbsp; <strong>$16 million</strong></p>\n<p>Given\nadditional funding beyond $510 million, significant portions of these\nfour projects totaling $290 million could be awarded during calendar\nyear 2009.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p><strong>Jackson County, Route 435/70 Interchange - </strong>Construct\nnew half diamond interchange at Route 40/I-435, replace Blue Ridge\nCut-off bridge over I-70, add lanes to I-70 and modify some ramps.&nbsp; <strong>$32 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Jefferson County, Route 55 </strong>- Add lanes, relocate existing weigh station, replace eight bridges and revise Route M interchange from Route M to Route Z.&nbsp; <strong>$68 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>McDonald County, Route 71</strong> - Construct freeway from Pineville to Arkansas state line.<strong>$74 million</strong></p>\n<p><strong>St. Louis County, Route 141 </strong>- Construct Route 141 on relocation from Route 340 to St. Luke\'s Hospital Drive.&nbsp; <strong>$116 million</strong></p>\n</div>\n</form></div>\n</div>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Missouri Department of Transportation is ready to go with 34 transportation projects that could be awarded within 180 days of passage of an economic stimulus package that contains at least $25 billion for transportation infrastructure investments nationwide.  ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(358,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','SITE Announces 2009 Officers','none','SITE Improvement, officers','none','<p><a href=\"ww.sitestl.org\">SITE Improvement Association of St. Louis,</a> celebrating its 42nd year, recently announced its new 2009 officers and board of directors. SITE represents contractors involved in jobsite preparation work, including concrete, earthmoving, landscaping, asphalt paving, highway/bridge, sewer/utility and various specialty trades. <br />&nbsp;<br />The newly elected 2009 board officers are Andy D. Ernst of Pace Construction Company serving as president; Tom Milne of Oreo &amp; Botta Concrete as vice president; and Peggy McGrath of TraMar Contracting as the secretary/treasurer. <br />&nbsp;<br />In addition to the officers, other board members for 2009, effective Jan. 1, include: Keith Ahal of Ahal Contracting and Milne representing the concrete division; Dave Bangert, Limited Leasing, and Brenda Mainer, J.D. Kutter Insurance, representing the associates; Terry Daub, Kirkwood Excavating, and Mike Steiniger, Kuesel Excavating, leading the earthmoving division; Andy Ernst, <br />&nbsp;<br />Pace Construction Co., and Jim Fitzgerald, N.B. West Contracting, representing the highway/bridge division; Mark Roden of Roden&rsquo;s Landscaping and Scott Rozier, Rosch Company, LLC, co-directing the landscaping division; Dan Lucas, Accurate Asphalt Paving, and Joe Leritz, Leritz Contracting, representing the asphalt paving division; and Bill Bollmeier, C.E. Bollmeier, and Frank Marchesi Sr., Bi-State Utilities, representing the sewer/utility division. Terry McDannold, Park Mark Inc., along with McGrath, will lead the specialty division. <br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;We are very pleased to see new emerging leadership within our organization,&rdquo; said Jay Schultehenrich, executive director of SITE. &ldquo;The leadership transition was minimal because we have several returning members as well. We welcome Peggy McGrath into her new position as she is the first elected female officer on the SITE board.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;<br />Founded in 1966, SITE Improvement Association has 200 contractor and associate members. It offers legislative action, education and safety programs, labor relations and social networking opportunities. SITE was a leading supporter of Work Zone Safety legislation and continues to be a strong advocate of accident-free work zones.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','SITE Improvement Association of St. Louis, celebrating its 42nd year, recently announced its new 2009 officers and board of directors.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(359,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','House of Cards:  The Collapse of Demand Electric','none','Demand Electric, The Business Bank, IBEW Local 1','none','<p>Fueled by a high octane credit line, Demand Electric was a bright, soaring star among St. Louis specialty contractors. But when the credit ran out, Demand came crashing back to earth.</p>\n<p>Dennis Daugherty, formerly a project manager at Guarantee Electrical\nCompany, started Demand Electric in August 2003 with six employees. In\nan industry where it is rare for companies to more than double in size\nin five years, Demand Electric grew almost 20-fold in that time,\nreporting revenues of $22 million for 2007 and employing over 100\nworkers right before the company&rsquo;s sudden collapse in August 2008.&nbsp;\nIndustry watchers described the company&rsquo;s growth as &ldquo;astronomical&rdquo; or\n&ldquo;extraordinary.&rdquo; Demand&rsquo;s growth was so rapid that Demand made the St.\nLouis Business Journal&rsquo;s 2008 list of the 25 fastest growing private\ncompanies in St. Louis.<br /> <br /> <img alt=\"Demand Electric\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/demand-electric.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />CNR\nhas pieced together one version of Demand Electrics sudden ascent and\nsubsequent crash from sources familiar with the company, all of whom\ndemanded anonymity. The principals of the story &ndash; Dave Daugherty, his\nbank, and the leaders of Local 1 of the IBEW (International Brotherhood\nof Electrical Workers) &ndash; were unavailable for comment, as they had all\nagreed not to talk about the company.<br /> <br /> By all accounts Daugherty was a go-getter and a risk-taker. He had a\nnew vision of how to operate a commercial contracting business in St.\nLouis, a vision born of watching highly leveraged companies in other\nindustry sectors, and he worked hard to make it a reality. He also was\noutspokenly critical of what he saw as the timid or conservative\nbusiness practices of the local construction industry.<br /> <br /> What made Daugherty so outstanding, however, was not so much his\nattitude, as the confluence of his attitude with a credit bubble that\nallowed him to put his ideas into practice using other people&rsquo;s money.\nNew contractors typically have to put up everything they own in order\nto get a line of credit that isn&rsquo;t worth much more than their assets.\nContractors like to say, with just a bit of exaggeration, that banks\naren&rsquo;t lending them any money that the contractors don&rsquo;t already have.\nThe failure rate for new companies is quite high and lenders generally\nwant to make sure that there are sufficient physical assets pledged to\nthe loan that they can recover their money if a business fails.\nSimilarly, as contractors become established, they generally grow\nslowly because lenders still want to make sure there are sufficient\nassets pledged to cover the loan if the business fails. In effect,\nlenders are turning a contractor&rsquo;s fixed assets into cash so he can\noperate.<br /> <br /> Daugherty, however, found a banker during the inflationary period of\nthe credit bubble willing to lend him much more than he was worth so\nthat he could grow his business. That lender was The Business Bank of\nSt. Louis. The result was that Demand Electric was incredibly leveraged\nwith debt&nbsp;&mdash; observers say uniquely so.<br /> <br /> Daugherty used debt to fuel Demand&rsquo;s growth. His salesmanship convinced\nowners and general contractors to give him opportunities, but debt\nallowed him to take advantage of them. His growth was so rapid that\nincome from completed jobs was not enough to fund new work. He was\nrelying on his credit line to buy supplies and meet his ever expanding\npayroll.<br /> <br /> Earlier this year, Demand Electric reported that revenues in 2007\nreached $22 million. Times, however, were changing, and Demand Electric\nseemed unprepared for the backlash in the credit markets following the\ncollapse of speculative mortgage lending. Federal bank examiners began\ntelling banks to reduce their exposure in real estate and construction.\nWhether that is what prompted The Business Bank to take another look at\nDemand Electric&rsquo;s account, we don&rsquo;t know. In any event, the bank did\nlook again at Demand credit line and its collateral, and did not like\nwhat it saw.<br /> <br /> Some sources familiar with Demand Electric blame The Business Bank for\nDemand&rsquo;s sudden demise. They say the bank&rsquo;s decision in August 2008 to\ndeny Daugherty access to the remaining money in his line of credit is\nwhat did him in. <br /> <br /> But Demand was in trouble before that decision. A month before, Demand\nElectric&rsquo;s landlord had filed suit to evict the company from its\noffices at 1846 Craig Park Ct. for nonpayment of rent. The first vendor\nlawsuit against Demand Electric was filed in July, too.<br /> <br /> When The Business Bank told Daugherty that they were reducing his line\nof credit by one-third to the amount he had already borrowed, he\nreportedly told the bank that he needed the additional credit to meet\npayroll, and that he was relying on that line of credit exclusively for\nthe capital for the jobs he had undertaken, sources said. That is when\nthe bank became seriously concerned. They declined to give Daugherty\nany additional money. Daugherty reportedly shopped around for another\nloan, but could not find a willing lender. The following Monday The\nBusiness Bank took control of his office and all of his business\nrecords. In the meantime, he had laid-off all of his workers, because\nhe lacked any ability to pay them.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;It was one of the most disruptive closings the industry has ever\nexperienced,&rdquo; one source said. St. Louis Community College&rsquo;s\ndistrict-wide science lab renovation program was one of the building\nprograms affected by Demand&rsquo;s collapse. The construction manager, S.M.\nWilson &amp; Co., was able to get Aschinger Electric on board to\nreplace Demand in short order. Some of the other affected projects\ninvolved Peruque Station in St. Charles County, Duke Realty&rsquo;s Maryville\nCentre, Charter Development Group, and Christian Hospital Northeast.<br /> <br /> The bank&rsquo;s takeover set in motion an avalanche of work for lawyers.\nIBEW Local 1 and NECA-St. Louis filed suit in federal court against\nDemand Electric, The Business Bank of St. Louis, and Providence\nCounseling, for contributions Demand Electric owed to electrical\nindustry trust funds.&nbsp; French-Gerleman Electric filed a mechanic&rsquo;s\nlien; Graybar and Colorado Electric Supply each sued Demand for breach\nof contract. Liebert, Western Extralite, Rexel Electric Supply, Butler\nSupply Co., and Warren Sign Co. all followed with their own liens.</p>\n<p>Demand Electric&rsquo;s sudden collapse was met almost with glee in some quarters. &ldquo;A lot of people were jealous of Daugherty,&rdquo; one source said. &ldquo;The extraordinary think was that he pulled it off for as long as he did.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>','none','Fueled by a high octane credit line, Demand Electric was a bright, soaring star among St. Louis specialty contractors. But when the credit ran out, Demand came crashing back to earth.','none','','none','','none','','none',281,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/demand-electric.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(360,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Midwest Takes Biggest Hit in Architectural Billings Drop','none','AIA, architectural billings, drop','none','<p>The Midwest took the most severe hit when the AIA Architectural Billings Index (ABI) sunk to 34.7 in November, the\nlowest score in its 13-year history. In comparison, the score was 54.8\njust one year prior.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Architectural Billlings\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"305\" src=\"/images/uploads/arch-billings.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"477\" />The inquiries score also hit a record low in November: 38.3,  down from 51 in September.</p>\n<p>The American Institute of Architects (AIA) compiles the index based\non surveys sent to mostly commercial architects. The index has fallen\nbelow 50 for 10 straight months (a number below 50 indicates a decrease\nin billings).</p>\n<p>The commercial sector has taken a steep dive, hitting 26.7 in\nNovember. Multi-family residential was also down, from October&rsquo;s 32.5\nto 30. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s just as troubling is that the institutional\nsector&mdash;schools, hospitals, and public buildings&mdash;is also beginning to\nreact to tighter credit conditions and a weakening economy,&rdquo; says\nKermit Baker, the AIA&rsquo;s chief economist. The institutional score dipped\nto 40.8 in November, down from 41.3 in October, and 44.4 in September.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>In terms of regions, all had record-low scores. The Midwest had the\nlowest: 31.4. The West dipped to 33.5; the South, 36.8; and the\nNortheast, 39.5.</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<h4>Graph courtesy of AIA</h4>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Midwest took the most severe hit when the AIA Architectural Billings Index (ABI) sunk to 34.7 in November, the lowest score in its 13-year history. In comparison, the score was 54.8 just one year prior. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(361,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','Data Centers Require Extraordinary Planning, Expertise','none','data centers, planning, ','none','<p>&nbsp;<strong>By Fred Jaeckle and Brian Nuehring</strong></p>\n<p>The idea of creating a new data center or expanding an existing one brings to mind futuristic images of computer experts working with dazzling high tech equipment to feed their ever-increasing need for data processing capabilities.&nbsp; While the end result for many organizations is a sleek new facility humming with machines and activity, none of it would be possible without an extraordinary level of upfront planning and teamwork involving many technical experts and a knowledgeable construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC)to lead the process.</p>\n<p>Most data centers today are designed and built to address tomorrow&rsquo;s information processing needs.&nbsp; Given the complexities and new technologies impacting most industries, anticipating the future needs of a new data center is no easy task.&nbsp; The healthcare industry provides an excellent example.</p>\n<p>Healthcare systems are among the fastest-growing users of data centers.&nbsp; Automated medical records keeping, electronic imaging, surgical robotics, advanced telecommunications, increasingly sophisticated medical procedures and multi-location facilities are just some of the recent developments that directly impact the IT support requirements of nearly every hospital and hospital system.</p>\n<p>No matter the industry involved, the first and most important step in building a new or expanded data center is a commitment to careful planning and collaboration among its many stakeholders.&nbsp; At the very least this should involve the organization&rsquo;s IT department leadership, its facilities management department, and the project&rsquo;s CM/GC, architect and data center planning consultants.</p>\n<p>The first step is to determine and clearly define the needs and goals of the data center, in both the short term and the longer term.&nbsp; There are many important and intertwining considerations to be determined in the pre-construction phase of a data center project, including:</p>\n<p>- Physical site selection (available site, affordable, convenience, access to power sources and landlines)</p>\n<p>- Anticipated computing load, data storage requirements and related equipment needs</p>\n<p>- Security requirements and tier ratings (vulnerability to natural disaster, terrorism acts, regulatory and legal requirements)</p>\n<p>- Number of years the data center will fulfill the organization&rsquo;s planned needs</p>\n<p>- Migration plan from current data facilities to the new/expanded facilities</p>\n<p>- Capability for future equipment and operational upgrades within the planned facility</p>\n<p>- Mechanical systems and physical plant requirements to support the planned facility.</p>\n<p>The planning team must make these and other important decisions, and resolve the competing (and often conflicting) situations that accompany these decisions.&nbsp; Once this is accomplished, the team&rsquo;s attention shifts to operational planning.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>As data centers become bigger and more sophisticated, they require more power and generate much more heat per square foot than today&rsquo;s facilities.&nbsp; There are &lsquo;green&rsquo; equipment choices now available to help mitigate the operating costs of data centers, such as higher voltage European-style equipment that operates on less amperage and requires less electricity than traditional American-made equipment.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Power needs and heat generation also has major implications for data floor design and usage, as well as cooling, electrical and power systems designs.&nbsp; Keeping data centers cooled is no easy task, particularly when the computing equipment and floor layout creates numerous &lsquo;hot spots&rsquo; that must be addressed.</p>\n<p>Air and water-based cooling systems are both available, although the water-based systems are now in greater demand due to their cooling efficiency and lower overall energy usage.&nbsp; Both options have &lsquo;green&rsquo; features, such as re-use and re-circulation of air and water.&nbsp; However, air-based cooling systems do require the use of chemical refrigerants. The design and implementation of these systems requires a contractor with a strong sense of mechanical, electrical and plumbing expertise.</p>\n<p>A knowledgeable and experienced CM/GC can play a vitally important role in the planning and construction of a successful data center.&nbsp; The planning team members can have a natural bias and expertise in their area of specialty, such as the IT gurus, but may lack the facilities or mechanical knowledge to make fully informed decisions.&nbsp; An experienced general contractor can help create the project&rsquo;s parameters, help each planning team member understand and connect with the needs of the other team members, and lead the client through all necessary and relevant issues and decisions.&nbsp; An experienced general contractor can also help tie-in the data center to future physical changes planned on the client&rsquo;s campus, thus creating a complete campus-wide interface process.</p>\n<p>Construction of a data center also requires the purchase of significant information technology hardware and equipment not found in most commercial construction projects.&nbsp; Many such components require long lead times.&nbsp; Understanding the very high level of sophistication and complexities involved in data centers can only come from experience.</p>\n<p>Only when all of the pre-construction planning and decisions have been made can the layout, design and construction of the new facility begin to move forward.</p>\n<p><em>Fred Jaeckle is vice president of pre-construction and estimating and Brian Nuehring is director of estimating for S. M. Wilson &amp; Co.&nbsp; S. M. Wilson has completed several new data center projects, including the Schneider Electric/APC &lsquo;Learning Center&rsquo; in O&rsquo;Fallon, Missouri.&nbsp; The company is currently involved in the development and construction of new data centers for the Sisters of Mercy Health System, and for the Community Health Network in Indianapolis.</em></p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','The idea of creating a new data center or expanding an existing one brings to mind futuristic images of computer experts working with dazzling high tech equipment to feed their ever-increasing need for data processing capabilities. ','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(362,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','KAI, DLR and Dunn Complete Women\'s Prison','none','Chillicothe, KAI, Dunn, prison','none','<p>Female inmates have begun moving into the new state-of-the-art Chillicothe Correctional Center (CCC), designed by the design-build team of KAI Design &amp; Build of St. Louis, Mo.; DLR Group of Overland Park, KS; and JE Dunn Construction Company of Kansas City, MO.</p>\n<p>The City of Chillicothe, which claims to be the &ldquo;Home of Sliced Bread,&rdquo; made tremendous efforts to ensure that the prison, and its jobs, stayed in the community. The State of Missouri issued $120 million million dollars to keep the prison there.</p>\n<p>The Missouri Department of Corrections is hiring 175 additional corrections officers for the new facility, bringing its full-time employees to 560, with an annual payroll of $15.7 million.&nbsp;&nbsp; The new $120 million prison, the largest design-build project undertaken by the State of Missouri, will provide expanded services to female offenders in substance abuse treatment, academic education and re-entry services.</p>\n<p>The facility, which replaces an outdated prison constructed in 1887, will also improve safety and security for the public, staff and offenders. Non-conventional materials, such as vinyl tile and carpet, as well as ceramic tile in the showers create a softer environment for the female inmates. Additional amenities include a beauty shop, religious center, library, bakery, cosmetology lab, gymnasium and greenhouse.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>CCC, a 430,000-square-foot facility, consists of five butterfly-shaped housing units with future plans to add an additional housing unit. The five units have the capacity to hold a total of 1,636 inmates, more than triple the old institution&rsquo;s operating capacity of 525. According to the Missouri Department of Corrections, Missouri&rsquo;s female prison population has increased by 150 percent during the past 10 years.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&ldquo;DLR Group is passionate about designing facilities that keep our communities safe,&rdquo; said Andy Anderson, principal with DLR Group. &ldquo;Our goal is to deliver functional buildings that are both environmentally friendly and responsive to users&rsquo; needs.\"</p>\n<p>A unique feature of the facility is the design of its central plant, which houses the HVAC equipment. To address the state&rsquo;s desire for an energy efficient system, KAI designed the state-of-the-art plant to include high-efficiency boilers and HVAC controls. The central utility loop was also designed 12 to 16 feet above grade, rather than underground. This type of design allows problems to be identified quickly and repairs to be made easily. The design also utilizes the building structures to support the loop, which helped to save on insulation and support for the main loop.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&ldquo;The main power plant, refrigeration, boiler plant and maintenance area was designed outside the secured perimeter of the facility and is totally self-sufficient,&rdquo; said KAI Project Architect Dwight Wyatt. &ldquo;The facility has its own emergency electrical generator should the power go out. We also designed the buildings&rsquo; roofs with limited equipment or clutter on top of them, to minimize areas where people may try to hide. When designing a correctional facility, safety and security, of course, is always critical.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>There are also 403 security cameras located throughout the campus. Another unique feature of the facility is its precast concrete, bearing-wall construction. Use of the pre-cast materials allowed the facility to be designed and built in less than two years, rather than the average estimated three years to complete.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Female inmates have begun moving into the new state-of-the-art Chillicothe Correctional Center (CCC), designed by the design-build team of KAI Design & Build of St. Louis, Mo.; DLR Group of Overland Park, KS; and JE Dunn Construction Company of Kansas City, MO.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(363,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Paric Tops Out Patients First','none','Paric, Patients First','none','<p>St. Louis-based Paric Corp. has reached a major construction milestone on expansion of <a href=\"http://www.patientsfirsthc.com\" title=\"Patients First\">Patients First Health Care</a> in Washington.&nbsp; Paric recently placed the final beam, topping out the steel structure. <br /></p>\n<h4><img alt=\"Dr. Michael Rau signs final beam\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"225\" src=\"/images/uploads/Dr--Rau-final-beam2008.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"300\" />Dr. Michael Rau, Patients First Chairman and Project Manager for the expansion, was the last to sign the final beam.&nbsp; Employees and physicians from Patients First, construction workers, and Paric project managers participated in the topping out ceremony.</h4>\n<p><br />&ldquo;This is an exciting time for all of us who deliver care to our patients,&rdquo; said Dr. Rau.&nbsp; &ldquo;This $30.4 million expansion is the biggest commitment that Patients First Health Care has made to the Washington community.&nbsp; We look forward to providing more technically advanced outpatient services conveniently in one location for our patients.&rdquo;<br /><br />The $30.4 million expansion is on schedule to add 109,000 square feet in two, three-story wings to the current 85,000-square-foot health center. It is expected to complete by the end of next summer.&nbsp;&nbsp; Joe Gubbels, Patients First CEO, credits &ldquo;good weather, outstanding construction crews and project management skills of Paric Corporation&rdquo;&nbsp; with keeping the project on schedule:<br /><br />&ldquo;Our construction team has done an outstanding job keeping on schedule,&rdquo; said Gubbels.&nbsp; &ldquo;As the structure takes shape, the anticipation grows.&rdquo;&nbsp; <br /><br />Gubbels is pleased that the project will bring more outpatient options, including cancer services and ambulatory surgical treatment to the community.&nbsp; The new facilities and services will make it possible to add new physicians to serve the area.<br /><br />&ldquo;This project will also bring new physicians, which will enhance the medical care that patients can receive right in east central Missouri,&rdquo; said Gubbels.&nbsp; &ldquo;As an added bonus, as these new physicians and their families settle here, they will help to grow each of our communities.&rdquo;&nbsp; <br /><br />In addition to completing the steel, Paric has relocated an open storm water creek and added a surface parking lot.&nbsp; Workers are starting to place the exterior wall components, which will allow the closing of the building within the next few months. Grading, utility relocation and foundations have been completed on the three-story parking structure which will provide parking for approximately 675 cars.&nbsp; This multi-level parking structure, with pre-cast concrete and brick inlay, will be the first of its kind in Washington, Mo.&nbsp; <br /><br />This project has added to the original Patients First Health Care structure on both ends.&nbsp; When completed, the Patients First Washington Campus additions will include an ambulatory surgery center; a cancer treatment center that will provide medical oncology, radiation oncology and infusion therapy; additional physician offices; expanded retail space and meeting rooms.&nbsp; The new addition is expected to increase employment by more than 100 people.<br /><br />Paric manages the entire construction process for Patients First, working closely with Northstar Management, representative for Patients First.&nbsp; Lawrence Group provided the design and Bank of Washington is providing construction financing.&nbsp; <br /></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','St. Louis-based Paric Corp. has reached a major construction milestone on expansion of Patients First Health Care in Washington.  Paric recently placed the final beam, topping out the steel structure.\n','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(364,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Gray Design Completes A True Spa Interiors','none','Gray Design, True Spa','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.graydesigngroup.com\">Gray Design Group</a> has completed interiors for A True Spa, a new 3,000-square-foot full-service spa in Chesterfield Valley.</p>\n<p>Gray utilized its extensive experience in spa environments to provide a functional layout with warm relaxing finishes that are able to evolve seasonally to keep the facility fresh and up to date. The design team aimed to create a classic space that felt residential and welcoming.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;The combination of the soft lighting with the rich neutral gold color palette creates a soothing and nurturing feeling one hopes to experience while visiting a spa,&rdquo; said Wendy Gray, principal. &ldquo;The client wanted the customers to feel as if they are in the comfort of their own homes, and I think we accomplished that goal for them.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;<img alt=\"A True Spa\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"267\" src=\"/images/uploads/spa.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"400\" /></p>\n<h4>To accent the neutral colors, the receptionist&rsquo;s desk is made out of dark, cherry wood with ornate carved detailing.</h4>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Similar wood is used for the cabinetry and lockers in the changing room, which are programmed to customers&rsquo; personal coded combinations. Retail products available for purchase are displayed on back-lit shelving created from decorative acrylic panels with a botanical motif.</p>\n<p>The multiple treatment rooms offer a variety of lighting options based on the type of treatment. To ensure customers have the ability to feel relaxed and rejuvenated, Gray created a relaxation area with comfortable built-in lounge seating and a full-height glass waterfall feature.</p>\n<p>Gray&rsquo;s team consisted of Don McAtee, senior project manager, and Ashley Smith, project manager. Interior Construction Services was the general contractor.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;Gray fulfilled my vision of a beautiful, peaceful and tranquil place where clients can come and put themselves first,&rdquo; said Mikki Monger-Jones, owner of A True Spa. &ldquo;They combined all the wonderful aspects of the many worldwide spas I have traveled to into one very special place.&rdquo;</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.atruespa.com\">A True Spa </a>is an upscale day spa offering a full range of aesthetic services, including massage therapy, facials, body treatments and specialty services such as air-brush tanning and semi-permanent make-up.</p>\n<p>Founded in 1982, Gray Design Group provides architectural and interior design services, both locally and nationwide. Through its design studio, Gray offers state-of-the art 3-D modeling/video animation. Recent and current projects include corporate facilities for Monsanto and Elsevier, as well as institutional projects for the University of Missouri-Columbia and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Gray Design Group has completed interiors for A True Spa, a new 3,000-square-foot full-service spa in Chesterfield Valley. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(365,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Plumbers and Pipefitters, Sheetmetal Workers Streamline Industrial Jurisdiction','none','Plumbers and Pipefitters 562, Sheetmetal Workers 36','none','<p>In what might be termed an early Christmas present to construction owners, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562 and Sheetmetal Workers Local 36 announced just before the holiday that they have reached an industrial jurisdiction agreement for 2009.</p>\n<p><br /> &ldquo;It\'s progressive for the work we all do,&rdquo; said Patrick\nKellett, Business Manager of Local 562. \"It streamlines the bidding process in the industrial market.\" The agreement covers jurisdictional rules, applications and materials, Kellett said. He said that the final language was being refined as of Christmas Eve and promised that it would be realeased as soon as it was in final form. \"This agreement is for the\nbetterment of the industry and will be an excellent tool in preventing\nfuture conflict between trades,&rdquo; Kellett said.</p>\n<p>The leadership of Local 36 echoed Kellett\'s sentiments. &ldquo;This is a historical event that is tremendously beneficial for both our organizations and the contractors utilizing our services,&rdquo; said Local 36 President David Zimmermann.<br />&nbsp;<br />In the past, contractors using workers from either labor organization have often been caught in the middle of disputes between Local 36 and Local 562 over which elements of a job should be the responsibility of which labor organization.&nbsp; Those disputes had the potential to complicate the job bidding process for contractors and even prevent some jobs from being awarded.&nbsp; The new agreement will eliminate those disputes and conflicts.<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;The new agreement is a big step forward for both organizations and I applaud them for their efforts in getting this deal done,&rdquo; said Mike Corrigan of Lyon Sheet Metal Works.&nbsp; &ldquo;It will make bidding for future jobs much easier and much more likely of being successful, knowing there will be no more grey area and that we won&rsquo;t be caught in any arguments.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;<br />Members of both organizations met on Dec. 16 and agreed in principle to the agreement which they hope to have finalized by the beginning of 2009.&nbsp; <br /><br />&nbsp;</p>','','269','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','In what might be termed an early Christmas present to construction owners, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562 and Sheetmetal Workers Local 36 announced just before the holiday that they have reached an industrial jurisdiction agreement for 2009.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(366,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Walton Completes Chesterfield Wal-Mart','none','Walton, Wal-Mart','none','<p>Walton Construction St. Louis has completed a\n190,617-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter expansion in Chesterfield,\nMissouri. Renovations to the retail facility were completed in less\nthan a year with a grand opening scheduled for October 29, 2008. The\narchitect was LawKingdon Architecture of Wichita, KS.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;We phased the remodel and addition project to ensure that Wal-Mart was\nable to remain open throughout construction,&rdquo; said Bill Butler, project\nmanager, Walton Construction. <br /> <br /> Walton Construction St. Louis began working with Wal-Mart in 2003 on\nthe construction of a return center in Waco, TX.&nbsp; Since then, Walton\nhas been contracted by Wal-Mart to construct mechanized distribution\ncenters and Supercenters in several states. Walton completed a similar\nSupercenter in Marion, IL last year and recently completed a\nSupercenter in Harrisburg, IL.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Walton Construction St. Louis has completed a 190,617-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter expansion in Chesterfield, Missouri. Renovations to the retail facility were completed in less than a year with a grand opening scheduled for October 29, 2008. The architect was LawKingdon Architecture of Wichita, KS.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(401,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','CB Richard Ellis Releases Market Forecast','none','CB Richard Ellis, report,  real estate, trends','none','<p>There were no major surprises&nbsp; in a generally glum report released this week summarizing 2008-2009 trends by commercial/industrial/retail broker CB Richard Ellis (CBRE). However, CBRE reported that the St. Louis region appears to be faring somewhat better than its counterparts in other ares of the country.<br /><img alt=\"CBRE Report\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/cbre_1.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" /><br />The following are some of the major points for 2009 from the CBRE report:</p>\n<p><strong>Office</strong><br />&bull; Vacancy rates likely to rise<br />&bull; South County faces influx of available Anheuser-Busch space<br />&bull; Renewing tenants will be critical for landlords<br />&bull; Concessions, including free rent, will be prevalent<br />&bull; Ability of projects such as Ballpark Village to get financing will impact the market in 2009 and beyond</p>\n<p><strong>Industrial</strong><br />&bull; Most activity is from users looking for between 30,000 square feet and 60,000 square feet<br />&bull; Speculative construction has slowed considerably<br />&bull; South County&rsquo;s exposure to Chrysler and its suppliers makes it vulnerable, now that the car company has shut down one plant and slowed production at the other<br />&bull; A tenant&rsquo;s market has emerged, with some &ldquo;oncein-a-lifetime&rdquo; deals featuring lease rates as low as $1 per square foot</p>\n<p><strong>Retail</strong><br />&bull; Rate of development expected to slow significantly<br />&bull; Projects seeking financing will have to have significant pre-leasing committments<br />&bull; &ldquo;Power Centers&rdquo; with name-brand anchors such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target will continue to do well as retail destinations<br />&bull; Smaller, neighborhood centers located in areas that receive less traffic are likely to struggle</p>\n<p>To download the complete report, go to <a href=\"http://www.cbre.com/USA/US/MO/St+Louis/misc/stlmarketoutlook\">this link</a>.</p>','none','There were no major surprises  in a generally glum report released this week by commercial/industrial/retail broker CB Richard Ellis (CBRE). However, the St. Louis region appears to be faring somewhat better than its counterparts in other ares of the country, CBRE reported. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/cbre_1.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(367,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Three from EWR Lead AIA in Illinois','none','Southern Illinois, AIA, EWR','none','<p>Timothy A. McMinn, director of fesign for EWR Associates, Inc.,\nArchitects, has been elected as president of the Illinois Council of\nthe American Institute of Architects for 2009. He is currently\nconcluding his term as vice president / president-elect.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>AIA Illinois\nis the fourth largest council in the nation, serving over 4,000 member\narchitects in the state and 83,000 nationally.&nbsp; McMinn has\npreviously served on the state board of directors for several years.&nbsp; The year 2009 marks his\n25th year as a member of the AIA.</p>\n<p>Robert S. Anderson, AIA, of EWR Associates, Inc., Architects, was recently elected as treasurer of the Southern Illinois Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), for 2009.&nbsp; Anderson previously served the chapter as the chairman of the Member Communications Committee.&nbsp; Steven M. Downen, AIA, also of EWR Associates, Inc., previously served as secretary and has been elected as vice president / president-elect .<br /><br /><br /></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Timothy A. McMinn, director of fesign for EWR Associates, Inc., Architects, has been elected as president of the Illinois Council of the American Institute of Architects for 2009. He is currently concluding his term as vice president / president-elect.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(368,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Kwame Hires Timothy Marcum','none','Kwame, Marcum','none','<p>Timothy Marcum of Farmington has joined <a href=\"http://www.kwamebuildingroup.com\">Kwame Building Group</a>&nbsp; as a construction inspector.&nbsp; Marcum currently reports construction activities and ensures code compliances for the Johnson\'s Shut-Ins State Park redevelopment project.</p>\n<p>Marcum has 25 years of experience in the construction industry.&nbsp; He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of Phoenix and an associate degree in Environmental Science and Technology from Front Range Community College in Westminister, CO.<br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Timothy Marcum of Farmington has joined Kwame Building Group  as a construction inspector.  Marcum currently reports construction activities and ensures code compliances for the Johnson\'s Shut-Ins State Park redevelopment project.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(369,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','O\'Fallon, IL, Roundabout Wins Multiple Awards','none','O\"Fallon, roundabout, Horner & Shifrin','none','<p>The City of O&rsquo;Fallon, Illinois&rsquo;, new State and Obernuefemann roundabout, designed by Horner &amp; Shifrin, recently received two prominent awards.&nbsp; The American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois recognized the project with a Merit Award, which is given, &ldquo;for those projects worthy of recognition for the engineer and the owner/client.&rdquo;&nbsp; Also, the Illinois Department of Transportation has honored the project with its Small Construction Project Award.<br /><br />This roundabout addresses several key benefits to motorists and residents of O&rsquo;Fallon, Horner &amp; Shifrin said.&nbsp; First, it alleviates much of the congestion that has plagued the intersection for years, thereby shortening commute times and reducing the number of accidents.&nbsp; Second, it is safer than an intersection that is regulated by traffic signals or stop signs. Finally, it reduces air pollution since vehicles no longer sit idling as they wait to enter the intersection.&nbsp; <br /><br />Steve Donahue, Horner &amp; Shifrin Project Manager said, &ldquo;It is always our goal to design projects that not only enhance the safety and convenience of the traveling public, but benefit the environment as well.&nbsp; I am pleased by the fact that air emissions will be reduced as a result of the virtual elimination of vehicles idling at this intersection.&rdquo;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The City of O\'Fallon, Illinois\', new State and Obernuefemann roundabout, designed by Horner & Shifrin, recently received two prominent awards','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(370,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Hendricks & Partners Sells Four Multi-Family Properties','none','Hendricks & Partners, properties, sale','none','<p>Hendricks &amp; Partners announced the sale of four properties in Missouri for an undisclosed amount:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Willowbend (208 units), located at 14343 Willowbend Park in Town &amp; Country, MO</li>\n<li>Peachtree (156 units), located at 915 Peach Hill Lane in Chesterfield, MO</li>\n<li>Reflection Cove (194 units), located at 13992 Reflection Drive in Ballwin, MO</li>\n<li>Prospect Creek (244 units), located at 414 Point Return Drive in Ballwin, MO</li>\n</ul>\n<p>The transactions were negotiated by Ken Aston of the St. Louis office of Hendricks &amp; Partners on behalf of both the seller and the buyers.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Hendricks & Partners announced the sale of four properties in Missouri for an undisclosed amount:','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(371,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','MiTek Acquires Aegis Metal Framing','none','MiTek, Acquires, Aegis ','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.mii.com\">MiTek Industries Inc.</a> has announced that it will acquire full ownership of<a href=\"http://www.aegismetalframing.com\"> Aegis Metal Framing LLC</a>, an industry leader in pre-fabricated cold-formed building components for the commercial, institutional and residential markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.<br />&nbsp;<br />Aegis was launched in 2002 as a joint venture of Dietrich Metal Framing and MiTek. When this transaction closes in early January 2009, Aegis will become a wholly owned division of MiTek. The entire Aegis team will remain in place to support continuing operations and capitalize on growth opportunities as the commercial construction market recovers.<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;We are delighted to solidify our relationship with Aegis even further as a part of the MiTek family of companies,&rdquo; stated Gene Toombs, chairman and CEO of MiTek. &ldquo;Our six-year relationship with Aegis has resulted in a thorough understanding of the company&rsquo;s products and services. We share many of the same customers and are confident this acquisition will benefit everyone involved.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;The integration into MiTek will bring tremendous downstream opportunities for Aegis customers,&rdquo; said Tom Valvo, Aegis&rsquo; president. &ldquo;We will be fully supported by the world&rsquo;s largest supplier of technology-enabled solutions for the building components industry. MiTek&rsquo;s software development resources are unrivaled in the industry, and Aegis will leverage these to further advance our own software offerings, including our next-generation software initiatives. Additionally, in these uncertain economic times, having Aegis as part of MiTek and Berkshire Hathaway will help ensure continuity of supply and financial backing that is second to none.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;<br /> MiTek, a subidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., is a supplier of\nstate-of-the-art engineered connector products, equipment, software and\nservices for the residential building components industry.&nbsp;\nHeadquartered in Chesterfield, Mo., MiTek is a global operation serving\ncustomers in more than 90 countries. Aegis Metal Framing provides a complete line of cold-formed steel framing products.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','MiTek Industries Inc. has announced that it will acquire full ownership of Aegis Metal Framing LLC, an industry leader in pre-fabricated cold-formed building components for the commercial, institutional and residential markets.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(372,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Midwest Testing Builds Sustainable Headquarters in Overland','none','Midwest Testing, LEED, headquarters','none','<p>The leadership of Midwest Testing sought to make a statement about the firm\'s commitment to the earth with Midwest\'s new $4 millionheadquarters and labs at 8606 Page Avenue in Overland.</p>\n<p>Underscoring the point, the geotechnical and environmental services provider is pursuing LEED silver certification for the 25,000-square-foot facility.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Midwest Testing\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"280\" src=\"/images/uploads/midwest-testing.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"350\" />&ldquo;We outgrew our old building and needed more efficient space that not only promotes teamwork and productivity but that reflects our stewardship to the environment,&rdquo; said Richard Laughlin, president. &ldquo;Our new office and labs are sustainable to create a healthy work environment and expandable to meet growth needs.&rdquo; Founded in 1985, the firm currently employs about 40 people.</p>\n<h4>Exterior of Midwest Testing&rsquo;s new $4 Million headquarters in Overland.</h4>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>The two-story structure combines 14,000 square feet of office space with 11,000 square feet of lab and support area. Lab space hosts equipment for testing soil, concrete, asphalt and other materials used in foundations, pavements and commercial buildings.&nbsp; The structure is expandable by 15,000 square feet to accommodate future growth.<br /><strong><br />Soils&nbsp; Foundation Testing Goes Green</strong><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Designed by Lawrence, KS-based Treanor Architects, the sand-colored building incorporates a number of innovative green design elements and practices. They include:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>A &ldquo;closed loop&rdquo; mist room for testing concrete strength that conserves water and the energy required for heating/cooling.</li>\n<li>Advanced mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems that cut building operation costs by 30 percent. It includes low-flow plumbing, high-efficiency lighting and filtered HVAC for better air quality.</li>\n<li>A reflective, white roof and recycled crushed concrete aggregate pavement in the storage yard mitigates the &ldquo;heat island&rdquo; effect of a dark roof and asphalt pavement. The recycled aggregate pavement reduces stormwater runoff by allowing precipitation to percolate into the ground.</li>\n<li>A 5,000-gallon cistern to capture rainwater shed from the roof. The water helps irrigate the site, which is populated by plant species native to Missouri.</li>\n<li>A container for recycling tested concrete, asphalt and masonry materials, which are recycled through Eco-Recycling, located within three miles of Midwest&rsquo;s facility. </li>\n<li>An abundance of 10-foot-tall windows with three grades of glass to flood the interior with natural light, cooling the rays of the sun in summer and maximizing heat gain from the sun in winter.</li>\n<li>Bamboo floors, baseboards and doors, with carpet tiles made of recycled tires.</li>\n<li>Low VOC-emissive materials are found throughout the building.</li>\n<li>A bike rack, shower rooms and changing rooms to encourage alternatives to driving a car to work.</li>\n</ul>\n<p><br /><strong>Optimizing Work Space</strong></p>\n<p>The office component consists of private and semi-private offices, and cubicles. A conference room with retractable audio/visual equipment for presentations and ongoing education features a multi-part table that can be arranged in meeting or classroom configurations. The &ldquo;open plan&rdquo; design enables light to penetrate deep into the building and seeks to optimize productivity and spark collaboration. <br /><br />Each office is equipped with a U-shaped desk, designed to facilitate efficiency and organization. In-office seating is limited to a small cabinet on castors with a cushioned top. This arrangement serves a dual purpose: to help keep a quick conference on task and to encourage use of the conference room and its embedded technology for meetings requiring in-depth, detailed discussion. <br /><br />The office also has multiple &ldquo;strategic crossroads&rdquo; to advance collaboration. &ldquo;We believe e-mail is overused as a form of communication and that it tends to encourage people to work in isolation,&rdquo; said Laughlin. &ldquo;We wanted an environment that encourages the exchange of ideas face-to-face.&rdquo;<br /><br />An eat-in kitchen with a concrete countertop island in which the Midwest Testing logo is etched is one such crossroad. Another is an outdoor patio with barbeque.</p>\n<p>The lobby is topped by a &ldquo;cloud&rdquo; ceiling with icicle pendant lights that evoke images of falling rain. The reception desk is situated deep in the lobby to enable visitors to connect with business operations. It also has a large flat panel television and residential-style seating. <br /><br />GSS General Contractors, Inc. managed construction with Stock&nbsp; Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc. serving as civil engineer, Solutions AEC as mechanical engineer and McNealy Engineering, Inc. as structural engineer.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The leadership of Midwest Testing sought to make a statement about the firm\'s commitment to the earth with Midwest\'s new $4 millionheadquarters and labs at 8606 Page Avenue in Overland.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(373,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Control Technology and Solutions Opens Dallas Office ','none',' Control Technology and Solutions, Dallas','none','<p>&nbsp;Control Technology and Solutions (CTS), a St. Louis, Mo.-based company that provides design and construction services that dramatically improve the energy efficiency of educational, institutional and commercial buildings, has opened an office in Dallas.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Heading the new office, the sixth operated by CTS nationally, is Dallas native Roger Thibodeau.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Indicative of its focus is a $20 million project under way at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill., in which CTS is harvesting geothermal, solar and wind energy to make Lake Land the first self-sustaining college in Illinois. When work is complete, the school will save about 850,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and 70,000 therms of natural gas each year, reducing its carbon output by 556 metric tons.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none',' Control Technology and Solutions (CTS), a St. Louis, Mo.-based company that provides design and construction services to improve the energy efficiency of educational, institutional and commercial buildings, has opened an office in Dallas. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(375,1,3,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','Gaal','none','Dr. John S.','none','<p>Dr. John Gaal was recognized by the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers as the 2008 Diversity Champion in the St. Louis construction industry.</p>','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','Director of Training and Workforce Development, Carpenters District Council of St. Louis','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(376,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','The 3Rs: I  Am \"We\"!','none','Gaal, diversity, 3Rs','none','<p><em>On December 18, 2008, I had the esteemed honor and pleasure of being recognized by the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers as the 2008 Diversity Champion in the St. Louis construction industry. Below you will find excerpts from my acceptance speech which focused on the 3Rs. No, not the 3Rs we remember from our days in the 20th century K-12 school system model known as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Rather the 3Rs Dr. Willard Daggett refers to as rigor, relevance, and relationships in the 21st century.</em><br /><br /><strong>Rigor</strong><br />In today&rsquo;s world hardly a day goes by when we are not exposed to the matter of accountability. In the construction industry, a number of organizations are dedicated to ensuring that the topic of diversity is something more than words on paper. As a matter of fact, and to the dismay of a few present here today, Program Evaluation Methods was the final course in my quest towards a doctoral degree&hellip;a subject I found to be applicable to my world of work. To this end, ACCESS is an organization that is made-up of many stakeholders in the construction industry: owners, contractors, labor, CBOs, etc.</p>\n<p>One of ACCESS&rsquo; main functions is to provide program evaluation services in a standardized manner. Consequently, this allows the general public to gauge the effectiveness of the 11-plus pre-apprenticeship programs in this region. It is these pre-apprenticeship programs that purport to provide a pathway for non-traditional members of our society into the construction industry and, thusly, living wage jobs. And, since many of these programs cannot survive without federal funding, it is high-time that we &mdash; as taxpayers &mdash; insist that these pre-apprenticeship programs deliver measurable results! In this age of accountability, we can no longer be satisfied with merely the grass being greener and the sky being bluer.&nbsp; To this end, I commend MoDOT for taking steps to achieve this goal by implementing an outcomes-based pay-for-performance training model on the I-64 project.<br /><br /><strong>Relevance</strong><br />The construction industry I have dealt with for the past 30 years is certainly a demand-driven sector of our economy. Portable, industry recognized credentials are in-place because owners and/or contractors insisted that construction workers exhibit safe and productive work habits. Not to mention, labor unions have supported efforts to create safer and more productive environments for their members as evidenced through the OSHA 10 training, drug testing, and various journey-level upgrade courses offered.</p>\n<p>Additionally, some aspects of our industry have chosen to take matters one step further by placing emphasis on functional literacy skills (i.e., reading for information, applied math, and locating information). As students, apprentices, journeyworkers, teachers, trainers, or managers, it is incumbent upon us to speak a common language of learning. Unlike high school transcripts where an &ldquo;A&rdquo; in geometry in St. Louis may differ from the &ldquo;A&rdquo; in geometry in Chicago, ACT&rsquo;s WorkKeys provides a tool to accomplish this goal. Let it be known that these efforts have had such a positive impact on our industry that most of the pre-apprenticeship programs mentioned above &mdash;serving as feeders to the 15-plus joint apprenticeship programs&mdash;have redesigned their curricula to address these industry-relevant, portable credentials.</p>\n<p><strong>Relationships</strong><br />This award bestowed upon me today is the result of input from the many groups and individuals who have touched my life. As follows:</p>\n<p>Labor: Believe me, I could not do what I do without the support and inspiration from Terry Nelson, the CDC&rsquo;s Executive Board, and our 22,000 union members.<br />Management- I have deep respect for John Mulligan and Angelo Lancia from the AGC, Bob Behlman and Dave Marxkors from the HBA, Tim Wies and Dan Wienstroer from the WCCA, and Tony Prince and Mike Grigaitis from the FIC. (There is no doubt in my mind that the St. Louis Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Program is the largest federally-approved apprenticeship program in Missouri because of the true partnership between labor and management. As noted, the operative word &ldquo;joint&rdquo; does not refer to the item one may smoke but rather the importance of potentially opposing forces working together towards a common goal and what is best for our industry!)</p>\n<p>Owners: I appreciate people like Sandra Marks representing Washington University and the SLCCC&rsquo;s Dennis LaValle&hellip;their open minds allowed a non-owner (me) to sit at their diversity table and discuss matters of common interest. Additionally, I would be remiss in not thanking the MoDOT crew: Peter Rahn, Ed Hassinger, and Leslie Hofarth. If we are committed to diversifying this industry, their pre-apprenticeship training model must be considered beyond the public works sector.</p>\n<p>CBOs/FBOs: Groups such as Operation Excel&rsquo;s YouthBuild, Metropolitan Congregations United, local and state Workforce Investment Boards are vital organizations in keeping construction&rsquo;s stakeholders engaged in doing the right thing.</p>\n<p>Schools: Dr. Randy Dillon from the Special School District, Lori Sommer and Gwen Crimm from the Construction Careers Center, and Dr. Deborah Henry from St. Louis Community College all assist this industry by supporting various efforts at the youth and adult levels. I am also grateful to Jim Duane at UMSL for spearheading the WorkKeys profiles and assessments mentioned above.</p>\n<p>Government: The US-DOL&rsquo;s Office of Apprenticeship establishes nationally-recognized standards that ensure our industry&rsquo;s training programs competitively meet the demand-driven needs of a global marketplace.</p>\n<p>Friends: Thanks to Jim Ebeling and Tom Rhodenbaugh for their ongoing fatherly-advice and to my co-workers: Mark Fuchs, Craig Hood, Marvin Sanders, Debbie Augustine, Ginger Fearheiley and others not present. In addition, Alan Richter&rsquo;s progressive business mind has brought a breath of fresh air into addressing small contractors&rsquo; needs.</p>\n<p>Family: To my mother, father, children, and wonderful wife&hellip;Thank You!</p>\n<p>As I reflect on leadership clich&eacute;s, the one that comes to mind here is that there is no &ldquo;I&rdquo; in team. However, upon further review, there is a &ldquo;me&rdquo; in team. Therefore, since this award would not be possible without the relationships just cited, I propose the following: I am not me&hellip;I am &ldquo;we&rdquo;!</p>','','272','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','On December 18, 2008, I had the esteemed honor and pleasure of being recognized by the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers as the 2008 Diversity Champion in the St. Louis construction industry. Below you will find excerpts from my acceptance speech which focused on the 3Rs. No, not the 3Rs we remember from our days in the 20th century K-12 school system model known as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Rather the 3Rs Dr. Willard Daggett refers to as rigor, relevance, and relationships in the 21st century.\n','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(377,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Blu Sky? Finance Mysteries Continue','none','Blu CitiSpaces','none','<p>In the category of \"Haven\'t we been here before?\", Chicago-based Silverstone Development - Midwest sent out a news release on Dec. 31 stating that, \"<a href=\"http://www.blucityspaces.com\">Blu CitySpaces Condominiums </a>at 210 N. 17th Street in downtown St. Louis announces an exceptional 100% financing program for first time homebuyers.\"</p>\n<p>The program includes 100% financing with no down payment, $5,000 grants that build instant equity and $7,500 tax credits for qualified buyers.&nbsp; Blu CitySpaces has partnered with Gorman &amp; Gorman Home Loans to provide the financing, the release stated.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Blucityspaces\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"232\" src=\"/images/uploads/blucityspaces-1.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />\"Offering an unprecedented range of options to make homeownership a reality in the current economic market, Blu CitySpaces continues to be a leader in downtown revitalization,\" the release stated.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>According a statement by Steve Anrod, developer of Blu CitySpaces, &ldquo;The ability to provide a catalyst to continue residential growth in the area is an amazing opportunity. Potential buyers will find that the exceptional financing options offered at Blu CitySpaces make homeownership within reach right now.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Silverstone Development-Midwest opened Blu CitySpaces, a 144 unit condominium development,&nbsp; in early 2007. Price points begin in the $70&rsquo;s for studios, $90&rsquo;s for one bedrooms and $130&rsquo;s for two bedrooms. Blu CitySpaces offers homes that range in size from 430 square feet to over 800 square feet with luxury finishes and amenities.&nbsp; European-style kitchens, stainless steel appliances and granite countertops are standard elements at Blu CitySpaces.&nbsp; Approximately half of all available homes have private balconies. Upgrades also include custom organizational and closet systems from St. Louis Closet Company and washer and dryers in the homes. Blu CitySpaces has approximately 4300 square feet of retail and office space and 3600 square feet of restaurant space available.&nbsp;</p>','none','In the category of \"Haven\'t we been here before?\", Chicago-based Silverstone Development - Midwest sent out a news release on Dec. 31 stating that, \"Blu CitySpaces Condominiums at 210 N. 17th Street in downtown St. Louis announces an exceptional 100% financing program for first time homebuyers.\"','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(378,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Painting and Decorating Foundation Board Takes Office','none','PDF, board, Painting and Decorating Foundation','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.stlouispdf.org\" title=\"Painting and Decorating Foundation\">The Painting and Decorating Foundation</a> (PDF) of St. Louis has announced its board of directors for 2009. <br /><br />Chairman is Dave Behlman, Chesterfield Drywall. Directors are Don Thomas, Thomas Industrial, Inc.; Mark Borgmann, Leach Painting Co.; Perry Schneider, West Park Painting Co.; Jim Runge, Runge Painting Co.;&nbsp; and Jake Whittle, Niehaus Construction.</p>\n<p>The Painting and Decorating Foundation was founded as a\nnonprofit,&nbsp; tax-exempt organization in 1974 to contribute to the\nadvancement of the painting, drywall and wallcovering industry in the\nSt. Louis area. PDF serves as an industry resources in the areas of technical expertise, safety/training, and labor/management relations.</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Painting and Decorating Foundation (PDF) of St. Louis has announced its board of directors for 2009. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(379,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','BIMming With Enthusiasm','none','BIM, Jones, Reim, Gayer, Manuel','none','<p>If you think building information modeling (BIM) is just an over-hyped fad, you haven&rsquo;t been talking to people who use it. A recent report from McGraw-Hill Construction documents that architects, engineers, contractors and owners who use BIM tools are enthusiastic about them.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;BIM is quickly becoming the gold standard by which firms do work,&rdquo; said Steve Jones, senior director of business development, McGraw-Hill Construction, and one of the co-authors of the &ldquo;Building Information Modeling (BIM) SmartMarket Report.&rdquo;</p>\n<p><img alt=\"BIM\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"301\" src=\"/images/uploads/BIM.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"244\" />According to Jones, 62 percent of BIM users next year will use it on more than 30 percent of their project, and 45 percent of users will use it on at least 60 percent of their projects.<br />&ldquo;It is a notable differentiator among competitors, a time-saver and a cost-reducer. BIM dramatically shifts businesses&rsquo; productivity and ROI,&rdquo; he said. Companies that track value metrics are reporting returns on investment (ROI) in of 300 to 500 percent through improved project outcomes, better communication and enhanced productivity. &ldquo;This is why<br />we are seeing such rapid growth,&rdquo; Jones said.</p>\n<p>Jones defined BIM as &ldquo;the process of creating and using digital models for design, construction or operations of projects.&rdquo; BIM involves digital content such as structural elements, mechanical equipment and building envelope and windows; and software tools for architectural, structural and mechanical modeling, often integrated with energy analysis, scheduling, estimating, and other vital functions.</p>\n<p><br /><strong>It Counts</strong><br />Ron Reim, executive vice president of Occulus, Inc., a St. Louis-based architecture firm, has been enthusiastic about BIM for years. Occulus was one of the first adopters of Revit in the Midwest, and one of the company&rsquo;s first 30 customers anywhere, he said. &ldquo;I accidentally stumbled into an introduction to Revit seminar at a design conference in Portland about eight years ago. It was not well attended,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They did some demos, which were pretty impressive even then, and handed out free disks. When I came back to the office and someone loaded it up, we realized it had extraordinary potential,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>Occulus was doing a lot of facility work for major companies at the time, and Revit gave them a way to manage the data, as Reim explained in the following anecdote: &ldquo;Anheuser-Busch called and asked if we could have a facility report in two weeks for them because they wanted to see if they could abandon all their leased office space and move everyone to their corporate campus. We spend a day trying to figure out how to get answers for them. We couldn&rsquo;t with Autocad, but we found that Revit counted automatically and measured square footage automatically, so we called Anheuser-Busch back and said that we thought we had a way to do it, but not in Autocad, which is what everyone was using. In a week and a half we had space plans for most of the buildings down there, counted and measured all the furniture, and identified the linchpin: they had enough room in the buildings, but not enough parking. They figured the cost of building more parking and decided to stay put.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>That power to manage data was extraordinary. &ldquo;This tool gave us the ability to move beyond drawings,&rdquo; Reim said. The thought of spending time counting all the folks in two million square feet of office space was staggering, so Revit was the only way to do it,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>The other advantage of Revit was that it worked more like a designer thinks, said Reim. &ldquo;Designers didn&rsquo;t like CAD,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We were doing drawings on paper and having interns convert them to CAD, and we always lost a lot of information in the translation. The BIM interface was more like we were taught to think in architecture school, so it let our designers leap into the digital format sooner and we captured more information earlier in the process. That&rsquo;s how we moved into it.&rdquo;</p>\n<p><br /><strong>Clash Checking</strong><br />Adam Lega, BIM coordinator at KAI Design and Build, worked for Revit when Reim and Occulus were adopting it. He said KAI also is an early adopter of BIM, and the company is now doing all of its projects with BIM.</p>\n<p>BIM, he said, has fundamentally changed the design process at KAI. &ldquo;Instead of drawing buildings by line, we construct virtual buildings,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The people who use BIM have to know how to actually put a building together. They have to know how to design. So the client is getting the best effort from start of project.&rdquo;<br />In the old process, &ldquo;the designer came up with the design and an intern translated it into construction documents,&rdquo; said Lega. &ldquo;With BIM the designer still comes up with the idea, and then the designer builds it virtually. In BIM, you have to think about all dimensions, so interns can&rsquo;t detail it correctly.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>The biggest advantage of the new process is not the pretty pictures, he said, but rather the ability to see if there are conflicts. &ldquo;The real power is the ability to do interference checking, the ability to check your pipe and duct everywhere, for example, and see if they are crossing and if you have to move one,&rdquo; Lega said.<br />While most of the contractors that Occulus works with &ldquo;are not technologically capable or attitudinally willing&rdquo; to work in BIM, said Reim; Lega said that most of the contractors with whom KAI works &ldquo;are driving the BIM effort within their industry.&rdquo; If they do not have the capability to use BIM, KAI will give them construction documents in the form they want and also &ldquo;offer to teach them how to use BIM,&rdquo; Lega said.</p>\n<p>Andrew Gayer, vice president and structural engineering principal of HOK, said the largest design firm calling St. Louis home is using BIM on all of its projects worldwideand for many of the same reasons mentioned by Reim and Lega.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is about useful data, about quantities of doors, about furniture placing, glare on computer monitors, etc.,&rdquo; he said. HOK releases its BIM model on each project to contractors so they can get quantities out of the model for estimating purposes and use the BIM model as the basis for their construction model. &ldquo;Now there is no question of how many doors are in the project. We know exactly how many and that makes estimates more accurate,&rdquo; he said.<br />BIM also lets HOK do more upfront energy analyses, he said. &ldquo;We can pull out the windows and look at reflectivity, for example, and with the push of a button we can get an energy analysis based on geography and see what happens if we change the reflectivity of the glass or if we change lights. We can give the owner a range of options and tell which option is cheaper,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>As at KAI, BIM &ldquo;front loads&rdquo; the work at HOK, shifting more effort into schematic design and design development, Gayer said. &ldquo;When you put a line on a CAD drawing, you didn&rsquo;t necessarily have to know everything about that line,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now, when you put a beam or a column or a window or a door into a BIM model, you have to know what it is, so the work flow is more forward loaded,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;The actual building is really version two and the BIM model is version one,&rdquo; Gayer said. &ldquo;You have to know what you are putting into version one or you will get garbage,&rdquo; he said.<br />&ldquo;It makes designing fun again,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not drawing lines, we&rsquo;re building a building.&rdquo;</p>\n<p><br /><strong>Still Working Out How to Share</strong><br />What has attracted the most attention to BIM is not any of the benefits that accrue internally to a company that uses a digital model for design or construction or operations, however, but the potential benefits of sharing information among the designers, contractors, and building owner.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;The concept is that designers, constructors, and operators will all add their information to the model,&rdquo; said Andrew Manuel, shareholder, Greensfelder, Hemker and Gale, PC. And that new concept brings with it a new set of potential liability issues that have to be worked out. If multiple parties are going to be sharing information that goes into a building model, and putting information into the model, they have to think up front about how they are going to do that, he said. In other words, they should agree on protocols that &ldquo;are very specific about the hardware that is used, the software, the protocols for transmitting information, who is going to put information in and what type of information, etc., so that everyone has a common understanding,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>Manuel said that of the various standard form construction documents available today, &ldquo;ConsensusDOCS do the best job of setting up protocols.&rdquo; The essential point, he said, &ldquo;is to have a clear expression of what you intend to do in your contract at the beginning of the contract, including not just your scope of work but also the intended uses of the BIM model and how you are going to build the model&rdquo;</p>\n<p>Or, as Gayer phrased it, &ldquo;The ability to rely on information in the BIM is very important, as is the ability to know what is in or is not in the BIM.&rdquo;<br />Gayer added that HOK does not like any the way any of the standard form construction documents treat BIM, not AIA, AGC, or ConsensusDOCS; so HOK is developing its own documents.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;The AIA says design documents just express the intent of the design. We are now saying that our BIM document is good enough to build by,&rdquo; he said.</p>','none','If you think building information modeling (BIM) is just an over-hyped fad, you haven’t been talking to people who use it. A recent report from McGraw-Hill Construction documents that architects, engineers, contractors and owners who use BIM tools are enthusiastic about them.\n\n','none','','none','','none','','none',273,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(380,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','MoDot Announces Top 10 St. Louis Projects for 2009','none','MoDOT, projects, Top 10','none','<p>With the start of 2009, the Missouri Department of Transportation has released the list of the 10 currently programmed construction projects in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area that willhave the greatest impact on traffic flow in the upcoming year.<br /><br />MoDOT has more than 80 construction projects scheduled for 2009 throughoutthe area, which includes St. Louis City and County, as well as St. Charles,Franklin and Jefferson County.&nbsp; The top 10 list includes work in everycounty.</p>\n<h4><img alt=\"Hanley Bridge Demolition\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/hanley-bridge-demolition.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" /></h4>\n<h4>A tangled mass of rebar was all that was left of the Hanley I-64 overpass following demolition. (Photo courtesy of MoDOT).<br /></h4>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>The Top 10 St. Louis region construction projects are:<br /><br />1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Interstate 64 from Kingshighway to I-170.</strong> All lanes of I-64 and several interchanges are closed for I-64 reconstruction work. Work will bearound the clock, and includes work on interchanges and overpasses. Work runs from December 2008 to late 2009. Drivers are encouraged to use I-70 andI-44 as alternate routes. Construction which significantly impacts cross traffic include the Hampton Bridge and ramps closed from September 2008 toJuly 2009 and the Hanley Bridge and I-64 ramps closed December 2008 until late 2009. This project is estimated to impact more than 150,000 driversdaily.<br /><br />2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong> Interstate 55 from 4500 South Broadway to Lindbergh</strong>. This project will replace the Union Bridges, rehabilitate the Holly Hills and Delor<br />bridges and upgrade the Bowen pedestrian bridge to be compatible with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA requirements). Construction work begins in fall 2009 and will impact more than 139,000 drivers daily. Union Bridges will be closed in spring 2010.<br /><br />3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Interstate 44 at Arsenal</strong>. Project will replace the bridge deck. Drivers can expect lane closures and restrictions between summer 2009 to winter 2010. This work should impact more than 107,000 drivers daily.<br /><br />4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Interstate 44 at Meramec River and Lewis Rd.</strong> This project will rehabilitate the bridge deck.&nbsp; It requires lane closures on westbound I-44 and on Lewis Road and a ramp closure from Lewis Road to westbound I-44. Construction runs spring 2009-winter 2010. This work will impact more than 107,000 drivers daily.<br /><br />5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong> Interstate 70, Poplar Street Bridge to I-44/55. </strong>Crews will install median barrier, signs, guardrail and curbs between winter and summer 2010.This area will get extremely congested, especially during morning and evening peak traffic periods. This work is expected to impact 105,000 drivers daily.<br /><br />6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>&nbsp; Interstate 64, Taylor to Vandeventer.</strong> This project will overlay pavement and install guardrail. A separate project will perform structural repairs on Vandeventer. Drivers can expect lane closures and permanent restrictions from summer 2009 to winter 2010. This project will impact an estimated 90,000 drivers daily.<br /><br />7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Interstate 55 at Route M. </strong>This project will modify the interchange of Route M and southbound I-55. Crews will also relocate the weigh station during this project. This project starts in winter 2009 and is expected to impact an estimated 67,000 drivers daily.<br /><br />8.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong> Interstate 55, Route M to St. Genevieve county line.</strong> In this project, crews will resurface the interstate.&nbsp; Drivers can expect temporary<br />lane closures on the interstate, starting in summer 2009. This project will impact about 59,000 drivers daily.<br /><br />9.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong> Route 364 east and west of Harvester Road.</strong> During this project, an additional mile of Route 94 will be upgraded to a limited access roadway,<br />with an overpass for Harvester Road and one-way outer roads.&nbsp; Permanent lane restrictions and some non-peak lane closures. Includes weekend and day work. The project continues until fall 2009 and will impact about 44,000 drivers daily.<br /><br />10.&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong> Interstate 44 over Bourbeuse River.</strong> This project will rehabilitate the bridge over the Bourbeuse River. Drivers can expect lane restrictions between spring and winter 2009. This project will impact approximately 42,000 drivers daily.<br /><br />Additionally, the top currently programmed construction projects for each area and county are listed under \"Major Projects\" by county on the St. Louis<br />website at <a href=\"http://www.modot.org/stlouis. \">www.modot.org/stlouis</a>. Information on these projects will beupdated as it becomes available.</p>','none','With the start of 2009, the Missouri Department of Transportation has released the list of the 10 currently programmed construction projects in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area that willhave the greatest impact on traffic flow in the upcoming year.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/hanley-bridge-demolition.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(381,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Two-Thirds of  Construction Companies Plan Layoffs','none','unemployment, AGC','none','<p>An estimated two-thirds of the nation\'s non-residential construction companies are planning to cut their payrolls, according to new employment and business forecast figures released Thursday by the Associated General Contractors of America.&nbsp; All told, those layoffs are forecast to result in a 30 percent decline in the number of people working on construction projects.<br /><br />Those layoffs come on top of a 35 percent drop in contractor employment in the last year, according to the survey. Seventy-two percent of contractors said they have laid off worker in the last 12 months.<br />&nbsp;<br /><img alt=\"Unemployment\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/unemployment.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />&ldquo;Unless the business climate changes significantly and soon, the construction sector will continue to experience the kind of devastating job losses and crippling declines in business activity that will undermine efforts to end the recession,&rdquo; Stephen Sandherr, the association&rsquo;s chief executive officer said.<br /><br />&ldquo;After a strong start in 2008, we&rsquo;ve seen a significant slowdown in commercial construction in recent months,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The last few months have been devastating for the construction industry, but without a stimulus package, 2009 will make 2008 look good by comparison,&rdquo; he added.<br /><br />The forecast results, which are based on a representative survey conducted by the construction association late in 2008, found no relief in sight for construction companies that already have been among the hardest hit by the economic slowdown. According to the forecast figures, the association&rsquo;s member companies have seen or are planning for declining activity in every type of construction market.Ninety-two percent of building contractors and 93 percent of road builders are expecting or experiencing declining activity.&nbsp; Over 83 percent of utility contractors are bracing for declines while 77 percent of water resource contractors are expecting a decline in business building levees or locks.<br /><br />Tracy Hart, president of St. Louis-based Tarlton Corp., said some projects her company had been awarded have been put on hold, and &ldquo;competitor friends have seen projects cancelled because of financing.&rdquo; She said Tarlton is taking this opportunity to invest in training, particularly in green construction, &ldquo;because when construction comes back it will be green.&rdquo; She admitted, however, that training is only a short-term solution, and but hopefully it will last until Congress and the President adopt an economic stimulus package and more money starts flowing into construction. <br />&nbsp;<br />The AGC found that planned investments in infrastructure projects as part of the national economic stimulus package would dramatically improve the employment and business outlook for contractors for the year.&nbsp; Eighty-five percent of non-residential construction companies said they would either cancel layoffs or add new employees if states embarked on stimulus-funded infrastructure projects. <br />&nbsp;<br />According to the forecast, construction companies would increase their payrolls by 25 percent if the stimulus included new infrastructure investments.&nbsp; And construction companies predict they would invest an average of $500,000 this year in new equipment if they received new work as part of the stimulus package.<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;With a stimulus, construction companies can get more people to work and more money into the economy in a way that will immediately boost our economy,&rdquo; Sandherr said.&nbsp; &ldquo;Without a stimulus, construction companies will cut jobs, slash spending and continue to be among the hardest hit sectors within our economy.<br />&nbsp;<br />For survey results, go to http://www.agc.org/galleries/news/survey_results.pdf.</p>','none','An estimated two-thirds of the nation\'s non-residential construction companies are planning to cut their payrolls, according to new employment and business forecast figures released Thursday by the Associated General Contractors of America.','none','','none','','none','','none',279,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/unemployment.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(382,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Environmental Operations Acquires Shively Geotechnical ','none','Environmental Operations, Shively','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.EnvironmentalOps.com.\">Environmental Operations, Inc.</a>, has acquired Shively Geotechnical, Inc., with offices in Florissant and in Fairview Heights and Peoria, IL.&nbsp; Shively&rsquo;s expertise in the geotechnical area will complete Environmental Operations&rsquo; environmental services arsenal. <br /><br />Environmental Operations, the largest environmental services firm in the St. Louis region, already offers a full range of environmental services -- everything except geotechnical engineering, according to Stacy Hastie, Environmental Operations CEO.<br /><br />&nbsp; Shively Geotechnical will be operated as a division of Environmental Operations, with John Shively serving as vice president of geotechnical services.&nbsp; Both Illinois offices will remain open.&nbsp; The Florissant office will be moved into Environmental Operations&rsquo; offices in Downtown St. Louis.<br /><br />&ldquo;The Shively team provides Environmental Operations with a greater presence in Illinois,&rdquo; said Hastie.&nbsp; &ldquo;This is another goal with the acquisition. We see a lot of opportunity for the growth of the combined business in Illinois.&rdquo;<br /><br />Hastie said this acquisition is expected to generate an additional $4 million to $5 million in annual revenues for the combined firm, much of that in the first year to 18 months.<br /><br />Hastie first considered building his own geotechnical division from the ground up, concerned that he wouldn&rsquo;t find an existing firm with the same culture.&nbsp; The search took three years, but he feels he has found that same spirit in John Shively, owner and president of Shively Geotechnical.<br /><br />&ldquo;Our goal at Environmental Operations is to keep it simple for our clients.&nbsp; We wanted to find a firm that shared our culture and our commitment to service.&nbsp; We found that in John and his company.&nbsp; Both John and I believe in hiring people who are both experts in their field and also true problem solvers.&nbsp; By combining our extensive environmental expertise, we will streamline complicated environmental challenges for our clients,&rdquo; said Hastie. <br /><br />Shively, similar to Environmental Operations, currently serves a wide variety of clients including architects, engineers, contractors, business owners, industry and government.<br /><br />Shively Geotechnical has been providing geotechnical engineering, construction observation, materials testing and laboratory services for clients and projects in the Midwest since 1994, when Shively established the firm.&nbsp; The organization originally concentrated on soil and foundation studies for buildings, bridges, retaining walls and other structures.&nbsp; <br /><br />Janet May joined Shively as a partner in late 1994, developing the company&rsquo;s geotechnical and materials testing laboratory.&nbsp; The company quickly grew to add construction observation, construction materials testing and laboratory testing services.&nbsp; John Kottemann, P.E., joined Shively in 1996 and became a Principal soon after the company incorporated in January 1997.&nbsp; <br /><br />Environmental Operations identifies and resolves environmental issues and facilitates deals with integrated environmental expertise, Brownfield incentives and risk assumption tools.&nbsp; <br /></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Environmental Operations, Inc., has acquired Shively Geotechnical, Inc., with offices in Florissant and in Fairview Heights and Peoria, IL. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(388,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Highway Commission Awards St. Louis Area Projects','none','Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, projects','none','<p>The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) awarded several&nbsp; St. Louis projects at its January meeting. Approximately $7.45 million was awarded to contractors forvarious roadway improvement projects. All contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder. The projects<br />include:</p>\n<p>&bull;Route 30 from the Franklin County line, Route B, Route Y and from the Jefferson County line to Route K in Franklin County- These projects section west of Route B, adding a left turn lane at Route Y and adding centerline and edge line rumble strips from the Jefferson County line to Route K in Franklin County. These projects were awarded to Pace Construction<br />Company (St. Louis) for $3,100,000. These projects are expected to begin in March 2009 and should be completed by November 2009.<br /><br />&bull;Interstate 70 from east of Lake St. Louis Boulevard to Route K and Route 61 at Route P-These projects includes removal and replacement of the pavement from east of Lake St. Louis Boulevard to Route K, and resurfacing the outer roads, commuter parking lot improvements, intersection lighting and turn lanes on Route 61 at Route P. This project was awarded to Krupp Construction Inc. (Ellisville) for $2,065,692.91. This project is<br />expected to begin in February 2009 and should be complete by September 2009.<br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&bull;Route N from Thomas Street to Donnelly Street- This project consists of resurfacing from Route 21 to Thomas Street and pavement repair. This project was awarded to Dura-Seal Paving Contractor (Barnhart) for $417,538.98. This project is expected to begin in February 2009 and shouldbe complete by May 2009.<br /><br />&bull;Route 110 from Route 21 to Route CC- This project consists of resurfacing and upgrading shoulders from Route 21 to Route CC and adding turn lanes at Athena School Road, East Upper Plattin Road and Upper PlattinRoad. This project was awarded to N.B. West Contracting (St. Louis, MO) for $1,875,000.&nbsp; This project is expected to begin in March 2009 and should be<br />complete by July 2009.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) awarded several  St. Louis projects at its January meeting.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(383,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Advertised Job Openings Dropped Sharply in December','none','Conference Board, jobs','none','<p>Online advertised job vacancies declined 507,000 to 3,861,000 in December, according to The Conference Board&rsquo;s Help-Wanted Online Data Series (HWOL) released on Wednesday.&nbsp; The December loss brought the monthly total of online advertised vacancies below 4 million for the first time since July 2006, two and one-half years ago. In 2008, there were on average170,000 fewer ads each month than in 2007.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /><br />&ldquo;The sharp December drop in online advertised vacancies is another indication that the economy has not reached bottom,&rdquo; said Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board. &ldquo;The widespread nature of the decline in employers&rsquo; demand for workers &ndash; both across geographies and across occupations &ndash; does not bode well for an employment upturn in the first half of 2009.&rdquo;<br /><br />The effect of lower employer demand combined with increasing unemployment makes it more difficult for the unemployed to find jobs, and The Conference Board estimates that unemployed construction workers face the greatest scarcity of jobs.<br /><br />In Missouri, there were 8,100 fewer advertised job vacancies than a year earlier, while there were 17,400 fewer openings in Illinois. Using an unemployment rate of 6.7 percent for Missouri and 7.3 percent for Illinois, The Conference Board estimates there are 2.44 unemployed workers for every vacant job in Missouri and 3.08 unemployed workers for every vacant job in Illinois. Both rates are above the national rate of 2.36 unemployed workers per job vacancy. In both Illinois and Missouri the number of advertised job openings tracked by The Conference Board has been trending downward since August 2008.<br /><br />Metropolitan St. Louis fared worse than Missouri as a whole. The Conference Board reported 9,000 fewer advertised job vacancies in St. Louis than a year earlier. Using an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent, they calculated that there are 2.61 unemployed people in St. Louis for every vacant job.<br /><br />Construction, architecture and engineering were among the categories showing a more than 20 percent decline in advertised job openings nationwide since December 2007. The Conference Board estimates that construction is the occupation with the highest discrepancy between supply and demand with 21 unemployed construction workers for every vacant construction job. And even though job openings in architecture and engineering fell 32 percent over the last year, The Conference Board estimates that there still are more job openings than there are unemployed architects and engineers with only 0.63 unemployed architects and engineers for every job opening in those fields. <br /><br />The Conference Board&rsquo;s supply/demand rates are meant only to provide a measure of the relative tightness of labor markets. They are not meant to suggest that the occupations of the unemployed directly align with the occupations of the advertised vacancies.</p>','','278','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Online advertised job vacancies declined 507,000 to 3,861,000 in December, according to The Conference Board’s Help-Wanted Online Data Series (HWOL) released on Wednesday. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(384,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','MSD Selects Kwame  for CM on Missouri River Plant','none','Kwame, MSD, Missouri River','none','<p>The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) has named<a href=\"http://www.kwamebuildinggroup.com\"> Kwame Building Group, Inc.</a>&nbsp; as construction manager for a rehabilitation and expansion program at the Missouri River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Maryland Heights. Construction on the first project is expected to begin in the summer of 2009 and the program will be complete by the end of 2012.</p>\n<p>Kwame&rsquo;s primary subconsultant partner is HDR, an architectural, engineering and consulting firm based in Omaha, NE. The project designer is Black &amp; Veatch Corporation, a global engineering, consulting and construction company based in Overland Park, KS.</p>\n<p>The digester rehabilitation project will replace existing digester covers, gas mixing systems, boilers, digested sludge pumps, digested piping and appurtenances.</p>\n<p>The secondary expansion of the Missouri River treatment plant, designed to treat up to 80 million gallons a day, will be constructed adjacent to the existing plant. The expanded facility will provide a new activated sludge process, new final clarifiers, UV disinfection, a sludge pump station, meter vault structures, a low-lift pump station, a blower building, a WAS thickening building, solids dewatering process building, locker room expansion and appurtenances.</p>\n<p>Kwame will provide constructability/biddability reviews during the design phase to confirm feasibility, completeness, consistency and construction cost estimates of the plans. Kwame also will review all final documents before advertisement for construction bids and serve as the MSD representative during construction to ensure that the Contractor meets all performance, quality and safety obligations. <br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) has named Kwame Building Group, Inc.  as construction manager for a rehabilitation and expansion program at the Missouri River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Maryland Heights.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(385,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','New Leadership at HOK\'s St. Louis Office','none','HOK, Leadership, Davis, Nolan','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.hok.com\">St. Louis-based HOK</a> is ushering in the new year with a change in leadership in its downtown office. Rebecca Nolan, Associate AIA, IIDA, LEED AP, has been named senior vice president and managing principal for the St. Louis office, succeeding Clark Davis, FAIA, LEED AP, who is taking on an expanded firm-wide leadership role for HOK&rsquo;s worldwide practice.&nbsp; Davis will continue to be based in St. Louis where he is an active community leader serving several organizations.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;Since 2007, we have been engaged in a national search for a new managing principal for the St. Louis office,&rdquo; said Davis. &ldquo;Rebecca brings a sterling national reputation with the right mix of personal leadership skills and experience in a large firm.&nbsp; She not only knows the market place and the architectural/engineering industry quite well, but also knows St. Louis having raised her family here for seven years.&rdquo; <br /><br />Nolan will team with Steve Evans, Ripley Rasmus and Kyle St. Peter in leading the St. Louis office and will also be part of the North Central Region management committee, which manages HOK&rsquo;s practice in 17 states. She will also join the HOK Management Board, one of four &ldquo;core boards&rdquo; of leaders in the firm&rsquo;s worldwide practice.<br /><br />&ldquo;Rebecca&rsquo;s new leadership role will free me up to focus on firm wide leadership to advance HOK&rsquo;s practices and practice leaders worldwide and nurture relationships with key global clients.&rdquo; said Davis, who is a member of HOK&rsquo;s six-person global executive committee.&nbsp; Davis said HOK has just completed its best year ever with revenue totaling more than $700 million in 2008.&nbsp; It has 26 offices worldwide and employs more than 2,300, including 260 in St. Louis.&nbsp; <br /><br />A one-time St. Louis resident, Nolan previously served as senior vice president and managing director of the Minneapolis office of SmithGroup &ndash; a national architecture, engineering, interiors and planning firm.&nbsp; She launched the Minneapolis office in 2004 where her clients included CB Richard Ellis, CBREI and Hines, two real estate firms; Microsoft; the transportation engineering and planning firm Parsons Brinckerhoff; law firm Bowman and Brooke, LLP; insurer UCare Minnesota; and the University of Minnesota.<br /><br />During her tenure at SmithGroup, Nolan also led its California practice, sat on its board of directors and executive committee, was a leader in its national workplace practice and led the formation of the firm-wide Leadership Development Program and Diversity initiatives.&nbsp; From 1986-1993, she was a principal and studio leader in the St. Louis office of Stone Marraccini Patterson (SMP), which merged with SmithGroup in 1998. <br /><br />&ldquo;I&rsquo;m delighted to be returning to St. Louis to join the incredible collaborative culture that defines HOK,&rdquo; said Nolan. &ldquo;There is a seamless transfer of knowledge, leveraging HOK&rsquo;s expertise and talents worldwide and its broad experience in design that benefits projects large and small.&nbsp; I love building and nurturing client relationships.&nbsp;&nbsp; At HOK, it is practiced with a passion.&rdquo; <br /><br />Nolan is a native of Minneapolis and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in interior design.&nbsp; She remains active in multiple organizations including the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), where she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by its Northland Chapter, CoreNet, and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). She is also an associate member of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) and recently served as a member of the editorial advisory board of Contract, a national interior design trade journal. <br /><br />Nolan&rsquo;s husband, Michael, a former SmithGroup workplace studio leader, will also join HOK in a senior role with the firm&rsquo;s Interiors Group. <br /><br />A fourth-generation St. Louisan, Clark Davis has led HOK&rsquo;s 250-employee North Central Region since 1998, serving as its managing principal and vice chairman of the entire firm. He joined HOK in 1988, was named to the St. Louis office management committee in 1993, became chief administrative officer in 1998 and joined its board of directors in 1999.&nbsp; Davis was named a 2008 &ldquo;Entrepreneur of the Year&rdquo; in the Central Midwest Region by Ernst and Young.&nbsp; <br /><br /><img class=\"image-left\" height=\"293\" src=\"/images/uploads/Clark_Davis_environmental.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />Under Davis&rsquo; leadership, HOK grew its St. Louis office and developed a regional practice that now includes a 100-person Chicago office and a newly opened Denver location. Working with the firm&rsquo;s six-person global executive team, he has played an instrumental leadership role in strengthening HOK&rsquo;s operations and financial performance, contributing to HOK&rsquo;s back to back record years of revenue, topping $637 million 2007 and eclipsing that mark with more than $700 million in 2008.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<h4>Clark Davis is taking on an expanded firm-wide leadership role for HOK</h4>\n<p>Through Davis&rsquo; leadership, HOK also expanded into emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East and India, created new specialty practices such as Construction Services, and strengthened its industry-leadership in sustainable design and Building Information Modeling.&nbsp; <br /><br />Davis will remain active in the St. Louis community through his leadership efforts with a number of organizations.&nbsp; He is currently board chair of Partnership for Downtown St. Louis and Edgewood Children&rsquo;s Center.&nbsp; He is also an active leader in the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA), the Whitaker Foundation, the St. Louis Regional Business Council (RBC). He has also served Confluence St. Louis, the United Way of Greater St. Louis, Focus St. Louis, Junior Achievement (JA) of Mississippi Valley and the Saint Louis Art Museum. <br /><br />Davis has also been a leader in the architectural profession.&nbsp; He represents HOK in the AIA Large Firm Roundtable, which brings together leaders of large architectural/engineering firms in the U.S. to discuss trends and advance best practices.&nbsp; He was named to the AIA College of Fellows in 2000 and was president of AIA\'s St. Louis Chapter in 1988 and president of AIA Missouri in 1998.&nbsp; <br /><br />A licensed architect in several states, Davis has led such region-shaping projects as the Boeing Leadership Center and Washington University School of Medicine&rsquo;s Farrell Learning &amp; Teaching Center in St. Louis. Outside St. Louis, his projects have included facilities for Eli Lilly in Indianapolis; Sun Microsystems in Broomfield, Col.; and the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis.<br /><br />Davis received his bachelor&rsquo;s degree in environmental design from the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Design where he later earned the Distinguished Alumnus Award.&nbsp; He earned a master of architecture from the University of Michigan. <br /><br />HOK is a global architectural firm that specializes in planning, design and delivery solutions for buildings and communities. Through its collaborative network of 26 offices worldwide, the firm serves diverse clients within the corporate, commercial, public and institutional markets. HOK is committed to developing resources and expertise to help lead the world toward sustainable communities and building environments.&nbsp; Founded in 1955, the firm&rsquo;s expertise includes architecture, engineering, interiors, plan ning, lighting, graphics, facilities planning and assessment, and construction services.&nbsp; .</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','St. Louis-based HOK is ushering in the new year with a change in leadership in its downtown office','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(386,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','Making Effective Decisions in a Challenging Market','none','Hardin, CBRE, restructuring','none','<p><em>By Tripp Hardin, SIOR<br />Senior Vice President, CB Richard Ellis</em><br /></p>\n<p>As the national economy&rsquo;s tailspin and the associated credit crunch begin to slow down the St. Louis commercial real estate market, it&rsquo;s important to remember that the last thing you want to do as a lending institution, property owner or tenant is to assume that you will be immune from the forces at hand.<br /><br />In these times, more than ever, it&rsquo;s important to discuss your options with a real estate professional. Down economic times can present great opportunities, whether it&rsquo;s taking advantage of lower prices to buy your own building or revisiting your lease to see what changes can be made to save you and your company money.<br /><br />If you&rsquo;re a tenant, ask your broker to take a look at your existing lease. Often, in a slowing economy, building owners will be willing to offer an early renewal or a short-term lease extension at competitive rates in order to keep their building as full as possible. With fewer companies expanding or moving into the market, building owners need to be proactive, which can result in more aggressive lease terms and conditions. Renegotiating your lease now could lead to significant cost savings in the future.<br /><br />If you own real estate, a challenging market is a good time to evaluate your assets, including your loan terms, operating expenses and your tenants&rsquo; credit profiles. If you&rsquo;re a user/owner, will an economic turnaround bring expansion and a need for more space? If so, perhaps it&rsquo;s the right time to look at expansion options or even a larger building while prices are competitive. If you own investment properties, aggressive measures like cost segregation and lease restructuring may help stabilize your properties and keep your cash flow positive.<br /><br />For banks and commercial lenders who are really feeling the effects of a stressed out market, some real estate firms have well-established programs specifically designed to help you. CB Richard Ellis&rsquo; Restructuring Services Group, for example, offers help with recapitalization, distressed loan sales, asset and portfolio valuation, asset enhancement and repositioning, along with appraisal and valuation services.<br /><br />We all hope the commercial real estate industry and the economy will turn around sooner rather than later. But even in a slow market, it&rsquo;s important to keep a close eye on your real estate needs and be in constant communication with your real estate advisor.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','As the national economy’s tailspin and the associated credit crunch begin to slow down the St. Louis commercial real estate market, it’s important to remember that the last thing you want to do as a lending institution, property owner or tenant is to assume that you will be immune from the forces at hand.','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(419,1,1,'<p>St. Louis Construction News &amp; Real Estate e-newsletter subscription form.</p>','none','<p>Thank you for your interest in the St. Louis Construction News &amp; Real Estate e-newsletter. By completing the form below, you will be subscribed to our weekly e-newsletter and occasional special announcements.</p>\n<p>St. Louis Construction News &amp; Real Estate is committed to protecting your privacy. Your e-mail address\nnot be disclosed, added to a mailing list, or used for any other\npurpose without your consent.</p>\n<p><strong>*Note: To make sure you receive the St. Louis Construction News &amp; Real Estate</strong><strong> e-newsletter, please add the domain \"stlouiscnr.com\" to your your spam catcher\'s \"white list\" or allowed senders.</strong></p>','none','Subscribe to Our E-Newsletter','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(420,1,1,'','none','<p>Thank you for subscribing to the St. Louis Construction News and Real Estate e-newsletter.</p>','none','Thank You for Subscribing','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(421,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','Cutting Office Rent Overhead ','none','sublease, office expense','none','<p><br /><em>by David Morris, CCIM, SIOR<br /></em><br />Every company is feeling the effects of this current economic cycle and every prudent business leader is reviewing budgets to find potential savings. What about looking at your office rent expense? If you&rsquo;re willing to be flexible, you might be surprised to see some real savings.<br />&nbsp;<br />To illustrate this further, the charts below compare rent payments for a 5,000 SF office tenant considering a three year term across three popular submarkets. The rental rates used in this example are the Average Asking Rents for Class A, B and sublease* spaces according to Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial&rsquo;s Research Department.<br /><img alt=\"Office Rental Chart\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"511\" src=\"/images/uploads/rental-charts.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"542\" /><br /><br /></p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p><strong><br /></strong></p>\n<p><strong>Flexibility</strong><br />If a company can be flexible for the purpose of achieving optimal savings, there could be some significant savings. For example, according to these charts, a company occupying 5,000 SF of office space in a Class A office building in Clayton with the flexibility to relocate to a sublease space in Downtown would have a savings of $166,800 over three years. Even factoring in moving costs, these are still some real savings.<br />&nbsp;<br />In shorter term leases (terms less than 3 years), don&rsquo;t expect to get much (or any) tenant finish dollars from the landlord and sublessors rarely offer any. Being flexible to lease a space &ldquo;as-is&rdquo; is key to getting your best deal. Not reflected in the savings above is your company&rsquo;s ability to occupy less space. If you&rsquo;re feeling the economic pinch, chances are you can shed a few square feet as well, which would result in even greater savings.<br /><br /><strong>Sublease</strong><br />It is widely believed that the St. Louis office market will see a great deal of companies of all sizes closing their doors and offering their space for sublease. Many of these are great opportunities for tenants looking to:<br />&bull; Save money on rent<br />&bull; Move up in quality of space without paying more in rent<br />&bull; Walk into turn-key spaces which frequently include the existing furniture<br />&nbsp;<br />There are some precautions about subletting space (see reference to article below) but if you get around those issues, it can turn out very well and allow you to weather this storm. There are other related articles and research on my website,<br />www.Morris-CommercialSource.com &lt;http://www.Morris-CommercialSource.com&gt; .<br />&nbsp;<br />&bull; &ldquo;Got too much Space? Sublease It&rdquo;<br />&bull; &ldquo;A Tenant&rsquo;s Guide to Restructuring a Lease&rdquo;<br />&bull; &ldquo;Tips and Techniques for Office Leasing&rdquo;<br />&bull; 2009 St. Louis Office Market Report<br /><em>&nbsp;<br />David Morris is senior vice president of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial. He can be reached at 314.719.2050 or dmorris@gundakercommercial.com.</em></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','Every company is feeling the effects of this current economic cycle and every prudent business leader is reviewing budgets to find potential savings. What about looking at your office rent expense? If you’re willing to be flexible, you might be surprised to see some real savings.','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(422,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Holland/ J.E. Dunn Begin $83 Million Saluki Sports Project','none','SIU-C, Dunn, Holland, sports','none','<p>Site development has begun on the $83 million expansion and\nrenovation of athletic facilities at Southern Illinois\nUniversity-Carbondale (SIU-C) in Carbondale, IL.&nbsp;&nbsp; A joint venture\ncomprised of Holland Construction Services of Swansea, Ill. and JE Dunn\nConstruction of Kansas City, Mo. is handling the project.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"SIU-C sports complex\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/siuc.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />The\ntwin centerpieces of the multi-phase initiative are a new 12,000-seat\nfootball stadium with capacity for up to 15,000 fans and a renovated\nSaluki Arena, an 8,460-seat basketball venue.&nbsp; Both facilities are to\nbe completed in time to host the home-opening games of the 2010\nfootball and basketball seasons.</p>\n<p>The final major component\nis a 53,000-square-foot, two-story addition that will emanate from the\nnortheast face of Saluki Arena.&nbsp; Designed by 360 Architecture, the\n$11.5 million multi-purpose structure will serve as the new main\nentrance to the arena and host its ticket office, football and\nbasketball team facilities, an auditorium and administrative space.&nbsp;\nThe fa&ccedil;ade will combine brick veneer with a glass curtain wall. <br />The new, yet-to-be-named football stadium will replace McAndrew Stadium, built in 1939.</p>\n<p>Budgeted\nat $25.3 million, the 37,000-square-foot U-shaped facility designed by\nImage Architects, Inc., will have 12,000 fixed seats plus lawn seating\nand a lower concourse with concessions areas, restrooms and storage.&nbsp;\nIt will also feature a press box and club area with eight private,\nenclosed luxury suites.&nbsp; The field will be artificial grass turf.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>The\n$29.9 million renovation to Saluki Arena, built in 1964, will include\nnew seating throughout, greatly improved accessibility with entrances\nthat comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, a new scoreboard,\nnew concession areas, additional restrooms and other fan amenities.&nbsp;\nThe renovation is being staged in two phases so that the 2009-10\nbasketball Salukis can compete in the venue as work proceeds.</p>\n<p>Funding\nfor the project is coming from public and private sources. The city of\nCarbondale has committed $20 million to it ($1 million over 20 years)\nwhile SIU-C has boosted student fees and launched a targeted\nfund-raising program. Revenues generated from the lease of the eight\nprivate suites will also be applied to debt service.</p>','none','Site development has begun on the $83 million expansion and renovation of athletic facilities at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (SIU-C) in Carbondale, IL.  ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/siuc.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(423,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Mueller Joins Vertegy as Project Specialist','none','Mueller, Vertegy','none','<p>Susutainability consultant Vertegy announced it has recently expanded its staff to keep pace with the growing demand for green and sustainable consulting services. The company, which also helps clients attain LEED (Leadership in Energy &amp; Environmental Design) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), has added Greg Mueller as project specialist. <br /><br />Mueller joins Vertegy after spending 25 years as a project manager with Vertegy&rsquo;s parent company, Alberici. While at Alberici, he served as a project manager on many multi-million dollar projects, including the $81 million construction of the C-5 Hangar Facility for the 164th Airlift Wing in Memphis, TN. Mueller has also played roles in numerous construction and expansion projects in the St. Louis area, including work with Station Casinos, Inc., The Boeing Company, Centocor Biologics, St. Mary&rsquo;s Health Center, DaimlerChrysler Corporation and the Ford Motor Company. In his new position as project specialist,</p>\n<p>Mueller will use his construction background to assist him in providing hands-on support for the clients and project teams who are seeking the benefits of sustainable design and construction. <br /><br />He is currently studying for his LEED Accredited Professional examination and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Susutainability consultant Vertegy announced it has recently expanded its staff to keep pace with the growing demand for green and sustainable consulting services.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(424,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Mark Bussen Honored for Heroism, Leadership','none','Bussen, SITE, president\'s award','none','<p>Mark Bussen, president, Bussen Quarries, has received the SITE Improvement Association&rsquo;s President&rsquo;s Award for his contributions to the association and the construction industry. Bussen is also noted for civic contributions, including a recent act of notable personal heroism. The award was presented by SITE&rsquo;s past president, Joe Hoette, president, Hoette Concrete Construction, at the organization&rsquo;s Jan. 14 membership meeting.</p>\n<p>Bussen is just the sixth recipient of the President&rsquo;s Award and the first associate member receiving such an award since the inception of the President&rsquo;s Award in 1991. Commenting on the honor, Jay Schultehenrich, SITE&rsquo;s executive director, said, &ldquo;Mark has provided outstanding guidance and foresight in helping our organization grow. He has selflessly given of his time and energy to help SITE Improvement Association reach and maintain its role as a leader within the construction industry.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;<br />Bussen Quarries was a charter member of SITE, and Mark Bussen served on the board from 1985 to 1995. He also served as chairman of the program committee for 28 years. Through his efforts, SITE&rsquo;s board initiated a scholarship program in 2001, which has awarded $111,500 to 67 students since its inception. Bussen has served on the scholarships committee since then and is co-chair of SITE&rsquo;s Barge Party committee. He also has served on the board of directors of the Associated General Contractors-St. Louis, AGC of Missouri, the St. Louis Concrete Council and the St. Louis Coal Club. This past fall he was inducted into the Concrete Council Hall of Fame for his significant involvement with St. Louis&rsquo; concrete industry.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;The president of Bussen Quarries is perhaps just as well known for his good deeds as he is for his work in the industry. In November, Bussen was awarded the Grand Jury Association&rsquo;s Good Citizen of the Year Award for stopping a violent crime in downtown St. Louis and saving the lives of a woman and her daughter. He also has been affiliated with the Special Olympics since 1999, coaching 40 boys and girls ages 14-24, and won the 2005 Special Olympics Coach of the Year Award. In 2002, the South County Chamber of Commerce named him Citizen of the Year.</p>\n<p>SITE represents contractors involved in jobsite preparation work, including concrete, earthmoving, landscaping, asphalt paving, highway/bridge, sewer/utility and various specialty trades.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Mark Bussen, president, Bussen Quarries, has received the SITE Improvement Association’s President’s Award for his contributions to the association and the construction industry. Bussen is also noted for civic contributions, including a recent act of notable personal heroism.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(389,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Steep Nonresidential Decline, Forecasters Tell AIA','none','AIA, Consensus, forecast','none','<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#ffffff\" class=\"STORY\" colspan=\"2\" height=\"270\" valign=\"top\">\n<p class=\"STORYsummary\">As the overall U.S. economy continues to struggle, nonresidential construction spending is expected to decrease by 11 percent in 2009 in inflation adjusted terms. Commercial projects including office buildings and retail establishments will see the most significant decrease in activity. On the positive side, prices have dropped for key construction commodities. These are highlights from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation\'s leading construction forecasters.</p>\n<p class=\"STORYsummary\">The\ndownturn in the economy will translate into a steep drop for the\nnonresidential construction industry over the coming years.\nConstruction activity will see an 11 percent decline in 2009, followed\nby an additional 5 percent drop in 2010. All the major commercial\nsectors will be hard-hit by this downturn, with declines expected to\ntotal between 25 percent and 35 percent for offices, retail facilities,\nand hotels over 2009 and 2010. Industrial activity&mdash;manufacturing and\nrelated distribution facilities&mdash;is slated to slow almost as much, with\na 20 percent decline over this period. Institutional facilities should\nfare better, with two-year declines projected to run about 7 percent,\nand less than 5 percent for health-care facilities.</p>\n<p class=\"STORYsummary\">These\nforecasts were compiled recently from the AIA Consensus Nonresidential\nConstruction Forecast Panel, comprising the leading national\nnonresidential construction forecasters. As the U.S. economy has\ndeteriorated in recent months, their projections for construction\nactivity have been revised down sharply. Economic stimulus proposals to\nrevive our economy have concentrated on infrastructure investment and\nother facility modernization programs. However, until the broader\neconomy recovers, the nonresidential construction industry is unlikely\nto see any reversal in activity levels.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Toppling bricks\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/toppling-bricks.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />The AIA&rsquo;s\nArchitectural Billings Index (ABI) has been signaling a downturn in\nnonresidential construction activity since the beginning of 2008. At\nthat point, though, the construction pipeline was full, so\nnonresidential construction spending increased an estimated 8 percent\nto 9 percent in 2008. Weakness in the overall economy has now caught up\nwith nonresidential construction, and few sectors are likely to avoid a\ndownturn this year.</p>\n<p>Particularly hard hit will be\nthe commercial and industrial categories. With many businesses seeing\nfalling profits and difficulties in obtaining credit, expansion plans\nhave been put on hold until the economic outlook improves.\nInstitutional construction should fare better than its\ncommercial/industrial counterpart as the health-care and education\nsectors are expected to continue to expand through much of this\ndownturn.<strong><span class=\"STORYsub\"></span></strong></p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"STORYsub\">Economic outlook has improved prospects for a federal stimulus program</span></strong><br /> The pessimism in the nonresidential construction outlook is the direct\nresult of the weak economic outlook. A recession in our economy began\nin December 2007, according to a recent announcement by the National\nBureau of Economic Research, but in all likelihood the steepest part of\nthis downturn is still ahead of us. The first reading on fourth quarter\neconomic activity will be released at the end of January, and most\neconomists expect the decline will be at a 3 percent to 5 percent pace.\nThe last time our economy dropped by 3 percent for any single quarter\nwas 1981. The first quarter of 2009 will probably be almost as bad, and\nour economy is unlikely to begin its recovery until later this year.</p>\n<p class=\"STORYsub\"><strong>Construction Consensus Forecast&mdash;2010</strong></p>\n</td>\n<td rowspan=\"3\" valign=\"top\" width=\"10\"><!--DWLayoutEmptyCell-->&nbsp;</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#ffffff\" class=\"STORY\" colspan=\"2\" height=\"65\" valign=\"top\">\n<p>The\nmost obvious sign of the weak economy is payroll job losses. Payrolls\ndeclined by 2.6 million in 2008, the worst year for job losses over the\npast 60 years. Job losses pushed the national unemployment rate up to\n7.2 percent in December, and have undermined consumer confidence. Even\nwith a modest rebound in December, in the fourth quarter of last year,\nthe University of Michigan&rsquo;s Consumer Sentiment Index produced its\nlowest quarterly reading since 1980.</p>\n<p>Although minor\ncompared to the magnitude of the downturn, some benefits have resulted\nfrom the recent economic weakness. The drop in oil prices has helped\ncontain energy costs for households and businesses. Additionally, for\nthe construction industry, there has been a reversal in prices for key\nconstruction commodities. Prices for steel and other metals, gypsum\nproducts, lumber, and cement have all weakened recently, which will\nhelp to stabilize construction costs and make more projects feasible.</p>\n<p>The\nObama Administration is crafting an economic stimulus package to\ncushion the economic downturn. While still under discussion, it appears\nthat this package will be large and broad-reaching in terms of areas\ncovered. Current estimates are that the total package will run at least\n$750 billion over two years, and that it could rise to $1 trillion as\nit works its way through Congress. Given that our economy generates\nabout $14 trillion a year in activity, this package would account for\nabout 3 percent of activity in our economy over this two-year period.</p>\n<p>Most\nelements of the evolving stimulus proposal generally fall in one of\nfive areas, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages to\nstimulate our economy:</p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Tax cuts and direct rebates.</strong> These components can take effect quickly, while also providing ongoing\nrelief. A disadvantage is that they tend not to have as positive an\neffect on long-term economic growth as other proposed components, in\npart because households use some of these savings to pay down debt, and\nsome spending is for imported goods that do little to help our domestic\neconomy.</li>\n<li><strong>Unemployment, health-care benefits, foods stamps, and other temporary programs.</strong> These &ldquo;safety net&rdquo; programs tend to help households in the most dire\neconomic conditions and that have been the most severely impacted by\nthe downturn. A downside is that they only provide temporary relief and\ndo little to help create longer-term economic growth.</li>\n<li><strong>State fiscal relief.</strong> Most states are unable to deficit spend to help during a downturn\nbecause of balanced budget provisions. Federal government grants can\nhelp prevent counter-productive increases in state and local taxes.\nAlso, state and local governments could use these funds to provide\nhousing assistance to at-risk households from the subprime lending\ncrisis. To date, federal assistance has been provided only to banks and\nWall Street firms and not to households of people who have had their\nhomes foreclosed due to unscrupulous lending practices.</li>\n<li><strong>Business investment incentives.</strong> For new jobs to be created, businesses will need to invest in new\nplants and equipment. The credit crisis is making borrowing difficult\nfor many businesses. New investment incentives for businesses, however,\nare unlikely to produce immediate job growth.</li>\n<li><strong>Investments in infrastructure, education, health, and energy.</strong> In addition to technology investments and creating more incentives for\ngreen investments, the construction and manufacturing industries are\ntargeted under current proposals. Construction accounts for about 10\npercent of economic activity, but has borne more than 25 percent of job\nlosses in 2008. Jobs created in construction are domestic jobs, since\nvery few are outsourced. They also produce longer-term benefits and\nhelp generate additional jobs through spin-off activity. Again, though,\ntiming is an issue, since many of these projects take time to launch.</li>\n</ol>\n<p><strong><span class=\"STORYsub\">Previous recessions point to significant downturn</span></strong></p>\n<p>Architecture billings began to decline in early 2008 according to the\nAIA, and construction contract awards for nonresidential buildings\nbegan their descent about 4-5 months later, according to information on\nconstruction starts from McGraw-Hill Construction. There have been\nthree major nonresidential construction recessions since 1980 as\ndefined by the value of construction starts:</p>\n<ul>\n<li> The early 1980s recession began in the first quarter of 1980 and lasted through the fourth quarter of 1982</li>\n<li>The early 1990s recession began in the third quarter of 1989 and ended in the first quarter of 1993</li>\n<li>The early 2000s recession began in the first quarter of 2000 and lasted through the first quarter of 2004.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>By\nthe end of 2008, nonresidential construction starts declined 7 percent\nin inflation-adjusted dollars according to McGraw-Hill Construction\nestimates. At this stage of the construction cycle, this decline is\ncomparable to previous major construction downturns. In the early 1980s\nrecession, activity had declined 8.6 percent three quarters into the\ndownturn, while the early 1990s recession generated an 18 percent loss\nover a comparable period. However, the early 2000s recession generated\nonly a 4.5 percent drop at this point.</p>\n<p>If this\nrecession plays out like previous ones, there still are significant\ndeclines ahead. In the early 1980s recession, nonresidential\nconstruction activity fell by almost 28 percent before growth resumed,\na figure exceeded in the early 1990s recession (31 percent) and almost\nmatched in the early 2000s downturn (25 percent).</p>\n<p>However,\nthe composition of these losses was quite different in these cycles. In\nthe early 1980s recession, commercial/industrial activity dropped 34\npercent while institutional facilities declined only 12 percent. The\nearly 1990s recession saw a more significant 48 percent decline in\ncommercial/industrial activity, but a milder downturn on the\ninstitutional side with only a 7 percent drop. The early 2000s\nrecession was relatively mild for commercial and industrial activity,\nwhich declined 29 percent, while quite severe for institutional\nconstruction with a fall of 21 percent.</p>\n<p>According to\nthe AIA Nonresidential Construction Forecast Panel, this downturn will\nbe structured more like the early 1990s recession, although hopefully\nnot as severe. This group is calling for declines of approximately 25\npercent in 2009 to 2010 in commercial construction, almost 20 percent\nfor industrial activity, while only 7 percent for institutional\nbuildings. These projections predate the passage of any federal\nstimulus program, and the ultimate implementation of such a program,\nand the scope of activities covered if such a program is put into\naction, will no doubt affect both near-term and longer-term trends in\nconstruction activity.</p>\n</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>','none','As the overall U.S. economy continues to struggle, nonresidential construction spending is expected to decrease by 11 percent in 2009 in inflation adjusted terms. Commercial projects including office buildings and retail establishments will see the most significant decrease in activity. On the positive side, prices have dropped for key construction commodities. These are highlights from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation\'s leading construction forecasters.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/toppling-bricks.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(390,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Congress Reveals Stimulus Details ','none','stimulus, House, package, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. ','none','<p><span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; color: #275c71;\"></span><span style=\"line-height: 8px;\"></span>On January 15, the House Democratic Leadership announced details of\nthe American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Details of the $825 billion\npackage were released by the House Appropriations and Ways and Means\nCommittees. The total package consists of $275 billion in economic\nrecovery tax cuts and $550 billion in targeted investments, coupled\nwith several unprecedented accountability measures. AGC estimates that\napproximately $150 billion of the spending proposed in this bill would\nbenefit the construction industry.</p>\n<p>House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said today that she hoped\nCongressional Committees would take up the bill late next week, with\nthe goal of sending a final product to the White House by mid-February.\nAccording to House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey (D-Wis.), this\npackage would create and save 3 to 4 million jobs and jumpstart our\neconomy.</p>\n<p>In many instances, funds would be distributed through existing\nformulas. How funds are spent, all announcements of contract and grant\ncompetitions and awards, and formula grant allocations must be posted\non an open government web site. Governors, mayors or others making\nfunding decisions must personally certify that the investment has been\nfully vetted and is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. A Recovery\nAct Accountability and Transparency Board would also be created to\nreview management of recovery dollars and provide early warning of\nproblems. Federal and state whistleblowers who report fraud and abuse\nare protected. Finally, there are no earmarks in this package.</p>\n<p>The House Ways and Means Committee&rsquo;s $275 billion tax package would\nprovide tax, health and other benefits to American families, as well as\nincentives for businesses to grow and create jobs.&nbsp; Highlights in the\npackage benefiting the construction industry include:</p>\n<p>&bull;&nbsp;One-year deferral of the 3 percent withholding law from 2011 to 2012<br /> &bull;&nbsp;Bonus depreciation<br /> &bull;&nbsp;5-year carry-back of net operating losses<br /> &bull;&nbsp;Extension of increased small business expensing<br /> &bull;&nbsp;Repeal AMT limits on new private activity bonds<br /> &bull;&nbsp;School construction bonds<br /> &bull;&nbsp;Remove repayment requirement on $7,500 first-time homebuyer credit<br /> &bull;&nbsp;Tax exempt and tax credit bonds to &ldquo;recovery zones&rdquo; (i.e., areas of high unemployment, foreclosures or poverty)<br /> &bull;&nbsp;Various energy efficiency tax incentives and bonds</p>\n<p>To view a copy of the House Appropriations Committee Plan, <a href=\"http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/agcnvws/downloads/House%20Approps%20Stimulus%2001-15-09.pdf\">click here</a>.</p>\n<p>To view a copy of the House Ways and Means Committee Plan, <a href=\"http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/agcnvws/downloads/15taxstimulus.pdf\">click here</a>.</p>\n<p>To view an analysis of the bill prepared by the Associated Genearl Contarctors, <a href=\"http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/agcnvws/downloads/House%20Stimulus%20Overview%20-%20AGC%20Chart.pdf\">click here</a>.&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','On January 15, the House Democratic Leadership announced details of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Details of the $825 billion package were released by the House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees. The total package consists of $275 billion in economic recovery tax cuts and $550 billion in targeted investments, coupled with several unprecedented accountability measures. AGC estimates that approximately $150 billion of the spending proposed in this bill would benefit the construction industry.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(391,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Clayco Hires Marwin to Head  Healthcare','none','Clayco, Marwin, healthcare','none','<p>Clayco Inc. has announced the appointment of Kristopher Marwin, CHE as Director of Healthcare.</p>\n<p><img class=\"image-left\" height=\"372\" src=\"/images/uploads/Marwin_1.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />In his new position, Marwin will assist healthcare providers; hospitals, physician groups and senior living facilities with capital improvement solutions including planning, finance, design and construction. His responsibilities entail developing service solutions that strengthen and promote overall community benefit, including master site and facility planning, team building, functional space programming, finance sourcing, reimbursement impact analysis, community education and philanthropy support.<br />&nbsp;<br />Marwin brings to the company more than 20 years of healthcare development experience. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Olivet Nazarene University, in Kankakee Ill.; a Master of Health Administration degree from Central Michigan University, in Mount Pleasant, MI.; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Systems Management from Ferris State University, in Big Rapids, MI. Kris is also an active member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).<br />&nbsp;<br />Clayco Inc. is a full-service real estate dev</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Clayco Inc. has announced the appointment of Kristopher Marwin, CHE as Director of Healthcare. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(392,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Microtunneling Project Receives ACEC-MO Award','none','microtunneling, Horner & Shifrin, ACEC-MO','none','<p>The first major project in the St. Louis metropolitan area using the pilot tube microtunneling method for trenchless underground pipe installation, designed by Horner &amp; Shifrin, has received an Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri (ACEC-MO).&nbsp; The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District&rsquo;s Black Creek Sewer pilot tube microtunneling (PTMT) project, involving the Black Creek Sanitary Relief Sewer, is located under the Saint Louis Galleria, one of the busiest shopping malls in the St. Louis metropolitan area.<br /><br />Horner &amp; Shifrin managed the entire project, developed the overall design concept and performed detailed civil, structural and hydraulic modeling design services.&nbsp; Ed Sewing, Horner &amp; Shifrin&rsquo;s project manager, stated, &ldquo;A project involving the installation of approximately 2,000 feet of 18-inch diameter sanitary relief sewer at depths of up to 23 feet often causes major disruptions in a heavily trafficked area like this.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>\"We employed design solutions to minimize such impacts, resulting in several benefits to the property owner and patrons of the Galleria during construction. These benefits included safe and unrestricted access for mall patrons between the parking areas and the mall entrances, and fewer parking spaces lost during construction. The construction method was also safer and more cost-effective than open-cut trenching for this type of project. Finally, the project minimized disturbance of site improvements to trees, landscaping, sidewalks and signage while protecting and maintaining uninterrupted use of the underground utilities.&rdquo;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The first major project in the St. Louis metropolitan area using the pilot tube microtunneling method for trenchless underground pipe installation, designed by Horner & Shifrin, has received an Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri (ACEC-MO).','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(393,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Taylorsville Coal Plant Clears Hurdle','none','Taylorsville, coal, legislation','none','<p>A proposed $3.5 billion coal-fired plant in Taylorsville, IL., which proponents say could help cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as create 1,500 construction jobs and other permanent mining and power plant jobs, cleared a significant hurdle this week.&nbsp; Legislation signed by impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich establishes a framework for the Taylorville Energy Center (TEC) and other coal-gasification projects. The project still needs final approval from the state\'s General Assembly, which will consider it after design and cost reports are completed</p>\n<p>The\nsigning into law of SB 1987, the Clean Coal Portfolio Standard Act creates a framework for developing coal gasification projects with carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>)\ncapture and storage, requiring emissions from these electric generation\nfacilities, including Tenaska&rsquo;s proposed Taylorville Energy Center\n(TEC), to be as clean as natural gas generators. Like renewable\nelectric generation sources, TEC reduces emissions by displacing and\nreducing the operation of generation facilities that have higher\nemissions. TEC has the added advantage of 24/7 operation, providing a\nbenefit to air quality day in and day out.<br /> <br /> In\norder to qualify as a clean coal facility under this legislation, a\nplant must not only capture at least 50 percent of the total CO<sub>2</sub> emissions but must also incorporate power generating equipment that\nlimits regulated pollutants (such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,\ncarbon monoxide, particulates and mercury) from combustion of the\nsynthetically-produced feedstock to levels that are no higher than\ncombined cycle, natural gas fired plants. <br /> <br /> In\naddition, the law requires electric utilities and other electric retail\nsuppliers in Illinois to purchase up to 5 percent of their electricity\nfrom clean coal facilities. SB 1987 entitles one initial clean coal\nfacility with a final air permit to 30-year purchase agreements for the\nsale of its output. TEC has a final air permit from the Illinois\nEnvironmental Protection Agency, allowing it to become the &ldquo;initial\nclean coal facility&rdquo; under the legislation. Because power from TEC will\nbe required continuously, it will consistently be replacing power from\nhigher emitting generators and providing significant reductions in\ngreenhouse gases as well as regulated pollutants. <br /> <br /> John Thompson, director of the Coal Transition Project for the national\nClean Air Task Force, added, &ldquo;The Illinois legislation requires\nemissions from coal-fueled facilities to be at least as low as clean\nburning natural gas power plants. This very tough standard should\nbecome the national model.&rdquo; <br /> <br /> Ford noted that the act increases the required CO<sub>2</sub> capture-level to 70 percent for facilities not scheduled to enter\ncommercial operation until after 2015 and to 90 percent for facilities\nnot scheduled until after 2017. He said that the CO<sub>2</sub> capture rate from TEC is expected to be in the 55 to 60 percent range.  &ldquo;Basically, we will be capturing almost all of the CO<sub>2</sub> and capturing or eliminating almost all of the other pollutants that\nare produced in the process necessary to turn coal into methane. This\nmethane is identical to natural gas, and so when it fuels TEC&rsquo;s\nefficient, combined-cycle block it produces no more CO<sub>2</sub> or\nother pollutants than a normal, highly efficient natural gas plant.\nTEC&rsquo;s emission levels are expected to be much lower than any other type\nof fossil fuel plant, including coal plants, oil plants, older natural\ngas plants and peaking natural gas plants.&rdquo; <br /> <br /> Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan led the effort, along with\nTenaska, to develop legislation that would be good for the economy,\ncreate thousands of new jobs, and provide significant protections to\nelectric customers. These protections include rate reviews by the\nFederal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Illinois Commerce\nCommission, as well as the need for final approval by the Illinois\nGeneral Assembly after preparation of a detailed facility cost report.\nThe legislation also contains a benchmark of 2.015 percent as the\nmaximum potential rate impact on electric utility customers, which\ncould only occur after the plant begins operations.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;This groundbreaking legislation will create jobs at Illinois clean\ncoal and renewable energy facilities, as well as in the coal industry,&rdquo;\nsaid Madigan. &ldquo;It provides a unique opportunity for Illinois to become\nthe national leader in the effort to build the kind of green economy\nchampioned by President-elect Obama. To pass this bill, we brought\ntogether a remarkable coalition and worked hard to produce legislation\nthat will benefit all Illinoisans,&rdquo; Madigan said. <br /> <br /> The next step for the TEC project is the preparation of a detailed\nFront End Engineering and Design (FEED) study and facility cost report.\nThen, in its spring 2010 session, the Illinois General Assembly will\nreview the FEED study and, if accepted, grant final approval of power\npurchase agreements for TEC as mandated by law.<br /> <br /> Current estimates of construction costs are approximately $2.5 billion.\nThe Allowance for Funds Used During Construction (AFUDC) and other\ncosts that will accrue during the four-year construction period bring\nthe total estimated capital cost to $3.5 billion. No payments will be\ndue under the power purchase agreement until the plant is completed.\nCompletion is scheduled for 2014. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','A proposed $3.5 billion coal-fired plant in Taylorsville, IL., which proponents say could help cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as create 1,500 construction jobs and other permanent mining and power plant jobs, cleared a significant hurdle this week. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(394,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Scott Wilson Named AGC St. Louis Chair','none','Scott Wilson, AGC, chairman','none','<p><img class=\"image-left\" height=\"292\" src=\"/images/uploads/SCOTT-WILSON.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"244\" />Scott J. Wilson, President of S. M. Wilson &amp; Co. has been elected Chairman of the Board of the Associated General Contractors of St. Louis (AGC).&nbsp; He succeeds Tracy E. Hart of Tarlton Corporation who remains on the AGC Board of Directors.&nbsp; Mr. Wilson has served in a variety of capacities within the AGC as a member of the Board of Directors since 1998, executive committee since 2000, as well as chairing the AGC&rsquo;s Education Foundation.&nbsp; Wilson is an active participant in the Construction Careers Center charter high school where he serves as a mentor in the Career Coaching Program and actively supports the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs.<br /><br />Other officers of the AGC for 2009 are:&nbsp; Chair Elect of the Board &ndash; Robert Fritz, Clayco; Vice Chair of the Board &ndash; Paul Hartwig, McCarthy Building Companies; Treasurer &ndash; Michael J. Perry, H.B.D. Contracting, Inc.; Secretary &ndash;Todd Korte, The Korte Company.<br /><br />Serving on the Board representing contractor members are:&nbsp; Steve Biederman, Walton Construction Company, LLC; Matt Grieshaber, Alberici Constructors, Inc.; Tom Huster, KCI Construction Company; Joseph M. Kaiser, BSI Constructors, Inc.; Kelly Kenter, Sitelines, Inc.; Thomas E. Kuhn, Millstone Bangert, Inc.; Ken Lovelace, Legacy Building Group; and P. Joseph McKee, III, Paric Corporation.<br /></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Scott J. Wilson, President of S. M. Wilson & Co. has been elected Chairman of the Board of the Associated General Contractors of St. Louis (AGC).','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(395,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','Music Promoter Hears Sour Note on Claim','none','music promoter, claim, Metal Building, Wolf Construction','none','<p>A music promoter can recover consequential damages but not additional lost profits in a lawsuit against its contractor when a metal concert stage and roof failed to perform. The case is Catroppa v. Metal Building Supply, Inc., 2008 WL 4705605 (Mo. App. S.D.), decided October 28. <br /><br />Metal Building, a manufacturer of metal building components, agreed with Backyard Concerts, a music promoter of 35 years, to the construction of a metal stage and corrugated metal roof over it.&nbsp; Metal Building subcontracted with Wolf Construction to build the stage. Metal Building supplied the building materials. The total cost was about $12,000.<br /><br />Before approaching Metal Building about building the stage, Backyard Concerts had scheduled a concert with heavy-metal bands Skid Row and Slowvein. The music promoter informed Metal Building that the stage had to be completed before the concert, which did in fact happen. However, the ridges on the stage&rsquo;s roof ran horizontally instead of vertically as specified.<br /><br />Of course, it rained on concert day. The water built up in the ridges and began leaking through the seams onto the stage. This shorted out the bands&rsquo; electrical equipment. Both bands would not perform and Backyard Concerts had to cancel the concert.<br /><br />Backyard Concerts&rsquo; problems continued. Metal Building acknowledged that the stage was built improperly. It placed a second corrugated metal roof over the original with the ridges this time running vertically. Metal Building did not, however, connect the two roofs, thereby causing the new one to be lifted up and off in high winds. Backyard Concerts claimed this to be a design defect in that the purloins&mdash;to which the roof was attached&mdash;ran vertically instead of horizontally to the roof&rsquo;s pitch.<br /><br />Backyard Concerts sued Metal Building for breach of contract seeking $181,380 in total damages. This included $36,380 for lost profits from the rained-out concert and $10,000 for costs to repair the stage. <br />Backyard Concerts also sought consequential damages, future lost profits and a refund of the $12,000 initially spent for the stage given its present, unusable condition. These costs included $6,000 for the Skid Row band, $700 for the Slowvein band, advertising in the Joplin newspaper of $1,300, ticket printing for $900, Johnny on the Spots for $300, ice for $300, and BBQ for cooked meat and buns for $2,000. There were other costs as well. <br /><br />For labor, Backyard Concerts asked for compensation of $1,800 for security, plus additional money for cooks, bartenders, ticket takers, stage loaders, cancellation explainer and JT Huff Sound for a total of $18,820.<br />Then there were projected sales for advanced tickets and door tickets and liquor and food sales for an additional amount of $18,000. In total, Backyard Concerts asked for an additional $36,380 for projected sales minus cost and some repairs.<br />From all this, the trial court awarded $26,620 plus court costs as total damages. <br /><br />The appellate court stated that Backyard Concerts in its breach of contract lawsuit can pursue three types of damages: actual, consequential and benefit-of-the-bargain. Also, these three damages are not necessarily inconsistent with each other. The plaintiff, however&mdash;in this case Backyard Concerts&mdash;cannot recover more than one hundred percent for its damages.<br /><br />Actual damages are compensatory and involve the loss or injury sustained. Consequential damages are those damages naturally and proximately caused by the commission of the breach and those damages that reasonably could have been contemplated by the defendant at the time of the agreement. Benefit-of-the-bargain damages&mdash;also known as lost profits damages&mdash;are the net profits a plaintiff would have realized had the contract not been breached.<br /><br />Regarding lost profits, the Southern District noted that the parties focused in their appellate arguments in one case &ldquo;extensively&rdquo; and in the other case &ldquo;exclusively&rdquo; on entitlement to lost profits. Lost profit damages must be shown with &ldquo;reasonable certainty&rdquo; and cannot be based on speculation. <br /><br />Lost profits damages can be based on an estimate of lost revenue minus overhead expenses. Lost profits may be imprecise as long as they are based on established facts and reasonable extrapolations from those facts. <br />In this case, while Backyard Concerts sufficiently showed lost liquor sales of $12,000, it could not support the costs for the liquor. There were other examples of losses where the costs were not shown. Thus, Backyard Concerts could not show in total more than $18,680 in lost profits and since this was less than the consequential damages of $19,120, the appellate court decided that Backyard Concerts was not entitled to any damages for lost profits. <br /><br />As for actual damages of $12,000, the court described them to be the reasonable cost of building the roof to the actual specifications. The court concluded that the testimony of $12,000 paid for the stage and roof, alleged to be &ldquo;useless,&rdquo; was not sufficient to establish the &ldquo;reasonable cost of conforming the stage roof to the contract specifications.&rdquo; Backyard Concerts received nothing for this. <br /><br />As for consequential damages of $19,120 for cancelled band concerts, advertising costs, and other items, Backyard Concerts testified that Metal Building knew the concert was to go forward &ldquo;rain or shine.&rdquo; Thus, the losses were foreseeable and Backyard Concerts could recover for them.<br /><br />James R. Keller is a partner at Herzog Crebs LLP where he concentrates his practice on construction law, complex business disputes, real estate and ADR. He also is an arbitrator and a mediator</p>','','280','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','A music promoter can recover consequential damages but not additional lost profits in a lawsuit against its contractor when a metal concert stage and roof failed to perform.','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(396,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Clayco Wins American Concrete Institute Award','none','Clayco, concrete,  award','none','<p>Clayco Inc. was recently awarded with a Best Concrete Project Award from the American Concrete Institute, Louisiana Chapter, for their work on the Chevron NorthPark Office Building in Covington, LA. Concrete Strategies Inc., a Clayco partner, performed the tilt-up construction for the project.<br /><br />The 11th annual awards competition recognizes and honors creative, innovative and aesthetic uses of concrete and concrete masonry products in new construction projects completed in Louisiana during 2008.<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;We are pleased to have our work on the Chevron NorthPark Office Building honored with such a prestigious award by the American Concrete Institute,&rdquo; said Joe Vitale, president of Concrete Strategies. <br />&nbsp;<br />The goal of the project was to utilize concrete construction innovations to create a facility which would minimize the risk of weather-related business disruptions while also creating an aesthetically pleasing office environment.<br />&nbsp;<br />Built via tilt-up construction methods, the 300,000-square-foot headquarters consists of multi-story office wings and central amenity space with a large meeting space, full-service kitchen and fitness center. The project included a geological laboratory and a five-level parking structure attached to the office building. The headquarters was also built to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;The overall size and depth of the project, not only in square footage and panels, but in the fact that the company moved its offices from New Orleans to Covington to be outside of the hurricane area, showcases the accomplishment and achievement of the project,&rdquo; said Vitale.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Clayco Inc. was recently awarded with a Best Concrete Project Award from the American Concrete Institute, Louisiana Chapter, for their work on the Chevron NorthPark Office Building in Covington, LA. Concrete Strategies Inc., a Clayco partner, performed the tilt-up construction for the project.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(397,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois Elects Officers','none',' Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois','none','<p>The Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois, an economic development organization for the St. Louis Metro East submarket, has chosen new leadership for 2009. Members unanimously approved five new officers to serve one-year terms, including Vaughn Vandegrift as the president of the organization. Vandegrift, Chancellor of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, has been a member of the Leadership Council&rsquo;s executive committee since 2004 and most recently served as the organization&rsquo;s vice president. The additional officers chosen include:<br />&nbsp; <br />Chairman &ndash; Suzanne Butler, vice president of Johnson Properties<br />Vice President &ndash; Mark Tade, manager of employee relations, U.S. Steel, Granite City Works<br />Secretary &ndash; Dale Stewart, executive secretary/treasurer, Southwestern Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council<br />Treasurer &ndash; Gerry Schuetzenhofer, president, Coldwell Banker Brown Realtors <br /><br />The Leadership Council president is the key officer presiding over organizational meetings and operations. <br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;2009 will be a critical year for our region,&rdquo; noted Vandegrift. &ldquo;While our development pipeline is currently strong with billions of dollars in projects under construction, the current state of the economy makes it imperative that regional leaders come together and work collaboratively to chart the course for our region&rsquo;s long-term future. I look forward to working with our membership, other regional development agencies, civic leaders and elected officials to continue to shape a bright future for Southwestern Illinois.&rdquo;<br /><br />The Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois is a member-based, economic development corporation representing Madison and St. Clair counties. The Council works to attract/retain jobs and stimulate capital investment through its coalition of leaders in business, industry, labor, education and government. These effective partnerships serve as a driving force behind successful economic development efforts throughout the Metro East region.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois, an economic development organization for the St. Louis Metro East submarket, has chosen new leadership for 2009.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(398,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','NAI Desco Announces Staff Additions','none','NAI Desci','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.naidesco.com\">NAI Desco</a> has announced additions to its staff. <br /><br />Mark Schnuck, President of NAI DESCO, says the new additions provide a valuable role for the company. &ldquo;With the new brokers, we are able to better serve the medical<br />office sector in St. Louis, a sector which should continue to see steady growth in the coming years.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>Matt Hirsch and Barry Iken, the newest brokers to the team, come to NAI DESCO with a combined 18 years of experience in commercial real estate with an emphasis<br />in the medical related field. Hirsch and Iken, who have worked with a diverse range of healthcare providers from the single physician office to national healthcare corporations, believe that their move to NAI DESCO will help facilitate significant transactions in the months to come.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;I believe with our proven track record, the support of NAI DESCO and the NAI Network, we will not only continue to deliver high quality real estate brokerage to a<br />wide range of clients, but this will open significant opportunities to reach more<br />clients,&rdquo; says Iken.</p>\n<p>Major projects for the duo include the Laboratory Corporation of America assignment where Hirsch and Iken were charged with procuring and leasing over 40 medical buildings.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','NAI Desco has announced additions to its staff.\n\nMark Schnuck, President of NAI DESCO, says the new additions provide a valuable role for the company. \"With the new brokers, we are able to better serve the medical\noffice sector in St. Louis, a sector which should continue to see steady growth in the coming years.\"','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(399,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Midwest Testing\'s Laughlin Receives Honorary Degree','none','Laughlin, Midwest Testing','none','<p>Richard D. Laughlin, founder of St. Louis-based environmental and geotechnical services firm Midwest Testing, has been awarded an honorary professional degree by the Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST) in Rolla,&nbsp; Mo. Laughlin earned bachelor&rsquo;s and master&rsquo;s degrees in civil engineering from MST in 1976 and 1977. <br /><br />The university awards professional degrees to individuals who make a significant impact on their profession. Since founding Midwest Testing in 1985, Laughlin has grown the business into one of the area&rsquo;s leading providers of phase one and two site studies; wetlands delineation; asbestos evaluations; remediation planning; cultural studies of land; and permitting. <br /><br />The firm has participated in numerous high-profile projects including the region&rsquo;s largest shopping center, the 380-acre Chesterfield Commons in Chesterfield; Gateway Commerce Center in Madison County, IL; Gravois Bluffs Shopping Center and Business Park in Fenton; The Boulevard-St. Louis&nbsp; in Richmond Heights, Mo.; The Meadows at Lake Saint Louis; Manchester Highlands; Town and Country Crossing; and, Arnold Commons.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Richard D. Laughlin, founder of St. Louis-based environmental and geotechnical services firm Midwest Testing, has been awarded an honorary professional degree by the Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST) in Rolla,  Mo. Laughlin earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from MST in 1976 and 1977.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(400,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','McCormack Baron Salazar, KAI Begin Work on New Orleans Neighborhood ','none','  McCormack Baron Salazar, KAI, New Orleans','none','<p>Construction has begun on the $172 million project to redevelop the C.J. Peete public housing site in New Orleans, LA. The C.J. Peete HOPE VI Housing Redevelopment project is being developed by Central City Partners (a team made up of St. Louis-based companies McCormack Baron Salazar and KAI Design &amp; Build), in partnership with the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) and the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative (NONDC), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality affordable housing in New Orleans&rsquo; Central City neighborhood. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on January 7 to mark the start of construction.<br />&nbsp;<br />McCormack Baron Salazar Executive Vice President Vince Bennett said, &ldquo;Realizing the transformation of the C.J. Peete site in a troubled financial time demonstrates the significance of public private partnerships. The ability of our team to bring in nationally recognized financial partners such as Goldman Sachs and negotiate a complicated leveraged transaction with HANO, state and local funders and navigate numerous tax and regulatory requirements in 60 days was incredible. Moreover, this development will serve as a catalytic spark in the revitalization of the neighborhood and will support families who were displaced by Katrina.&nbsp; The importance of this development goes beyond bricks and mortar to transform the lives of community and public housing residents.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;<br />McCormack Baron Salazar is a nationally recognized urban developer of affordable housing with extensive experience in the creation and management of large-scale, mixed-income communities.&nbsp; The firm has developed 131 developments for total development costs in excess of $1.9 billion.<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;We see this as a tremendous opportunity to revitalize a community and to provide much needed mixed-income housing in the heart of New Orleans&rsquo; Central City neighborhood,&rdquo; said KAI Design &amp; Build President Michael Kennedy, Jr.<br />&nbsp;<br />KAI Design &amp; Build, a minority-owned firm, has a broad range of experience in design, construction and development services and has worked on multiple mixed-finance HUD HOPE VI development programs around the country.&nbsp; KAI is providing architectural, interior, mechanical, electrical and plumbing/fire protection design on the project, in addition to providing overall direction, coordination and management of the engineering consultant team. <br />&nbsp;<br />C.J. Peete is located in Central City New Orleans and is bordered by Louisiana Avenue, South Claiborne Avenue, La Salle Street and Washington Avenue.&nbsp; C.J. Peete, named after Cleveland Joseph Peete, a graduate of Xavier University who managed the development from 1952 to 1978, was constructed in 1941 and expanded to 1,403 total units in 1955. The Housing Authority of New Orleans demolished more than half of the site, approximately 723 units, in 1997 with plans for revitalization. Only 146 families were still living at the site when Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005.&nbsp; These families were all displaced by the Hurricane Katrina emergency, many of them to out of state locations. The vacant buildings that remained following the Katrina disaster were demolished in the spring of 2008.&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;<br />Plans for the $172 million, 550,000-square-foot redevelopment, designed to replicate the traditional Central City neighborhood, include:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Construction of 410 garden and townhouse low-income, affordable and market rate units.</li>\n<li>Construction of a 40-unit, three-story apartment building.</li>\n<li>Renovation of an existing administration building and three-story, residential apartment building with 10 units.</li>\n<li>Renovation of an existing community center to house supportive services programs.</li>\n<li>New streets that tie into existing streets.</li>\n<li>A new park at the southern end of the site that preserves several old oak trees.</li>\n</ul>\n<p><br />Richard Baron, chairman and CEO of McCormack Baron Salazar, explained, &ldquo;We want to create a stable, safe and sustainable mixed-income community which will increase economic and educational opportunities for all of its residents.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;<br />Construction on the project has been put on the fast track and is expected to be completed in January 2011. The general contractor on the project is Woodward Design &amp; Build of New Orleans, LA. <br />&nbsp;<br />In addition to the physical development of the site, the development team joined with Urban Strategies, its non-profit partner, to provide and coordinate essential services and programs for former and new residents of the C.J. Peete community. These programs are designed to assist residents in achieving self-sufficiency, and include intensive case management, job training and placement, technology programs, quality child care and schools, access to physical and mental health services, senior programs, and enrichment activities for children and youth.<br />&nbsp;<br />Urban Strategies is also working with the Recovery School District to rebuild and reopen Woodson Middle School as a K-8 school to serve the children of the revitalized community.<br /><br />&ldquo;The success of the revitalization effort at C.J. Peete rests on whether life is stable and filled with opportunity for the most vulnerable families. With many partners, Urban Strategies is focused on making stability and opportunity happen,&rdquo; said Urban Strategies President Sandy Moore.<br />&nbsp;<br />In October 2006, the Housing Authority of New Orleans issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to revitalize the C.J. Peete site. Central City Partners was selected as the development partner through this competitive national application process. The team combines the deep local experience of NONDC with the nation&rsquo;s leading for-profit developer of economically integrated urban neighborhoods. The experience of this team in partnership with the Housing Authority of New Orleans and support from local, state and federal agencies has been instrumental in bringing the project together.&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;</p>\n<p>The C.J. Peete development represents a financial investment of over $170 million. The permanent sources of funds are from the U.S. Department of Housing and Development, the Housing Authority of New Orleans, the Louisiana Office of Community Development, the Louisiana Industrial Development Board, and Goldman Sachs, the purchaser of tax credits awarded by the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency. Additional funding for pre-development and community supportive services and activities was provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Living Cities, and the Ford Foundation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;<br /><br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Construction has begun on the $172 million project to redevelop the C.J. Peete public housing site in New Orleans, LA. The C.J. Peete HOPE VI Housing Redevelopment project is being developed by Central City Partners (a team made up of St. Louis-based companies McCormack Baron Salazar and KAI Design & Build), in partnership with the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) and the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative (NONDC), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality affordable housing in New Orleans’ Central City neighborhood.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(402,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','St. Louis County Shovel-Ready for Stimulus','none','St. Louis County, stimulus, ASA','none','<p>St. Louis County has submitted a package that asks for funding for 95 projects totaling $1.8 billion, David Leezer, vice president of the&nbsp; Economic Development Collaborative and interim vice president for business development of the St. Louis County Economic Council told members of the Midwest Council, American Subcontractors Association (ASA) at their January meeting.</p>\n<p>Leezer said that the Obama transition team asked for submission of the first round of shovel-ready projects in December and requested two more submissions in January and February, with a goal of being underway with work with 120 days of the inauguration. The 199-page St. Louis submission asks for funding for an extension of Highway 141 from Page to I-64, schools, and municipal centers among other projects.</p>\n<p>\"They told us they wanted the submission in electronic form and that if we submitted it on paper we could expect to have it recycled,\" Leezer said. \"We had to send it from servers outside of the county offices because of the sheer size of it.\"</p>\n<p>Leezer said that other bright spots in an otherwise dim County construction picture include various projects for Edward Jones, Covidien, and the North Park Development near UMSL and Pinnacle\'s River City casino project in Lemay.</p>\n<p>To download a copy of the St. Louis County\'s stimulus project submisison, go to <a href=\"http://www.stlouisco.com/index.cfm?ViewMe=12235\">this link</a>.</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>','none','St. Louis County has submitted a package that asks for funding for 95 projects totaling $1.8 billion, David Leezer, vice president of the  Economic Development Collaborative and interim vice president for business development of the St. Louis County Economic Council told members of the Midwest Council, American Subcontractors Association (ASA) at their January meeting. ','none','','none','','none','','none',283,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(403,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Haberberger Reaches 60-Year Milestone','none','Haberberger, 60th, anniversary','none','<p>Affton-based Haberberger, Inc. recently celebrated its 60th anniversary as a family-owned business.<br /><br />The third generation-owned business, which opened its doors as a small home repair and refrigeration company in 1948 and employed just a handful of people in its early days, has flourished over the years. The company, which had become a $6 million enterprise by 1987, saw its growth accelerate over the past 20 years and now employs more than 200 and has reached $56 million in annual revenues. <br /><br />&ldquo;The company&rsquo;s growth has accelerated over the past 20 years because we have excellent union workers supported by a great team at the office, and everyone shares the commitment to the customer,&rdquo; said Joe Haberberger, who represents the company&rsquo;s second generation and worked at Haberberger for 38 years before retiring from his position as president in 1997. <br /><br />Haberberger has evolved over its 60 years of existence, expanding from its small home repair and refrigeration roots into a commercial refrigeration provider and then an air conditioning service provider, before adding industrial and commercial piping work and becoming the company it is today. However, Haberberger has always remained a family business. Today, the company functions under the leadership of President Neil Haberberger, Vice President of Service Mark Haberberger and Vice President of Operations Steve Haberberger. Both Steve and Mark have sons working for Haberberger, representing the fourth generation in the company.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none',' Affton-based Haberberger, Inc. recently celebrated its 60th anniversary as a family-owned business.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(404,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Steve Giacin Named President of Kaiser Electric','none','Kaiser, Giacin, president','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.kaiserelectric.com\">Kaiser Electric, Inc.</a> Executive Vice-President of Operations Steve Giacin has been named president of the company.&nbsp; Giacin, 46, has been with the company for more than 10 years and has served as project manager, service department manager, manpower coordinator, and most recently as executive vice-president of operations.</p>\n<p>In January 2008, the company&rsquo;s three owners, brothers Robert, James and John Kaiser, sold 70 percent of their stock in the company to five long-time Kaiser employees. Giacin purchased the majority of the stock at 30 percent, with the remaining four employees, Mike Lundry, Mike Murphy, Ken Naumann, and Jerry Dorhauer, each purchasing 10 percent. <br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;My primary focus will be continuing Kaiser&rsquo;s commitment to its existing clients and to develop new relationships with customers looking for value and stability through performance and professionalism,&rdquo; said Giacin. &ldquo;Another goal for 2009 is to keep the positive momentum and success going at our newly opened Illinois office.&rdquo; <br />&nbsp;<br />Kaiser Electric has complete design-build capabilities, two professional engineers on staff, a communications department and a strong presence in the health-care and industrial markets. Kaiser has annual revenues of $30-$35 million. Notable projects have included lighting of the Gateway Arch, Cardinal Glennon Children&rsquo;s Hospital addition/renovation, Metropolitan Sewer District&rsquo;s Lower Meramec Lift Station in St. Louis County, St. Lukes Hospital OSB project, SSM St. Joseph&rsquo;s Hospital expansion in Lake St. Louis, and BJC Progress West Hospital. <br />&nbsp;<br />Robert Kaiser said last year&rsquo;s stock deal allowed Kaiser to keep the good employees that it had, while giving them an incentive to improve the company. He praised Giacin&rsquo;s leadership skills and performance and looked forward to a positive succession of the company. <br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;Steve has great skills in this industry and has done a fabulous job for Kaiser so far,&rdquo; Kaiser said. &ldquo;I am confident that our new leadership will continue to promote company growth, while carrying on our reputation for quality, honest service.&rdquo; <br />&nbsp;<br />Kaiser based in Fenton, MO, has been providing electrical contracting and engineering services to the St. Louis metro area for more than 56 years. The company focuses primarily on industrial, commercial, healthcare and communications projects and employs on average 150 field electricians.Kaiser has a branch office in Granite City, IL. <br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Kaiser Electric Executive Vice-President of Operations Steve Giacin has been named president of the company.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(405,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','S.M. Wilson Continues Work at Ft. Leonard Wood','none','Wilson, barracks, Ft. Leonard Wood','none','<p>S. M. Wilson &amp; Co. has completed construction of the $13.6 million Phase II of a new residential style barracks community for the U. S Army Corps of Engineers at the Ft. Leonard Wood military base in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO.&nbsp; In January 2008, the company completed the $12.9 million Phase I of the program.&nbsp; Based on the company&rsquo;s comprehensive proposal coupled with the success of the first two phases, S. M. Wilson has been selected to provide design/build services for the $22 million third phase of the program.</p>\n<p>Phase II of the Permanent Party Barracks project involved the design and construction of 19 multi-level apartment buildings that house 190 soldiers. Each 3,660 square foot building consists of five apartment units, totaling 69,540 square feet for the entire project.&nbsp; Each unit features a&nbsp; one-plus-one bedroom configuration with a shared kitchen and dining area.&nbsp; Additionally, each building features a shared central exterior walkway and covered porches for each unit.&nbsp; The 10-acre site also includes parking lots, a basketball court and a sand volleyball court.&nbsp; Construction began in July 2007.</p>\n<p>Phase III services will include the design and construction of 27 barracks units, capable of housing 270 soldiers. Each 3,660 square foot building will consist of five apartment units, totaling 98,820 square feet for the entire project.&nbsp; These buildings will include features similar to those built in Phase II.&nbsp; The 11.5-acre site will also include parking lots, two basketball courts, two sand volleyball courts and 14 picnic pavilions.&nbsp; Construction is scheduled for completion in early 2010.</p>\n<p>Rosemann &amp; Associates will be providing the architectural services for this phase as they did on the previous two.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','S. M. Wilson & Co. has completed construction of the $13.6 million Phase II of a new residential style barracks community for the U. S Army Corps of Engineers at the Ft. Leonard Wood military base in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(406,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Navy Awards Walton $25 Million LEED DB Barracks Project','none','Walton, Navy, LEED','none','<p>The Department of the Navy-Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast has selected Walton Construction St. Louis as general contractor on the new $25.3 million Parris Island Barracks Complex in Parris Island, SC. Working with Walton Construction New Orleans and architect VOA Associates Inc., Walton St. Louis is scheduled to begin construction this month, with completion targeted for November 2010.</p>\n<p>Walton will work to achieve Silver LEED certification on the South Carolina barracks complex as part of a concerted effort by the Navy to cut energy use and decrease consumption of oil and other fossil fuels.</p>\n<p>Walton will incorporate environmentally friendly design, recyclable materials and energy efficient products into the construction of the Parris Island Barracks Complex. The project includes a three-story barracks, a headquarters training complex and a central mechanical plant. The Parris Island Barracks Complex will provide living quarters and a training facility for all Marine recruits east of the Mississippi River.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are excited to be selected as the design build contractor on this project for the NAVFAC,&rdquo; said Tom Kaiman, vice president of operations for Walton St. Louis.&nbsp; &ldquo;Integrating sustainable energy systems and materials into the barracks and training facility will create a healthier and more energy efficient environment for our nation&rsquo;s armed forces.&rdquo; <br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Department of the Navy-Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast has selected Walton Construction St. Louis as general contractor on the new $25.3 million Parris Island Barracks Complex in Parris Island, SC.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(407,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','Start Now on Green Jobs and Energy Efficiency','none','green, education, reilly','none','<p><em>By Richard Reilly</em></p>\n<p>There\'s no better time than now to start educating our municipal leaders about the benefits of going green.<br /> <br /> President-elect Barack Obama\'s inauguration will mean changes in the\ndistribution of federal funds to states, metropolitan regions and\ncities. The state of the economy requires new initiatives for job\ncreation amid reduced tax revenue for all government agencies. The\nanswers are green jobs and energy savings.<br /> <br /> Our regional political leadership must be prepared to make educated\ndecisions that will bring green jobs to the entire spectrum of the work\nforce, as well as ensuring that government buildings operate at the\nhighest possible levels of energy efficiency.</p>\n<p>These opportunities and responsibilities are both bottom-up and\ntop-down. To make real progress and be accountable, all levels of the\ncommunity must be involved.\n<br /> Grass-roots groups such as Missouri Votes Conservation are\nworking in a nonpartisan way as advocates for pro-environmental\nlegislation on a statewide basis. The St. Louis chapter of Architecture\nfor Humanity is beginning to work with North &amp; South County Tech to\ndesign and build a green curriculum.<br /> <br /> The St. Louis Regional Chamber &amp; Growth Association is in the draft\nstages of \"The St Louis Climate Prosperity Project,\" which includes its\nsupport for businesses, organizations and cities to become more energy\nefficient and for the cultivation of a green-minded work force to make\nsure the St. Louis area is nationally recognized as a \"Top Ten Green\nRegion.\" <br /> <br /> This can happen only with broad support at the municipal, regional and\nstate levels for higher energy performance standards for all buildings,\nincluding new and renovated government facilities. If we do not begin\nto take these initiatives now, we will be following the herd again,\ninstead of leading it.<br /> <br /> We also should pay close attention to the \"voice on the street,\" where\nour existing, wasteful energy practices hit families, individuals and\nbusinesses hard in the form of higher utility bills. <br /> <br /> It doesn\'t have to be this way. People living in Habitat for Humanity\nSt. Louis 2008 homes &mdash; homes built with careful attention to energy\nefficiency &mdash; are spending 40 percent to 60 percent less on their\nutility bills than people in comparable housing units that lack\nimproved energy efficiency.<br /> <br /> The St. Louis chapter of the United States Green Building Council is\ngoing to begin working with the East-West Gateway Council of\nGovernments to organize and present a series of seminars for mayors,\ncity managers and county executives on the basics of energy efficiency\nprograms and retrofits, including Leadership in Energy and\nEnvironmental Design programs for schools, neighborhood development and\nexisting buildings.<br /> <br /> Let\'s encourage these organizations to provide an excellent and\nflexible program that will allow as many political decision-makers as\npossible to attend. And let\'s encourage our municipal leaders to attend\nas many sessions as possible so they will be prepared to make informed\ndecisions in the very near future on the environment, the bottom line\nof their municipal budgets and the long-term health of our region.<br /> <em><br />Richard Reilly is the chief operating officer\nof Boa Construction Company in St. Louis County and has been in the\nconstruction industry for more than 25 years.</em> <br /> <br /></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','There\'s no better time than now to start educating our municipal leaders about the benefits of going green.','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(452,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','Hard Hat Zone','none','hard hat, stimulus, green, make it work','none','<p>Part of the annual Christmas ritual for my family is a game of &ldquo;Rob Your Neighbor&rdquo;. The object of the game is to stick someone else with a particularly unattractive item that has been darkening a corner of&nbsp; your closet. My six siblings, our many kids, and grandkids all get into the spirit. I once unloaded a plaster copy of Michelangelo&rsquo;s nude statue &ldquo;David&rdquo; &ndash; only to have it reappear for the next five years dressed in increasingly bizarre outfits.<br /><br />This year was different for me: I actually WANTED the item I wound up getting. My youngest brother had brought an old hard hat.&nbsp; But it was a hard hat fraught with meaning for me. It has a Day-Glo orange band, an old PRIDE logo in the same orange hue, and &ndash; Scotch-taped to the side &ndash; the original logo for St. Louis CNR. It was my Dad&rsquo;s hard hat, the same one that he wore for many years in the &ldquo;Perspective&rdquo; column that he wrote for CNR.<br /><br />The hard hat then, as now, had symbolic value beyond its role as protective gear. The hard hat represents the risk, hard work, and uncertainty that are an inherent part of the construction industry. Ours is an industry that gets things done.&nbsp; At New York&rsquo;s Center for Architecture the current exhibit is called &ldquo;Make It Work: Engineering Possibilities.&rdquo;&nbsp; The exhibit examines new technologies, materials, and building designs that will shape the future. &ldquo;Make It Work&rdquo; might be the mission statement for our construction industry.<br /><br />When we discussing the theme for this month&rsquo;s CNR cover, Art Director Scott Tripp came up with the idea for the &ldquo;stimulus drink&rdquo; that appears in the photo illustration. Originally the idea was to have the model we<img alt=\"Tom hard hat\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"375\" src=\"/images/uploads/tom-hard-hat.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"250\" />aring a hard hat holding the can. <br /><br />I&rsquo;m glad that the final image focuses only on the can and that there&rsquo;s no hard hat in sight. Because our industry&rsquo;s role is not to create the environment in which things are built. The Stimulus Package is not something we have created &ndash; it just part of the environment in which we operate. The role of our construction industry is to take the conditions and resources as they come and to &ldquo;make it work.&rdquo;&nbsp; Making it work is the kind of job that requires rolling up your sleeves and putting on a hard hat. <br /><br />Freeing the chokehold that financial institutions have on cash for projects will make a difference. The infusion of federal dollars &ndash; at no small cost to the future &ndash; for shovel-ready stimulus projects will also make a difference.&nbsp; <br /><br />But our industry can a BIG difference by fearlessly championing new ideas and technologies, by stretching resources to the breaking point. This month Dan Galvin, public information manager, Gateway Constructors and the public face of&nbsp; &ldquo;The New I-64&rdquo;, spoke before the Midwest Council, American Subcontractors Association. Galvin pointed out the daring thinking that allowed MoDot and its contractors to shave four years off the project schedule. Their faith that it could be done &ndash; and their ability to get the public to embrace that idea&nbsp; &ndash; has created a model that is being studied for other projects around the country.<br /><br />At the Society for Marketing of Professional Services (SMPS) meeting in February, Emily Andrews, executive director, U.S. Green Building Council - St. Louis Regional Chapter, moderated a &ldquo;sustainability panel&rdquo;comprised of Mathew Malten, MEM, LEED AP, assistant vice chancellor for sustainability, Washington University in St. Louis; Grant Lanham, LEED AP/operations specialist, Vertegy Consultants; and&nbsp; Christopher Hulse, LEED AP, vice president, Green Street Properties.<br /><br />Malten told how the university&rsquo;s desire to&nbsp; &ldquo;do the right thing,&rdquo; coupled with the construction expertise of its own facilities management team and outside construction experts was creating a steady stream of projects at Wash U. with incredibly quick ROI. <br /><br />Lanham stressed the need to &ldquo;be more sophisticated. We need to be really careful in how we market what it is to be sustainable. Don&rsquo;t just push the idea of &lsquo;green&rsquo;.&rdquo; <br /><br />Hulse said that Green Street, a developer focusing on sustainable projects, is experiencing strong interest even in these times because owners are recognizing the difference that an environmentally healthy building can make in worker productivity. <br /><br />This March/April of CNR addresses some of the ways in which various segments of our industry are making a difference in current economic times.&nbsp; One article takes a measured look at green/sustainable construction and what it means in the future. In another, we examine at the ways in which the area&rsquo;s equipment dealers are sharing the pain of their cash-strapped contractor customers.&nbsp; Electrical contractors are applying more and more of their engineering expertise to help customers save energy and expedite installations, as yet another feature explains. <br /><br />The construction industry doesn&rsquo;t dictate the state of the economy or the mood of public sentiment&hellip; and we certainly don&rsquo;t control the whims of government. Our job, whatever the situation, is to roll up our sleeves, put on our thinking caps (hard hats) and &ldquo;make it work&rdquo;.</p>','','294','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','Part of the annual Christmas ritual for my family is a game of “Rob Your Neighborâ€. The object of the game is to stick someone else with a particularly unattractive item that has been darkening a corner of  your closet. My six siblings, our many kids, and grandkids all get into the spirit. I once unloaded a plaster copy of Michelangelo’s nude statue “Davidâ€ – only to have it reappear for the next five years dressed in increasingly bizarre outfits.\n\nThis year was different for me: I actually WANTED the item I wound up getting. ','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(410,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','NAHB Says Housing Hits All-Time Low','none','housing, all-time low','none','<p>In the latest clear evidence of worsening distress in the housing market, the U.S. Commerce Department today reported that sales of newly built single-family homes slid 14.7 percent to the lowest monthly pace on record in December of 2008. This double-digit decline, on top of substantial downward revisions to home sales data for the previous three months, brought the seasonally adjusted annual rate of new home sales to just 331,000 units for December, representing a 76 percent decline from the market peak in 2005.<br /><br />\"What more proof do you need that the housing downturn is accelerating -- bringing the economy with it -- and that the government must take<br />substantive action to get qualified buyers back in the market?\" said Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. and newly elected 2009 Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).<br /><br />\"We need a significant stimulus on the demand side, because otherwise, home sales will only continue downward, dragging down home values, consumer confidence and consumer spending, which in turn creates further downward pressure on sales,\" Robson continued. \"Because this vicious, self-perpetuating cycle can only be curtailed by offering a real incentive to those on the sidelines, NAHB is urging Congress to substantially enhance and extend the $7,500 first-time home buyer tax credit as part of the economic stimulus package that it plans to send to the President\'s desk within the next two weeks. Doing so would go a long way toward putting a floor under declining home values that are at the core of the current economic crisis.\"<br /><br />\"Clearly the housing downswing is worsening, and even historically low mortgage rates have not provided sufficient support to the marketplace,\"<br />noted NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.&nbsp; \"Even the recent uptick in existing home sales is no source of comfort, since this movement is driven by distressed and foreclosed homes that continue to flood the market at fire sale prices, resulting in further deterioration in home values.<br /><br />\"The only positive note in today\'s report is that, due to prudent home builder action to restrain production, the number of new homes for sale<br />continues to decline,\" said Crowe. \"But even as this happens, the months\' supply of homes on the market continues to rise, due to further slowing of sales activity. Basically every number in this report further bolsters theargument that substantive government action must be taken to stimulate housing demand, restore home values and revive the U.S. economy and job market.\"<br /><br />The inventory of new homes for sale declined for the 20th consecutive month in December to 357,000, while the months\' supply at the current sales pace increased for a third consecutive month to 12.9.<br /><br />New-home sales were down across every region in December, with a 28.2 percent decline registered in the Northeast, a 5.6 percent decline in the Midwest, a 12.1 percent decline in the South and a 20.2 percent decline in<br />the West.<br /><br />For the year as a whole, sales were down 38 percent across the United States in 2008, falling 50 percent in the Northeast, 31 percent in the Midwest, 46 percent in the South and 47.4 percent in the West.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','In the latest clear evidence of worsening distress in the housing market, the U.S. Commerce Department today reported that sales of newly built single-family homes slid 14.7 percent to the lowest monthly pace on record in December of 2008. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(411,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','Tax Tips for Contractors','none','Grant Thornton, contractors, tax tips','none','<p><em>by Jeff Kane<br />Tax Partner, St. Louis Office<br />Grant Thornton</em></p>\n<p>The accounting firm of Grant Thornton has developed 10 tax tips for contractors.&nbsp; Now more than ever, contractors face complex tax issues that can strain resources and drain what may be already-shrinking profits. Especially during a recessionary period, contractors need to do what they can to minimize spending by effectively managing their tax burden and protecting themselves against tax increases and assessments. With 2009 ushering in new tax changes and the economic situation worsening, construction contractors should keep in mind the following tax tips:<br />&nbsp;<br />Nail down &ldquo;bonus&rdquo; depreciation deductions. All contractors should be aware by now that bonus depreciation deductions were revived for investments made in calendar year 2008. As an incentive for investment in equipment, taxpayers are allowed to deduct half of the cost of 2008 qualifying property in the first year of use, and then depreciate the remaining half of the asset over its normal useful life. For five year equipment, this results in a deduction of 60 percent of the asset&rsquo;s cost. If you invested in this property in 2008, make sure to take this bonus depreciation. And keep your eye on Congress in 2009. Legislators are already talking about extending this provision for calendar year 2009. <br /><br />Maximize capital asset expensing deductions. Rules originally intended for small businesses were significantly expanded in 2008 to allow contractors to expense up to $250,000 of fixed asset cost, provided less than $800,000 of assets are placed in service throughout the year. Unlike bonus depreciation, this applies to new or used assets. Look for this provision again in 2009. Congress is expected to extend it. <br /><br />Consider future capital gains and dividend tax rate increases. Under current law, capital gains and qualified dividends are taxed at a favorable 15 percent federal income tax rate. This preferential treatment is scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, however, the presidential election may significantly change the taxation landscape. Taxpayers with significant capital gains transactions will want to work with tax advisers to determine if the tax positions of the new president and Congress merit acceleration of these items into 2009. <br /><br />Revisit the tax rebate. Most taxpayers who qualified for an Economic Stimulus rebate have already received a check, however there are situations where taxpayers may claim an additional credit, even though they have already received a check. The tax stimulus rebate actually is an advance rebate on 2008 tax liabilities, so if income or dependency changes from 2007 to 2008, taxpayers may be able to claim additional credits when they file their 2008 income tax returns this filing season. <br /><br />Look out for the expanded &ldquo;Kiddie tax.&rdquo; Most contractors are family-owned businesses and many have used a variety of tax planning techniques to shift income from one family member to another. The kiddie tax has been expanded to require excess unearned income of full-time students under age 24 to be taxed at their parents&rsquo; marginal rate, unless the student&rsquo;s earned income equals one-half of his or her support. Thoroughly review estate planning and gifting strategies to avoid higher income taxes on dependent children over age 18. <br /><br />&ldquo;To learn how these tax tips may apply to your contracting business, please contact your tax advisor,&rdquo; said Todd Taggart, Tax partner and practice leader of Grant Thornton&rsquo;s Construction practice. <br />&nbsp;<br />Grant Thornton&rsquo;s Construction Real Estate and Hospitality Industry Group has developed 10 tax tips for contractors. To read all of the tax tips, go to <a href=\"http://www.GrantThornton.com/CRHtaxtips\">www.GrantThornton.com/CRHtaxtips</a>&nbsp; or email <a href=\"mailto:CRH@gt.com\">CRH@gt.com</a>.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','The accounting firm of Grant Thornton has developed 10 tax tips for contractors.  Now more than ever, contractors face complex tax issues that can strain resources and drain what may be already-shrinking profits. Especially during a recessionary period, contractors need to do what they can to minimize spending by effectively managing their tax burden and protecting themselves against tax increases and assessments.','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(412,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Kaiser Wires Godfrey, IL Assisted Living','none','Kaiser, Godfrey, assisted living','none','<p>Kaiser Electric was recently awarded a contract to wire a new $15 million assisted living facility under construction in Godfrey, IL.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Provision Living at 1373 Dadrian Professional Park will be a two-story, 57,140-square-foot facility with 79 units, two centralized courtyards and common areas for dining and entertainment. The units will range in size from a 325-square-foot studio unit; a 415-square-foot, single bedroom unit; and a 730-square-foot, two bedroom unit.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Kaiser Electric is providing turn-key electrical installation in the facility, which includes power and lighting throughout, an emergency generator, fire alarm system, security-card access system, CCTV and CATV systems, voice/data installation, nurse call system and wireless Internet system installation for all tenants.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Construction on Provision Living is expected to be completed in November, 2009. The architect on the project is Thomas A. Tyler of St. Louis, MO and the developer and general contractor is Range COMM, LLC of St. Louis.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Kaiser Electric was recently awarded a contract to wire a new $15 million assisted living facility under construction in Godfrey, IL.  ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(413,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Labor Relations Here Focuses on Economy','none','labor conference, LERA, program','none','<p>The Gateway Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) will host a half-day program on Feb. 24, \"Economic Shockwaves: Impact on Employers and Unions.\"&nbsp; Presenters will address how the fundamental changes in the structure and performance of our economy is affecting labor-management relations and the impact of the bailouts, stock market collapse and housing foreclosures upon labor negotiations.<br /><br />Dr. John Navin, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, will present an economic overview describing events that led to our current situation and what he believes is needed for recovery.&nbsp; Nationally recognized speakers will compose the panel addressing the economics of bargaining and critical issues and trends: <strong><br /></strong></p>\n<p><strong>Tom Schneider, CEO/ founder, Restructuring Associates, Inc. in Washington, DC.</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; Dr. Schneider was the design and implementation consultant for the first unionized high performance work system in North America, the first joint union-management strategic visioning process, and the largest labor-management partnership in history.<br />&nbsp;<strong><br />Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, University of Illinois, School of Labor and Employment Relations and president-elect of LERA. </strong>He is the author of five books and over eighty articles, book chapters and policy monographs that address new work systems, labor-management relations, negotiations, conflict resolution, organizational learning and change, and public policy. <br />&nbsp;<br /><strong>Steve Sleigh, principal, Yucaipa Companies and former director, Strategic Resources, Machinists Union.</strong> Dr. Sleigh is a past president of the Industrial Relations Research Association. Previously, he was the Research Director for the Teamsters Union and Deputy Director of the Center for Labor-Management Policy Studies at the City University of New York. He is the author of two books and numerous articles and policy reports.<br /><br />The conference, which is open to the public, will be held at Genesis Banquet Center, 2651 Telegraph Rd. in South County.&nbsp; Admission is free for co-sponsor members and $50 for nonmembers.&nbsp; The registration deadline for the conference is Feb. 18th.&nbsp; Registration for the conference is available by phone, fax, email or mail.&nbsp; The conference brochure and registration form may be downloaded from the LERA website:&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href=\"http://www.lera-gateway.org\">www.lera-gateway.org</a>.&nbsp; For registration information, call 618.259.7011 or email <a href=\"mailto:athomason@district9.org\">athomason@district9.org</a>.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Gateway Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) will host a half-day program on February 24, 2009, \"Economic Shockwaves: Impact on Employers and Unions.\"  Presenters will address how the fundamental changes in the structure and performance of our economy is affecting labor-management relations and the impact of the bailouts, stock market collapse and housing foreclosures upon labor negotiations.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(414,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Wildwood Moves Into New City Hall','none','Wildwood, Koman, Wildwood Town Center','none','<p>Koman Properties and the City of Wildwood today announced that the new Wildwood City Hall is set to open in the heart of the Wildwood Town Center development on Feb. 2. City officials are using the coming weeks to move their operations at 16962 Manchester Road to their new home at 183 Plaza Drive within the thriving Wildwood Town Center, which has been developed over the past several years by Koman Properties, a Clayton-based real estate development firm.<br /><br />The City of Wildwood will operate all city functions within 13,000 square feet, comprised of the entire second floor and part of the first floor of the fully-leased, two-story, mixed-use building positioned along Hwy 100 within the center of the development. The new space features an expansive council chamber with available seating for up to 250, as well as much needed office space, and more functional service counters for many departments operating in the City Hall.&nbsp;&nbsp; Koman Properties, Inc. was hired to complete the build-out on behalf of the City.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>The full occupancy of the building housing the new City Hall, as well as the addition of a new fountain, completes the eastern portion of the&nbsp; $50 million development. <br /><br />The first Phase was completed in the fall of 2005 and includes a Walgreens, Starbucks Coffee, Amante Jewelers, Hair Saloon for Men, U.S. Cellular, and Cold Stone Creamery. Later Phases consisted of two new, two-story mixed-use structures. The first was a 40,000 square-foot premier, mixed-use office/retail building that was completed in late 2006, which is home to Pure by Jen, a very popular boutique, as well as several second-floor office users. In addition, the building features a corner restaurant space overlooking the building&rsquo;s terraced, landscaped plaza flanked by a tiered fountain. It will open this spring as Table Three. The outer end cap is occupied by Indigo Joe&rsquo;s Sports Pub &amp; Restaurant. A 112-room, 80,000-square foot, Clarion Collection hotel/conference center rounds out the development.&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Koman Properties and the City of Wildwood today announced that the new Wildwood City Hall is set to open in the heart of the Wildwood Town Center development on Feb. 2. City officials are using the coming weeks to move their operations at 16962 Manchester Road to their new home at 183 Plaza Drive within the thriving Wildwood Town Center, which has been developed over the past several years by Koman Properties, a Clayton-based real estate development firm.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(415,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Kwame Provides Technical Assistance for Johnson\'s Shut-Ins','none','Kwame, Johnson\'s Shut-Ins','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.kwamebuildinggroup.com\">Kwame Building Group, Inc.</a>&nbsp; (KWAME) has been selected to provide construction management services for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources on the redevelopment of Johnson\'s Shut-Ins State Park in Reynolds County. <br />&nbsp;<br />The park was damaged by the breach of the Taum Sauk Reservoir in December 2005. Following cleanup and the planning and design process, redevelopment began in 2008. The designer and builder is MACTEC, an engineering, environmental and remedial construction firm from Atlanta, GA. <br />&nbsp;<br />KWAME has been selected to provide technical assistance to the department by monitoring the reconstruction progress and providing reviews of the architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and civil engineering drawings and specifications for construction compliance. <br />&nbsp;<br /><br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Kwame Building Group, Inc.  (KWAME) has been selected to provide construction management services for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources on the redevelopment of Johnson\'s Shut-Ins State Park in Reynolds County.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(673,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Coldwell Banker Announces Transactions','none','Coldwell, transactions','none','<p>\n<meta name=\"Title\" />\n<meta name=\"Keywords\" />\n<meta content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta content=\"Word.Document\" name=\"ProgId\" />\n<meta content=\"Microsoft Word 10\" name=\"Generator\" />\n<meta content=\"Microsoft Word 10\" name=\"Originator\" />\n<link href=\"file:///Users/tom/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Clipboard/msoclip1/01/clip_clip_filelist.xml\" rel=\"File-List\" />\n<meta name=\"Title\" />\n<meta name=\"Keywords\" />\n<meta content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta content=\"Word.Document\" name=\"ProgId\" />\n<meta content=\"Microsoft Word 10\" name=\"Generator\" />\n<meta content=\"Microsoft Word 10\" name=\"Originator\" />\n<link href=\"file:///Users/tom/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Clipboard/msoclip1/01/clip_clip_filelist.xml\" rel=\"File-List\" />\nColdwell Banker Commercial CRA LLC has announced the following transactions:</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Bill Barnes of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented Michael L. Reynoso LLC in the purchase of a 20,000 square foot industrial building on 2 acres of land located at 4224 Rider Trail North, Earth City, MO 63045 from Johnson Diversey, Inc., represented by Sansone Group.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Carl Conceller, SIOR of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented Four Points Properties, LLC in the purchase of a 6,715 square foot industrial building located at 30 Gerber Industrial Drive, St. Peters, MO 63376 from Ten Sui Properties, LP, represented by Shockley Commercial Industrial.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Vicki Dolan of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented Lutheran Church Extension Fund - MO Synod in the lease of 1,860 square feet of office space at Sunset Hills Office Building located at 10733 Sunset Office Drive, Sunset Hills, MO 63127 to Federal Milk Market Administrator, represented by K2 Commercial Group.</p>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Template>Normal</o:Template> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> 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Building&nbsp; Standard, known as ICC-700, was approved Jan. 29 as an&nbsp; American National Standard. The new Standard provides guidance for safe and sustainable&nbsp; building practices for residential construction, including both new and&nbsp; renovated single-family to high-rise residential buildings. This is&nbsp; the first and only green standard that is consistent and coordinated with the&nbsp; Code Council&rsquo;s family of I-Codes and standards.</p>\n<p>Code Council Board President Adolf Zubia said, &ldquo;this is an enormous step forward&nbsp; in bringing focus to green practices for the built environment. ICC-700&nbsp; provides a benchmark for green building in the residential market, serving as a&nbsp; new and needed starting point for comprehensive approaches to green residential&nbsp; construction. This is the result of many months of hard work by our members and&nbsp; our partners around the country.&rdquo; <br />&nbsp;Code Council CEO Richard P.&nbsp; Weiland said, &ldquo;the development of high performance &lsquo;greener&rsquo; housing can have a&nbsp; tangible and positive impact on our environment and communities. This new tool&nbsp; for state and local governments fills an important gap to provide a measurable&nbsp; framework for efforts to produce green and sustainable housing. In concert with&nbsp; energy codes such as the International&nbsp; Energy Conservation Code, and rating systems such as the LEED Green&nbsp; Building Rating System, Energy Star, the CHPS Criteria, Green Globes or similar&nbsp; programs, application of ICC-700 can contribute to greater energy, water and&nbsp; resource efficiency along with reduced long-term costs to consumers and to our&nbsp; planet.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>The International Code Council&nbsp; and National Association of Home Builders developed the Standard with broad input from several&nbsp; thousand stakeholders, ranging from code officials and other building&nbsp; professionals to the entire spectrum of the green building community. This&nbsp; new standard provides a practical route to green, sustainable and high-performance&nbsp; construction, especially in communities with little if any green/sustainable&nbsp; buildings or guidelines to build green. The standard also promotes homeowner&nbsp; education for the maintenance and operation of green residential buildings in&nbsp; order to ensure long-term benefits.<br />&nbsp;The standard&rsquo;s rating system&nbsp; allows builders, designers and communities to choose the levels of high-performance&nbsp; green buildings that best suit their needs. Key provisions include:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Land conservation</li>\n<li>Rainwater collection</li>\n<li>Construction of smaller homes to&nbsp; conserve resources</li>\n</ul>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Energy performance starting at&nbsp; 15% above the baseline requirements of the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code<br />The use of low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) materials and detached garages or&nbsp; carports to improve indoor environmental quality<br />Homeowner education on proper maintenance&nbsp; and operation to maintain its green status throughout its life cycle <br />ICC-700 is available along with related ICC&nbsp; publications through the <a href=\"http://www.iccsafe.org/700 \">Code Council website</a> .</p>\n<p>Training on ICC-700 already is available, including&nbsp; a special session March 23-26 at Codes Forum in New Orleans. Additional training is also&nbsp; available on related topics such as current green building practices and their&nbsp; relationship to the International Codes, overview of the LEED green building&nbsp; rating systems, and developing green building ordinances to help governmental&nbsp; departments and agencies tasked with establishing sustainable building&nbsp; programs. <br />&nbsp;</p>\n<p>The Code Council is finalizing its Green Building&nbsp; Technologies Certification program for building officials, inspectors,&nbsp; planners, zoning personnel, mayors, city council members, developers and other&nbsp; interested parties. The exams will be available in March. These certifications&nbsp; will demonstrate the ability to understand the application of green building&nbsp; technology and assess adherence with green building programs. <br />&nbsp;In addition, the International Code Council Board&nbsp; has approved the creation of a Sustainable Building Technology Committee to&nbsp; support the Council&rsquo;s many ongoing efforts in green, sustainable and safe&nbsp; construction.</p>\n<p>&nbsp;A Code Council subsidiary,&nbsp; ICC-Evaluation Service, has developed the Sustainable Attributes Verification and Evaluation&nbsp; (SAVE) program to provide independent confirmation that&nbsp; evaluated building products are sustainable and may qualify for points under&nbsp; ICC-700 as well as major green rating systems such as LEED or Green Globes. A SAVE evaluation involves both&nbsp; inspection of the manufacturer&rsquo;s production process and reviews of independent&nbsp; product testing, where required. Manufacturers that successfully complete the&nbsp; evaluation process receive a Verification of Attributes Report in one or more of nine key categories. Design professionals will be able to use the&nbsp; reports as evidence that products or systems they select qualify for points&nbsp; under those programs.</p>\n<p>Another Code&nbsp; Council subsidiary, the International Accreditation Service (IAS), offers&nbsp; accreditation to testing laboratories, inspection agencies and product certifiers&nbsp; in several fields related to energy and sustainability to support manufacturers&nbsp; and regulators involved in green building development and approval. IAS also&nbsp; accredits curriculum developers and training agencies focused on green&nbsp; initiatives.</p>\n<p>The International Code Council, a membership&nbsp; association dedicated to building safety and fire prevention, develops the&nbsp; codes used to construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes&nbsp; and schools. Most U.S.&nbsp; cities, counties and states choose the International Codes, building safety&nbsp; codes developed by the International Code Council.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The National Green Building  Standard, known as ICC-700, was approved Jan. 29 as an  American National Standard. The new Standard provides guidance for safe and sustainable  building practices for residential construction, including both new and  renovated single-family to high-rise residential buildings. This is  the first and only green standard that is consistent and coordinated with the  Code Council’s family of I-Codes and standards.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(416,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Two Heitkamp Masonry Projects Win National Recognition','none','Heitkamp, awards, Ameristar, The Meadows','none','<p>St. Louis-based Heitkamp Masonry Inc., which is known for its brickwork on many prominent area structures including the new Busch Stadium, has been recognized with two major awards in a national competition sponsored by industry trade publication <em>Masonry Construction Magazine</em>.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Masonry on The Meadows at Lake Saint Louis (Mo.), a $33 million open-air lifestyle center and shopping destination, was named a&nbsp; 2008 &ldquo;Project of the Year,&rdquo; while the firm&rsquo;s work on the Ameristar Hotel and Parking Garage-St. Charles (Mo.) garnered a 2008 &ldquo;High Rise&rdquo; award. Topping out at more than 300 feet, the 25-story luxury hotel, spa and pool complex for Ameristar Casinos Inc. is the tallest structure in St. Charles County.</p>\n<p>&nbsp;Heitkamp&rsquo;s work at The Meadows included the painstaking application of distinctive masonry finishes to a variety of the development&rsquo;s features, including streetscapes, outdoor gathering areas and upscale retail stores.&nbsp; The finishes required the installation of 280 tons of rubble stone; 580,000 modular face brick; 30,000 cubic feet of cut Indiana limestone; cast stone for medallions and address blocks; and architectural precast concrete for planter urns. In addition, 175,000 concrete masonry units were used.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>In an aesthetic nod to its surroundings&mdash;the brick structures and cobblestone streets of historic St. Charles Main Street&mdash;the Ameristar Hotel-St. Charles incorporates hundreds of thousands of bricks, blocks and stones, all carefully set by hand. According to Geoff Hart, project director, Heitkamp Masonry Inc., workers handset more than 550,000 utility-size red brick; 65,000 square feet of glass fiber-reinforced concrete; 15,000 square feet of architectural pre-cast concrete accents; and 150,000 concrete blocks on the hotel.</p>\n<p>Peckham, Guyton, Albers &amp; Viets Inc. was the project architect. Walton Construction Co. was the general contractor.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','St. Louis-based Heitkamp Masonry Inc., which is known for its brickwork on many prominent area structures including the new Busch Stadium, has been recognized with two major awards in a national competition sponsored by industry trade publication Masonry Construction Magazine.  ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(453,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','St. Charles County Community Goes \"Green\"','none','Cottleville, muncipal center, green, Paric','none','<p>When the citizens of Cottleville, MO, decided it was time for their municipality to have its own city hall, they also decided that the times demanded that they build an environmentally friendly city hall. When construction was completed on the town&rsquo;s $5.3 million city hall and police station in December, city government could boast that their new home used 30 percent less energy than a similar traditional building and reduced water pollution by capturing and treating water on site.<br /><br /><img alt=\"Cottleville Muncipal Center\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"168\" src=\"/images/uploads/cottleville.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"244\" />Paric Corporation managed construction of the two-story, 15,888-square-foot facility, which sits on a 40-acre site at Highway N and Fifth Street north of the Cottleville Town Centre. The project was funded by a one-half cent sales tax approved by the town&rsquo;s voters in April 2006.<br /><br />&ldquo;The community, to their credit, wanted a LEED project,&rdquo; said Bob Leonard, Paric&rsquo;s senior project manager. LEED, which is short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a building rating system designed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The level of certification &ndash; certified, silver, gold, or platinum &ndash; reflects how many environmental and sustainability standards were met during the construction of the project. Certified buildings meet the minimum number of standards to be considered &ldquo;green&rdquo;. Platinum buildings meet the highest number of standards. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going for silver certification,&rdquo; Leonard said. St. Charles County currently has no green-certified buildings, although five facilities, including Cottleville&rsquo;s City Hall, have registered with the U.S. Green Building Council and have begun the process of moving towards certification.<br /><br />Leonard said that the easiest thing to do &ldquo;green&rdquo; is energy efficiency. &ldquo;Everybody wants energy efficiency. It is easy to do and it pays you back so you would be idiotic not to do it,&rdquo; he said. Treating water on site was not that hard either. Designers used both bioswales and a clay-lined detention system, as required by most sewer districts, to handle storm water. &ldquo;We built bioswales into the landscaping, which connects to a 37-acre park,&rdquo; Leonard said. <br /><strong><br />Energy Efficiency &ndash;Easy; Paperwork &ndash; Hard</strong><br /><br />The hard things are making sure building materials and recycling meet LEED standards. &ldquo;You have to be very careful when ordering materials that you are getting materials that satisfy LEED, and that involves a lot of paperwork,&rdquo; Leonard said. &ldquo;One of the things we were fearful of, for example, is caulking. Some caulking does not meet LEED air quality standards. The last thing you want is a contractor who installs a product that when you submit it to the Green Building Council gets rejected because it doesn&rsquo;t meet LEED,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The paperwork falls on the contractors and as CM we assisted them, but we had to make it clear that until a product was approved by our LEED consultant, it was not acceptable to use it,&rdquo; he added. Daniel Hellmuth of Hellmuth &amp; Bicknese Architects was the LEED consultant.<br /><br />Leonard recalled having a problem with doors. &ldquo;The manufacturer stated they would meet LEED requirements, but when it came time to submit them there were problems with them and we had to replace that choice of door,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Paric specified LEED requirements in the bid documents and even brought in someone to explain to contractors before the bid deadline how many hours they should anticipate needing to fulfill all the LEED requirements, so that they could include that in their bids.<br /><br />Paric made the general trades contractor responsible for recycling construction waste. &ldquo;We made the general contractor responsible for having dumpsters and made the other contractors responsible for disposing of waste in the proper containers. We had a container for concrete, another for drywall, and another for wood products,&rdquo; said Leonard. &ldquo;And then the general contractor has to police the bins and pick out any noncomplying material. One worry on a project like this is that the public will put stuff in your dumpsters,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />The city contracted with C. Rallo Contracting Co. for general construction and broke ground for the building in September 2007. &ldquo;This was my first LEED project and for a lot of the contractors, including Rallo, there was a learning curve, too,&rdquo; Leonard said. Concurrently with this project, Rallo was involved in another LEED project, Cannon Design&rsquo;s Powerhouse project in downtown St. Louis.<br /><br />Cottleville City Hall also was the first green project for Kurt Kostecki, principal of St. Peters-based Kostecki Architects. The city&rsquo;s decision to go green required him to make changes in his initial design. &ldquo;The first thing we had to do was entirely reorient the building,&rdquo; he said. He had originally designed the building to face Highway N, but, with the length of the building facing the street that meant the long side of the building faced east. &ldquo;When a building faces east or west, it experiences significant solar heat gain through windows in the morning and evening,&rdquo; Kostecki said.<br /><br />&ldquo;I wound up looking at the site and realized that we had the building close to being perpendicular to Fifth Street in Old Town Cottleville, so we turned it to face Fifth Street,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Facing south, we can keep the windows covered more when the sun is up high and we don&rsquo;t get as much heat gain,&rdquo; he said. <br /><br />The building&rsquo;s design also grew more windows to let in more natural light and energy efficient glass to reduce heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter, said Leonard. Kostecki also added more insulation to the walls and attic spaces. &ldquo;It all goes together with the electrical and mechanical systems to save energy,&rdquo; Leonard said.<br /><br />&lsquo;We also added windows in different places in the interior to get natural light into the interior space. We call them &ldquo;borrow lights,&rdquo; because they are borrowing light from other spaces. That was a major change,&rsquo; Kostecki said.<br /><br />Contractors finished work on the building in December. Work on the adjacent park, also funded by the one-half cent sales tax, is expected to be finished in April. The park will include biking and hiking trails, and outdoor amphitheater, athletic fields, and a playground.<br /><br /><strong>Simple Things Make a Difference</strong><br /><br />The Chicago-based Heartland Institute, which bills itself as &ldquo;a free market think tank,&rdquo; specifically targeted Cottleville for criticism for raising a sales tax to build a &ldquo;green&rdquo; city hall and decried &ldquo;costly environmental gestures&rdquo; on the building that, the institute claimed,&nbsp; &ldquo;include solar collectors, wind turbines, and rainwater collectors.&rdquo;<br /><br />In reality, the building has none of those. Indeed, anyone looking for exotic or cutting edge environmental features would like come away disappointed. &ldquo;The city wanted a classical look, like an old time city hall,&rdquo; Kostecki said. In addition to a sloped roof and shingle, &ldquo;We tried to incorporate brickwork and lintels and soffits to bring that about. We&rsquo;re happy with the way it turned out,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />So what makes Cottleville&rsquo;s city hall green? Many simple things do, but nothing very exotic. In addition to orienting the building to make better use of the sun; windows; energy efficient glass; insulation; an efficient heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system; recycling construction waste and using products that don&rsquo;t emit volatile organic compounds; &ldquo;in general, all the materials are as local as we can get them to avoid transporting materials a great distance,&rdquo; Kostecki said.<br /><br />Doing all those simple things does take work and money. Kostecki said he found with the Cottleville City Hall that, &ldquo;in the beginning, LEED is more expensive, but in the long run it is cheaper because it makes the building more efficient. In the meantime, it is better for the environment and the whole building can be torn down and recycled in the future when it is not needed anymore.<br /><br />&ldquo;The sooner people and architects realize that green is the new thing, the better off we all will be,&rdquo; he added.</p>','none','When the citizens of Cottleville, MO, decided it was time for their municipality to have its own city hall, they also decided that the times demanded that they build an environmentally friendly city hall. When construction was completed on the town’s $5.3 million city hall and police station in December, city government could boast that their new home used 30 percent less energy than a similar traditional building and reduced water pollution by capturing and treating water on site.','none','','none','','none','','none',291,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(425,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Gray Design Awarded Phase II Monsanto Project','none','Gray Design, Monsanto, Phase II','none','<p>Gray Design Group has been awarded architectural and interior design services for the second phase of Monsanto Co.&rsquo;s new corporate offices at Lakeside Crossing in Maryland Heights. Phase two is a 122,000-square-foot, four-story building complete with an 11,000-square-foot full-service cafeteria overlooking the lake and a glass walkway connecting it to Building 1, which Gray completed seven months ago. Together, the combined projects will encompass 255,000 square feet.<br />&nbsp;<br />Working on Gray&rsquo;s team will be Toby Heddinghaus, LEED AP principal; Kent Wagster, project manager; and Jessica Frey, associate project manager. Duke Construction is the developer and general contractor. <br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Gray Design Group has been awarded architectural and interior design services for the second phase of Monsanto Co.’s new corporate offices at Lakeside Crossing in Maryland Heights.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(426,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Tschannen Joins Wiegmann Associates','none','Tschannen, Wiegmann','none','<p>Herb Tschannen has joined Wiegmann Associates as vice president, focusing on increasing the visibility and growth of Wiegmann&rsquo;s business segments.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Services offered by the firm include mechanical contracting, engineering, design/build, service, maintenance, energy management and controls. Tschannen joins Wiegmann with extensive experience in managing and growing engineering, construction and facility management capabilities in large national corporate organizations.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>He most recently transitioned from Macy&rsquo;s after completing his involvement in the merger of the engineering functions from the May Department Stores Company.&nbsp;&nbsp; He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla and an MBA from Lindenwood University.&nbsp; <br /></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Herb Tschannen has joined Wiegmann Associates as vice president, focusing on increasing the visibility and growth of Wiegmann’s business segments. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(427,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Clayco Completes St. Luke\'s Rehab Hospital','none','Clayco, St. Luke\'s, rehab','none','<p>Clayco Inc. recently completed construction on the St. Luke\'s Rehabilitation Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. The new $7.4 million facility was a joint venture project with RehabCare Group Inc. and St. Luke&rsquo;s Hospital in Chesterfield.<br /><br />Completed in one year, the 29,600-square-foot facility provides medical and therapy services for patients requiring inpatient physical rehabilitation, and allows St. Louis and surrounding communities access to superior medical and rehabilitative care. As part of the joint venture agreement, RehabCare and St. Luke&rsquo;s will collaborate to provide management and staffing services including defined ancillary needs, laboratory and diagnostic services and support services.<br />&nbsp;<br />Located in west St. Louis County, the new 33-bed building features 25 private and five semi-private suites, an occupational and physical therapy gym, exam rooms, office space, dining room, support area and a formal entry and lobby area. Clayco used a less traditional wood-framing method as a cost and time savings to the client. With the wood frame method, Clayco&rsquo;s project team constructed the frame walls at an off-site location preserving assembly time on the job site.<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;Our team was excited to work on such a unique healthcare facility. The St. Luke&rsquo;s Rehabilitation Hospital is a great asset to residents in the surrounding St. Louis County region,&rdquo; said Steve Street, Project Executive at Clayco and on the rehab hospital project. &ldquo;This facility enhances the quality of in-patient rehabilitation care by uniting two of the region&rsquo;s best health care providers.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;<br />Clayco&rsquo;s project team included Kirk Warden, project executive, Steve Street, project director; and Rob Bruce, project superintendent.&nbsp; Joining Clayco on the project were Mackey Mitchell, as architect; Stock &amp; Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc., as civil engineer; and KPFF, as structural engineer.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Clayco Inc. recently completed construction on the St. Luke\'s Rehabilitation Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. The new $7.4 million facility was a joint venture project with RehabCare Group Inc. and St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(429,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','In Down Economy Pace, Lawrence Step Up','none','Gilda\'s Club, Pace, Lawrence Group','none','<p>Even as financial markets continue their choke hold on area construction, St. Louis construction industry companies are stepping up to help those in need.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Pace Construction Check\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"200\" src=\"/images/uploads/Pace-Construction.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" /></p>\n<p>Pace Construction held a golf tournament for their clients and raised over $12,800 in honor of friends who have experienced cancer.&nbsp; The company matched all contributions dollar for dollar, and Pace Construction Customer Relations Coordinator Jessica Swick presented a check to Yvette Hartsfield, CEO of Gilda\'s Club.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Named after the late Gilda Radner, St. Louis Gilda\'s Club is a f<strong></strong>ree support community for men, women and children whose lives have been touched by cancer, and their families and friends.</p>\n<p>Lawrence Group held an American Red Cross blood drive in its headquarters in the Security Building downtown on Feb. 4,&nbsp; and invited all its neighbors in the Fourth Street/Broadway neighborhood to participate. Donna J. Gamache, director of communications said that Lawrence Group employees and those of neighboring businesses had responded warmly despite the frigid weather.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>If your company, or one you know of is going above and beyond in tough times, send an email to <a href=\"mailto:tom@stlouiscnr.com\">CNR Publisher Tom Finan</a>.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Even as financial markets continue their choke hold on area construction, St. Louis construction industry companies are stepping up to help those in need.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(430,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','HQ IQ: Smart Owner Makes a Difference','none','Safety National, owners, ','none','<p><strong>Owners Matter</strong></p>\n<p>Delve into the design and construction of Safety National Casualty Corp.&rsquo;s new corporate headquarters and a simple, important lesson emerges: the owner makes a difference.</p>\n<p>The most striking features of the new 138,000-square-foot Class A office building in Maryland Heights, MO, are the rich finishes. The exterior, which features glass, granite, and precast concrete, is not as impressive as the interior. Visitors enter through a two-story atrium lobby with granite flooring, cherry wood paneling and specialty lighting. Perimeter offices on every floor sport 7-foot cherry finished doors in hollow metal painted frames with frosted glass sidelights and clerestory glass above to let natural light shine into the central work areas. Elevator bays are similarly impressive, with granite flooring and accents, while conference rooms include smart boards and the latest audio-visual technology.</p>\n<p>The five-story building includes a lower level with a data center, training rooms, and a multipurpose that can be divided into three areas, including a large dining area with multiple dishwashers and microwave ovens, all backed up with an emergency electrical generator.<br />&ldquo;In today&rsquo;s market, you don&rsquo;t see a lot of people building a Class A building like this,&rdquo; said Keith Cohen, director of preconstruction for Duke Construction, the general contractor. &ldquo;It has very nice finishes, including wood panels and granite, which we typically don&rsquo;t see today.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>Yet, they didn&rsquo;t an excessive amount of money to do it. Built at a cost of $19 million, &ldquo;they got great value,&rdquo; said Bruce Brophy, principal at CRA Development LLC, a company of Coldwell Banker Commercial CRA LLC, which was the development manager for the project. &ldquo;Safety National created a first-class facility without going over the top. This corporate headquarters features quality design and amenities that will stand the test of time,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p><strong>The Client was Prepared</strong><br /><br />It was the owner&rsquo;s involvement that made the project so extraordinarily successful, Brophy said. &ldquo;Safety National had engaged in enough planning ahead of time to give us time on the design to plan with them and worked through scenarios for the best product,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;Safety National senior management were heavily involved throughout the process,&rdquo; Cohen said. &ldquo;They were great listeners and great participators. We were able to present a lot of ideas to them and get and get quick responses, which allowed us to get great opportunities. A lot of times, what adds to the cost of a building is the time involved in getting decisions made. You present an idea and the owner takes a month to think it over and then you&rsquo;ve lost that opportunity. That didn&rsquo;t happen here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Because we could be creative in the design/build process, we saved them money which they could put into finishes,&rdquo; he added.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our planning process was not unusual, but the beauty in this case is that Safety National understood their growth needs. They really knew what they wanted and where they needed to be,&rdquo; said Rick Clawson, principal at ACI Boland, the architectural firm on the project. &ldquo;When we asked them questions, they had already spent time thinking about them. Having an educated and prepared client is great for an architect,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Clawson explained that there were two distinct planning processes. One was when Safety National bought the 16-acre site from the Special School District. &ldquo;Their goal was to start a future campus. There was a lot of land planning for four buildings: 300,000 square feet of office space and a parking garage,&rdquo; he said. After the city approved new zoning and the land plan, &ldquo;then we went into planning interiors of the new building with Safety National and Coldwell Banker. We spent a lot of time looking at their projected growth and at how departments interact, then we brought in ColorArt to work with us on furniture,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>Roger Oertli, chief operating officer and project manager for Guarantee Electrical Co., said Guarantee got more time up front to design the electrical, voice, and data systems that Safety National wanted, too. &ldquo;We were brought in very early to work on the design, before they had decided what to do on the data room or with the phones. That gave the owners more time to decide what they really wanted,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Safety National 1\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"270\" src=\"/images/uploads/safety-national-1.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"179\" />&ldquo;We worked closely with the design team on their plans. As Safety National&rsquo;s facility manager, we had a good feeling for what they wanted and what worked with their culture, but we brought their people in to make sure that at the end of the day it was functional,&rdquo; said Brophy of Coldwell Banker.</p>\n<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;This building was designed with a view to the future of Safety National,&rdquo; said Duane Hercules, Safety National&rsquo;s chief financial officer and executive vice president of mergers and acquisitions. Two specific concerns were prominent in the design of the building: ensuring the company&rsquo;s ability to operate in an emergency and keeping employees comfortable.</p>\n<p><strong>Emergency Back-up</strong></p>\n<p>The lower level, which houses the file system, the building operations center, the data center, training rooms wired with Cat 6A cabling, and the multipurpose room, is backed up with a generator.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;The data facility is more than most people would put in, and it has a lot of back up, a generator and UPS,&rdquo; Oertli said. &ldquo;The light and safety systems are on the emergency generator, too, which is really unusual,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;That is so they can continue to&nbsp; work if they lose power again for three or more days.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>As part of planning for a power outage, the kitchen and multipurpose room have &ldquo;quite a bit of voice and data wiring,&rdquo; said Colin Quinn, the project manager for GECO Systems, which installed the voice and data systems. That is so the lower level can serve as a fully functioning emergency headquarters if another storm knocks AmerenUE for loop. &ldquo;They can relocate employees downstairs and still function and provide everything for their clients. It is way over and above what the typical office has,&rdquo; Clawson said.</p>\n<p>Safety National opted for Cat 6A low voltage wiring, which is still a rarity in St. Louis, because &ldquo;they are trying to get to the point where all their systems: computers, HVAC, security cameras, and fire protection, can be monitored off site,&rdquo; said Oertli. They have a dozen conference rooms with smart boards and large screen audio/video systems &ndash; &ldquo;most buildings only have one,&rdquo; he said. The phone system uses VOIP (voice over internet protocol), and every sink has a water sensor. &ldquo;They even have sensors in the janitor&rsquo;s closet,&rdquo; Quinn said.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;We got premium systems,&rdquo; Brophy agreed, &ldquo;but it was cost effective. All the systems were designed before the final plan was done. I think that is why we were able to keep the price under control,&rdquo; he said.<br /><strong></strong></p>\n<p><strong>Keeping Employee Comfort in Mind</strong></p>\n<p><img alt=\"Safety National 2\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"195\" src=\"/images/uploads/safety-national-2.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />Safety National&rsquo;s consideration for its employees was expressed in numerous details throughout the design. &ldquo;They were more concerned with keeping people comfortable, with what would keep them happy, with what would attract and keep good employees, than you usually see,&rdquo; Cohen said. &ldquo;For example, revolving doors aren&rsquo;t unusual, but you typically don&rsquo;t see them in a single user building. They have a receptionist, who is going to be sitting in the lobby. They wanted to make sure that she was not going to be hit with constant shots of cold air. They wanted a revolving door so as to maintain comfort for her. That is an example of their thought process. You don&rsquo;t hear about anybody else doing stuff like that in today&rsquo;s market,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>Brophy pointed to other examples. The computer room was built with a lower floor than the rest of the lower level so that when the raised floor was installed it would be level with the rest of the floors on that level. The private offices were designed perpendicular to the perimeter wall. &ldquo;That gained them 36 percent more offices,&rdquo; Brophy said, and the dividers between those offices and the interior of the building are glass &ldquo;so that natural light flows to the interior,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>The chief challenge to the project was the site itself, Cohen said. &ldquo;It is a long linear site that slopes to the back, and they are setting back their first building, and the lower level is half in grade, and that becomes a challenge,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;All the rain we had and the volume of water it created coming down the hill &ndash; that was the main challenge,&rdquo; Brophy said. &ldquo;We had to put a drainage system in front of the site to channel water away to the stormwater system,&rdquo; he said.</p>\n<p>About the stormwater system &ndash; the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District issued new water quality rules in the middle of the project. &ldquo;That was a big deal. We just missed getting grandfathered in,&rdquo; said Clawson. The new rules meant Safety National had to allocate additional ground for stormwater detention and the cost involved went up substantially.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;This was the first project to meet MSD&rsquo;s new clean water standards,&rdquo; Brophy said. But Safety National turned the lemon into lemonade. &ldquo;Stock and Associates came up with creative solutions that involved plantings and putting a walking trail around the detention pond, which made it into an attractive amenity,&rdquo; Clawson said.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;These regulations are going in across the country, not just in St. Louis,&rdquo; Cohen said. &ldquo;When you are not used to them, they seem a challenge. Yeah, there are some costs, but in the end, it worked out the best for everyone. It turned into a real amenity,&rdquo; he said.<br />Safety National Casualty Corp. is a leading provider of excess workers\' compensation coverage to self-insured employers and self-insured groups nationwide, many of them in the construction industry. Safety National is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delphi Financial Group Inc., a $5.5 billion insurance holding company.<br /><br /><br /><strong>SNI Headquarters</strong><br /><br /><strong>Project Team</strong><br /><br /><strong>Owner:</strong> Safety National Casualty Corp.<br /><strong>Developer:</strong> CRA Development LLC, a company of Coldwell Banker Commercial CRA<br />Architects &amp; Engineers: ACI Boland; Geotechnology; Heidemann Associates; KPFF Consulting Engineers; Loomis &amp; Associates; Stock &amp; Associates<br /><strong>General Contractor:</strong> Duke Construction<br /><strong>Major Subcontractors</strong>:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Affton Fabricating</li>\n<li>Allied Waterproofing</li>\n<li>ASC Insulation</li>\n<li>Baxter Farms</li>\n<li>Bick Group</li>\n<li>Cabinet Masters</li>\n<li>Charles E. Jarrell Contracting</li>\n<li>Collins &amp; Hermann</li>\n<li>Edward Simon Painting</li>\n<li>Fabri-Tech Sheet Metal</li>\n<li>Fenix Construction</li>\n<li>Ford Asphalt</li>\n<li>Friend Acoustical</li>\n<li>General Signs</li>\n<li>Gershenson Construction</li>\n<li>Guarantee Electrical</li>\n<li>Hydro Dynamics</li>\n<li>JDS Masonry</li>\n<li>John Bender Inc.</li>\n<li>Kehrer Brothers</li>\n<li>Kelpe Contracting </li>\n<li>Kirkwood Excavating</li>\n<li>O.J. Laughlin Plumbing </li>\n<li>McDaniel Fire Systems</li>\n<li>Mid-America Precast</li>\n<li>MJ Products</li>\n<li>Murphy Co.</li>\n<li>Otis Elevator</li>\n<li>Roberts Loading Dock</li>\n<li>Sebco Cos.</li>\n<li>Signature Craft</li>\n<li>Subsurface Constructors</li>\n<li>Warren Signs</li>\n<li>West St. Louis Glass</li>\n<li>Zumwalt Corp.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>','none','Delve into the design and construction of Safety National Casualty Corp.’s new corporate headquarters and a simple, important lesson emerges: the owner makes a difference.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(431,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Paric Completes South Side Senior Project','none','Paric, South Grand, senior','none','<p>Paric Corp.has completed a $7.8 million mixed-use and senior living development for Minneapolis-based Dominium Development and Acquisition, LLC.&nbsp; <br /><br />The development serves those 55 years and older and combines 87 senior apartments with the convenience of ground floor retail.&nbsp; Services include a computer center, multi-purpose room, dining hall, exercise room, recreational activities and a courtyard.&nbsp; <br /><br />The project, located on South Grand Boulevard in the City of St. Louis, utilized Low Income Housing Tax Credits and funds from MHDC.<br /><br />Paric served as general contractor on the three-level, 76,000-square-foot wood frame and brick building, completing the project ahead of schedule.&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Paric Corp.has completed a $7.8 million mixed-use and senior living development for Minneapolis-based Dominium Development and Acquisition, LLC. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(432,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Tim Carey has joined Burns & McDonnell ','none','Tim Carey, Burns & McDonnell','none','<p><img src=\"file:///Users/tom/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot.jpg\" />Tim Carey has joined Burns &amp; McDonnell as a mechanical engineer for energy-related projects. &nbsp;<br />Carey has more than seven years experience in project management and power plant design.&nbsp; He received his bachelor&rsquo;s degree in mechanical engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology &ndash; Rolla and his master&rsquo;s of business administration degree from&nbsp; Washington University in St. Louis.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Tim Carey has joined Burns & McDonnell as a mechanical engineer for energy-related projects. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(433,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','How Much of a Boost Will Washington Give?','none','infrastructure, stimulus, AGC, Congress, funding, projects','none','<p>With the economy deteriorating faster than anyone had expected, construction and engineering associations are among the most vocal in calling for Congress to invest in infrastructure. Various agencies busily made lists of projects to do in anticipation of federal aid, checked them twice, and earnestly hoped that Congress would be less naughty than nice.<br /><br /><img alt=\"Economic Stimulus\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/economic-stimulus.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />St. Louisan Tracy Hart, chief executive officer of Tarlton Corp., participated in nationwide press conferences for the Associated General Contractors to drum up support for stimulus spending. Hart took a broad-minded view of what spending was necessary by pointing out that local governmental agencies needed money to operate transportation infrastructure as well as build it. She specifically highlighted Metro&rsquo;s need for funds to operate its light rail system. At press time, however, it looked like Congress would not embrace her view and would not allocate operating funds to complement construction funds.<br /><br />Meanwhile, even without knowing how much money would eventually be available, state and local agencies lined up projects to do with whatever money came down from Washington.<br /><br />The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) got a jump on other agencies and issued its first list of stimulus projects in November &ldquo;and we&rsquo;ve been adding to it ever since,&rdquo; Highway Commissioner Pete Rahn said in a February 6 interview. The East-West Gateway Council of Governments, the transportation planning agency for metropolitan St. Louis, gave its member local governments until February 13 to submit transportation projects for possible funding with stimulus funds. St. Louis City and St. Louis County compiled their own lists of possible projects in the interim.<br /><br />How much stimulus money would be available for construction activities was unclear at press time. The Design-Build Institute of America estimated that the House plan contained $114 billion for construction: $19 billion for clean water and flood control; $31 billion to modernize federal and public infrastructure; $30 billion for highway construction; $10 billion for transit and rail; $10 billion for science facilities, research and instrumentation, and $14 billion for educational facilities. <br /><br />To the dismay of many construction industry associations, the Senate eliminated the $14 billion for schools, a cut that House leaders agreed to when resolving differences between the House and Senate bills. The Associated General Contractors, for example decried the elimination of school funds and $10 million in other construction spending. &ldquo;Our analysis shows that without these funds the total number of jobs that would be created or saved by this bill will decline by over 340,000,&rdquo; said Stephen Sandherr, the chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America. The American Institute of Architects and 57 other industry associations said that $14 billion for fixing schools &ldquo;would create nearly 400,000 private sector jobs in the design and construction industries.&rdquo;<br /><br /><strong>Roads and Bridges</strong><br /><br />The slimming down of the stimulus bill meant that federal construction dollars would go more narrowly to traditional infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, sewers and flood control. Rahn said both House and Senate versions allocated about $30 billion for bridge and highway construction. He estimated that Missouri&rsquo;s share would come to about $693 million. Although the House and Senate versions distributed the money differently, metropolitan St. Louis would get at least 32 percent of Missouri&rsquo;s money &ndash; about $230 million &ndash; because of the highway commission&rsquo;s own formula for distributing money within the state, he said. East-West Gateway&rsquo;s estimates are somewhat lower.<br /><br />However much it winds up being, &ldquo;if they actually start spending money on infrastructure, that will help our business,&rdquo; said Jeff Budrovich, president of Budrovich Inc., a crane and excavator rental company.<br /><br />MoDOT&rsquo;s initial list of projects consisted of 34 projects that could be built at an estimated cost of $510 million. That includes $137 million of work on Interstates 70, 44, 55, 35 and 29 and approximately $60 million of work on the state\'s lettered routes in rural Missouri. Four projects already have been put out for bid, none of them in the St. Louis area. Rahn acknowledged a bias towards rural projects, &ldquo;because those are the easiest to get going quickly,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Rahn said the increased federal money for road and bridge construction would help cushion the industry from falling state spending. &ldquo;At our peak of Prop A spending, we were at $1.7 billion a year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re at $1.2 billion going down to $800 million and down to $467 million the following year. The stimulus money will mean that instead of going off a cliff we&rsquo;ll be going down a steep hill.&rdquo;<br /><br />Rahn said he suspects that many agencies will have trouble spending their stimulus money because of many &ldquo;use it or lose it&rdquo; provisions. &ldquo;The House bill requires us to have 50 percent of monies obligated to projects within 90 days, and it has a clawback provision so that those states that don&rsquo;t meet that requirement lose money and it is redistributed to other state,&rdquo; Rahn said. &ldquo;The overriding factor in the bill is spend money quickly,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />However, MoDOT is ready to spend the money, Rahn said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gambled that Congress will pass a stimulus bill,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve bought up rights of way, completed environmental studies, and spent money to design projects so that when the money becomes available we can get these projects out the door as quickly as we can,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Urban areas have to spend money even more quickly under the bill. Jim Wild, development manager, planning and programs, for East-West Gateway, said the House bill requires urban planning agencies to commit 50 percent of their stimulus funds within 75 days, although they have a year to spend the rest. &ldquo;And we can&rsquo;t use the money on projects that are already in the Transportation Improvement Plan,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They have to be new projects that aren&rsquo;t budgeted, and that is just not realistic,&rdquo; he said. Wild added that planners at East-West Gateway hope that the 75-day deadline gets stripped out of the final bill.<br /><br />St. Louis City&rsquo;s $2.4 billion stimulus list included $178.5 million for 18 street projects. The largest is $35 million to replace the Tucker Avenue bridge from Cass to Washington. St. Louis County&rsquo;s $1.8 billion stimulus wish list includes 17 road projects costing an estimated $463 million. Almost half of the county&rsquo;s road money, $200 million, would go to finish Route 141. Neither area is likely to get as much money as it hoped for.<br /><br />Rahn said that one area where quick &ldquo;use it or lose it&rdquo; deadlines definitely don&rsquo;t work is in transit. The House approved $12 billion for transit &ndash; &ldquo;a huge amount,&rdquo; said Rahn &ndash; but it is for capital purposes only. St. Louis Rep. Lacy Clay was a leader in pushing for a large bundle for transit and St. Louis City wants $900 million to build a north-south extension of Metrolink through the city.<br /><br />&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t get these projects designed and out the door in 90 days,&rdquo; Rahn said. Diane Williams, Metro&rsquo;s director of communications, said the north-south city extension project &ldquo;is not shovel ready.&rdquo; East-West Gateway would be responsible for the project&rsquo;s design. That project has not been designed yet, and Les Sterman, executive director of East-West Gateway, said he hopes Congress leaves room for &ldquo;legacy projects&rdquo; in the stimulus package. &ldquo;There is a trade-off between fast and good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Anytime you start shoveling money out the door you will waste a lot of it. I hope there will be provisions in the package that allow for longer lead time projects,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />&ldquo;If you have to obligate transit money fast, you put it into buses, and I fear that what we will see [from that money] is a five-year backlog of bus orders,&rdquo; Rahn said.&nbsp; He added that what Metro really needs is not capital funds, but operating funds.<br /><br />Rahn also estimated that Missouri would get $30 million of the $3 billion that the House allocated for airports. St. Louis City&rsquo;s stimulus wish list includes 12 projects at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport with estimated costs totaling over $80 million. <br /><strong><br />Water and Wastewater</strong><br /><br />MSD and the St. Louis City Water Department also are prepared to use whatever money they can get from the $19 billion allocated for water and flood control projects in the stimulus package. The city&rsquo;s stimulus list includes 12 water projects they can do for $100 million, including $35 million for a Harlem-Baden relief detention system, $20 million for repairs and enhancements to the St. Louis floodwall, and $30 million for &ldquo;green&rdquo; alleys. MSD has a list of 59 projects to do at a cost of $163.7 million.<br /><br />MSD spokesman Lance Lecomb said only $6 billion in the House bill was specifically allocated for wastewater projects, although $17 billion in projects were identified across the country. &ldquo;We still don&rsquo;t know how the money will be distributed. The devil will be in the details of the formula,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />United Rentals&rsquo; Trench Safety Division is one business pinning hopes for a good year on the stimulus package. &ldquo;We rent underground safety equipment, so a lot of the impact of the legislation for us will depend on how much is allocated for water work,&rdquo; said Branch Manager Joe Wise.<br /><br />Bi-State Utilities is another company that could benefit if more sewer and water work flows from the stimulus legislation. Bi-State Utilities recent added equipment for &ldquo;pipe bursting,&rdquo; a method for replacing or enlarging underground pipes where open trench methods are practical. The company recently used pipe bursting to enlarge sewers for MSD in a neighborhood near Lambert Airport, replacing an 8-inch diameter pipe with a 12-inch diameter. The pipe bursting equipment acts by pulling larger pipe through the smaller pipe, forcing the smaller pipe to split apart and pushing it aside into the soil. The machine that pulls the pipe can exert a force of 125,000 psi, said Bi-State Utilities&rsquo; President Mike Jerome.<br /><br />Among St. Louis area Congressmen, Reps. Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan voted for the House&rsquo;s stimulus bill. Rep. Todd Akin voted against it. Missouri&rsquo;s Senators also split on the bill.<br /><br />Steve Taylor, a spokesman for Akin, said that Akin strongly supports allocating money for rebuilding infrastructure, but felt that the overall bill was weighted down with so many unrelated items and so much pork that it could cause the national debt to balloon to levels that &ldquo;could crash our economy permanently.&rdquo;<br /><br />Regardless of how much money Congress ultimately approves for construction, many people believe that quick deadlines for spending will almost require agencies to turn to the design-build project delivery method to get things done. According to the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), the stimulus legislation will &ldquo;present the design and construction community with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the future of our nation, particularly in the water and transportation arenas.&rdquo; DBIA will present a Design-Build for Water/Wastewater Conference this March in Denver and include a panel on how the stimulus legislation affects the industry. It will present similar information at its Design-Build in Transportation Conference this April in Baltimore</p>','none','With the economy deteriorating faster than anyone had expected, construction and engineering associations are among the most vocal in calling for Congress to invest in infrastructure. Various agencies busily made lists of projects to do in anticipation of federal aid, checked them twice, and earnestly hoped that Congress would be less naughty than nice.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/economic-stimulus.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(436,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','Fear Itself','none','Fear, markets, sales, negative','none','<p>President Roosevelt was right, we really only have fear to fear.&nbsp; With markets getting severely competitive many firms are getting soft on the underside.&nbsp; They are allowing clients to walk all over them. <br /><br />People are refusing to educate their customers on the pitfalls of driving price down so forcefully. Most customers think they&rsquo;re generating the best financial opportunity for their own companies. In reality they are backing themselves into a dangerous corner.&nbsp; We have the responsibility to inform them of the negative consequences of taking an inferior bid or sub standard contractor.&nbsp; We worry that we&rsquo;ll anger them or make them uncomfortable so we give in and perform pricing contortions to try and win the bid.&nbsp; Estimators are turning into mathematical acrobats as opposed to trained bidding experts.<br /><br />I&rsquo;ve sat through so many seminars that instruct you not to &ldquo;negative&rdquo; sell, but to sing your own praise and virtues as a supplier. Are you nuts? You need to educate your customer on the failings, pricing schemes, and cost cutting techniques used by inferior bidders. Just avoid speaking of the competitor by name.&nbsp; If you are not letting your customer know that the extremely low bid they received virtually guarantees an endless line of change orders, extras, and inferior workmanship, you are missing the boat.<br /><br />Let me put this very simply, when someone lowers a price unreasonably they must take their focus off the customer and put it on their own costs! This is fact! Ever hear the statement &ldquo;you get what you pay for&rdquo;? It&rsquo;s true!&nbsp; You know your trade or industry. <br /><br />What corners do inferior or desperate competitors cut?&nbsp; Cheaper materials, untrained or unlicensed labor, compromising safety, or even poor project management?&nbsp; What will this cost the customer overall? The sweetness of a low bid quickly disappears when the change orders start flying or a delay occurs on the project due to poor workmanship.&nbsp; This goes back to the old snake oil salesman days.&nbsp; Pulling the old &ldquo;switcheroo&rdquo;.&nbsp; Us sales guys have known this technique for decades. Contractors fall into the trap so easily because they&rsquo;re not traditional sales people and don&rsquo;t always know how to convey these truths. <br /><br />If you are allowing the customer to dictate what is a good value in your trade you&rsquo;re not doing your job very well. Being aggressive in this fashion takes some guts, but usually gains respect. Your motive is having your client properly informed. Then if they decide to go with what will probably be a nightmare of a low bid, it lies in their lap when the first change order comes that&rsquo;s equal to the difference between the first and second bids.&nbsp; <br /><br />Project owners are learning everyday that a price that&rsquo;s too good to be true is just that.&nbsp; It amazes me how some clients throw common sense out the window due to their insane focus on price, price, price.&nbsp; Really, is this an intelligent way to buy?&nbsp; Then why would you not convey the negative that could occur? If you get an inferior roof, it leaks. If you get inferior plumbing, it floods. If you get inferior electrical work, it could catch fire! Why risk this at all? <br /><br />I&rsquo;d be incredibly suspicious in this economic climate of anyone having a ridiculously low bid. There are so many potential pitfalls. The company could go under during the project as they&rsquo;re just trying to make payroll or they&rsquo;re hiring sub standard labor.&nbsp; Just pick one. Sanity must prevail. <br /><br />A good, fair bid with a complete scope and a desire for partnership with a reputable supplier should prevail.&nbsp; Unfortunately, some just don&rsquo;t get it. Your job is to make sure they do. Do so tactfully but firmly. Don&rsquo;t wimp out! You probably wouldn&rsquo;t get the project anyway if you didn&rsquo;t ask if they understood the risks of the sub standard bid. <br /><br />When you lower your price from your original bid, what was the first price? Let me tell you: a lie! Is that who they want to do business with? Someone who would lie about the bid price it would take to do the project. Doesn&rsquo;t really evoke trust now does it?&nbsp; Build the value, educate the customer and be persistent in your approach. Don&rsquo;t fear the client&rsquo;s reaction. Be brave and steadfast in what you know is true.&nbsp; Soft selling is for a booming economy. Uuh, we don&rsquo;t have one currently.&nbsp; So go for broke and sell the existing value of your company. Stop shaking your head and telling your customers you&rsquo;ll sharpen your pencil next time. There may not be a &ldquo;next time&rdquo;!</p>','','285','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','President Roosevelt was right, we really only have fear to fear.  With markets getting severely competitive many firms are getting soft on the underside.  They are allowing clients to walk all over them.','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(435,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','\"Growing Green\" Nominations Extended','none','Growing Green, USGBC','none','<p>The United States Green Building Council of St. Louis (USGBC-STL) has extended the deadline for nominations in its first \"Growing Green\" awards until Feb. 23. The awards were established to \"celebrate the people, organizations, and companies that are transforming the St. Louis region\'s built environment into a more environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy place to work and play.\"</p>\n<p><img class=\"image-left\" height=\"100\" src=\"/images/uploads/GrowingGreenAwardsLOGO.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"300\" />Awards will be presented in the categories of Commercial, Education, Government, Innovator, Quietyly Green, and Residential.&nbsp; The awards will be presented at an awards event March 31 at the Coronado Hotel, March 31 at the Coronado Ballroom, 3701 Lindell. For more information and to download criteria and application forms, go to<a href=\"http://chapters.usgbc.org/stlouis/GrowingGreenAwards.html\"> http://chapters.usgbc.org/stlouis/GrowingGreenAwards.html</a></p>\n<p><br />To make reservations for the event, call Rachel McCalla at 314.210.7764 or go to <a href=\"http://www.growinggreenawards/eventbrite.com\">www.growinggreenawards/eventbrite.com</a></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The United States Green Building Council of St. Louis (USGBC-STL) has extended the deadline for nominations in its first \"Growing Green\" awards until Feb. 23','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(545,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','I-64 Graduates Apprentices to Journeymen','none','I-64, diversity, apprentices','none','<p>Missouri Department of Transportation is also celebrating the graduation of several individual craftsmen who have become journeymen on<br /><a href=\"http://www.thenewi64.org\">the I-64 project</a>.&nbsp; To date five individuals working on the I-64 project have worked enough hours and mastered the skills to graduate from apprentice to journeyman in their respective union trades.<br /><br />With the I-64 project, MoDOT has worked with Gateway Constructors and the community to develop pre-apprentice training programs and on-the-job<br />training programs for socially and economically disadvantaged individuals to increase the project\'s workforce diversity.&nbsp; The ultimate goal is to help<br />these individuals acquire journeyman status in the trades for a long-term career. <br /><br />Over the last two years, more than 70 on-the-job trainees have worked on I-64 and five of them have achieved journeyman status to date with many more eligible by next year.&nbsp; The total workforce diversity on the I-64 project is exceeding the federal minority goal of 14.7 percent with the I-64 workforce having more than 19 percent minority workers.<br /><br />I-64 Laborer Tressa Bell graduated from the Construction Craft Laborers\' Apprenticeship Program this month.&nbsp; With almost 3,000 hours worked on the I-64 project over the past 16 months, she has reached journey status as a laborer. \"I didn\'t think I could do it.&nbsp; I have worked for almost four years toward this goal and working on I-64 gave me the experience to reach my<br />goal,\" said Tressa Bell.&nbsp; \"Now I know I can accomplish anything.\"<br /><br />Other recent graduates include two carpenters, a cement mason and another laborer.&nbsp; By 2010, it is anticipated that more than a dozen additional<br />workers from I-64 will graduate to journey status.<br /><br />\"The I-64 project with its vast amount of work presented an opportunity for MoDOT to make a difference in the lives of people looking for a chance at a<br />career in construction,\" said Lesley Hoffarth,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I-64 project director.&nbsp; \"We are proud to have helped these individuals achieve their goals and get<br />to journey status in the construction industry.\"</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The I-64 project\'s diversity program recently graduated five trade workers from its apprenticeship program.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(503,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Forecast Says 2009 Starts Down 15%','none','McGraw-Hill, Spring Outlook, starts','none','<p>Despite positive imacts from stimulus spending, overall construction starts will be down 15% this year, McGraw-Hill forecasts.</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://vocuspr.vocus.com/VocusPR30/Url.aspx?517212x3127960x-2702884\">McGraw-Hill Construction</a>&nbsp; released its <a href=\"http://vocuspr.vocus.com/VocusPR30/Url.aspx?517212x3127959x-3220475\">2009 Construction Outlook Sprieng Update</a>, providing updated 2009 forecasts of construction starts for various project types.<br />&nbsp;<br />The major findings of the forecast, authored by Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, include:<br /><br />New construction starts for 2009 are estimated at $463.1 billion, down 15%, but cushioned by support provided by the recently enacted stimulus legislation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Public works will see the most immediate benefit from the stimulus act, with construction starts climbing 10%, including a 15% rise for highways and bridges. Without the stimulus funding, it is estimated that public works in 2009 would have fallen 10%, restrained by the deteriorating fiscal health of state and local governments.</li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Institutional building in 2009 will retreat 6%, as the weak financial environment takes its toll on educational and healthcare facilities. The stimulus funding will provide a lift to military facilities and energy upgrades for federal buildings, which will moderate this year&rsquo;s overall institutional decline.</li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Commercial building in 2009 will drop 27%, steeper than the 17% slide reported last year. The tight lending environment has made it extremely difficult to obtain project financing, leading to more projects being deferred or cancelled. All commercial project types will register declines in 2009, with the most severe retrenchment anticipated for hotel construction.</li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Residential building in 2009 will drop an additional 31%, continuing the downward trend that&rsquo;s been underway since 2006. Similar declines are expected for single family housing (down 30%) and multifamily housing (down 31%). Steps taken in early 2009 to address the foreclosure problem should help to ease the rate of descent for housing as 2009 progresses.</li>\n</ul>\n<p><br />&ldquo;The construction industry is facing divergent forces in 2009,&rdquo; said Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs, McGraw-Hill Construction. &ldquo;The economy has weakened substantially, and despite all the efforts last fall directed at thawing frozen credit markets, there&rsquo;s yet to be any sign that lending conditions for construction have improved. On the plus side, the federal stimulus bill is now in place, which will provide quick support to public works this year.&rdquo;<br /><br />The McGraw-Hill Construction Outlook is a mainstay of business planning for construction and manufacturing industry executives. Later this month, local <a href=\"http://vocuspr.vocus.com/VocusPR30/Url.aspx?517212x3127958x-92896\">Economic Stimulus and Recovery Watch Strategic Briefings</a>&nbsp; will dig deeper into these statistics and issues to provide regionally relevant analysis and intelligence in San Diego (April 3), Houston (April 15), Chicago (April 22) and Atlanta (April 24).</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Despite positive imacts from stimulus spending, overall construction starts will be down 15% this year, McGraw-Hill forecasts. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(438,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','KAI Provides Administrative Services at SEMO','none','KAI, Southeast Missouri State University, residence hall','none','<p>KAI Design &amp; Build is providing construction administration services, as a subconsultant to Jacobs Engineering Inc., on a project to build a new residence hall at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, MO.The new hall is expected to be ready for occupancy by the fall of 2009.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>The $24.6 million residence hall is under construction adjacent to Myers Hall and Vandiver Hall near the campus&rsquo; main entrance at Broadway and Henderson streets. Designs for the new 82,000-square-foot, L-shaped hall include double occupancy student rooms connected by shared bathrooms, multiple small living rooms throughout, and large game and laundry rooms.</p>\n<p>Each of the structure&rsquo;s three upper floors will have a study lounge, and a dining facility will be located on the first floor. The hall is expected to house 306 beds.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Part of the new hall&rsquo;s ground level will open to Houck Field and be used as a locker room for the university&rsquo;s football and soccer programs. An outdoor eating area and a series of paved courtyards are planned for the open area between the new residence hall and Vandiver Hall.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Jacobs Engineering Group, in partnership with Treanor Architects, is providing architectural services on the project. Kiefner Brothers Inc. is the main building package contractor.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','KAI Design & Build is providing construction administration services, as a subconsultant to Jacobs Engineering Inc., on a project to build a new residence hall at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, MO.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(439,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Audiffred Named McCarthy CFO','none','Audiffred, McCarthy, Sherer','none','<p>Doug Audiffred has been named chief financial officer of <a href=\"http://www.mccarthy.com\">McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.</a> , one of the nation\'s oldest and largest privately-held construction companies.&nbsp;&nbsp; He assumes this new position following a year-long transition period with former CFO George Scherer.&nbsp; Scherer, 63, retired on December 31, 2008, after 26 years with the firm.<br /><br /><img alt=\"Audiffred\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"366\" src=\"/images/uploads/Doug-Audiffred.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"244\" />Audiffred, 42, has more than 20 years of experience in accounting and finance, having worked for a large public accounting firm and a<br />manufacturing company prior to joining McCarthy as corporate controller in 1994.&nbsp; A member of the McCarthy executive committee since 2007, he most recently served as vice president of finance, responsible for all company accounting and financial reporting.<br /><br />\"Over the past decade, our company has undergone a number of important changes, the most significant of which was our long-planned transition from a family-owned company to 100% employee ownership,\" said Mike Bolen, McCarthy\'s chief executive officer/chairman.&nbsp; \"Doug played an instrumental role in this conversion and has continued to enhance the sophistication of McCarthy\'s finance function as our company has evolved.\"&nbsp; Audiffred has also played a significant role in the advancement of the company\'s modeling and forecasting capabilities; the creation of stand-alone internal treasury and risk management functions; and management and implementation of the McCarthy employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). He will be based at McCarthy\'s corporate headquarters in St. Louis.<br /><br />During Scherer\'s tenure as corporate chief financial officer, the company experienced significant growth.&nbsp; He played a key role in managing the growing business and served as the company\'s first true corporate controller. \"George created reporting and tracking mechanisms to assist in short-term and long-term business planning; led the company transition from family to employee ownership, including a 2008 transition to 100% ESOP; and oversaw the transition from a C-Corp to S-Corp structure,\" Bolen said.&nbsp; \"His unique blend of strong accounting knowledge and business acumen has been instrumental in the company\'s success for more than two decades.&nbsp; He will be<br />greatly missed.\"<br /><br />\"I am honored to have been chosen to follow in George\'s footsteps,\" commented Audiffred. \"In addition to continuing to build and maintain<br />relationships with our financial stakeholders, I remain committed to protecting and enhancing an already strong balance sheet to build<br />shareholder value for our employee owners.\"</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Doug Audiffred has been named chief financial officer of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. , one of the nation\'s oldest and largest privately-held construction companies.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(440,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','\"Monster\" Project Heads Towards Finish Line','none','Holcim, cement, PayneCrest, MC Industrial','none','<p>As work progresses on the new Holcim cement plant in Ste. Genevieve County, MO, one fact stands out: the job is immense. Successfully completing such a big job takes more than big construction equipment; it takes ingenuity, determination, and grit.<br /><br />&ldquo;I will probably never see anything like it again in my career,&rdquo; Will Chipley, project director for MC Industrial, said of the mammoth industrial project. &ldquo;It is an absolute monster,&rdquo; agreed David Payne, president of PayneCrest Electric. &ldquo;It is just so enormous it is breathtaking,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br /><img alt=\"Holcim\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"285\" src=\"/images/uploads/holcim_8896.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"300\" />Once complete, Holcim\'s Ste. Genevieve plant will be the largest single-kiln cement factory in the world, capable of producing 12,000 metric tons of clinker per day and 4 million metric tons of cement a year. The production line stretches for over a mile from the limestone quarry and ending at a harbor on the banks of the Mississippi. In between, a system of conveyors carries limestone to the raw meal silos, the mill, the kiln, the clinker cooler, clinker silos, the finish mill, and cement silos. The total facility uses 1,700 acres of a 3,900-acre site.<br /><br />The general contractor is a joint venture of the Washington Group and Alberici called WGA. Site development began in 2005; construction of the facility began in 2006, and WGA is scheduled to turn the facility over to Holcim in December 2009. <br /><br />Bloomsdale Excavating, the designer-builder of the site, began excavating in August 2005. Their first order of business was the harbor. Bloomsdale was responsible for digging and dredging the harbor, building an earthen dam to hold materials from the harbor construction, excavating and developing 70-acres for the plant to sit on, building the quarry development roads, and building an access road to the plant site. By the time Bloomsdale Excavating finished site work in July 2006, they had moved an estimated 7 million cubic yards of rock and earth. To clear the plant site, they had to drill through as much as 125 feet of limestone and blast as much as 60,000 yards at a time.<br /><br /><strong>Award-Winning Silos</strong><br /><br />A joint venture of MC Industrial (MCI), a McCarthy company, and T.E. Ibberson Co., came on site next as the design-build contractor for 13 silos concrete silos: two, 275-foot tall raw meal silos; two, 207-foot tall clinker silos and one off-spec silo; eight, 275-foot tall cement silos. Later on, two more 155-foot tall cement silos at the harbor were added to their contract. MCI also won a contract to build a limestone reclaim tunnel and the material handling conveyors from the clinker silos to the cement mills.<br /><br />MCI self-performed 99 percent of the work on the silos, Chipley said. &ldquo;It was the largest self-performed labor project McCarthy ever performed,&rdquo; he said. Constructing the material handling equipment between clinker silos and the cement mills, in which MCI self-performed 65 percent of the work, was probably second largest self-perform labor project McCarthy ever performed, he said.<br /><br />MCI built the silo walls with a process called slipforming, by which the tubular shape of a silo can be seamlessly cast in continuous process that uses a short section of formwork that moves upward with the pouring process. The form essentially rises into the air on the back of the concrete just cast. Computer-controlled hydraulic jacks raised the form one inch at a time on jack rods, at nearly nine inches an hour, said Chipley. &ldquo;The rate is determined by how fast ironworkers can install the rebar,&rdquo; he said. The jack rods consisted of 10-foot lengths of three-inch pipe. Workers would insert a new section of rod as the form reached the end of the previous section.<br /><br />&ldquo;Slipforming is quite a challenge because once you get started you can&rsquo;t change anything,&rdquo; Chipley said. MCI worked two, 12-hour shifts when forming each silo. When forming the first two silos, two crews of 85 trades people worked continuously for 16 consecutive days to slip the 275-foot tall structures. Another 83 people worked in support positions on the site. Most of the crew consisted of ironworkers, who installed 2 million pounds of rebar in 16 days while riding the forms. Three thousand, three hundred cubic yards of concrete went into each of the two silos.<br /><br />&ldquo;You get ten weeks to set up the form and you better have every single thing you need: every piece of equipment and every tool, and back-up equipment in case anything breaks down. A lot planning goes into it, and if you do not have a good plan, your chances of success are slim to none,&rdquo; Chipley said. &ldquo;Once you start a slip, you can&rsquo;t stop. Luckily, we had a partner who does these all over the world,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />MCI took 18 months to build 13 silos, and only 72 days were actually consumed with slipforming. The two clinker and one off spec silos were formed in 14 days using 8,000 cubic yards of concrete and 3 million pounds of rebar. Each clinker silo is 150-feet in diameter and the form for it weighed close to a million pounds, Chipley said. &ldquo;It is half the length of a football field and it is basically jacking itself up to 210 feet in the air on little 3-inch pipes,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />The eight concrete silos, slipped as two &ldquo;four packs&rdquo; shaped almost like four-leaf clovers, were the biggest challenge. &ldquo;It was hellish,&rdquo; Chipley said. &ldquo;It was in June, but the daytime temperatures went into the 90s,&rdquo; he said. With the sun beating down and heat coming off the concrete, the temperatures on the form were even worse. Chipley couldn&rsquo;t stop the slip once it started, so he had to plan for extra breaks, and extra workers to give breaks or replace anyone who might get sick from the heat. The planning paid off. Each four pack took 16 days to form, and used over 20,000 cubic yards of concrete, 5.6 million pounds of rebar, and 400 miles of post-tension cable. &ldquo;We had about 500 workers on the forms and probably another 150 working on the ground. With all the overtime, our weekly payroll approached $3 million,&rdquo; Chipley said.<br /><br />In completing the first 13 silos, MCI workers logged more than 700,000 hours and placed 66,000 cubic yards of concrete and 20.5 million pounds of rebar.&nbsp; <br /><br />Slipforming, although intense and impressive, was just the beginning. Post-tensioning the silos took even longer &ndash; post-tensioning the cement silos took three months, Chipley said. Conduit for the post-tensioning cable was installed during forming. Later, a kind of &ldquo;gun&rdquo; shoots the cable through the conduit. It took a special kind of ironworker to work on the post-tensioning at night. &ldquo;They worked off of galleys hanging from the tops of the silos, and these would sway as the wind whistled by. Of course we lit the job up at night, but when you look down at the lights, everything behind them is black,&rdquo; Chipley said. Not everyone is comfortable working on a hanging platform swinging over a seemingly endless void. &ldquo;I know I couldn&rsquo;t do it,&rdquo; Chipley said. <br /><br />MCI also had to install cone-shaped domes inside each cement silo as part of the system for distributing cement. Each dome is made up of 24 pie-shaped pieces of precast concrete, weighing 65,000 pounds each. The pieces are designed to be locked together with rebar and a strip of poured concrete over the rebar at each joint. As with any dome, however, the problem is how to support the individual pieces until the whole is completed and the various parts support each other. MCI used a single 2-inch cable attached to a turnbuckle to hold each piece in position at the proper 60-degree angle until it could be locked to its neighbors. &ldquo;We lowered them into position by crane, but the crane operator was working blind, because he was outside the silo,&rdquo; Chipley said. &ldquo;It was hard to get the 4-point rigging system right to get the 60-degree angle,&rdquo; he added.<br /><br />Post-tensioning preceded construction of the dome-shaped bin bottoms, which preceded the installation of the roof, which preceded the installation of conveyors. MCI will finally finish the cement silos almost two years after forming them.<br /><br />The silos are probably the most stunning part of the Holcim project and MCI already has won four awards for building them.<br /><strong><br />Big Electrical Job<br /></strong><br />Holcim also is the largest project ever for PayneCrest Electric. &ldquo;It is positively the biggest self-perform job we&rsquo;ve ever done,&rdquo; said PayneCrest President David Payne. &ldquo;We have 400 electricians there. We are responsible for all of the electrical work from the incoming power feeds &ndash; which are 345,000 volts, which is highly unusual &ndash; lighting, all of the power feeds to all of the substation electric rooms, and wiring all of the motors and all of the control devices,&rdquo; he said. PayneCrest is performing the job for a fee with a time and materials contract.<br /><br />&ldquo;A lot of the work is very unique. The machinery comes from several different companies. Some of it is 450 feet in the air, some of it is out over the harbor,&rdquo; Payne said. He said the Holcim project accounted for about half of the company&rsquo;s revenues in 2008.<br /><br />Like PayneCrest Electric, Coatings Unlimited is working along almost the entire length of the project. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re painting everything structural from the primary crusher all the way to the harbor,&rdquo; said Steve Phillip, Jr., project manager for Coatings Unlimited. <br /><br />The painting is mostly touch-up work &ndash; most of the structural steel comes with an anti-corrosion zinc coating applied at the factory and Coatings Unlimited is painting the seams, welds and bolts where pieces were joined together in the field. Phillip said 90 percent of the job consists of applying anti-corrosion zinc coatings from St. Louis-based Carboline Co. The other 10 percent consists of epoxy coatings for handrails or concrete floor coatings.<br /><br />Even as mainly a touch-up job, it is a large project. When the weather is good, &ldquo;we have 56 men and six company trucks on site,&rdquo; Phillip said. He estimated that the job would run to 100,000 hours before it was done.<br /><br />The painting work at Holcim involves a lot of high work. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re using Spider baskets and 134-foot tall lifts,&rdquo; Phillip said. The toughest part was the 500-foot tall preheat tower, said site superintendent Billy Myers. &ldquo;We had to climb around on that like ironworkers,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Although less than halfway through their job, Coatings Unlimited has already won a Finishing Touch Award for their work on Holcim from the Painting &amp; Decorating Foundation.<br /><br />PayneCrest and Coatings Unlimited are subcontractors to WGA.<br /><br />&ldquo;This is one of the neatest projects going on in the country,&rdquo; Phillip said. &ldquo;Holcim and WGA have been excellent to work with.&rdquo;</p>','none','As work progresses on the new Holcim cement plant in Ste. Genevieve County, MO, one fact stands out: the job is immense. Successfully completing such a big job takes more than big construction equipment; it takes ingenuity, determination, and grit.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(441,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Geotechnology\'s Bullock Completes Certification, Receives Promotion','none','Bulloch, certification, promotion, Geotechnology','none','<p>Geotechnology, Inc., a&nbsp; provider of geotechnical and environmental engineering, materials testing and drilling, announced that Zach Bullock completed the process to earn his Level III certification from the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) for Soils, Concrete and Asphalt.&nbsp; The company also announced that Bullock was promoted from Supervisor to Manager of Geotechnology&rsquo;s Construction Materials Testing Laboratory.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Geotechnology, Inc., a  provider of geotechnical and environmental engineering, materials testing and drilling, announced that Zach Bullock completed the process to earn his Level III certification from the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) for Soils, Concrete and Asphalt.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(442,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Is \"Green\" Losing Steam?','none','green, sustainable, Hart, Sammartano, Merrill','none','<p>Will the green building movement survive the recession? For Tracy Hart, chief executive officer of Tarlton Corp., a St. Louis based commercial general contracting and construction management firm, there is no question of it. \"When construction comes back,\" she said, \"it will be green.\"<br /><br />The green building movement will not only survive, it will thrive, said Charlie Pavalec, president of Bell Electrical Contractors. Backed by a combination of government spending, tax credits, and new regulations, the green building movement &ldquo;may help to pull us out of recession,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />&ldquo;I had a concern that 2009 would be very tight, but what I&rsquo;m finding now is that the few projects that are going forward are green,&rdquo; said Thomas Taylor, general manager of Vertegy Consultants.<br /><br />&ldquo;Green building still has legs,&rdquo; agreed Paul Todd Merrill, Clayco&rsquo;s director of sustainable construction. &ldquo;Nine out of 10 RFPs (requests for proposals) we see out there want to know what green features we can bring to the table. Customers are looking at reducing other aspects, such as square footage or schedule, before they give up pursuit of sustainability measures,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Amidst all that opportunity, however, there lay challenges. One of the central tenets of green building is energy efficiency. Or is it?<br /><br />&ldquo;If you are trying to automatically say that a sustainable building is more energy efficient, I would not agree. We have seen sustainable buildings that aren&rsquo;t that great from an energy standpoint,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;And you can have a highly energy efficient building where the designers and builders did not pay attention to the site or to water or air quality, so I don&rsquo;t think the two go hand in hand,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Dan Sammartano, general manager of Salian Commercial, disagreed. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t be &ldquo;green&rdquo; if you don&rsquo;t save energy,&rdquo; he said. And saving energy is a big part of why companies want green buildings, Merrill added. &ldquo;It makes good business sense, both in terms of hard dollars and in terms of differentiating the company. Depending on the market and utility rates, energy efficiency measures pay for themselves in three to eight years,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />&ldquo;Everybody wants energy efficiency. It is easy to do and it pays you back, so you would be idiotic not to do it,&rdquo; said Bob Leonard, a senior project manager at Paric Corp.<br /><strong><br />LEED 2009</strong><br /><br />Bowing to customers&rsquo; expectations, the U.S. Green Building Council is issuing a new version of LEED this year, called LEED 2009, which &ldquo;raises the bar on energy efficiency,&rdquo; said Emily Andrews, executive director of the St. Louis chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. &ldquo;Up to now, LEED products have required you to use ASHRAE 90.1 as the baseline standard for energy efficiency. The new LEED requires you to go beyond it by a certain percentage,&rdquo; Sammartano said.<br /><br />Energy efficiency in LEED is the predicted energy efficiency. Building designers use energy models to predict how much energy a building will save and incorporate those predictions into the application for LEED certification. <br /><br />The problem with that, Sammartano said, is that, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ve had studies where people have gone back and measured the energy use in LEED buildings, and there is no correspondence with the models. Some buildings have performed better, but some buildings have performed much worse. Results have shown that even some gold and platinum buildings (the highest LEED &ndash;rated buildings) fall significantly below the ASHRAE standard in energy efficiency.&rdquo;<br /><br />Sammartano warned that if a significant number of LEED buildings fail to achieve energy savings, much less the predicted energy savings, &ldquo;the bubble could burst&rdquo; for LEED and green buildings.<br /><br />&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t blame the rating system,&rdquo; Andrews said. &ldquo;You as building owner are responsible. It is your bottom line, your money. If a building isn&rsquo;t performing to how it was supposed to perform there are tweaks you have to make,&rdquo; she said.<br /><br />&ldquo;There are glitches in every system,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;You are only using a rating system as a guide to get you to a better building, not as an end-all-be-all,&rdquo; he added.<br /><br />The Green Building Council has recognized the need for measurement, said Andrews, so the new LEED provides an incentive for measurement and verification by giving two more points for measurement than it gives for just modeling. &ldquo;And the other thing in LEED is that there is a basic commissioning requirement to make sure all the energy systems in a building are functioning properly,&rdquo; she said.<br /><br />Sammartano, however, questioned whether the Green Building Council really cares about how well a building actually performs. He cited one study of 121 LEED-certified buildings in which 40 percent obtained points for measurement and verification, but at the end of the mandatory one-year measurement and verification process only three of the projects could produce information generated by the measurement and verification process.<br /><br />Merrill, however, said the problem is not with modeling, it &ldquo;is with people who bend rules when energy modeling and LEED is correcting that,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />At issue is more than just confidence in the LEED building rating system, however. If a building owner discovers that a building is not delivering the energy savings that the architect said it would, &ldquo;there could be a liability issue,&rdquo; said Andrew Manuel, shareholder, Greensfelder, Hemker and Gale, PC.<br /><strong><br />That Which Gets Measured Will Succeed</strong><br /><br />&ldquo;LEED has been a fantastic learning tool,&rdquo; said Tim Gaidis, sustainable design director for HOK&rsquo;s St. Louis office, but &ldquo;the initiatives that will succeed going forward are the initiatives that can be measured, such as energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions The softer types of things that can&rsquo;t be measured will fall away, unless, like solar panels, they look good in PR to show that companies are making an effort at sustainability.&rdquo; Gaidis predicted that LEED would continue to evolve to remain useful and relevant.<br /><br />Sammartano is not alone is seeking to measure performance. Better measurements topped the list of green construction needs produced by the first annual BASF Forum on Sustainable Construction, which was held in Boston, MA in November.&nbsp; The forum brought together 30 senior architects, including a representative from HOK, to talk about challenges in sustainable construction. It was sponsored by BASF Corp., which makes chemicals used in many construction products.<br /><br />BASF spokesman Bill Pagano said the number one conclusion of the forum was, &ldquo;We need better tools to measure performance and justify first-cost for energy-efficient and more durable products.&rdquo; <br /><br />Merrill said that Clayco accepts the need for better data. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gone back and taken a look at buildings we built. We are tracking and trending information and one thing we&rsquo;re really seeing is that physical layout and natural illumination make a big difference,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />At the same time, modeling has a lot of value, he said. &ldquo;We never used to model buildings in Missouri, because we don&rsquo;t have an energy code. Just the fact that we are doing models leapfrogs in front of where we&rsquo;ve been. For example, we used to be doing R-30 roofs. We started doing models and found out we can get by with an R-20 roof without increasing use. Modeling is a tool for evaluating our practices that we didn&rsquo;t have before,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Preceding the BASF Forum on Sustainable Construction, BASF commissioned research firm BuildingInsight LLC to conduct a focused survey on green building issues. Respondents said that clients were willing to spend up to five percent more on first costs to improve energy efficiency. Those surveyed also said that on 35 percent of their projects clients wanted improvements in energy efficiency of at least 20 percent beyond standard requirements.<br /><br />Efforts to document building energy performance already are making their way into state and local regulations. Washington, DC, and California have adopted regulations that require benchmarking of energy use for commercial buildings through the Energy Star Portfolio Manager. Minnesota has made it a goal to earn the Energy Star label on 1,000 commercial buildings in the next two years. New York City is considering standard benchmarking legislation for commercial buildings. Ohio and Denver have pledged to benchmark government buildings. &ldquo;Soon these energy data will be made public, and those which achieve high rates of energy efficiency will be able to leverage this premium in ways LEED may not,&rdquo; Sammartano said.<br /><br />&lsquo;The marketplace is saying, &ldquo;Show me the money.&rdquo; It is not enough to say it will be there, you have to demonstrate it,&rdquo; Taylor said. As more data becomes available, however, it will also help improve modeling and improve LEED. &ldquo;I personally think this will have a very positive affect on people who truly practice sustainability. There are more people in marketplace who say they do it than truly know how to do it,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />&ldquo;There are challenges, but the opportunities outweigh them. Everything on the landscape leans towards green,&rdquo; Taylor added.<br /><br />&ldquo;There is a huge building stock in the United States and huge opportunities to make it more efficient,&rdquo; Gaidis said. &ldquo;One challenge is knowing how codes will evolve to require sustainable practices. We need more political and regulatory guidance,&rdquo; he said. The measurement challenge is not insurmountable, he said.<br /><br />&ldquo;The great thing about Kennedy&rsquo;s challenge to put a man on the moon was that it was a huge challenge and people rose to the occasion. When regulatory agencies or our clients ask us to go all the way to moon, we can do it; we just need to be challenged,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Merrill also is confident that issues of documenting energy performance soon will be resolved. &ldquo;We share the feeling that the future is green, that it will be the mainstream. We liken it to ADA requirements &ndash; it will become normal part of business,&rdquo; he said.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Will the green building movement survive the recession? For Tracy Hart, chief executive officer of Tarlton Corp., a St. Louis based commercial general contracting and construction management firm, there is no question of it. \"When construction comes back,\" she said, \"it will be green.\"','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(443,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Sign of the Times','none','economic, concrete, precast, Contech','none','<p>In a move reflecting new economic realities, here&rsquo;s an announcement from a concrete precaster that they are now requiring payment of one-third the purchase price in advance on all custom precast orders.</p>\n<p>Effective Feb. 1, Westchester, OH-based Contech Construction Products Inc. requires a deposit on all custom products.&nbsp; The deposit is one-third down at the time of order. The remaining two-thirds is due 30 days from the date of invoice. &nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;This new deposit policy allows CONTECH to continue to provide the best service to our customers and to ensure that we can continue to meet and exceed their needs,&rdquo; said Steve Spanagel, president of Sales for CONTECH.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />The policy affects non standard products which include but are not limited to: bridge products, detention systems, large diameter pipe, slotted drain, stormwater units and ArmorFlex.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','In a move reflecting new economic realities, here’s an announcement from a concrete precaster that they are now requiring payment of one-third the purchase price in advance on all custom precast orders.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(444,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Three Energy/Sustainability Firms Form Consortium','none','Salian, Architectural Design Guild, Energy Solutions, EDG, Energy Design Group','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.edg-stl.com\">Energy Design Group</a> (EDG) was recently formed in response to the growing demand for energy efficient buildings. The group is a consortium of firms made up of Architectural Design Guild, Energy Solutions, Inc. and Salian Commercial, LLC.</p>\n<p>Architectural Design Guild has LEED accredited professionals in the areas of architecture, mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineering and interior design. Their role on the team is to provide a range of services from design to construction administration. By integrating engineering with architectural functions inhouse, there are fewer discrepancies and the work can be performed in less time and with less cost.</p>\n<p>Energy Solutions started doing energy work in the mid 1970&rsquo;s.&nbsp; The firm performs energy audits and analysis to make sure that clients achieve maximum energy savings and return on investment. They approach each project as a unique set of circumstances and take a comprehensive view of what energy conservation measures can be best employed to accomplish our client&rsquo;s goals.</p>\n<p>Salian provides construction management, LEED consulting, and cost estimating services. They work as part of the EDG team to implement the retrofit of existing facilities and build out new construction in an environmentally responsible manner.</p>\n<p>\"In the United States, 48% of energy and 76% of electricity is used by buildings. Energy Star estimates that at least 30% of that is wasted or not used efficiently,\" Karen Duree, LEED AP,&nbsp; sustainable construction manager for Salian, said.&nbsp; \"EDG will familiarize clients with the process of implementing energy conservation measures in existing and new facilities.</p>\n<p>\"Energy Design Group can work with building owners to accomplish this goal with zero impact to the existing budget,\" she stated. What EDG is offering is similar to an Energy Service Company (ESCO) in the services they provide. However, Duree explained, Energy Design Group is more appropriately called an ESCO-OP or Energy Service Cooperative.</p>\n<p>\"A main difference between EDG and an ESCO is that we don&rsquo;t limit our clients to just energy savings projects. With money saved from reduced energy use, and with \'net zero\' financing options, companies can invest in other infrastructure improvements. There are opportunities for governmental agencies and private facility owners to build and operate more sustainable or LEED certified buildings. Besides reducing your carbon footprint and saving energy costs, clients can create a healthier and more productive environment for their staff,\" Duree said.</p>\n<p>For additional information on EDG or their offerings, please contact Dan Sammartano, Salian Commercial, LLC, telephone 314-524-5846, ext. 2796. or email at <a href=\"mailto:dsammartano@salian.com\">dsammartano@salian.com</a>.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Three established players in the sustainablilty/energy efficiency field have formed a consortium','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(445,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Frost Electric Celebrates 100th Anniversary','none','Frost, Dooley, 100th Anniversary','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.frostelectric.com\">Frost</a>, a local leader in the electrical supply industry celebrated their 100th anniversary with a ribbon cutting and plaque presentation on Feb. 12, inside their new sales center.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Dooley and Frost\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"257\" src=\"/images/uploads/Dooley-and-Frost.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"250\" />The event kicked off at 11a.m. with Jeff Frost, executive vice president, speaking about Frost&rsquo;s history and their dedicated service to the St. Louis and metropolitan communities. In recognition of this historic milestone Saint Louis County Executive, Charlie Dooley and Maryland Heights President pro-tem, Dan Johnson congratulated Frost with a proclamation and plaques. The ceremony concluded with Jeff Frost and the Maryland Heights Chamber of Commerce honoring the grand opening of the new Sales Center with a ribbon cutting.</p>\n<div class=\"Normal\" id=\"dnn_ctr551_HtmlModule_HtmlModule_lblContent\">\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<h4><br /></h4>\n<h4>County Executive Charlie Dooley and Jeff Frost</h4>\n<p>During 100th anniversary year,&nbsp; the company marked three generations of the Frost family in the business by building the new sales center and undertaking a rebranding which moved the company from \"Frost Electric\"&nbsp;&mdash; its name for a century &mdash; to a new brand identity as \"Frost\".</p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our new branding captures our electrical heritage, but also\nreflects Frost&rsquo;s additional areas of expertise beyond what has\nhistorically been found at an electrical distributor,&rdquo; said Jeff Frost. &ldquo;We are moving forward with the\n&lsquo;Frost&rsquo; name, only, since we offer our customers so much more than just\nelectrical supplies.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>Frost has spent the last year researching the industry and evaluating opportunities for future growth.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;It became evident there was an opportunity to become an industry\nleader by evolving the traditional distributor business model to one\nmuch more consultative and service-oriented,&rdquo; said Frost President John\nFrost.</p>\n<p>The new Frost Sales Center, located at the company&rsquo;s Maryland\nHeights headquarters, opened for business on Dec. 1, 2008 and boasts an\nenvironment more typically found at a retail store vs. the traditional\nbranch counter.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have completely changed the standard of what a branch location\noffers and how products are presented to the customers,&rdquo; said Lori\nMillner, Frost&rsquo;s head of marketing. &ldquo;Our new Sales Center allows\ncustomers to physically see, touch and try our products in action, plus\nbe able to consult with an expert on the premises about any questions\nthat they may have about those products. This unique approach sets a\nnew benchmark for both Frost and the industry.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>Another unique aspect of the Sales Center is its new &ldquo;T.E.C.&rdquo; Center\nthat is a separate part of the Sales Center wholly dedicated to\n&ldquo;training, educating and consulting&rdquo; with customers.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;We wanted to provide our customers with an area where they could\nreap the full benefits of our in-house experts in areas not usually\nfound at a branch location,&rdquo; said Jeff Frost. &ldquo;This includes the\naddition of a certified lighting consultant, safety, firestop &amp;\nsystems engineers, as well as a Sales Center manager wholly dedicated\nto serving everyone who walks in the door.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>The Frost T.E.C. Center features a state-of-the-art, energy-savings\nlighting plan, industrial and automation controls, voice and data\ndemonstrations, as well as provide a unique environment for customer\ntraining events.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;In the lighting portion of the T.E.C. Center, we can explain and\ndemonstrate the visible differences in how light sources render color,&rdquo;\nsaid Frost&rsquo;s Certified Lighting Consultant &amp; Account Manager\nClaudia Gabay-Jones. &ldquo;We can also demonstrate the visual effects\nproduced by the latest energy efficient lighting products in their\napplications, plus showcase various energy efficient lamp technology\nincluding T8, T5, Ceramic Metal Halide and LED lamps. We also have the\nlatest in emergency and exit sign technology on display, in addition to\nthe newest lighting control systems and occupancy and daylight sensors.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>Additionally, Frost has dedicated itself to providing customers with\nthe latest in environmentally friendly products and solutions through\nthe launch of its &ldquo;Green Choice&rdquo; program. Customers will be able to\neasily identify &ldquo;green&rdquo; products displayed at various locations\nthroughout the Sales Center.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;We want to make it easy for customers to find the green products\nthat they are looking for, while establishing ourselves as leaders in\nproviding energy efficient solutions,&rdquo; said Jeff Frost.</p>\n<p>Within the next year, Frost plans to apply much of its new Sales\nCenter model to its branch locations in St. Louis City; O&rsquo;Fallon and\nColumbia, MO; and Collinsville and Lebanon, IL.</p>\n</div>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Frost, a local leader in the electrical supply industry celebrated their 100th anniversary with a ribbon cutting and plaque presentation on Feb. 12, inside their new sales center.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(446,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Mo. Highways Commission Awards Projects','none','MHTC, Missouri, highways, transportation, projects','none','<p>&nbsp;The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) awarded several&nbsp; St. Louis projects at its February meeting. Approximately $14.6 million was awarded to contractors for various roadway improvement projects. All contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder. The projects include:<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Route 141 at Meramec Station Road over Grand Glaize Creek- Thisproject consists of bridge improvements at the Route 141 bridge at Meramec Station Road over Grand Glaize Creek. This project was awarded to Fred Weber Inc. (Maryland Heights, MO) for $239,115. This project is expected to begin in March 2009 and should be completed by June 2009.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull; Route 94 Outer Road and Route 40 Outer Road to Meadows Parkway-This project consists of resurfacing the Route 94 outer road from Zumbehl Road to Sherman Drive and from west of Zumbehl Road to the end of state maintenance, and on Route 40 outer road from the end of state maintenance to Meadows Parkway- Missouri Research Park roundabout. This project was awarded to N.B. West Contracting (St. Louis, MO) for $266,162.17. This project is expected to begin in March 2009 and should be complete by August 2009.<br /><br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull; Route D at Westport Plaza Drive- This project consists of bridge rehabilitation on the Route D (Page Avenue) bridge at Westport Plaza Drive overpass. This project was awarded to R.V. Wagner Inc. (St. Louis, MO) for $332,454.45. This project is expected to begin in March 2009 and should be complete by July 2009.<br /><br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull; Route 21 from south of new Route M to old Route M and north of Lake Lorraine to Route A, and Route 21 over Sandy Creek- This project<br />consists of pavement treatment on three disconnected sections on Route 21 from south of new Route M to old Route M and north of Lake Lorraine to Route A, and replacement of the bridge deck on Route 21 over Sandy Creek. This project was awarded to N.B. West Contracting (St. Louis, MO) for $1,165,351.50.&nbsp; This project is expected to begin in March 2009 and should be complete by July 2009.<br /><br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull; Route 94 from north of Route 370 to Route B- This project consists of resurfacing and widening for three lanes. This project was awarded to Pace Construction Company (St. Louis, MO) for $891,000.&nbsp; This project is expected to begin in March 2009 and should be complete by August&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2009.<br /><br />&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp; Route 47 on the Missouri River bridge in Washington- This project consists of bridge rehabilitation. This project was awarded to St. Louis Bridge (Arnold, MO) for $5,183,576.10. This project is expected to begin in March 2009 and should be complete by December 2009.<br /><br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp; Route MM from east of Geerdes to west of Miller Road and east of Sycamore Springs Road to west of Buckeye Valley Road- This project includes improvements with the vertical and horizontal alignments and adding shoulders and turn lanes at these locations.&nbsp; This project was awarded to Fred Weber Inc. (Maryland Heights, MO) for $6,523,990.&nbsp; This project is expected to begin in March 2009 and should be complete by October 2010.<br /><br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none',' The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) awarded several  St. Louis projects at its February meeting. Approximately $14.6 million was awarded to contractors for various roadway improvement projects. All contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(447,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Electrical Contractors Beef Up Engineering','none','electrical, engineering, green','none','<p>Whether it is because they want projects completed more quickly or they want to cut energy costs, more owners are calling on electrical contractors to get involved early during project design, and some contractors like it that way.<br /><br />PayneCrest Electric is one contractor that is doing a lot more electrical engineering as a basic part of its business. In eight years, PayneCrest&rsquo;s total business grew 30 percent, but the engineering staff grew eight-fold, from two engineers to 16, &ldquo;and we like it that way,&rdquo; aid David Payne, president of PayneCrest Electric. &ldquo;We get to control our own destiny and we get to make the drawings the way we like them,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />PayneCrest devoted seven engineers to the Lumiere Hotel and Casino project in downtown St. Louis. The company set up a 1,300-square-foot Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) center on-site and churned out more than 1,500 drawings to provide detailed coordination and accelerate the installation of complex, ever changing, electrical systems, which, in addition to basic electrical wiring, emergency back-up power, and fire alarm systems, also included data, surveillance and advanced video advertising systems.<br /><br />In preparation for its 35-day overhaul of the RT body shop at Chrysler&rsquo;s Fenton Plant to prepare it to make new minivan models, PayneCrest sent four engineers and field supervisors to Detroit for six weeks to the plant where the tool cells were manufactured, assembled and tested.&nbsp; The PayneCrest team recorded digital images of every linear foot of the new cells &ndash; inside and out, assisted in coding assembly and created an assembly package for each cell to ensure accurate assembly in Fenton. The company also performed pre-job engineering and planning to optimize demolition and installation efficiency. Because of the around-the-clock construction schedule involving other trades and contractors, power shutdowns were extremely complex and had to be precisely sequenced to accommodate all work.&nbsp; The schedule changed almost hourly, requiring PayneCrest to constantly redirect resources not only for demolition and installation but to coordinate temporary power and lighting to keep the project moving. <br /><br />At the Pfizer CV SUMP Generator and Power Distribution project in Chesterfield, MO, intense pre-planning also was necessary to comply with Pfizer&rsquo;s insistence on minimizing power outages coordinating them closely with other work to avoid disrupting on-going pharmaceutical research and development.<br /><br />&ldquo;We believe in doing our engineering on the site,&rdquo; Payne said. &ldquo;When we do that, we get to become the nerve center of the job and other trades huddle around our on-site engineering center to solve conflicts. Instead of having someone in Granite City and someone in South County and someone in Olivette trying to figure out how to get something built, we can walk out on the job and solve it,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br /><strong>Early Involvement for Faster Construction</strong><br /><br />In Payne&rsquo;s view, owners increasingly are embracing design/build in order move faster and pay less for engineering. &ldquo;Even if they are calling it design assist or they are saying they want you to bid on 70 percent complete drawings, it is really design/build,&rdquo; he said, and that is a trend that he sees growing. &ldquo;Look at InBev,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve greatly reduced Anheuser-Busch&rsquo;s engineering staff. I would bet that because of those cuts they are going to have to shift to design/build,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Dan Schaeffer, president of Schaeffer Electric Co., estimated that design/build projects have grown to represent half of his business, and their still growing, even though Schaeffer is not going out on the market as a design/build contractor, he said. Schaeffer Electric is under contract to BJC HealthCare, for example, to provide design/build services to power and install lighting and distribution equipment on four floors of the new Meridian development, located at Hanley Road and Highway 40 in Brentwood, MO.&nbsp; <br /><br />Schaeffer said the chief benefits of design/build are:<br /><br />&bull; Faster project completion.&nbsp; Because building owners are in direct communications with the electrical contractor, the design/build process offers a more streamlined approach to resolving design questions and issues.<br />&nbsp;<br />&bull; Cost savings.&nbsp; The design/build method passes a &ldquo;shell&rdquo; design of a building to electrical contractors who then use their expertise to implement the most energy and cost saving electrical design.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s a savings that is passed directly to the owner because the services are handled directly between the two parties.<br /><br />&bull; Owner options and better end results.&nbsp; The design/build process lends itself to greater communication between the owner and electrical contractor.&nbsp; In talks, both parties can discuss different options to best meet the needs of the owner &ndash; including energy efficient solutions.<br /><br />Schaeffer emphasized that effective design means bringing the electrical contractor in early to work with the architect and engineers, not in place of them. &ldquo;They will design around daylighting or task lighting, for example, and then we might say we can give them the same illumination (from lamps) for less or we can cut the cost of operating that system of illumination. If they are working with daylight harvesting, we can suggest the most effective controls for dimming artificial lighting on a bright day or brightening it on a dark day,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />&ldquo;It is important to get us involved early to avoid conflicts, especially with the HVAC,&rdquo; Schaeffer said. &ldquo;We need to know the electrical loads they will furnish so that we can coordinate and design the electrical system correctly. We have to get power to their system &ndash; it makes a big difference whether it is a big chiller or 10 rooftop units. And what might be more economical to install from the HVAC end, might be more expensive from the electrical end, so we can give the owner different options.&rdquo;<br /><br />Schaeffer&rsquo;s goal is to participate on &ldquo;win/win teams&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When the owner picks a compatible team, it turns out a smooth project,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br /><strong>Early Involvement for a &ldquo;Greener&rdquo; Project</strong><br /><br />Charles Pavalec, president of Bell Electrical Contractors, said owners interested in sustainability and not just speed definitely would get a better project if they involve the electrical contractor early on. &ldquo;In the LEED certification process there is a myriad of points for the different ratings, but in many cases there are tradeoffs between electrical, mechanical or plumbing. For example, you can get points for saving energy a certain amount above an ASHRAE standard or for the number of outside air changes, but those might be in conflict and you have to determine which you want. Having all of the professionals at the table in the beginning gives you a better idea of the costs associated with one path or another,&rdquo; he said. <br /><br />Pavalec knows whereof he speaks. Bell Electrical Contractors has been the electrical contractor on a number of &ldquo;green&rdquo; projects in the St. Louis area, including Washington University&rsquo;s Danforth Student Center, Solae Company&rsquo;s headquarters, the redevelopment of St. Louis Centre, and the John Burroughs Sports and Performing Arts Center. All are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified projects.<br /><br />Pavalec said that he thinks the future of construction is going to be &ldquo;green.&rdquo; Bell is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, which is the sponsor of the LEED program. In addition to taking on &ldquo;green&rdquo; projects, Bell incorporates energy-saving concepts and practices into other areas of its business. Bell recycles all of the worn-out florescent light bulbs and exterior lamps collected during the execution of the company&rsquo;s lighting maintenance contracts at an approved facility. The company also participates in Ameren UE&rsquo;s Pure Power program on the Leader Level. Pure Power is a voluntary program that gives AmerenUE electric customers the opportunity to support wind farms and other renewable energy facilities in the Midwest. &ldquo;That currently costs me more money, but in the long run using that renewable resource is good for the community and a good strategic move for Bell. This is not a fad from our end. We&rsquo;ve made a strategic initiative to work on green buildings,&rdquo; Pavalec said.<br /><br />Energy efficiency will be the number one thing that people look for in green buildings, he said. Some of the energy-saving concepts Bell incorporates into its &ldquo;green&rdquo; projects include designing lighting systems in a creative way so that the client will use less wattage per square foot, and the use of occupancy sensors. &ldquo;The architect and the whole team work together to make a green building happen,&rdquo; Pavalec said.<br /><br />Between federal leadership in the public sector and increasing pressures to cut costs in the private sector, the drive for more energy efficient buildings may be what pulls the United States out of recession, he said. On the private side, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ve seen the Home Depots, Lowes, and Targets get ahead of the curve and start doing energy retrofits 18 months to 2 years ago, and continue to improve upon them,&rdquo; Pavalec said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen a lot of RFPs from owners looking for green building knowledge and wanting to know what we can help them do to save energy,&rdquo; he said. On the public side, from former President George W. Bush&rsquo;s order to all federal agencies to reduce energy use by at least 30 percent from 2003 levels by 2015, to stimulus money for energy efficient retrofits to public buildings, to the new efficiency standards for lighting due out in June, government actions will create demand not just for installation services, but also for value-added consulting services to help building owners sort out their best options. Together, they foreshadow another wave of work for electrical contractors staffed to offer owners early advice on energy efficiency.</p>','none','Whether it is because they want projects completed more quickly or they want to cut energy costs, more owners are calling on electrical contractors to get involved early during project design, and some contractors like it that way.\n','none','','none','','none','','none',286,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(448,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Equipment Dealers Share Contractors\' Pain','none','equipment, dealers, contractors','none','<p>The Association of Equipment Manufacturers, a global trade body comprising manufacturers of heavy equipment, paints a bleak picture of the U.S. and global heavy equipment markets. The overall economic slowdown, coupled with falling prices in the housing market and the collapse of major financial institutions, has affected sales of new construction equipment across all product categories. Local equipment dealers are doing what they can to help contractors survive these tough times. They see themselves as partners with their customers instead of competitors.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Eqiupment\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/equipment.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" /><br /><br />&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to think out of the box,&rdquo; said Scott Clark, sales manager for Erb Equipment. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve designated someone in house at each location to make personal phone calls to our customers. We&rsquo;ve gotten a little liberal on payment terms and we&rsquo;ll work on lowering someone&rsquo;s interest rate.&rdquo;<br /><br />Contractors are not just scaling back equipment purchases, however, some are putting equipment back on the market. Anyone with a fleet of equipment and little work has a bunch of assets that aren&rsquo;t making any money. If a contractor is still making payments on that equipment, he&rsquo;ll have a negative cash flow and he will feel pressure to sell the equipment to remedy that cash flow problem. Clark said the result of that pressure is notable at equipment auctions, which had a 15 percent increase in volume in 2008, mostly from people who needed to unload their equipment.<br /><br />&ldquo;If a contractor wants out (of a contract to buy a piece of equipment), we&rsquo;ll work with him on a case-by-case scenario,&rdquo; Clark said. &ldquo;We can advertise to sell it on our web site, or if we see a market for that piece of equipment, we will go ahead and buy it from him. Sometimes, when we talk to a contractor, we can show him that it makes more sense to sell an older piece of equipment or trade out for something less expensive than what he has, which reduces his payments but allows him to stay in a piece of equipment. <br /><br />&ldquo;We try to tailor our recommendation to a contractor&rsquo;s own circumstances,&rdquo; Clark said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done quite a few trades and consignments.&rdquo;<br /><br />William Mitchell, general manager of Roland Machinery, said his company also was seeing some customers want to get out of the new equipment they had recently purchased. &ldquo;We help them to try and sell it, but the big problem right now is finding a buyer,&rdquo; he said. What they have to watch out for is selling their equipment for less than its value, he said.<br /><br />More commonly, Mitchell said, he is seeing customers put off decisions to buy equipment while they wait to see if Congress approves a stimulus bill that gets projects going. In the meantime, they&rsquo;ll rent what they need.<br /><br />Ray Jost, branch manager for Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc., said he has seen some contractors cut their capital budgets, but he added that many others are waiting. &ldquo;The U.S. has always recovered from recession, it is just a question of how quickly it will recover this time. Some contractors are delaying making decisions on their capital budgets until they see if something is going to happen with the stimulus package,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. is a full-service equipment dealer that rents, sells, and repairs construction equipment. Business has slowed overall, but it was a needed respite for crane builders, Jost said. &ldquo;Crane manufacturers had such a backlog of orders that they are now just getting caught up,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Jeff Budrovich, president of Budrovich Inc., agreed. &ldquo;A year ago it was hard to get crane equipment. We still have some cranes back ordered,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Rentals are holding strong as some companies turn to long-term rentals as an alternative to buying, Mitchell said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re seeing people lease at long-term rates, such as six months, because the rates are lower than for a 30-day rental,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />When everything in the economy seemed to be growing, many contractors wanted to own whatever equipment they used because equipment was the only serious physical asset in their business. Acquiring equipment bumped up their borrowing and bonding capacity, so it not only added to their physical ability to take on jobs, it added to their financial ability to take on work, too. <br /><br />Nowadays, smart contractors are evaluating their equipment in terms of what they historically used in order to determine what equipment and how big a fleet they absolutely need and how renting can help them through peaks and special needs &ndash; a strategy made possible by the great availability and quality of rental equipment.<br /><br />Although such strategies maybe buoying the rental market, Dan Martino, St. Louis branch manager for Midwest Aerials, said, &ldquo;I always think it is better to rent than to buy because there is so much you have to do to maintain equipment according to ANSI guidelines and the inspections and recordkeeping.&rdquo;<br /><br />Budrovich&rsquo;s rental business is holding steady on the strength of heavy industrial work in the area. They have cranes at Holcim&rsquo;s new cement plant in Ste. Genevieve, MO and at several energy projects, including ConocoPhillips in Wood River, IL and Peabody&rsquo;s Prairie State Energy Campus in Washington County, IL. Budrovich said his company snags a lot of big industrial work because they can provide bigger cranes than their competitors, all with highly skilled operators.<br /><br />&ldquo;Last year was a record year for us and we&rsquo;re looking to build on it for &rsquo;09,&rdquo; Budrovich said. &ldquo;Our fiscal year starts in September and our revenue in our first quarter was up 20 percent from last year,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />While the rental business remains strong, Martino said he has seen a surge in service work, too. &ldquo;We have a company called MAE Parts and Services that maintains customer-owned equipment and we have seen a big increase in customers&rsquo; wanting to make their equipment last longer, so much so that we don&rsquo;t have a one-day turnaround anymore. <br /><br />&ldquo;People aren&rsquo;t ready to toss a piece out and make it garbage over a few parts anymore,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Contractors have to be careful, however, that they don&rsquo;t hold onto old, obsolete equipment simply because it is paid off. There comes a point where the maintenance can become more expensive than the equipment is worth. In today&rsquo;s market one can get a great deal on a modern piece of equipment of similar size to an old piece, but which will be more efficient and will put a contractor in a better position to bid on a job with emissions criteria. Air pollution regulations here are not as strict as in California, but changes are coming.<br /><br />&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve already seen some bid documents that require that the contractor&rsquo;s equipment must be compliant with Tier III engines, mostly for indoor jobs,&rdquo; Clark said. As tighter regulations and &ldquo;green&rdquo; construction practices spread, &ldquo;we will see more of that,&rdquo; he said. Indeed, contractors on Illinois projects could labor under California-like emissions rules in as little as four years from now.<br /><br />Stricter national rules for new truck and equipment engines &ndash; called Tier IV rules &ndash; are due to take effect in 2011. &ldquo;Deere is requiring us to learn Tier IV engines now,&rdquo; Clark said. &ldquo;Deere is ahead of the game and we&rsquo;ll probably see certain models with Tier IV engines in a year. It will be a slow phase in, but Deere requires that all of a dealer&rsquo;s sales, service, and parts people pass tests, and the dealer stock parts and tools, before it can sell Deere&rsquo;s Tier IV equipment,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />The big question for many companies is: what will happen as current big jobs end if the recession continues into 2010 or 2011?<br /><br />&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve heard so much talk about infrastructure work, if they spend money on roads and bridges, that will help us,&rdquo; said Budrovich. &ldquo;But the biggest thing that would help our industry is getting home sales back on their feet. We have a lot of new competitors from people who used to do residential work. If we could re-inflate the housing market to keep them busy, it would help all of us,&rdquo; he said.</p>','none','The Association of Equipment Manufacturers, a global trade body comprising manufacturers of heavy equipment, paints a bleak picture of the U.S. and global heavy equipment markets. The overall economic slowdown, coupled with falling prices in the housing market and the collapse of major financial institutions, has affected sales of new construction equipment across all product categories. Local equipment dealers are doing what they can to help contractors survive these tough times. They see themselves as partners with their customers instead of competitors.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/equipment.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(449,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','28 GCs, 1,100 Attendees at ASA Expo','none','ASA, general contractors, Kemp, Expo','none','<p>The American Subcontractors Association-Midwest Council hosted the 7th Annual Meet the GCs Expo on January 28, 2009 at the Kemp Auto Museum from 3:30 p.m. &ndash; 8:00 p.m. Twenty-eight general contractors participated with booths.&nbsp; <img alt=\"Brinkmann Clayco\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"168\" src=\"/images/uploads/brinkmann-clayco.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"250\" />A record\nnumber of subcontractors, suppliers and vendors attended the event,\nwith nearly 1,100 people participating.&nbsp;</p>\n<h4>The ASA GC Expo was held at the kemp auto museum.<br /></h4>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p><img alt=\"ASA Expo\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"157\" src=\"/images/uploads/asa-expo.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"300\" />\"We believe that the attendees benefitted from this networking in a very tough economic climate,\" Michael Fogarty Jr., ASA council president, said.<br /><br />The Expo is an event for subcontractors, vendors and supplies to meet general contractors.&nbsp; It is set up like a trade show where guests can mingle with general contactors they currently do business with or get reacquainted if they have worked together in the past.&nbsp; One of the prime benefits is the opportunity for ASA members and general contractors to meet each other and discuss the potential for business relationships.&nbsp; Networking with other subcontractors is also a strong purpose for attendance.&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The American Subcontractors Association-Midwest Council hosted the 7th Annual Meet the GCs Expo on January 28, 2009 at the Kemp Auto Museum from 3:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Twenty-eight general contractors participated with booths.  A record number of subcontractors, suppliers and vendors attended the event, with nearly 1,100 people participating. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(450,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','Sub-subcontractor Gets Day in Court, Not Arbitration','none','Keller, subcontractor, Interface, LPS, arbitration','none','<p>The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that a sub-subcontractor will be able to proceed in court rather than arbitration on its claim for unpaid money for renovation work at a federal building in St. Louis.&nbsp; The sub-subcontractor, Lighting and Power Services, Inc (LPS), had a contract through general contractor Interface Construction Corp. (Interface) to renovate portions of this building.&nbsp; <br /><br />The case is <em>United States of America v. Interface Construction Corp.,</em> 2009 WL 196362 (C.A.8 (Mo.)), decided January 29.&nbsp; The general contractor, Interface Construction Corporation (Interface), moved in the district court to compel arbitration based on the contract that its subcontractor, Henderson Electrical Systems, LLC (Henderson) had with LPS. Under this contract, Henderson gave LPS written notice to proceed with providing labor for electrical work on the project.&nbsp; Henderson&rsquo;s proposal to Interface for this work was for $237,760 and stated that this proposal was to be made an attachment to its sub-contract with LPS.&nbsp; <br /><br />Interface entered into its prime contract with the United States and Western Surety issued a payment bond required by the Miller Act in favor of all subcontractors having a direct relationship with Interface or its subcontractors, which included LPS. The Miller Act is a federal statute that requires a contractor that works on a federal building or property to post a bond to ensure payment to its subcontractors.&nbsp; This is to allow subcontractors to recover against the bond if the contractor does not pay them. That is what happened here.&nbsp; <br /><br />The Miller Act is designed to replace a lawsuit to enforce a mechanic&rsquo;s lien.&nbsp; Contractors and subcontractors cannot file a mechanic&rsquo;s lien on federal property because of a public policy against allowing them to foreclose upon and possibly own federal property.&nbsp; Instead, they can recover against this bond that the Miller Act requires the general contractor to obtain.&nbsp; <br /><br />LPS sued the bond company, Western Surety, and Interface under the Miller Act after requesting but not receiving payment for $98,516. LPS also stopped work on the project. Interface argued that LPS could not sue, but must arbitrate is Miller Act claim instead.<br /><br />Interface and Henderson had signed a standard agreement subcontract form, AIA Document A401-1997.&nbsp; As far as the Eighth Circuit could tell, the subcontract did not refer to LPS and LPS&rsquo;s proposal to Henderson was not attached to the subcontract. Nor was there any written agreement to arbitrate between LPS and Henderson.<br /><br />The subcontract between Interface and Henderson, however, did contain a requirement for binding arbitration with the American Arbitration Association.&nbsp; LPS argued that it never agreed to arbitrate its Miller Act claim.&nbsp; Interface argued that LPS was required to arbitrate given the statement that its proposal to Henderson was to be made an attachment to Henderson&rsquo;s subcontract with Interface and was to incorporate by reference the terms of Henderson&rsquo;s subcontract with Interface.&nbsp; One of those terms was binding arbitration.<br /><br />Ironically, the party that referenced an arbitration provision in its proposal&mdash;sub-subcontractor LPS&mdash;contended that its proposal was not binding agreement to arbitrate.&nbsp; The general contractor, who was not directly a party to the sub-subcontract, argued that it was. <br /><br />The court concluded that Interface could not succeed on its claim that LPS had incorporated binding arbitration into its contract.&nbsp; First, the incorporation could not legally exist as the contract to which this incorporation was to attach&mdash;the contract requiring a payment bond&mdash;did not yet exist at that the time the proposal was made.&nbsp; <br /><br />The Eighth Circuit reaffirmed that a court&mdash;not an arbitrator&mdash;decides whether the parties have agreed to arbitration.&nbsp; Since LPS sued only under the Miller Act, and did not assert an additional claim for breach of contract, LPS was not seeking any direct relief under its sub-subcontract.&nbsp; Thus, any reference in its contract or proposal to arbitration was not applicable or determinative of its Miller Act claim.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /><br />The Eighth Circuit also rejected Interface&rsquo;s equitable estoppel argument.&nbsp; Interface argued that it would be inequitable to allow LPS to pursue a breach of contract claim without enforcing the arbitration provision in that same contract. The court held that the only claim LPS was pursuing was a claim under the Miller Act&mdash;a federal statute&mdash;and this claim was independent of any breach of contract claim.&nbsp; Thus, this claim was not bound by any contract requirement for arbitration, even if one otherwise existed.&nbsp; Further, a Miller Act claim could proceed against the bonding company without regard to Interface&rsquo;s fault.&nbsp; <br /><br /><br /></p>','','287','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that a sub-subcontractor will be able to proceed in court rather than arbitration on its claim for unpaid money for renovation work at a federal building in St. Louis.  The sub-subcontractor, Lighting and Power Services, Inc (LPS), had a contract through general contractor Interface Construction Corp. (Interface) to renovate portions of this building. ','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(451,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Missouri Growth Association Announces Awards','none','Missouri Growth Association, awards ','none','<p>The Missouri Growth Association (MGA) has announced the winners of its annual awards, to be presented at a Feb. 26 luncheon.&nbsp; The 2009 Community Betterment Awards will be presented to Forest Park Forever and Denny Coleman.&nbsp; The Eads Award honorees are Lewis Levey and Donald Klingler.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;<br />MGA\'s Community Betterment Awards annually honor an individual and an organization for significant contributions made to benefit Missouri\'s economy, region and commercial real estate industry.&nbsp; Winners are selected by industry peers. <br />&nbsp;<br />The Eads Awards were founded in 2004 to recognize innovators and pioneering leaders who defined and established industry standards, including new business methods that transformed the commercial real estate industry.<br />&nbsp;<strong><br />Forest Park Forever - Community Betterment Award Winner</strong><br />Dee Joyner, Board Chair Elect, will accept the honor for Forest Park Forever at the event. Forest Park Forever was founded by the City of St. Louis and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry not only to preserve the park grounds but also to enhance its value as one of the country\'s premier urban parks.<br />&nbsp;<br />In 2003, the Master Plan improvements totaling $94 million concluded with much success and catapulted&nbsp; St. Louis as the national model for urban park renewal through a Public-Private Partnership. Forest Park Forever recently adopted a 2009 Strategic Plan for the continued sustainability of the beloved park that brings such pride and joy to the citizens of St. Louis. Learn more at <a href=\"http://www.forestparkforever.org \">www.forestparkforever.org&nbsp;</a> . <br /><strong>&nbsp;<br />Denny Coleman - Community Betterment Award Winner</strong><br />For 25 years, Denny Coleman has shaped positive economic development throughout St. Louis County.&nbsp; President and CEO of the St. Louis County Economic Council for 18 years, Coleman\'s reaching influence has extended to a number of major regional projects, including NorthPark, Express Scripts, Pfizer, the Edward Jones Dome expansion and Union 70.&nbsp; Further, Coleman also serves as Treasuer and member of the Governance Committee for International Economic Development Council.<br />&nbsp;<br />Coleman serves on a number of Boards, including the Urban Land Institute,&nbsp; St. Louis Sports Commission and Bridges Foundation. Also, he was vice president of Community Development of Mercantile Bank (now U.S. Bank) when the division received the National Fair Housing Award and Private Sector Initiatives Award from the White House.<br />&nbsp;<br /><strong>Lewis Levey - Eads Award Winner</strong><br />As Chairman of Enhanced Value Strategies since 1998, Lewis Levey provides strategic real estate consulting and advisory services to both private and institutional owners.&nbsp; He was among the first to recognize the importance of the bio-tech/life sciences industry to the St. Louis Community and serves as a Board member and President of Real Estate for CORTEX, a 2007 Community Betterment Award Winner. <br />&nbsp;<br />Levey was a founder and Managing Partner/Director of Paragon Group, Inc. that, until it merged with Camden Property Trust (CPT, NYSE) in 1997, was a fully integrated, self-managed Real Estate Investment Trust operating a near-billion-dollar real estate investment portfolio located in 18 different states. Although Paragon Group&rsquo;s activities reached from coast to coast, local developments included Gateway One on the Mall, Magna Place and Westgate Village. <br />&nbsp;<br />Levey also previously served on a number of prestigious Boards such as the Urban Land Institute, Grand Center, the St. Louis Sports Commission and Washington University Olin School of Business. <br />&nbsp;<br /><strong>Donald Klingler - Eads Award Winner</strong><br />Posthumously honored, Donald Klingler left his legacy on St. Louis as one of the country\'s first pioneers of \"mixed-use development.\" Klingler spent 25 years with White Company where he was integral to the 1970 development of West Port Plaza. He continued through the 1970s and 1980s as a leader of commercial real estate in the region. During his life, Klingler remained an active and passionate community member supporting St. Louis Children\'s Hospital, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and his alma mater, Normandy High School.<br />&nbsp;<br />Klingler\'s family will accept the 2009 Eads Award. Klingler\'s wife Katie, sons Donald and Jim, and daughter Kathy will be among the recipients.<br />&nbsp;<br />MGA is a statewide trade alliance advancing public policy for the commercial real estate industry. Comprised of commercial property owners, managers and developers, MGA is increasingly more proactive in shaping industry-specific state and local public policy.&nbsp; Formed in 1985, MGA&rsquo;s mission vows to support or oppose initiatives at the state and municipal levels that affect the commercial real estate industry and to ensure greater equity between commercial and residential interests at the legislative level.&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Missouri Growth Association (MGA) has announced the winners of its annual awards, to be presented at a Feb. 26 luncheon.  The 2009 Community Betterment Awards will be presented to Forest Park Forever and Denny Coleman.  The Eads Award honorees are Lewis Levey and Donald Klingler.  ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(454,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','A.C.T. Metal Deck Opens San Antonio Center','none','A.C.T., San Antonio, metal deck','none','<p>A.C.T. Metal Deck Supply has announced the opening of its 11th distribution center, in San Antonio, TX.<br /><br />With its newly added warehouse, A.C.T. Metal Deck Supply increases its network of distribution centers which include:&nbsp; Chicago, IL; Indianapolis, IN; St. Louis, MO; Kansas City, MO; Fort Worth, TX; Knoxville, TN; Greensboro, NC; Jacksonville, FL; Columbus, OH; and Birmingham, AL.<br /><br />A.C.T. Metal Deck Supply stocks the metal deck and metal deck accessories in all types, gauges, and finishes.&nbsp; From roofs to floors, mezzanines and canopies, as well as shelving, we have what&rsquo;s needed to get the job done.&nbsp; <br /><br />\'Our distribution centers allow us to meet metal deck needs with lower costs, tighter turnaround times and better service overall,\" Carm Termini, marketing director for A.C.T. said.&nbsp; \"We also maintain relationships with many carriers, insuring prompt delivery anywhere in the country or internationally.\"</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','A.C.T. Metal Deck Supply has announced the opening of its 11th distribution center, in San Antonio, TX.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(455,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Holland Completes Fox Meadows Supportive Living','none','Fox Meadows, supportive living','none','<p>Holland Construction Services, Inc. recently completed Fox Meadows supportive living facility in McLeansboro, IL.</p>\n<p>Randy Dauby, president of Fox Meadows, said the need for a facility of this type for adults aged 65 and older was determined in 2001.a&nbsp; &ldquo;Holland Construction did a super job,&rdquo; Dauby said. &ldquo;The company is very business-oriented and timely. Even though the project lost 35 days to rain, it was still completed on time.&rdquo;</p>\n<p>The $4 million, 30,430-square-foot Fox Meadows offers 41 studio and one-bedroom apartments, central full-service kitchen and dining room, and kitchenettes within individual apartments.</p>\n<p>Blair Minton and Associates, Inc. will manage Fox Meadows.&nbsp; Gleason Architects, P.C. of Sugar Grove, Ill. provided architectural services on Fox Meadows.&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Holland Construction Services, Inc. recently completed Fox Meadows supportive living facility in McLeansboro, IL.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(456,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','January Home Starts Decline 10.2 Percent','none','','none','<p>Newly reported data from the U.S. Commerce Departmentindicates that sales of newly built, single-family homes fell 10.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000 units in January, which is a new record low.<br /><br />\"As disturbing as this report sounds, there is reason to believe that some potential home buyers may have purposely delayed action in January as they<br />waited to see how details of the President\'s economic stimulus plan could affect a home purchase,\" said Joe Robson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Tulsa, Okla.</p>\n<p>\"Now that those details are known - particularly those relating to the new first-time home buyer tax credit and higher loan limits for government-backed mortgages - we are hopeful that many buyers will be looking to take advantage of them in the coming months.\"<br /><br />\"Clearly, the downward pressures that have been exerting themselves on the housing market remain in place, including the weakened economy, ongoing job losses and very low consumer confidence,\" said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. \"But as more home buyers find out about the newly enhanced tax credit, and other parts of the economic stimulus package start kicking in, we expect to see some firming effect on home sales. The hope is that a certain amount of pent-up demand will be released as those who were in a wait-and-see\' mode decide they now have the information they need to<br />proceed.\"<br /><br />Home builders continued to do a good job of reducing their inventories in January, with the number of new homes on the market falling for a 21st consecutive month to 342,000 units. However, due to the historically slow sales pace, the months\' supply continued to rise for a fourth consecutive<br />month, to 13.3.<br /><br />Three out of four regions posted declining new-home sales in January. Sales fell 5.6 percent in the Midwest, 6.5 percent in the South and 28 percent in<br />the West. The Northeast was only exception to the rule, registering a 12.5 percent gain for the month.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Newly reported data from the U.S. Commerce Departmentindicates that sales of newly built, single-family homes fell 10.2 percent\nto a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000 units in January, which is a new record low.\n','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(457,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Friday the 13th: Your Day to be a Winner ','none','CNR, Regional Excellence Awards, nominations','none','<p><em>St. Louis Construction News &amp; Real Estate</em> (CNR) is seeking nominations for its 20th annual \"Regional Excellence Awards\". The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 13th.</p>\n<p><img class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/awards_1.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />This year\'s award presentations will be very special,\" Publisher Tom Finan said. \"It is the 20th year that we have presented the awards, and it is also the 40th year for<em> CNR</em>.&nbsp; We plan an especially memorable program event this year.\"</p>\n<p>The\nstated purpose of the awards is to recognize\nprojects completed in the last year that \"in sum, demonstrate\nexcellence in design, excellence in construction, and a positive\ncontribution to the St. Louis community.\" Awards are presented to the\ndesigner the general contractor/construction manager, and the owner for\neach project.</p>\n<p>The winning entries are selected by a distinguished panel of judges from the design, construction, academic, and labor communities, plus the editor and publisher of <em>CNR</em>.</p>\n<p>To download an entry form in Microsoft Word format, <a href=\"/blogfiles/awards.doc\">click this link.</a></p>\n<p><iframe id=\"AnswersBalloonIframe\" src=\"javascript:;\" style=\"border: medium none; z-index: 99998; position: absolute; width: 490px; height: 306px; visibility: hidden; background-color: transparent; top: 293px; left: 460px; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 10px;\"></iframe></p>\n<div id=\"AnswersBalloon\" style=\"width: 490px; position: absolute; visibility: hidden; z-index: 99999; text-align: left; top: 269px; left: 460px;\">\n<div id=\"AnswerTipHook\" style=\"background-image: url(http://www.answers.com/main/images/hook-topL.gif); width: 67px; height: 24px; margin-left: 25px; position: relative; top: 10px;\"></div>\n<div class=\"AnswersHeader\">\n<div class=\"AnswersHeaderInner\" id=\"AnswersHandle0\" style=\"cursor: move;\">\n<div class=\"AnswersHeader1\"><a onclick=\"var ac = document.getElementById(\'answertipClose\'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML=\'close\'; else window.status=\'close\'; return true;\" style=\"float: right;\"><img align=\"top\" alt=\"Close\" border=\"0\" id=\"AnswersCloseImage\" src=\"http://www.answers.com/main/images/close.gif\" style=\"margin-right: 10px; position: relative; cursor: pointer;\" /></a><a id=\"AnswertipMore\" onclick=\"var ac = document.getElementById(\'answertipClose\'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML=\'close\'; else window.status=\'close\';return true;\" style=\"float: right; text-decoration: none; visibility: hidden; padding-right: 10px; margin-top: 9px; cursor: pointer;\" target=\"AnswersQueryWindow\"><span class=\"AnswersHeader3\">&nbsp;Read more &gt;&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></a><a id=\"AnswertipOptions\" onclick=\"var ac = document.getElementById(\'answertipClose\'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML=\'options\'; else window.status=\'options\';return true;\" style=\"float: right; text-decoration: none; padding-right: 10px; margin-top: 9px; cursor: pointer;\"><span class=\"AnswersHeader3\">&nbsp;Options &gt;&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></a></div>\n<div><a href=\"http://www.answers.com?initiator=FFANS\" style=\"float: left; cursor: pointer;\"><img align=\"top\" alt=\"Visit Answers.com\" border=\"0\" id=\"AnswersLogoImage\" src=\"http://www.answers.com/main/images/answers-logo.gif\" /></a></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"AnswersContentFrame\" id=\"Answers_frame\">\n<table class=\"donotmoveme\" id=\"Balloontable2\" style=\"width: 480px; float: left;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div id=\"Answertip\" style=\"overflow: hidden; height: 235px; width: 473px;\"></div>\n<div id=\"answertipClose\" style=\"display: none;\"></div>\n<br /></td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n</div>\n<div class=\"AnswersFooter\" id=\"Answers_footer\">\n<div style=\"width: 471px; height: 22px; float: left;\"><iframe frameborder=\"0\" id=\"AnswersAds\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"http://www.answers.com/main/tip2.jsp?s=click%2520this%2520link.%2520%2520&amp;wt=1&amp;nafid=&amp;cobrand=\" style=\"border: 0px none; padding: 0px; width: 100%; height: 22px;\"></iframe></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>','none','St. Louis Construction News & Real Estate (CNR) is seeking nominations for its 20th annual \"Regional Excellence Awards\". The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 13th.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/regional-excellence.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(458,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Kwame Building Group Completes 1st Financial','none','1st Financial Federal Credit Union, Kwame','none','<p><a href=\"http://www.kwamebuildinggroup.com\">Kwame Building Group</a> (KWAME) of St. Louis has completed work as construction manager and owner representative on new corporate headquarters and branch for 1st Financial Federal Credit Union, in Wentzville.<br />&nbsp;<br />The 23,000-square-foot two-story building features an atrium lobby with a children&rsquo;s corner, an employee break room/kitchen, a patio balcony overlooking the main entrance and a large training room for community seminars. Branch features include five walk-up teller stations, four drive-through lanes and a drive-up ATM. The new building serves as corporate headquarters for the credit union&rsquo;s executive staff, accounting, collections, marketing, business services, human resources and compliance departments.<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;We were pleased to manage this construction project, the first new structure that 1st Financial has built in 20 years,&rdquo; said Dave Sampl, vice president operations for Kwame Building Group. &ldquo;We delivered the project on-budget despite rising costs for construction materials.&rdquo; KWAME recommended cost-efficient alternatives such as an ArcuStone decorative limestone coating for the building exterior and concrete instead of asphalt for the parking lot.<br />&nbsp;<br />1st Financial Federal Credit Union is a full service financial institution with locations in St. Louis, St. Charles, Hazelwood, and Wentzville. The architect for the project was Tri Architects and the general contractor was United Construction, both of St. Louis.<br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Kwame Building Group (KWAME) of St. Louis has completed work as construction manager and owner representative on new corporate headquarters and branch for 1st Financial Federal Credit Union, in Wentzville.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(459,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Grubb & Ellis|Gundaker Announces  Transactions','none','Grubb & Ellis, commercial, real estate','none','<p>&nbsp;Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial, a local real estate services firm, announced the following transactions.</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don Worley of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented Dudley Miller in the sale of 280 acres of land at 344 Audrain Road in Mexico, Missouri to Rick Meyer of Meyer &amp; Company Real Estate.</li>\n<li>Vince Bajardi and Paul Zimny, CCIM of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented Jamieson Manufacturing Company, d/b/a Jamieson Fence in the lease of 9,000 square feet of industrial space at 801 Marshall Road in Valley Park, Missouri from 801 Marshall, LLC.</li>\n<li>John McDonald of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented APR, LLC in the purchase of 3,850 square feet of industrial space at 1060 Vondera Avenue in Union, Missouri from Envirotest Systems.Joe Allison, Dave Biales &amp; Andrea Aston of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented Minkler Properties in the sale of 16 multi-family units at 150 S. Durkin Drive in Springfield, Illinois to Paul &amp; Jacqueline Carey.</li>\n<li>Vince Bajardi of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented Fontbonne University in the lease of 34,000 square feet of office space at 1265-1300 Strassner Drive in Brentwood, Missouri from 1265-1300 Strassner Drive, LLC.</li>\n<li>Robert A. Busch, Esq. of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented The St. Louis Society for Children and Adults with Physical Disabilities in the lease of 3,675 square feet of office space at 1187 Corporate Lake Drive in St. Louis, Missouri from Tomorrow 32 Corporate Square L.P.</li>\n<li>David Biales, CCIM &amp; John McDonald of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented Holleran Duitsman Architects in the lease of 7,651 square feet of office space at 16150 Main Circle Drive in Chesterfield, Missouri from Central Park Square, Inc.</li>\n<li>David Biales, CCIM &amp; Andy Bagy of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented The Boulevard-St. Louis, LLC in the lease of 4,851 square feet of office space at 15 The Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri to Eye Care Associates of St. Louis, LLC.</li>\n<li>David Biales, CCIM &amp; Andy Bagy of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented The Boulevard-St. Louis, LLC in the lease of 3,808 square feet of office space at 17 The Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri to Retina Consultants Ltd.</li>\n<li>Don Worley of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented Peoples Savings Bank in the sale of 3,600 square feet of retail space at 602 Progress Parkway in Warrenton, Missouri.</li>\n<li>David Gitt of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented Risen Lord Community Church in the lease of 47,000 square feet of space at 1402 First Capitol Drive in St. Charles, Missouri from Ridgecrest Baptist Church.</li>\n<li>Rudy Stinnett and Paul Nagel of Grubb &amp; Ellis|Gundaker Commercial represented Lawrence W. Fick Revocable Living Trust in the sale of 41.43 acres of land at 120 N. Eatherton Road in Chesterfield, Missouri to Keller Williams Realty.</li>\n<li>Ingrid Long and Steve May represented Donald L. Cannon Trust in the sale of 2,125 square feet of office space at 4150 Crescent Drive in St. Louis, Missouri.</li>\n<li>John T. McDonald, Jr. represented VJH, Inc (Nail Lounge) in the lease of 1,843 square feet of retail space at 10417 Clayton Road in Frontenac, Missouri from Frontenac Grove, LLC.Josh Hibbits represented General Parts International (CarQuest) in the lease of 5,910 square feet of retail space at 1601 Washington Avenue in Alton, Illinois from TMAAB Washington Square, LLC.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none',' Grubb & Ellis|Gundaker Commercial, a local real estate services firm, announced the following transactions.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(460,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Geotechnology, Inc. Wins ACEC Award','none','Geotechnology, Inc., award, ACEC','none','<p>Geotechnology, Inc., a provider of consulting services in geotechnical and environmental engineering, materials testing and drilling, has won an Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)-Missouri for&nbsp; its evaluation of the project site for a new, 400,000-gallon elevated water storage tower for the City of Jackson, Missouri. Geotechnology&rsquo;s client was Horner &amp; Shifrin, Inc.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>The project presented two challenges:&nbsp; the tower had to be built near the existing water well and pump house, and the area had karst (underground voids) with an existing sinkhole located nearby. Geotechnology&rsquo;s engineers developed an interdisciplinary approach to these challenges.&nbsp; First, they performed a geophysical survey using the seismic reflection method to profile the subsurface and then used that data to perform \"smart borings\" in the locations where they were truly needed. The approach helped them identify higher quality bedrock, and avoid the karst features.&nbsp; The result was a simpler design for the tower, which was relocated away from the area most impacted by the karst, and a reduction in overall construction cost and performance risk.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Geotechnology, Inc., a provider of consulting services in geotechnical and environmental engineering, materials testing and drilling, has won an Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)-Missouri for  its evaluation of the project site for a new, 400,000-gallon elevated water storage tower for the City of Jackson, Missouri. Geotechnology’s client was Horner & Shifrin, Inc.   ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(461,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','EPA Accepts \"Smart Growth\" Award Nominations','none','Smart Growth, EPA, awards','none','<p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the eighth annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This competition is open to public-sector or private sector applicants that have used the principles of smart growth to create better places. Private-sector applicants are encouraged to submit applications for projects that demonstrate a significant public-private partnership.<br /><br />Smart growth development serves the economy, the community, and the environment. Smart growth approaches to development create clear environmental benefits, including improved air and water quality, preservation of critical habitat and open space, and more cleanup and re-use of brownfield sites.<br /><br />This year, applications will be accepted in five categories:<br /><br />- Built Projects:<br />- Policies and Regulations<br />- Smart Growth and Green Building<br />- Smart Growth Streets<br />- Overall Excellence in Smart Growth<br /><br />Interested parties are encouraged to submit applications for smart growth activities that have shown significant activity between April 23, 2004, and April 23, 2009. Successful applicants will have incorporated the principles of smart growth to create places that respect community culture and the environment, foster economic development, and enhance quality of life and public health.<br /><br />This year, the public sector winners will receive support for further implementing smart growth strategies in their communities. In addition, public sector winners will receive one complementary registration to the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in 2010.<br /><br />Applications are due on April 23, 2009. Up to five winners will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, DC in December 2009.<br /><br />For more details about the National Award for Smart Growth Achievement, including an application packet, visit:<br /><a href=\"http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards.htm\">http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards.htm</a></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the eighth annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This competition is open to public-sector or private sector applicants that have used the principles of smart growth to create better places. Private-sector applicants are encouraged to submit applications for projects that demonstrate a significant public-private partnership.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(462,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Subcontractors Lead Charge for Lien Reform','none','ASA, liens, legislators, Bill 595, Bill 267','none','<p>On Feb. 24 about 60 subcontractors representing various association converged on the Jefferson City to speak with legislators about legislation addressing the crisis in lien situations caused by the current economy.</p>\n<p><img alt=\"ASA lien lobbyists\" class=\"table-left\" height=\"205\" src=\"/images/uploads/legislative.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"300\" />Led by American Subcontractors Association (ASA) members from both St. Louis and Kansas City, the delegation included members from the SITE Improvement Association, Mason Contractors Association,&nbsp; Painting and Decorating Foundation, Independent Electrical Contractors of St. Louis, and&nbsp; the Wall and Ceiling Contractors Association.</p>\n<p>The contractors handed out ASA hardhats and talked to legislators about the importance of passing legislation to improve payment on construction projects.&nbsp; Both House Bill 595 and Senate Bill 267 would standardize lien waiver forms and allow for attorney fees to be reimbursed to a contractor who perfects its mechanics lien.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Compared to 2007, the average number of monthly liens above $1,000\nfiled through mid-November of 2008, was 14 percent higher in the city\nof St. Louis, 15 percent higher in St. Louis County and 48 percent\nhigher in St. Charles County, according to data compiled from public\nrecords by American City Business Leads.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','On Feb. 24 about 60 subcontractors representing various association converged on the Jefferson City to speak with legislators about legislation addressing the crisis in lien situations caused by the current economy.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(463,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Army Selects Walton for LEED Project at Fort Polk ','none','Army, Walton, LEED, Fort Polk','none','<p>The Department of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District has selected Walton Construction as general contractor on the - $182 million Fort Polk Barracks Realignment renovation project in Louisiana. Walton received &ldquo;notice to proceed&rdquo; from the contracting officer on January 29.&nbsp; Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2009, with completion targeted for October 2012. The architect is VOA Associates Incorporated, of Orlando, FL.<br /><br /><img alt=\"Fort Polk LEED barracks\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"182\" src=\"/images/uploads/FortPolk.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"244\" />Walton Construction will work to achieve Silver LEED certification on the Louisiana based barracks complex as part of a concerted effort by the USACE to cut energy use and create a healthier sustainable training environment.&nbsp; <br /><br />Walton will incorporate environmentally friendly design, recyclable materials and energy efficient products in the construction of the Fort Polk Barracks Complex. The project includes design and construction for renovation of 13 barracks, and four central energy plants that serve the 13 barracks and 57 other buildings.<br /><br />Contractor evaluations for military projects of this magnitude are based on past performance of cost and schedule growth as well as the contractor&rsquo;s safety and quality control programs, according to Steve Biederman, president of Walton Construction St. Louis.<br /><br />&ldquo;We&rsquo;re proud to know that this project award affirms the strengths and capabilities of our professionals at Walton Construction,&rdquo; said Biederman.&nbsp; &ldquo;We&rsquo;re also pleased to show support for our nation&rsquo;s military by creating a healthy living environment through the sustainable design and construction of their barracks at Fort Polk.&rdquo;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Department of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District has selected Walton Construction as general contractor on the - $182 million Fort Polk Barracks Realignment renovation project in Louisiana. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(465,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Boatman Joins SAK Construction','none','SAK, Boatman, trenchless, underground','none','<p>Eligie \"Jack\" Boatman of Mobile, AL., has joined the management team at SAK Construction LLC, a national pipeline rehabilitation and tunneling industries contractor headquartered in the St. Louis area. Based in Mobile, Boatman will manage SAK&rsquo;s business development efforts in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. SAK serves a variety of city, county and state agencies; industrial sectors; municipalities; and water and sewer cooperatives coast-to-coast.</p>\n<p>Boatman brings to SAK 13 years of experience in business management, community development, safety and training in the pipeline rehabilitation industry.&nbsp; His background also includes 27 years with McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Co., where he served in various engineering and upper management roles.&nbsp; Boatman holds a master&rsquo;s degree in management from Webster University and a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in electronic engineering from Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Ala. He also completed advanced studies in urban affairs at Saint Louis University. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>He has served in a number of humanitarian and community leadership roles in St. Louis.&nbsp; He served as a mentor at the St. Louis Boys &amp; Girls Club and garnered the &ldquo;Sheer Elegance Community Service Award&rdquo; from Mathews-Dickey Boys&rsquo; and Girls&rsquo; Club and the Sammy Davis Jr. &ldquo;Yes I Can&rdquo; award. The neighborhood alliance in Augusta, GA, recently honored Boatman with the establishment of the &ldquo;Jack Boatman Community Development Award&rdquo; that recognizes individuals who demonstrate outstanding community service.</p>\n<p>Boatman is a member of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and serves on the corporate advisory committee of the National Forum of Black Public Administrators (NFBPA). He also serves on the economic advisory committee for the City of Pritchard, AL &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Founded in 2006, SAK Construction is led by industry veterans Jerry Shaw, president; Tom Kalishman, chairman; and Robert Affholder, vice chairman. The three SAK leaders are known for their expertise in trenchless underground technology, including cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) rehabilitation.&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Eligie \"Jack\" Boatman of Mobile, AL., has joined the management team at SAK Construction LLC.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(466,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Commission to Urge Break With Fuel-Based Road Funding','none','highway, finance, fuel','none','<p><a href=\"http://financecommission.dot.gov/\">A bi-partisan Congressionally-created commission</a> will urge lawmakers to fundamentally shift the way the federal government collects revenues to fund transportation infrastructure. Culminating nearly two years of study and deliberation, the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission offered its consensus view and roadmap for sweeping reform of the nation\'s transportation infrastructure funding approach with the release of its final report Paying Our Way: A New Framework for Transportation Finance during a press<br />conference on Feb. 26. <br /><br />The Financing Commission will offer specific recommendations for addressing the significant and widening gap between federal investment and the nation\'s transportation infrastructure needs, while at the same time moving the federal government away from reliance on motor fuel taxes toward more direct fees charged to transportation infrastructure users. Charging vehicle drivers a mileage fee embodies the \"user pays\" principle and more accurately aligns the costs and benefits of the<br />surface transportation system to those who are using it. More transparent charges for using infrastructure may also spur drivers to use the system more efficiently, reducing the overall investment need.</p>\n<p>\"With the expected shift to more fuel efficient vehicles,\" said Robert Atkinson, the chair of the inancing Commission and president of the Information Technology and<br />Innovation Foundation, \"it will be increasingly difficult to rely on the gas tax to raise the funds needed to improve, let alone maintain our nation\'s surface transportation infrastructure.\"</p>\n<p>In Addition to a federal mileage based Charge, the Financing Commission calls for the federal government to Facilitate state and local governments\' ability to raise their share of needed revenues in ways that also spur efficient use of the system and stepped-up investment, including through tolling portions of roads and charging premiums for rush hour travel in heavily used urban corridors, so-called congestion pricing. The Financing Commission provides detailed recommendations for lawmakers to facilitate the effective use of private investment and to provide government credit support to assist in the financing of transportation infrastructure projects to stretch the federal government\'s limited resources.</p>\n<p>In order to support the transition from the gas tax to a mileage-based charge, the Financing Commission recommends a ten cent per gallon increase in the federal gas tax (15 cents for diesel) and indexing the tax to inflation going forward. The gas tax, which is not currently indexed to inflation, has lost 1/3 of its purchasing power since 1993, the last time the tax was increased. The Financing Commission has urged the federal government to act swiftly. While the nearly $40 billion in transportation infrastructure spending included in the stimulus package will be helpful, it the commission says it will cover only a very small share of the shortfall in highway and transit funding and will<br />not address the systemic crisis the nation faces in its surface transportation infrastructure investment.</p>\n<p>\"We must start transitioning to a new paradigm now,\" says Commissioner Mike Krusee \"If we don\'t start, we will never get there.\"</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','A bi-partisan Congressionally-created commission will urge lawmakers to fundamentally shift the way the federal government collects revenues to fund transportation infrastructure.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(467,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Construction Materials Prices Drop 0.3% in January','none','construction materials price index, Reed, ','none','<p>The construction materials price index fell 0.3% in January while\nthe price index for the whole economy rose for the second month, Reed Construction Data reported. This\nwas the fourth consecutive monthly decline. Sources for the data in Reed\'s price index include the Producer Price Index, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, Federal Reserve Board, and Census Bureau.</p>\n<p>\"The index is now at the\nyear ago level before the world wide commodity boom spiked prices in\nthe middle of 2008. Further declines in the overall construction price\nindex are possible but the expected trend into the fall is for a very\nmodest rise in the index. This will be a combination of further drops\nin energy and metal based products but progressive price firming in\nproducts that include more manufacturing labor,\" Reed reported.</p>\n<p>According to the report, energy prices have been stable and metal prices fell further from\nmid-January to mid-February when the survey for the next PPI report was\ntaken. Declining energy and metal prices have not yet fully been passed\nthrough to the prices of products manufactured from these commodities.\nThe final pass through, including into freight rates, will be the key\ndriver of weak materials pricing in the next few months.</p>\n<p>The most significant declines last month were 34% for copper ore,\n23% for asphalt (at the refinery), 7% for extruded aluminum, 5% for\nsteel pipe and 4% for plastic resins and structural steel. The asphalt\nprice drop will partially reverse when the additional $30 B for\nhighways begins to be spent later this year. &ldquo;Paving&rdquo; is the most\nshovel ready of any road project.</p>\n<p>There most significant price increases in January was 2.3% for\nready-mix concrete. Aggregates prices continue to increase, rising 1.3%\nin January. Also steel scrap prices rose 22% in January on top of a\nJanuary increase.</p>\n<p>\"But this is random noise in an extremely volatile\nmarket,\" Reed stated. \"Steel product prices are still declining. Recent scrap price\ntrends probably signal that the drop in steel product prices will be\nending soon.\"</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The construction materials price index fell 0.3% in January while the price index for the whole economy rose for the second month, Reed Construction Data reported. This was the fourth consecutive monthly decline. Sources for the data in Reed\'s price index include the Producer Price Index, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, Federal Reserve Board, and Census Bureau.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(504,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Community College Goes for (LEED) Gold','none','Community College, LEED Gold, KAI, Kwame','none','<p>Construction has begun on St. Louis Community College\'s new Harrison Education Center to achieve LEED Gold Certification. The new building will be located at 3140 Cass Avenue in north St. Louis City. <br />&nbsp;<br />KAI Design &amp; Build is providing project management; programming; architecture; mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering; interior design and cost estimating services on the $7.5 million project. Construction is expected to be completed in May 2010.&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;Sustainable design was a priority for the college&rsquo;s administration,&rdquo; said KAI Project Manager Melissa Kreishman, RA. &ldquo;The KAI staff has extensive experience in the design/build of LEED-certified educational facilities, so when St. Louis Community College officials asked us to design their new center for LEED Gold, we were thrilled.&rdquo;&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;<br />Environmentally-friendly elements incorporated into the Harrison Education Center&rsquo;s design include:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>A construction Indoor Air Quality monitoring plan</li>\n<li>Use of low-emitting materials</li>\n<li>Indoor chemical and pollutant source control</li>\n<li>Controllability of lighting and thermal control systems</li>\n<li>Daylight views for 90 percent of the space</li>\n<li>Energy efficient heating and cooling systems</li>\n<li>Use of recycled materials in the building&rsquo;s construction</li>\n<li>Alternative transportation options such as multiple bike racks and carpooling programs</li>\n</ul>\n<p><br />&ldquo;St. Louis Community College is committed to incorporating energy efficient and environmentally friendly concepts in all new construction, meeting the expectations of our students and citizens to demonstrate leadership in conservation and sustainability,&rdquo; said Lori Thompson, director of physical facilities, St. Louis Community College. <br />&nbsp; <br />The new 30,265-square-foot facility will serve 400-500 credit students and 4,500 continuing education students in the areas of environmental worker training, art, general science, small business entrepreneurship, automated office skills, healthcare and culinary arts. The two-story building will include an art studio, general science lab, multi-purpose community room, computer labs, classrooms, bookstore, commons area, outreach center and administrative offices. <br />&nbsp;<br />Designs for the center include a public entrance facing the corner of the site, emphasized by a transparent elevator tower; high-tech audio-visual equipment throughout; a large central atrium; and open seating areas on the second floor overlooking the atrium.<br />&nbsp;<br />Opened in 1994, the existing Harrison Education Center is located in the old Julia Davis Library building on Natural Bridge Road.<br />&nbsp;<br />Kwame Building Group of St. Louis is serving as construction manager and owner&rsquo;s representative on the project.<br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Construction has begun on St. Louis Community College\'s new Harrison Education Center to achieve LEED Gold Certification.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(505,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Alberici\'s Wind Turbine Glows Orange','none','Alberici, turbine, orange','none','<p>Alberici Constructors will be showing its colors during &ldquo;National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week&rdquo; on April 6-10 2009 by lighting up their 124&rsquo; wind turbine bright orange with energy-efficient LED lights as part of MoDOT&rsquo;s &ldquo;Operation Orange&rdquo;. <br /><br />&ldquo;Operation Orange&rdquo; is one of the ways MoDOT reminds motorists to drive safely in highway work zones, as we head into another busy highway construction season. Launched in 2007, &ldquo;Operation Orange&rdquo; is MoDOT\'s signature effort to highlight the need for safety in work zones by turning significant landmarks and other buildings orange.&nbsp; The wind turbine is one of more than 70 buildings and landmarks throughout the state that will be spotted orange to highlight the need to drive safely in areas of the highway where workers are performing maintenance and construction activities</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Alberici Constructors will be showing its colors during “National Work Zone Safety Awareness Weekâ€ on April 6-10 2009 by lighting up their 124’ wind turbine bright orange with energy-efficient LED lights as part of MoDOT’s “Operation Orangeâ€','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(483,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','TR,i Architects Opens Swansea Office','none','TR, i, Swansea','none','<p>TR,i Architects recently opened an Illinois office.&nbsp; Their new office is located at 28 Bronze Point North, Suite B, Swansea, IL&nbsp; 62226,&nbsp; 618.416.4707 (p);&nbsp; 618.416.4708(f).<br /><br />TR,i Architects is a full service architectural firm with headquarters located in St. Louis.&nbsp; In addition to providing basic architectural services, TR,i serves both public and private clients with a broad range of project types involving K-12, universities, municipal, commercial, industrial, hospitality and interiors.<br /></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','TR,i Architects recently opened an Illinois office.  Their new office is located at 28 Bronze Point North, Suite B, Swansea, IL  62226,  618.416.4707 (p);  618.416.4708(f).','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(482,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Architecture Billings Up From Historic Low','none','','none','<p>Following another historic low score in January, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) was up two points in February. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the February ABI rating was 35.3, up from the 33.3 mark in January, but still pointing to a general lack of demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry score was 49.5. <br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;Despite a higher score than last month, we are likely to see light demand for new construction projects through much of the year,&rdquo; said AIA chief economist Kermit Baker. &ldquo;There is hope that the stimulus bill will result in more project activity, but that is also dependent on banks easing lending standards in the months ahead. Still, the improvement in the inquiries index does provide hope that some stalled projects will resurface in the near future.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;<br /><strong>Key February ABI Highlights</strong><br /><strong>&nbsp;<br />Regional averages:</strong> West (36.4), South (35.5), Midwest (35.0), Northeast (32.3)<br /><strong>Sector index breakdown:</strong> mixed practice (40.1), institutional (36.8), multi-family residential (33.3), commercial / industrial (32.0)<br /><strong>Project inquiries index:</strong> 49.5 <br /><strong><br />About the AIA Architecture Billings Index</strong></p>\n<p><br />The Architecture Billings Index is derived from a monthly &ldquo;Work-on-the-Boards&rdquo; survey and produced by the AIA Economics&nbsp; Market Research Group. Based on a comparison of data compiled since the survey&rsquo;s inception in 1995 with figures from the Department of Commerce on Construction Put in Place, the findings amount to a leading economic indicator that provides an approximately nine- to 12-month glimpse into the future of nonresidential construction activity. The indexes contained in the full report are derived from a monthly survey sent to a panel of AIA member-owned firms. Participants are asked whether their billings increased, decreased, or stayed the same in the month that just ended. According to the proportion of respondents choosing each option, a score is generated, which represents an index value for each month.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Following another historic low score in January, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) was up two points in February. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(469,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Advisors Say Stimulus Helps, But Rough Times Still Ahead for Commercial','none','public works, conference, economists','none','<p>Public works will pick up some of the slack in a non-residential construction market gone completely south. But commercial construction may continue to suffer for some time to come, economists told those attending a New York conference on the ailing construction industry.</p>\n<p>&ldquo;The stimulus bill will certainly be shaping construction this\nyear,&rdquo; said Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs at\nMcGraw-Hill Construction. As a result, the public works sector will be\nthe &ldquo;saving grace of construction&rdquo; in 2009 and 2010, Murray said.\nMurray spoke at the McGraw-Hill &ldquo;Managing Construction&rsquo;s Financial\nCrisis&rdquo; Conference in New York Feb. 24-25.<br /> <br /> The conference\nfocused on navigating the current market, new visions pertaining to\nconstruction, and preparing for a changing future.</p>\n<p><strong>Stimulus</strong></p>\n<p>The Federal economic stimulus package will pump\nmore than $136 billion into the construction industry. The figure\nrepresents a 130-percent increase in federal construction spending\ncompared to fiscal year 2008, said Stephen Sandherr, CEO of Associated\nGeneral Contractors of America (AGC). The assistance comes as the\nunemployment rate in the industry hit 18.3 percent in January, with job\nlosses totaling more than 747,000 in the last year.<br /> <br /> The\nstimulus package is &ldquo;nowhere near a panacea for the construction\nindustry,&rdquo; Sandherr said, but having both political parties talking\nabout the importance of infrastructure is promising.<br /></p>\n<p><img alt=\"AGC\'s Ken Simonson\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"313\" src=\"/images/uploads/Simonson.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"244\" />&ldquo;There is\na real emphasis on getting this money out fast,\" said chief economist\nfor the Association of General Contractors of America (AGC) Ken\nSimonson. States must obligate half of their total stimulus package\nwithin 120-180 days and the remainder within one year</p>\n<h4>AGC ECONOMIST KEN SIMONSON<br /></h4>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>&ldquo;There is\na real emphasis on getting this money out fast,\" said chief economist\nfor the Association of General Contractors of America (AGC) Ken\nSimonson. States must obligate half of their total stimulus package\nwithin 120-180 days and the remainder within one year.</p>\n<p><strong>Tough Years for Commercial Building</strong></p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<p>Commercial building\nhas been hit hard by the credit crunch. Large projects nationwide such\nas Atlantic Yards in New York, the Chicago Spire, and the Echelon\nResort in Las Vegas have been put on hold.</p>\n<p><br /> Construction of\nstores and large shopping centers is declining and another large\ndecline can be expected this year as retail is the most overbuilt\ncategory, Murray said.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;I can\'t remember seeing this before &hellip;\nThis is going to be a tough year for commercial building, there\'s no\ndoubt about it.&rdquo; He doesn\'t expect the commercial industry to rebound\nuntil 2011 to 2012.<br /> <br /> His advice to developers is to find niches\nthat are still showing decent activity and look even harder for\nprojects that are still going ahead.<br /> <br /> For many companies it\nwill mean re-tooling and keeping a tight ship. Companies should look at\nstaffing with multi-skilled employees and do more in-house, advised Ira\nLevy, Northeast Region chief executive of AECOM. Sub-contractors will\nlikely suffer as companies broaden their skills but he remains\noptimistic.</p>\n<p><strong>Expect Material Costs to Rise</strong></p>\n<p>Material costs could be shooting up again by 2010, driven by demand and transportation costs, said economist Simonson. <br /> <br /> &ldquo;By 2010, if economies like China and other developing nations get\ngoing again, they\'re going to add to that demand of materials that we\nneed here for construction&rdquo; and anytime there\'s a surge in shipping\ncosts, or fuel surcharges, &ldquo;you feel it on the construction site,&rdquo;\nSimonson said.</p>','none','Public works will pick up some of the slack in a non-residential construction market gone completely south. But commercial construction may continue to suffer for some time to come, economists told those attending a New York conference on the ailing construction industry.\n\n','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(470,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','First Stimulus Project in U.S. is MO Bridge','none','bridge, first, stimulus package','none','<p>The first infrastructure project to move forward under the new federal economic stimulus package was a replacement bridge in Miller County near Tuscumbia, MO. Ot was approved for construction as a top priority for the State of Missouri at a cost of $8.5 million, which will be funded by the stimulus plan. <br /><br />\"Today, the Show Me State again showed the nation we are leaders in transportation by having the first economic recovery act project in the country under construction,\" said Missouri Department of Transportation director Pete Rahn. \"We promised we would be ready to go to make the best use of every dollar we receive through the economic recovery act to create jobs and make our highways safer. We delivered on that promise and then some.\" <br /><br />The new 1,000-ft long, 28-ft-wide steel bridge will replace the existing 75-year-old Osage River Bridge, which is the same length and just 20 ft wide. The bridge crosses a Missouri River tributary near the middle of the state, where the average daily traffic is more than 1,000 cars per day. However, it has been off-limits to large trucks since 2007 because of its poor structural condition.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The first infrastructure project to move forward under the new federal economic stimulus package was a replacement bridge in Miller County near Tuscumbia, MO. Ot was approved for construction as a top priority for the State of Missouri at a cost of $8.5 million, which will be funded by the stimulus plan.\n','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(471,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','SOLID FOUNDATION: Four \"Cornerstones\" for Building Your Brand  ','none','brand, marketing, Tom Finan, Starbucks, Foster, cornerstones','none','<p><em>by Tom Finan</em><br /><br />On Feb. 26, 2008, all Starbucks coffee shops across the United States shut their doors at 5:30 p.m., for a special training session on techniques and standards. \"It\'s really about ensuring that the customer experience that we provide is the best that it can be,\" a Starbucks spokesperson said at the time. The program was conducted in an effort to reconnect Starbucks associates with the reasons patrons first visited the company\'s stores &ndash; and were now going elsewhere. <br />&nbsp;<br />Starbucks&rsquo; story very closely parallels that of the construction industry over the last decade. In an age of easy credit, the never-ending emergence of strip malls and office buildings paralleled the spread of the green Starbucks logo from Fargo to Beijing.&nbsp; But breakneck expansion comes with a price; in Starbuck&rsquo;s case the price was core values. <br /><br />In 2007, Josh Foster, president of J.E. Foster Building Company said his company built entire stores and/or did tenant finishes for 30 Starbucks locations. In 2008, J.E. Foster, which has been ASA Midwest Council&rsquo;s small GC of the year for six of the last seven years, helped to dismantle eight of the 600 stores that Starbucks shut down last year.&nbsp; &ldquo;There was a guy with a clipboard there, making sure that everything went on the truck,&rdquo; Foster said.&nbsp; Somewhere there&rsquo;s a Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse piled full of espresso machines. <br /><br />Meanwhile, the same well-communicated reputation for strong relationships and performance that landed Foster so many coffee shops during good times is allowing him to win work away from competitors now. <br /><strong><br />What is Your PROMISE? </strong><br /><br />Foster has driven the performance/relationships message of his brand throughout his company&rsquo;s culture. Thirty years ago, subcontractors asked us to develop brochures and logos to meet the expectations of GCs and owners. Today we get calls for branding strategies and for websites. But, now as then, tactics that have no connection to your core values are doomed to be ineffective. <br /><br />Companies lose sight of their brand at a significant cost to their bottom line. Three years ago Wal-Mart announced a more \"upscale\" approach. It was a fiasco. Now, Wal-Mart is advertising \"Save Money. Live Better,&rdquo; and the tough economic times have actually worked in its favor. <br /><br />To understand the importance of branding and to appreciate its significance to your company, it\'s helpful to understand what a brand is&hellip; and what it isn\'t. <br /><br />The first brands were used to mark game or cattle. Then, artisans and craftsmen began putting their \"brand\" on objects they made.&nbsp; Today, a brand is a promise to consistently meet expectations. Those expectations are not about attributes (four-wheel drive, robust coffee flavor); instead, those expectations are about benefits (the level of service at an Acura dealership, the personalized experience at Starbucks). In the book Married to the Brand, William J. McEwen makes the case that strong brand loyalties are both quantifiable and explainable. Loyalty is not the result of marketing hype: You buy coffee at Starbucks because they remember your name and the way you like your coffee, not because of advertising or because their coffee is &ldquo;better&rdquo; than McDonald&rsquo;s. <br /><br /><strong>The Rewards of Strong Branding</strong><br /><br />Chadwick Communications reports that strong brands command a seven-percent premium on price and make sales 40 percent more effective. Chadwick says that building a brand has more to do with what is communicated than with the product or service itself. <br /><br />Brand alignment must permeate every aspect of your company and extend through the way you communicate and market that identity. There are four \"cornerstones\" for every brand, and understanding them is crucial to success: <br /><br />1.&nbsp; <strong>EXEMPLIFY YOUR BRAND IN EVERYTHING YOU DO.</strong>&nbsp; It&rsquo;s not enough to have a great logo or tagline or an outstanding website. Whether you are known for high-touch service, or for &ldquo;green&rdquo; building knowledge, everything communicated inside and outside of your company should resonate that message. <br /><br />2.<strong> ESTABLISH AND STRENGTHEN YOUR BRAND THROUGH ASSOCIATIONS.</strong> These \"associations\" can be either internal or external. Are you involved in community groups? Do you give thoughtful consideration to the charity events that you sponsor and leverage what you donate to attain maximum visibility? <br /><br />Do you create a sense of &ldquo;belonging to the club&rdquo; by sharing your expertise in certain construction disciplines, techniques, or knowledge through presentations, opt-in newsletters, enews, or participation in Web 2.0 blogs?&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /><br />3. <strong>LET THE CONVERTED PREACH.</strong> This metaphor is borrowed from Sunday morning: You as &ldquo;pastor&rdquo; can \"preach\" to someone all day long, but the way to make a \"convert\" is through the daily practice of a true believer. <br /><br />Better than a great website or brochure is the colleague or customer who tells a friend or colleague about your company in glowing terms. By focusing on communicating your values, maximizing &ldquo;touches&rdquo; in the industry and with customers, you increase the likelihood they will do just that. <br /><br />4. <strong>BACK THE TEAM IN THE FIELD.&nbsp;</strong> Empowerment, enthusiasm and education are the three \"E&rsquo;s\" that form this cornerstone. Turn your company team into ambassadors and salespeople who will speak enthusiastically to their friends and associates.&nbsp; Are your employees empowered to make decisions or spend money when they need to \"find a way to say yes\" and \"make it right\" for a customer? Do you create employee-specific communications, such as a newsletter or website? Do you plan special events that make your field managers and core craftspeople feel part of a team and understand customers&rsquo; experience? <br /><br /><strong>Making Branding a Personal Agenda </strong><br /><br />Great brands are built from the inside out. Your company&rsquo;s brand should be written in your customers\' minds and engraved on your employees\' hearts. Your brand is that One True Thing about your company that\'s blazing in your gut.&nbsp; <br /><br />You can\'t market your way to a great brand: Your \"walk\" must match your \"talk.\" A brand isn\'t a website or a logo embroidered on a shirt: Your company\'s culture brings your brand to life.<br /><em><br />Tom Finan has been the publisher of St. Louis Construction News &amp; Real Estate since 1976. He is the director of business development for Paradowski Creative, a strategic and creative firm located in St. Louis. He can be contacted at tom@paradowski.com.</em></p>','','304','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','On Feb. 26, 2008, all Starbucks coffee shops across the United States shut their doors at 5:30 p.m., for a special training session on techniques and standards. \"It\'s really about ensuring that the customer experience that we provide is the best that it can be,\" a Starbucks spokesperson said at the time. The program was conducted in an effort to reconnect Starbucks associates with the reasons patrons first visited the company\'s stores – and were now going elsewhere.','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(472,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','What\'s Next? A Few Words From Peter Downs, CNR Editor','none','Downs, Peter, anxious, unemployed, work','none','<p>While a project manager for a local general contractor was giving me a tour of a large job site the other day, workers on the site kept stopping him to ask, &ldquo;do you know what&rsquo;s coming up next?&rdquo;&nbsp; They were anxious to know if there would be another job when the current one finished.<br /><br /><img alt=\"crystal ball\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/crystal-ball.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />2010 seems to be on everyone&rsquo;s mind. Many contractors started 2009 with plenty of work, but finding the next jobs to replace those is a problem. Current work secured financing one, two, or three years ago, but in the current credit climate many projects aren&rsquo;t even getting to the drawing the board. The American Institute of Architects&rsquo; measure of work on the boards has been in a recessionary mode for months, leading the AIA to predict that there will be no upturn in construction activity this year.<br /><br />\"As profits for businesses have fallen and the ability to get credit to finance projects has become far more difficult, construction plans have been put on hold or canceled outright in recent months,\" said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker. \"This is not expected to turn around anytime soon and it\'s likely to get worse before it gets better.\" The semi-annual construction forecast from the AIA projects an 11 percent decline in nonresidential construction spending in inflation adjusted terms in 2009,<br />and a further decline in 2010.<br /><br />With The Conference Board estimating that there are over 50 unemployed construction workers for every advertised job vacancy, it is not surprising that those who have a job look at the near future with some trepidation. Nor is it surprising that &ldquo;jobs&rdquo; has become the rallying cry for any policy issue touching on construction.</p>\n<p>At the state level, the Missouri Association for Historic Preservation and Economic Development is crying that proposals in the Missouri Senate to do away with or cap historic renovation tax credits is an attack on construction jobs. Meanwhile, the Associated General Contractors and other groups are claiming that proposed Employee Free Choice Act in the U.S. Congress would destroy jobs. Regardless, the cry of &ldquo;jobs, jobs,&rdquo; is one we are certain to hear often in coming months from people on both sides of many issues.</p>','none','While a project manager for a local general contractor was giving me a tour of a large job site the other day, workers on the site kept stopping him to ask,\n\"do you know what\'s coming up next?\"  They were anxious to know if there would be another job when the current one finished.','none','','none','','none','','none',305,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/crystal-ball.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(473,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','\"Meet the Machines\" Family Event This Saturday','none','Meet the Machines, Budrovich','none','<h4>Bring your Family To \"Meet The MACHINES\"</h4>\n<p><strong>Saturday April 25, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.<br /></strong><strong>Location: Budrovich Excavating &amp; Contracting<br /> 10328 Lake Bluff Drive </strong></p>\n<p>The Budrovich Companies along with several major sponsors will, once again, present \"Meet the Machines\".&nbsp; Building on the unqualified success of the inaugural event in 2005, and the overwhelming growth since, the event promises much more in 2009.&nbsp; Last year&rsquo;s event drew approximately 12,000 attendees.&nbsp;</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Meet the Machines\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"163\" src=\"/images/uploads/meet-the-machines1.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"244\" />Many sponsors such as McCarthy Building Companies, MC Industrial, Guarantee Electrical Schnuck&rsquo;s, Luby Equipment Company, JD Kutter Insurance, AmeriSure, Manitowoc Crane and others have seen the explosive growth of the free event and are supporting it through full sponsorships, in-kind donations and volunteers.&nbsp;</p>\n<p>The event will be held Saturday, April 25 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.&nbsp; This exciting family outing is held at the Budrovich Excavating &amp; Contracting headquarters, which is in an old quarry located at 10328 Lake Bluff Drive in St. Louis, MO.</p>\n<p>The purpose of the educational event is to introduce children, ages 3-15 years old, to the heavy equipment side of the construction business.&nbsp; Guests should arrive at the north gate and stop at the registration table.&nbsp; The first 1,500 kids will receive their Meet the Machines hard hat and other giveaways.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n<p>This year&rsquo;s event promises more interactive elements.&nbsp; Children and adults, alike, will have the opportunity to climb aboard and explore giant excavation and hoisting machinery.&nbsp; Additionally, visitors can participate in hands-on, educational activities such as &ldquo;digging&rdquo; for prizes or operating a crane via a training simulator.&nbsp; There will be games and prizes, face painting and opportunities to get pictures taken with a local sports team mascot, other local celebrities and, of course, the heavy machinery itself.&nbsp; An operator skill challenge will allow the youngsters to see professionals operate heavy equipment for contest prizes.&nbsp; Food and beverages will be provided to attendees at a minimal cost.&nbsp;</p>\n<p><img alt=\"Meet the Machines\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"365\" src=\"/images/uploads/meet-the-machines4.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"244\" />The Budrovich Companies specialize in site utility excavation, mass &amp; finish grading, crane rental, and residential, commercial and industrial land development.&nbsp; Budrovich employs nearly 150 skilled operators, laborers and teamsters in the St. Louis metropolitan region, utilizing nearly 90 pieces of excavation &amp; grading equipment and 40 mobile hydraulic cranes.&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','This Saturday Budrovich Companies along with several major sponsors will, once again, present \"Meet the Machines\".  ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(535,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Pfizer Unveils New Bio-Research Building','none','Pfizer, research, Chesterfield, Gilbane, Murphy, Tarlton','none','<p>Functionality and teamwork &ndash; those two simple ideas drove the design and construction of a new $200 million research building for Pfizer on its corporate campus in Chesterfield, MO.<br /><br />The Pfizer St. Louis story began in April 2003 when Pfizer Inc. completed its acquisition of Pharmacia Corp. and took control of the latter&rsquo;s St. Louis operations. Pharmacia&rsquo;s researchers were scattered on three sites: the main Chesterfield campus, leased space on Monsanto&rsquo;s campus in Creve Coeur, and leased space on Newstead Avenue in St. Louis. Since then, Pfizer has leased additional space for scientists in the Maryville office park. Today Pfizer has over 1,100 research and development scientists working in metropolitan St. Louis.<br /><br />Pfizer decided to build a new research building on Chesterfield campus in order to bring all of its St. Louis researchers together on one site. &ldquo;Science is a team sport,&rdquo; said Edward Crader, Pfizer&rsquo;s design manager for the new research building, and early work in drug development &ldquo;benefits from cross-disciplinary interactions,&rdquo; he explained.<br /><br />The new 322,000-square-foot research building opened in April 2009 with a capacity for 96 laboratories on four levels and a four-story glass connector to an existing research building, Building BB. Two hundred and fifty scientists moved from the three leased sites into the new building, which became known as Building CC, said Pfizer spokesman Edward Bryant.<br /><br />&ldquo;The importance of this building is that it will integrate four more research groups into the campus,&rdquo; Crader said. <br /><br />Before the building could integrate scientists into the campus, however, the campus had to have the capacity to integrate the building. A $20 million Chesterfield Village Site Utility Master Plan to expand and modernize the electrical and mechanical infrastructure of the campus to accommodate the new research building and two other building projects proceeded simultaneously with early stages of construction of the building. Since 2003, Pfizer has invested $350 million in the Chesterfield campus, $200 million of it in the new research building.<br /><br /><strong>Team Building</strong><br /><br />Since a prime goal of the building was to integrate scientists into the research community of Pfizer&rsquo;s Chesterfield campus, &ldquo;the social aspect of research was important in the design of the building,&rdquo; Crader explained. &ldquo;We built in a gradient of spaces from public to private,&rdquo; he said. There are private offices and cubicles, &ldquo;and we integrated the offices with the cubicles,&rdquo; Crader said. There are team level meeting areas &ndash; private areas for each research team &ndash; and campus level conference rooms. Social hubs were created near the connector with Building BB to encourage informal meetings between scientists from both buildings, and, new for Pfizer St. Louis, workstations were clustered together outside the labs in areas with natural light instead if sitting isolated from each other inside laboratories.<br /><br />&ldquo;A major objective in the layout was to create places to exchange of information, to create a number of congregating spaces, and a number of collaborative space,&rdquo; said Gregg Coffman was project manager for Gilbane, the prime contractor in the joint venture of Gilbane and Tarlton Corp. that was the project general contractor.<br /><br />Scott Daniels, head of the Pharmacokinetics and Dynamics Metabolism Unit, is excited about the social aspects of the new space. &ldquo;This will be the first time we&rsquo;re all on one floor and co-located and that will provide us a better flow of communication,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Team building also was an essential part of getting the job done right. Coffman called Pfizer&rsquo;s new research building, &ldquo;a very high end research center,&rdquo; but added that building such facilities is not unusual for Gilbane, but is actually one of its core practices.<br /><br />&ldquo;For us, what was unique was the teamwork with Tarlton and local trade contractors,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are a lot of very complicated systems in the building &ndash; in the plumbing, the HVAC, and the electrical service. The more complex the systems, the more problems you tend to run into. So, it was extremely important to solve those problems so that we didn&rsquo;t have serious delays.<br /><br />&ldquo;Consolidations from remote sites are understandably constrained by leases,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;So, the demands were for extremely high-quality, precision work performed rapidly, and that takes a lot of cooperation from a lot of people. But everyone came together to meet the challenges,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />The team gelled in ways that went beyond the scope of the job, Coffman said. &ldquo;We formed a Stream Team and cleaned up about 3/4 of a mile of stream that ran through Pfizer&rsquo;s campus. We pulled 2-3 tons of garbage out of the stream. We had two very successful United Way campaigns, and we also partnered with the Construction Careers Center. Those are the kinds of things that make projects special,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br /><strong>Functionality</strong><br /><br />Don Frail, site director for Pfizer&rsquo;s St. Louis labs and head of the Indications Discovery Unit, said, the building &ldquo;also is designed more functionally to maintain safe practices in the lab and separate the lab from offices.&rdquo; Places where &ldquo;paperwork&rdquo; is done &ndash; offices and workstations &ndash; are separated from lab benches, support space is separated from bench space, &ldquo;so there is less chance of contamination,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Safety was a major design concern, Daniels added, which was one reason that offices and labs were separated. Immediately outside the entrance to each lab a large section of wall hosts a bank of safety equipment.<br /><br />&ldquo;We have three vertical layers of functional spaces,&rdquo; Crader said. &ldquo;Offices are on the end near Building BB, interior labs are in the middle of the building, and open labs are at the other end,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Keeping in mind that &ldquo;science evolves faster than buildings,&rdquo; as Frail said, the labs were designed for flexibility and use a flexible casework system. The casework is not bolted to for floor, but instead consists of a mix of mobile carts and stationary casework. The stationary casework hangs in six-foot or 12-foot sections from a 12-inch core. Power and data wiring drops down from vertical raceways in the core.&nbsp; <br /><br />The electrical service, airflow, and exhaust flow&nbsp; &ldquo;all are streamlined and improved,&rdquo; Daniels said, and lab benches are reinforced to hold more weight. &ldquo;A lot of state-of-the-art equipment is heavy, but these benches are designed to hold it so we don&rsquo;t need a separate instrument room,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Murphy Company fabricated the sheet metal that went into the building. &ldquo;It was one of the largest sheet metal jobs in the St. Louis area using 860,000 pounds of sheet metal,&rdquo; said Mark Bengard, senior vice president, Murphy Co. &ldquo;We had to do a lot of preplanning and 3-D modeling (of all the ductwork, biosafety cabinets, devices, valves, etc.) in order to meet the schedule, otherwise no two fab shops together could have kept up with the work,&rdquo; he said. Over 16 months, Murphy sent 900 tractor loads of modules to the job site &ldquo;just in time&rdquo; for installation.<br /><br />&ldquo;This building is night and day from where we are in Creve Coeur or Newstead in terms of functionality; and the social aspect is tremendous,&rdquo; Frail said.<br /><br /><strong>Sustainability</strong><br /><br />Natural light from very energy efficient windows floods the open lab rooms at the new research building, and that wasn&rsquo;t the only new, &ldquo;green&rdquo; detail for Pfizer St. Louis. <br /><br />To further reduce energy use, the mechanical systems in the labs cycle down after hours. If someone is going to be working late, he or she pushes a button on the wall to get two more hours of service.<br /><br />Despite such sustainable features, don&rsquo;t look for a U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t do LEED, but Pfizer has its own system called the Pfizer Green Building Program that is equivalent to LEED,&rdquo; Crader said. &ldquo;We did incorporate a lot of green features. We have heat recovery on the mechanical system; we used low VOC paints and sealants; we used construction materials with a high recycled content; and we used a natural material &ndash; linoleum &ndash; on the floors,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />&ldquo;Pfizer used LEED Silver as the base line,&rdquo; Coffman said. &ldquo;They installed a very sophisticated energy heat recovery system,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The mechanical system exhausts a lot of air as part of keeping researchers safe. The energy recovery system captures a lot of the heat in the exhaust air.&nbsp; They also used proportional lighting and the domestic water system has a sophisticated system to keep energy use as low as possible,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />The new research building won a Pfizer Building Award in 2008 and was Gilbane&rsquo;s Midwest Building of the Year, &ldquo;and that is a wonderful honor,&rdquo; Coffman said. And the partnership was so successful that Gilbane and Tarlton are sustaining their teamwork to compete for a major research facility for Monsanto</p>','','332','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Functionality and teamwork – those two simple ideas drove the design and construction of a new $200 million research building for Pfizer on its corporate campus in Chesterfield, MO.\n','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(474,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Construction Industry Splits on Lien Reform','none','lien, Missouri, law, representatives, contractors','none','<p>Does Missouri law on real estate liens need fixing? Representatives from broad coalition of subcontractor groups testified to the House Special Committee on General Laws that it does, while representatives from a coalition of financial industry groups and general contractors testified that it does not.<br /><br />Subcontractor groups want to change lien law so that they can include the legal costs of applying a lien in the amount of the lien. Rep. Shane Schoeller (R-Willard) is sponsoring H.B. 595, which reflects the changes that subcontractor groups want.<br /><br /><img alt=\"Lien\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/lien.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />Opponents of the change say the law works fine just the way it is.<br /><br />&ldquo;The issue is people aren&rsquo;t paying their bills. That is why we are here,&rdquo; Rep. Schoeller told the committee at the start of the hearing on Tuesday afternoon.<br /><br />Joe Hoette, president of Hoette Concrete Construction said the problem has been growing for six years, since well before the start of the current downturn. &ldquo;I was in court recently to enforce a lien against a homebuilder for work we completed 20 months ago,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was owed $120,000. He agreed I should be paid,&rdquo; but the problem was with the title company, Hoette said. &ldquo;I spent $24,000 in attorney&rsquo;s fees to collect what I was owed,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />&ldquo;I have declined to file liens when I am going to spend more on attorney&rsquo;s fees than the lien is worth. Property owners know that, so they reduce payments to increase their profits. We need this change in the law to help the small contractor,&rdquo; Hoette said. He noted that the total value of liens he has pending now is $600,000. &ldquo;If I can&rsquo;t collect it, this company will be out of business after 62 years,&rdquo; he said. His is the third generation to run the family-owned company.<br /><br />Jim Compton, president of the Roofing &amp; Siding Contractors Association and Compton Roofing, said adding attorney&rsquo;s fees to lienable costs is necessary to level the field for small contractors. Compton also dismissed as meaningless the criticism that contractors, who claim they are owed money, could drag out negotiations to settle debts owed them if they could get reimbursed for attorney&rsquo;s fees. &ldquo;What negotiations,&rdquo; he asked? &ldquo;This is money that is owed to me. I&rsquo;m being charged 25 &ndash; 35 percent of my contract amount by builders [now], so I say let&rsquo;s lengthen the time of negotiations, because I&rsquo;m in favor of getting all my money,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Opponents testifying against the bill, including Brad Goss and John Mattingly from the Home Builders Association, insisted there was no need for such a &ldquo;fundamental&rdquo; change in lien law, because all that subcontractors have to do to recover attorney&rsquo;s fees if they file a lien is have the prime contractor agree to it in advance by putting it either in their contract or in a credit application. <br /><br />&ldquo;I&rsquo;m shocked you would say that,&rdquo; Rep. Curt Dougherty (D-Independence) told Goss. &ldquo;In 15 years as a subcontractor, I never got to write contract terms. If I scratched one thing out, I didn&rsquo;t get the job,&rdquo; he said. As for requiring that the prime contractor fill out a credit application and agree the sub has a right to collect attorney&rsquo;s fees on any collection process, &ldquo;they would never agree to it,&rdquo; Rep. Dougherty said.<br /><br />&ldquo;Then I wouldn&rsquo;t do business with them,&rdquo; Mattingly retorted.<br /><br />Sean Flower, president of American Heritage Homes, said subcontractors should just accept that the cost of collecting bad debts is just a cost of doing business. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t come down to the state legislature when my concrete sub didn&rsquo;t pay his supplier. I sucked it up and handled it on my own. That&rsquo;s what you should do,&rdquo; he said.<br /><br />Flower and other opponents of the legislation also said it could delay the eventual economic recovery by increasing title insurance costs and thus the costs of doing business in Missouri.<br /><br />The hearing ended without any action by the committee. Similar legislation in the Senate, S.B. 267, was reported out of committee to the Senate floor on Thursday and is scheduled for debate and perfection on March 18.</p>','none','Does Missouri law on real estate liens need fixing? Representatives from broad coalition of subcontractor groups testified to the House Special Committee on General Laws that it does, while representatives from a coalition of financial industry groups and general contractors testified that it does not.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/lien.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(475,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Korte Builds Green St. Louis HQ','none','Korte, headquarters, LEED, St. Louis','none','<p>The <a href=\"http://www.korteco.com\">Korte Company</a> will be moving into its new facility, Highlands Plaza Two, at 5700 Oakland Avenue in St. Louis. The office building, a Design-Build project is located on the campus of The Highlands Office Park, a mixed-use campus developed by Balke Brown Associates. The Korte Company will occupy the second floor of the four-story building, which will include almost 70,000 square feet of space.&nbsp; The ground floor will house retail space, while the remaining three floors will be utilized for office space. <br /><br />The facility is expected to qualify as a Silver-level LEED certified building and incorporates a number of low-impact, sustainable features including; the utilization of rapidly renewable casework composed of bamboo and wheat board, low VOC paints and adhesives, as well as high recycled content carpet. The lighting system has been designed to consume 1 watt of power per square foot of office space by maximizing natural daylight harvesting from the continuous north facing ribbon window and open office floor plan.<br /><br />The building&rsquo;s exterior face will feature a curving fa&ccedil;ade of continuous bands of windows and aluminum panels.&nbsp; The west fa&ccedil;ade will have a sloping glass curtainwall that is the mirror image of the east wall of the Plaza One building and together flank the main entry into the office park.&nbsp; The balance of the building\'s exterior will be a combination of glass, brick and exterior insulated stucco.&nbsp; There will be a two level under parking garage attached on the south side with the upper parking deck level with the first floor of the building.<br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Korte Company will be moving into its new facility, Highlands Plaza Two, at 5700 Oakland Avenue in St. Louis. The office building, a Design-Build project is located on the campus of The Highlands Office Park, a mixed-use campus developed by Balke Brown Associates.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(476,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Coldwell Banker Announces Transactions','none','Coldwell Banker, transactions','none','<p>&nbsp;Coldwell Banker Commercial CRA LLC has announced the following new transactions:<br /><strong><br />Stephen Gwinnup</strong>, CCIM of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented Maryland Plaza Corp. in the sale of a 115,000 square foot industrial building located at 5240 Oakland Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110 to Paraquad, Inc.<br /><br /><strong>Carl Conceller</strong>, SIOR of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented Bradlie Business Services in the lease renewal of 13,871 square feet of office space at 231 S. Bemiston Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105 from Bemiston Tower Clayton LLC, represented by Colliers Turley Martin Tucker.<br /><strong><br />Michael Jersa</strong> of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented Harvey G. Kessler, Trustee of the Harvey G. Kessler Revocable Living Trust dated August 16, 2000 in the sale of a 2,000 square foot office located at 2875 Patterson Road, Florissant, MO 63031 to Dawn R. Berry, represented by Alexander Realty.<br /><br /><strong>Noel Fehr,</strong> CCIM of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented Zarahemia, Inc., d/b/a Chem-Dry of Greater St. Louis in the lease of 3,317 square feet of industrial space located at 9425 Dielman Rock Island Industrial Drive, Olivette, MO 63132 from Hynek Properties, LLC, represented by Hilliker Corporation.<br /><strong><br />Michael J. Wolken</strong>, SIOR of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented Prime Diam, LLC in the purchase of a 1,300 square foot office located at 7711Bonhomme Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105 from MDC Bonhomme, LLC, represented by CB Richard Ellis.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none',' Coldwell Banker Commercial CRA LLC has announced the following new transactions:\n','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(477,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','McCarthy Named ACCESS Corporation of Year ','none','ACCESS, McCarthy, corporation of year','none','<p>At a recent Black History Month Forum held at Forest Park Community College in <a href=\"http://www.mccarthy.com\">St. Louis, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc</a> was named the 2009 Corporation of the Year by ACCESS, theAssociation for Construction Careers, Education, and Support Services<br /><br />\"It\'s an honor to be recognized in this way,\" said Karl Kloster, retiring president of McCarthy\'s Midwest Division.&nbsp; \"It\'s been a long journey with<br />lots of positives but there is much work ahead.&nbsp; The addition of Marvin Sanders, an executive-on-loan from the Carpenter\'s Union, is great progress.<br />Support from the AGC is also a big plus.&nbsp; With all this help and support, ACCESS is moving closer to its goals and that is the best reward anyone can<br />receive.\"<br /><br />ACCESS is the evolution of Minority Youth In Construction, a program started by Kloster and Washington University\'s Director of Supplier Diversity<br />Programs Sandra Marks more than 10 years ago.&nbsp; The program, which ran for three years, was aimed at getting middle-school-level minority kids interested in construction as a career. Each year, for six weeks in the summer, 35 children from the Normandy, Wellston and University City areas<br />took classes in math, computer training and interpersonal skills taught by college graduates and mentors/teachers from various companies.&nbsp; The children also visited construction firms to learn about career opportunities.<br /><br />In 2004, Kloster and Marks once again collaborated to form a one-stop information and resource venue for St. Louis minorities interested in<br />entering the construction industry.&nbsp; ACCESS supports existing construction industry diversity development programs and builds partnerships with<br />organizations whose initiatives are aimed at workforce and W/M/DBE development.&nbsp; McCarthy has been a strong supporter of ACCESS since its<br />inception.<br /><br />Kloster, and Monica Bailey, director of Diversity for McCarthy\'s Central Division, sit on the ACCESS board. The partnership with McCarthy will<br />continue after Kloster retires in May 2009 as Paul Hartwig, senior vice president of the company\'s St. Louis Business Unit steps in to take his<br />place as an ACCESS Board member.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','At a recent Black History Month Forum held at Forest Park Community College in St. Louis, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc was named the 2009 Corporation of the Year by ACCESS, theAssociation for Construction Careers, Education, and Support Services','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(478,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','MO Highway Commission Awards Projects','none','Missouri HIghways and Transportation Commission, projects, award','none','<p>The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC)awarded several&nbsp; St. Louis projects at its March meeting. Approximately$7.58 million was awarded to contractors for various roadway improvement projects. All contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder. The projects include:</p>\n<p><br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Interstate 44 at Lewis Road and I-44 at the Meramec River- This project consists of bridge replacement at the I-44 and Lewis Road<br />interchange, and bridge rehabilitation of the westbound bridges over the Meramec River west of Lewis Road. These projects were awarded to Concrete Strategies, LLC (St. Louis, MO) for $3,747,121.67. These projects are expected to begin in April 2009. The I-44 and Lewis Road project should be completed by July 2010. The I-44 at the Meramec River project should be completed by December 2009.<br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Various locations in St. Louis County, St. Louis City and Jefferson County-This project consists of bridge maintenance at various<br />locations in St. Louis County, St. Louis City, and Jefferson County. This project was awarded to Concrete Strategies, LLC (St. Louis, MO) for<br />$896,625.38. This project is expected to begin in May 2009 and should be completed by October 2009.<br />&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Interstate 55 at Lafayette Avenue, 12th Street, Gravois, Sidney, Pestalozzi, Arsenal and Utah Streets - These projects consists of bridge<br />rehabilitation on the Lafayette Avenue bridge over I-55, and bridge rehabilitation and installation of fencing and lighting to bridges at 12th<br />Street, Gravois, Sidney, Pestalozzi, Arsenal and Utah Streets. These projects were awarded to Concrete Strategies, LLC (St. Louis, MO) for<br />$2,699,827.30. This project is expected to begin in March 2009 and should be completed by August 2010.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Interstate 70 from 1&frasl;2 mile east of I-170 at Springdale Road to St. Louis City limits- This project consists of mowing and trimming of right of way and litter removal on I-70 from 1&frasl;2 mile east of I-170 at Springdale Road to the St. Louis City limits. This project was awarded to Millgoal<br />Enterprises II&nbsp; LLC (Platte City, MO) for $30,760.&nbsp; This project was awarded as a one-year contract.<br /><br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Interstate 70 from 1&frasl;2 mile east of Interstate 270 at McKelvey Road to 1&frasl;2 mile west of Interstate 170 at McDonnell Boulevard- This project<br />consists of mowing and trimming of right of way and litter removal on I-70 from 1&frasl;2 mile east of I-270 at McKelvey Road to 1&frasl;2 mile west of I-170 a McDonnell Boulevard. This project was awarded to Millgoal Enterprises LLC(Platte City, MO) for $38,948. This project was awarded as a one-year<br />contract.<br /><br />&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Route 141 from Route 340 to the Meramec River- This project consists of mowing and trimming right of way and litter removal on Route 141<br />from Route 340 to the Meramec River. This project was awarded to Malone\'s Landscaping LLC (St. Peters, MO) for $60,788. This project was awarded as a one-year contract.<br /><br />&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Interstate 70 from 1&frasl;2 mile west of Route K at Woodlawn Avenue to the Missouri River- This project consists of mowing and trimming of right of way and litter removal on I-70 from 1&frasl;2 mile west of Route K at Woodlawn Avenue to the Missouri River.&nbsp; This project was awarded to Millgoal<br />Enterprises II LLC (Platte City, MO) for $49,434.&nbsp; This project was awarded as a one-year contract.<br /><br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Interstate 70 from the Warren County line to 1&frasl;2 mile west of Route K at Woodlawn Avenue- This project consists of mowing and trimming of right of way and litter removal on I-70 from the Warren County line to 1&frasl;2 mile west of Route K at Woodlawn Avenue.&nbsp; This project was awarded to Millgoal Enterprises II LLC (Platte City, MO) for $65,912. This project was awarded as a one-year contract.<br /><br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) awarded several  St. Louis projects at its March meeting. Approximately$7.58 million was awarded to contractors for various roadway improvement projects.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(479,1,5,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','The Balanced Scorecard Step 1: Identify Barriers to Success','none','Balanced Scorecard, barriers to success, Willbrand, Brown Smith Wallace','none','<p><em>By Bill Willbrand Jr., CPA<br />Member, Brown Smith Wallace LLC</em><br /><br />It&rsquo;s happened to almost every business owner or manager. You develop a great strategy, get your team all pumped up and then&hellip;everyday work gets in the way. Instead of working toward the long-term goal, your team loses sight of the bigger strategy and focuses on day-to-day issues.&nbsp; The results aren&rsquo;t anything close to what you&rsquo;d hoped. <br /><br />How can you improve your planning and your team&rsquo;s follow through to get the results you desire? Balanced Scorecard is a proven method that aligns strategies with everyday performance. The Balanced Scorecard is a management system that enables an organization to clarify its vision and strategy and translate them into action. <br /><br />The first step in the Balanced Scorecard method is to identify and overcome common barriers to success.&nbsp; Think for a minute about a strategy that didn&rsquo;t pan out. Before you look around your organization and start assigning blame, understand that there are four common barriers to success, and one or more of these often cause strategic plans to fail.<br /><br />The first roadblock is the vision barrier. You probably have a clear vision of your goals, and you might expect that everyone else in your company can see the same obvious path to success. But in reality, few people in an organization grasp the business strategy from the beginning. If your vision is yours alone, and others are just following blindly, you don&rsquo;t have a strong team working toward the same goal.<br /><br />The second obstacle is the people barrier. Most people have objectives that are not linked to the strategy of the organization. Perhaps some are only concerned with achieving their specific job objectives to earn a satisfactory performance review and receive their yearly salary increase. Others may focus on advancing their own careers, but without keeping the bigger picture in mind. The members of your team must be invested in the success of your business and properly motivated to achieve long-term results to carry out your vision.<br /><br />The third barrier to success is the resource barrier. Are you allocating enough time, energy and money to those things critical to the organization? For example, have you linked your budget to your overall strategy? A solid plan for future growth must be supported by adequate resources to come to fruition.<br /><br />The final reason strategic plans often fail is the management barrier. Managers often make the mistake of focusing on short-term tactics instead of efforts to advance the overall strategy. Maintaining strong communication with your management team regarding strategy and creating the expectation that all members of management work toward this goal is essential. Your management team must work on the business, not just in the business. <br /><br />The four barriers to success are often connected, but each plays a distinct role in determining the outcome of your business strategy. Identifying these barriers within your organization and making the proper adjustments for improvement is the first step in the process of aligning everyday performance with overall strategy. <br /><br /><em>The next Balanced Scorecard column will focus on the performance metrics that drive success.</em></p>','','','none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','','none','It’s happened to almost every business owner or manager. You develop a great strategy, get your team all pumped up and then…everyday work gets in the way. Instead of working toward the long-term goal, your team loses sight of the bigger strategy and focuses on day-to-day issues.  The results aren’t anything close to what you’d hoped.','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(480,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Naumann to Head Kaiser\'s Illinois Division','none','Naumann, Kaiser, Illinois','none','<p>Kaiser Electric Inc. recently promoted Ken Naumann of O&rsquo;Fallon, MO to the position of vice president of operations, Illinois Division. Naumann previously held the title of vice president of project management.<br />&nbsp;<br />In his new position, Naumann will oversee the daily operations of Kaiser&rsquo;s Granite City, IL office, which opened in November 2008. The new office and warehouse at 10 Central Industrial Drive, off Illinois Route 3, is home to three full-time project managers.<br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;My goal in this new position will be to grow the Illinois division into a viable, competitive electrical source for our Illinois customers in the construction, service, communications and design/build fields,&rdquo; Naumann said.<br />&nbsp;<br />Kaiser is currently working on several Illinois projects, including a new assisted living facility in Godfrey, remodeling of the library at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and the Amelia V. Carriel Jr. High School Technology Package in O&rsquo;Fallon.<br />&nbsp;<br />Naumann has been with Kaiser Electric for almost nine years, where he has also worked as a project manager and as manager of the communications division. <br />&nbsp;<br /><br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Kaiser Electric Inc. recently promoted Ken Naumann of O’Fallon, MO to the position of vice president of operations, Illinois Division. Naumann previously held the title of Vice-President of Project Management.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(481,1,2,'','none','','none','','none','Hutchinson of Interface Joins AGC National Board','none','Hutchinson, Interface, AGC, board, treasurer','none','<p>Samuel Hutchinson, founder and president of St. Louis-based Interface Construction Corporation has been elected to serve as the Associated General Contractors of America treasurer.&nbsp; Hutchinson becomes the third St. Louisan elected to the executive board of the national organization, following Gabe Alberici and Bob Elsperman who previously served in this national office.&nbsp; As a member of the board, Hutchinson will lead a national effort to improve the productivity of the nation&rsquo;s construction companies, oversee the group&rsquo;s advocacy efforts on behalf of the industry and help builders weather today&rsquo;s challenging economic conditions.<br /><br /><img alt=\"Sam Hutchinson\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"303\" src=\"/images/uploads/hutchinson.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />&ldquo;We are very pleased to have such a distinguished St. Louis businessman playing such a major role in the leadership of the national organization&rdquo; said Leonard Toenjes, president, AGC of St. Louis.&nbsp;&nbsp; &ldquo;Sam brings integrity and leadership to the job,&rdquo; added Toenjes.<br /><br />Interface began as a concrete construction company, completing concrete flatwork for highway contractors in the Metro East area of St. Louis.&nbsp; In 1988, Hutchinson transitioned the company from being a subcontractor to a general contractor and a construction manager in heavy construction, earning Interface the title of one of the top 25 small businesses in the St. Louis area. Hutchinson has served as chairman of AGC&rsquo;s Building Division and is a four-time member of the executive board.<br /><br />Simultaneously while serving in the position of AGC treasurer, Hutchinson will chair the task force on Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, a job he has held before for the AGC of America, &ldquo; As a minority-owned contractor I learned the meaning and value of good construction management and what it takes to make a business successful&rdquo; said Hutchinson.&nbsp;&nbsp; &ldquo;I hope to assist other minority firms onto the path to success.&rdquo;<br /><br />AGC is the largest and oldest national construction trade association in the United States, and represents&nbsp; more than 33,000 firms nationwide, including 7,500 general contractors, and more than 12,500 specialty-contracting firms. <br /><br />The Associated General Contractors of St. Louis is the united voice of the area&rsquo;s construction industry, representing <br />more than 450 area construction firms.</p>','none','Samuel Hutchinson, founder and president of St. Louis-based Interface Construction Corporation has been elected to serve as the Associated General Contractors of America treasurer. ','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','/images/uploads/hutchinson.jpg','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(484,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Valmik Thakore Joins Cannon','none','Thakore, Cannon','none','<p>&nbsp;Cannon Design, an architectural, engineering and planning firm announced that Valmik Thakore has joined the firm as vice president and senior healthcare provider.<br /><br />Prior to joining Cannon Design, Thakore served as senior healthcare planner and project manager for Christner, Inc. for over 23 years. He has more than 38 years of architectural and design experience, including 20 years in healthcare planning and programming.&nbsp; <br /><br />Current projects for Cannon include: the Center for Cancer and Liver Diseases for King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a 300-bed hospital and ambulatory facility with over 1 million square feet of new construction.<br /><br />Thakore is a graduate of The School of Architecture at CEPT University in Ahmedabad, India, and has a Master of Architecture and Urban Design from Washington University. He has served as visiting professor at the School of Architecture and School of Urban Design at CEPT University. <br /><br />-</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none',' Cannon Design, an architectural, engineering and planning firm announced that Valmik Thakore has joined the firm as vice president and senior healthcare provider.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(485,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Contractors Call for Construction Recycling Incentives','none','equipment, greenhouse gases, recycling, materials','none','<p>The environment and the economy would both see significant improvements if new federal incentives to encourage construction companies to replace older equipment with new, more efficient models were put in place, a representative of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) testified before a Congressional committee. <br /><br />Don Weaver, of Arkansas-based Weaver Bailey Contractors, added that new federal incentives to encourage recycling of construction materials would also benefit the environment.&nbsp; Weaver was in Washington today to provide testimony of behalf of the association in front of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.&nbsp; <br /><br />Noting that construction equipment accounts for only 0.86 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions according to the EPA, Weaver said &ldquo;this industry has a long history of developing construction techniques and practices that enhance our environment.&rdquo;&nbsp; He added though, that &ldquo;the federal government can assist in these practices by offering appropriate incentives.&rdquo;<br /><br />Weaver said the association was calling for the creation of a federal investment tax credit for contractors to replace their existing diesel powered equipment, including front loaders and on-site generators.&nbsp; He noted that such an incentive would cut diesel fuel consumption and reduce emissions of diesel particulates and black carbon.&nbsp; <br /><br />He noted incentives would stimulate purchases of new construction equipment at a time when many companies are cutting back on orders.&nbsp; He added that the new equipment would make it easier for construction companies to build the new transportation systems and more efficient buildings that could lead to major and lasting environmental benefits.<br /><br />Noting that every ton of asphalt recycled from construction results in the elimination of .03 tons of CO2 emissions, Weaver also urged Congress to put in place incentives to encourage the recycling and reuse of materials like concrete, asphalt, soil and construction debris.&nbsp; He said recycling and reuse of these materials reduces transportation costs, limits construction waste going to landfills and lowers energy use, in addition to reducing green house gas emissions.<br /><br />Weaver said the association also was encouraging federal and state agencies that commission construction projects to use local materials to save fuel and cut emissions.</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The environment and the economy would both see significant improvements if new federal incentives to encourage construction companies to replace older equipment with new, more efficient models were put in place, a representative of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) testified before a Congressional committee.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(486,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Kaiser Promotes Names Murphy Head of STL','none','Kaiser, Murphy promoted','none','<p>Kaiser Electric Inc. promoted Michael Murphy to the position of vice president of operations, St. Louis Division. Murphy previously held the title of vice president/senior project manager.<br />&nbsp;<br />In his new position, Murphy is responsible for achieving the management committee&rsquo;s goals, supporting the corporate strategy, and creating innovative new ways to be competitive and grow Kaiser Electric in the market place. <br />&nbsp;<br />&ldquo;One of our greatest strengths is our design/build group&rsquo;s successes in the healthcare and commercial arenas,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;To support this effort, I believe we need to build on the relationships between our project management and field staff by streamlining the communications process and improving our information flow. By getting the information from our customers, through design and into the field quickly, we can lessen the impact of change and add value to our team.&rdquo; <br />&nbsp;<br />Murphy has been with Kaiser Electric for nearly eight years and has previously held the positions of project manager, service group manager and vice president/senior project manager. <br />&nbsp;<br />He is a graduate of St. Louis University Parks College and is currently a member of the St. Louis Construction Consumers Council, International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). <br />&nbsp;</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','Kaiser Electric Inc. promoted Michael Murphy to the position of vice president of operations, St. Louis Division. Murphy previously held the title of vice president/senior project manager.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),(487,1,4,'','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','','','','','','','','','Commission Approves 9 MoDOT Projects for ARRA','none','MoDOT, ARRA, projects','none','<p>The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission&nbsp; approved nine projects in the greater St. Louis Metropolitan area using money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). These projects should create about 5,900 jobs in the region.<br /><br />MoDOT is spending more than $173.4 million in ARRA funding in the region, part of the $525 million the department is spending throughout the state.&nbsp; Missouri is also spending about $151 million on&nbsp;&nbsp; on other multimodal projects (rail, aviation and transit), $19 million on enhancement projects and $93 million to suballocation areas (which includes East-West Gateway, the Mid-America Regional Council, and the Ozark Transportation Organization).<br /><br />The commission determined the projects in conjunction with MoDOT\'s regional partners. The projects meet the federal requirements for being \"shovel ready,\" and were selected from projects recommended for priority implementation in the region\'s long-range transportation plan.<br /><br />The approved projects are (projects with an asterisk can be obligated by June 30, 2009)<br /></p>\n<ul>\n<li>Franklin County, Route 44 - Rebuild pavement from Viaduct Street to Route 100 West *</li>\n<li>Jefferson County, Route 55 - Add lanes and widen/replace two bridges between north of Route M and north of Route Z<br /><br />St. Charles County, Route 364 - Extend Page Ave. from west of Harvester Road to Central School Road *<br /></li>\n<li>St. Louis County, Route 141 - Relocate/reconstuct Route 141 from Route 40 to Route 340 (Olive Blvd.) This project will be coordinated and constructed in conjuction with a St. Louis County project to construct Route 141 from Route 340 to Route 364.<br /></li>\n<li>St. Louis City, Port - Municipal dock improvements<br /><br />St. Louis City, Route 70 outer road - Pavement improvements from I-44/I-55 to Washington Ave. <br /></li>\n<li>St. Louis City, Tucker Blvd/12th Street - New structures/pavement and improvements between O\'Fallon St. and Washington Ave. (In cooperation with St. Louis City and the Missisippi River Bridge team)</li>\n<li>St. Louis County, Route 67 - Sidewalk improvements from I-270 to Old St. Charles Rock Road </li>\n<li>St. Louis County, Route AC - Sidewalk improvements from Route 67 (Lindbergh) to I-270 </li>\n</ul>\n<p><br />\"The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act gives MoDOT the opportunity to complete a number of projects which have been on the regional long-term transportation plan but we haven\'t had the money for,\" Bill Schnell, assistant district engineer for St. Louis, said. \"The five projects we can get under contract before July 30 will help us put people in the region to work immediately, and will also help the region grow.\"</p>','','','none','','','','','','','','none','','','','none','','none','','none','The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission  approved nine projects in the greater St. Louis Metropolitan area using money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). These projects should create about 5,900 jobs in the region.','none','','none','','none','','none',0,'none','',0,'none','','','','','','','','','','','none','','none','','none','','none'),