Author: Jeanie Clapp

BY KEN GARCIA For Leon Araiza, helping others succeed in life and the construction industry has become part of his mission. Through his company, Advanced Tribal, LLC, in Salem, Oregon, he recruits and trains the next generation of construction professionals. “I don’t look at it as giving them a job,” he said. “I look at it as helping create a career.” Araiza, who is Native American, has more than 30 years of experience in construction as a carpenter, concrete/mason and equipment operator. He said he started Advanced Tribal in 2015 to use his expertise to help those in disadvantaged communities. …

Pandemic Challenges Remain but Infrastructure Funding Brings New Opportunities for Construction AGC of America Chief Economist Ken Simonson recently sat down with Constructor publisher Jill Andreu to provide a preview of AGC’s Annual Construction Outlook Report. Constructor: Construction employment is on the rise for the residential sector, but for non-residential, employment is down 1.8% as of November. How much of this shift can be attributed to COVID-19, and how much of it is a continued construction workforce challenge? Simonson: COVID certainly set the construction industry back on its heels, as it did the whole economy. Construction rebounded more quickly than…

Unearthing the Secrets to Hiring, Labor and Retention in the Construction Industry BY GREG BELPOMMEDirector At Heron WolfA Delaware Contractors Association member The ever-evolving landscape of hiring, labor and retention in the United States for construction businesses continues to be a challenging terrain to navigate. The breaking news for employers: The power dynamic has shifted, and it’s time to face the music — job seekers are calling the shots. Gone are the days when employers could just post a job listing and expect a flood of applications. Candidates have become savvy adventurers, seeking a thorough and captivating journey that comes…

THEY’RE NOT JUST FOR PHOTO SHARING ANYMORE BY DEBRA WOOD As increasing numbers of contractors try unmanned aerial vehicles, they are finding more and more ways drones can help them avoid delays, rework, safety issues and increased costs. “Drone technology has proven time and time again to be valuable assets for project teams,” says Erik Gronneberg, an assistant project manager and drone pilot with Columbia in North Reading, Massachusetts, an AGC of Massachusetts member. “It’s able to identify issues early before they become big problems, saving both time and money.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, Columbia used its drone photos to…

TOUCHPLAN SOFTWARE OFFERS TRANSPARENCY ACROSS THE TEAM, FROM BOOTS ON THE GROUND TO C-SUITE EXECS BY DEBRA WOOD When looking to save time and money on projects, several AGC member firms see several benefits in utilizing Touchplan. “Touchplan helps us plan work as well as track commitments: percent promised and complete,” says Aaron Geiger, chief technology officer at Alberici, a member of multiple AGC chapters. Alberici is a North American construction company serving the civil, energy, institutional, commercial, heavy industrial, manufacturing, water/wastewater and automotive industries. Alberici piloted Touchplan one year ago and then expanded its use company-wide in late 2021.…

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS STREAMLINE HR PROCESSES FOR CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES BY NICK FORTUNA When you’ve got 165 employees, including 100 skilled crafts- men out in the field, handling human resources through paper processes is an inexact science. Between vacation requests, benefit enrollment forms, performance reviews, paystubs, training materials and more, the task of data entry never ends, and it’s easy for paperwork to get lost, creating more work for HR professionals and frustrating employees. In response to those challenges, McAlvain Cos. Inc., a Boise-based general contracting and construction management firm and Idaho AGC member, digitized its HR processes in 2018 by implementing…

DEVELOPING A SUCCESSFUL SAFETY PROGRAM REQUIRES BOTH APTITUDE AND ATTITUDE BY KATIE KUEHNER-HEBERT Earlier this year, AGC of America held its prestigious WTW Construction Safety Excellence Awards (CSEA) at its annual convention in Grapevine, Texas. In addition to being awarded first place in the Construction Management Division for firms with more than 700,000 work hours, Choate Construction, an Atlanta-based commercial general contracting firm, took home the Grand Prize and was named the nation’s safest construction firm. Constructor sat down with Choate’s Corporate Safety Director Chad Hart, who shared details of the company’s safety program and the factors that helped them…

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES AT RISK BY LISA KOPOCHINSKI As the world reopens and construction projects ramp up following two years of a worldwide pandemic, vehicular accidents in work zones are increasing. A recent study conducted by AGC of America and HCSS reveals that 64% of highway contractors experienced crashes into their work zones during the past year, (an uptick from 60% in last year’s survey). In addition, an overwhelming majority, 97% percent, report that highway work zones are either as dangerous, or more dangerous, than they were a year ago. This is not an industry-only problem.…

BY STEVEN H. MILLER Construction on water is a significant challenge. Factor in a fast- moving river and a waterfall producing high-velocity currents on the downstream side and you’ve complicated the project tenfold. To repair the Willamette Falls Fishway, Advanced American Construction met those challenges with ingenuity and innovation and won the 2022 Construction Risk Partners Build America Award in the category of Environmental Enhancement. Willamette Falls is situated in the midst of the Willamette River in Oregon, between Oregon City and West Linn, about 30 miles upstream from Portland. The falls— about 1,500 feet long with an elevation change…

IT WAS THE STATE OF MICHIGAN’S FIRST MASS TIMBER PROJECT, ONE THAT TRANSFORMED MSU’S AGING COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT INTO WHAT WILL BE A LASTING HUB OF LEARNING AND ROLLED OVER ITS MANY CHALLENGES — INCLUDING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC — LIKE THE SPARTANS’ DEFENSE. BY A.D. THOMPSON It’s lean and green and — like the Michigan State University football team on game day — unabashedly mean in the best ways, cut- ting a graceful silhouette as it welcomes undergrads in this nearly 170-year-old institution’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs into a brand-new collaborative space, built in part by an impressive…