| October 13, 2015
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In This Issue |
Events
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Education/
Training
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Safety
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New Members
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Membership Benefits
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AGC News
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Member News
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Here's Looking At You
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News You Can Use
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 Quick Links |
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Events |
Thursday, October 15, 3-6 p.m. 2015 at TopGolf Houston West
Benefiting the AGC Houston Advocacy Fund. Tournament Space Is Limited. Register Here Today!
Team Registration - $800 - Includes four players for an hour and a half of TopGolf
Spectator Fee - $100 - Includes food and beverages + entry to the tournament reception
Thank you to our generous reception sponsors:
Thank you to our generous bar & lounge sponsors:
Thanks to our generous print sponsor:
Thanks to our generous scorecard
sponsor:
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Thursday, October 22,
2015 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at the AGC Houston office.
Get More From Your Membership! Attend the Member Orientation and Learn About the Many Benefits AGC Offers.
Whether you are a new or existing member, please join us for this free information-packed luncheon! You’ll hear from AGC Houston staff, active members and company representatives about the many benefits of AGC Houston. Lunch will be provided, and every member is welcome. Find out how you can maximize your membership and save money!
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Thursday, October 22, 2015, 5-7 p.m. at AGC Houston
Join the Construction Leadership Council for an evening of conversation with some of Houston's most accomplished construction professionals. Free and open to all AGC Houston members. Please RSVP to Charlene Anthony.
Featuring:
Howard Tellepsen, Tellepsen; Charlie Nelson, Gilbane Building Co.; Patrick J. Kiley, Kiley Advisors, LLC; and Stan Marek, Marek Brothers Systems, Inc.
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Thursday, November 5,
2015 4:30-6 p.m. at Crisp in The Heights
Join us for our last Member Mixer of the year! All attendees receive two tickets for a chance to win an iPad Mini and all general contractors present will be entered into an additional drawing for a fishing trip, courtesy of R & M Service Company, Inc. Tickets include reception food and beverages.
$20 - Early Bird Pricing - Ends October 30
$30 - At the door (Cash preferred)
Sponsorship available.
Free for general contractors! R & M Service Company, Inc. will be giving away an offshore fishing trip which includes bait, tackle, ice and deck hand. All general contractors present at the Member Mixer will be entered into an additional drawing for this trip.
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Tuesday, November 10, 201 6-8 p.m. at Brenner's On The Bayou - Blue Bar
Join in the merriment at the AGC/AIA Joint Meeting - a tradition for more than 50 years!
$35 for food, libations and merriment. Early bird discount ends November 4;
$45 after November 4.
Sponsorships available.
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Education/Training |
Participants will learn notice deadlines and requirements for filing lien and bond claims; How to obtain forms to use for claims; How to obtain project information among many topics covered.
Early bird pricing ends today!
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This one-day (eight-hour) course is designed specifically for construction professionals to establish a solid process for selecting BIM tools and to investigate the significant impact models have for improving estimating, scheduling and coordinating.
Early bird discount ends October 15, 2015.
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This session will build on the Liens and Bonds speech with an advanced discussion of liens and how they are enforced. The session will also cover a variety of payment topics such as spotting important issues in joint check agreements, the new law related to releases and the construction trust fund act.
Early bird discount ends October 20, 2015.
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This six-session class will focus the fundamentals of construction plans and document reading. Each class section meets every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for two consecutive weeks.
Early bird pricing ends October 28, 2015.
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BIM Contract Negotiation and Risk Allocation is a full-day course that examines BIM and contract terminology to determine best practices for integrating BIM use into project contracts.
Early bird discount pricing ends October 29, 2015.
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Learn how to comply with contractual obligations concerning insurance and to assure compliance of other involved parties.
Early bird discount pricing ends November 3, 2015.
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Safety |
This national award competition
recognize companies that have developed and implemented excellent safety and loss prevention programs achieved through management commitment, employee involvement, and program innovation. All AGC Houston contractor members that excel at safety performance are encouraged to submit applications for each division and occupational category.
There has been an important change this year: The two-year sit-out
requirement for the past
year's first place winners has been removed.
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A hands-on training course using field appropriate application intended for supervisors and workers involved in rigging or hoisting operations while using cranes, heavy equipment, truck cranes or other equipment in any industry.
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This course will provide an overview of risk management from the safety, health and environmental program perspective. Specific topics will include
introduction to risk management utilizing ISO STD 31000; key terminology; describing and applying the risk management process; suggested strategies for improving environmental, safety, and health programs using risk management principles.
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This course is designed to provide
an entry-level construction
worker with general awareness on recognizing and preventing hazards on a construction site.
Early bird pricing ends November 6, 2015.
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Meet the requirements of OSHA Paragraph 1926.50 which calls for a person on the
jobsite to have a valid certificate in first aid training in the absence of infirmary, clinic, or physician that is reasonably accessible in terms of time and distance to the worksite.
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New Members |
MSD Building Corporation
Joshua Hanson
120 N Main Street Pasadena, Texas 77506
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Membership Benefits |
AGC Houston members can save up to $.21 per gallon on
fluel and earn 5% cash rebate on building supplies.
An effective safety program can help keep your employees on the job, reduce your premium and earn your company dividends. CompGroup AGC was created in 1993 by various Texas members of the Associated General Contractors of America to provide a better option for workers’ compensation coverage.
Contact your insurance agent and tell them you want a CompGroup AGC quote or contact program administrator Roberts & Crow at 800-406-9614 — ask for Julie Schatz.
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Your digital edition of 2015 Fall Cornerstone is always available online in a convenient digital format!
Find out how the commercial construction industry fared during the 84th Texas Legislative Session in a recap from the AGC Texas Building Branch.
See photos of AGC Houston member projects that won Texas Building Branch Outstanding Construction Awards at the TBB convention.
Read about the AGC
Houston Safety Committee and how you can get involved!
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AGC News |
Beginning in early 2016, information reporting provisions under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act require many employers to file annual information returns with the Internal Revenue Service and provide annual statements to employees containing health plan coverage information.
The returns must be furnished to employees by January 31,
2016 and filed with the IRS by February 28,
2016 if filed on paper or March 31,
2016 if filed electronically. AGC Houston has all the information employers need regarding Forms 1094 B & C and Forms 1095 B & C. Sign in to the Member's Only section of the AGC Houston website, and see "Health Insurance Reporting Requirements" under the Employment Practices Committee Articles tab.
The AGC Houston Employment Practices Committee is meeting November 12 at 7:30 a.m. to discuss this and other relevant issues to promote and guide best practices. Please contact Charlene Anthony for more information.
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The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has issued a nationwide stay of the new federal regulation redefining "waters of the U.S." (WOTUS) for the purposes of the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed and then finalized the new regulation in an effort to clarify the scope of the statute’s requirements.
The questions that lie at the heart of this and several other cases is whether the federal agencies went further than the Clean Water Act statute permits and whether they followed the appropriate procedures. The court’s order blocks the implementation of the new rule nationwide and preserves the status quo until the court can decide whether it has jurisdiction over the case and the resulting power to address those legal questions. In an odd twist, the 18 states that filed the lawsuit were the ones arguing that the case actually belongs in a lower court.
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On September 28, AGC of America reported that construction employment declined in 153 out of 358 metro
areas between August 2014 and August 2015, nearly matching the 163 areas that
added construction jobs. Association officials noted that the number
of metro areas losing construction jobs is on the rise amid growing uncertainty
about federal funding for construction programs and growing shortages of
qualified construction workers.
"The fact that fewer than half of metro areas added
construction jobs at a time when there were gains in nearly three-fourths of
the states suggests that contractors in many more metros would be hiring if they
could find qualified workers," said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief
economist. "In addition, the steep downturn in oil and gas drilling has hit
construction hard in cities such as Fort Worth, Houston and New Orleans, even
as downstream projects gain steam in places such as Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas."
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The number of unemployed workers with construction experience dropped to the lowest total for September since 2000, as hiring continued to slow despite robust demand for construction, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned that the hiring slowdown most likely reflects a lack of available workers that could lead to project delays unless more students and workers join the construction sector.
"Growth in the construction workforce has been slowing throughout 2015, just at the time that construction spending has accelerated to a multi-year high," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "Contractors would love to hire more workers but there aren’t enough qualified craft workers or supervisors available."
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Member News |
The Tellepsen family will be honored on Friday, October 16, 2016 at a gala sponsored by SER (Service-Employment-Redevelopment) - Jobs For Progress, a non-profit organization that provides education, training and employment services for the Hispanic community.
In an a radio interview produced by The Business Makers, Howard Tellepsen, President and CEO of Tellepsen, spoke about his company's role with SER.
"SER is very active over in the East end, and that's where my grandfather, you know, started. And
Tellepsen's headquarters, on 17 Telephone Road, we had moved—for 40 years, and we had moved out of it and SER has purchased that. So. I think the combination of
Tellepsen's roots coming from immigrant, being able to provide jobs for the clients. Our
workforce
are clients from SER. They provide education; they provide workforce training; they provide employment opportunities. So, they appreciated the history of the Tellepsen family, being in construction, and then our family, one of our legacies that I've inherited and tried to do my best, as have my four sons to carry it on, is to be involved with something larger than ourselves.
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Bill Peel, Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer at Tellepsen, a Houston-based leader in commercial and industrial construction, will be honored as an Outstanding Alumnus of Texas A&M’s College of Architecture at an October 23, 2015 banquet at the Miramont Country Club in Bryan. He is one of six 2015 honorees.
Less than one percent of the college’s 15,000-plus former students have been recognized as outstanding alumni, the highest honor bestowed by the college to former students. Among Peel’s major successes are the $700 million redevelopment and expansion of Memorial City, one of Houston’s major urban centers, and a $247 million merger of two leading healthcare design/construction and development companies.
These are two of the many successful projects Peel has led as an executive and senior manager in a wide range of organizations, including international design/engineering firms, management consulting, real estate investment and development companies, during his four-decade career.
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Balfour Beatty Construction comedians performed to a packed house at the Improv Comedy Showcase and Restaurant, raising more than $76,000 in proceeds to benefit the Memorial Hermann Medical Missions and the Faith in Practice charitable organizations.
This was the Houston Division’s 10th year hosting the Night of Comedy, featuring team members performing stand-up comedy routines. This unique event originated in 2005—as the brainchild of Senior Project Manager Patrick Stuart Stanley—and has cumulatively raised more than $1,000,000 for charity. The North Texas division also hosted its Night of Comedy on August 6, 2015, for the fifth year in a row, raising $21,000 for local charities in the Dallas area. Photos above of Houston's Balfour Beatty Construction employees are by Tom Flaherty.
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Here's Looking At You |
Congratulations to AGC
Houston member Felipe Arredondo, IPR South Central, who received the Certified Safety & Health Official Construction Industry designation from the University of Texas at Arlington OSHA Training Institute.
To receive this professional designation, the student must complete OSHA 500 Trainer Course in OSHA Standards for the Construction Industry; OSHA 511 OSHA Standards for General Industry 2; OSHA 521 OSHA Guide to Industrial Hygiene; OSHA 3015 Excavation, Trenching and Mechanics; OSHA 3095 Electrical Standards; and the OSHA 3115 Fall Protection. The student also must complete two additional electives. Congratulations Felipe on reaching this significant accomplishment!
AGC Houston is proud to partner with the University of Texas at Arlington OSHA Training Institute, the top-ranked OSHA Training Institute Education Center in the country. Check our calendar for all of the classes offered at AGC Houston.
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News You Can Use |
Engineering News-Record recently reported on rising pay for construction workers.
With construction spending continuing to rise toward pre-recession peaks and worker shortages growing for both open shop and union contractors, compensation of craft trades has seen a significant bump—the largest in nearly three decades for some firms.
"It’s a great time to be a craft person," says Jeff Robinson, President of Personnel Administrative Services (PAS), a Michigan open-shop pay research firm.
The rise in craft compensation coincides with increased construction spending in the U.S., which posted a 13.7% year-over-year gain in August, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Residential construction put in place in August was up 16.4% year over year, says Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America’s Chief Economist.
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AGC Houston in conjunction with ACE Mentor Program invites all AGC Houston members to take part in and help to sponsor the Build It Forward community projects that will be held on November 21, 2015 at Marek Brothers Systems, Inc. from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Leadership AGC Class of 2016 participants will be heading up teams of high school students who are currently interested in pursuing studies in architecture,
construction and engineering.
Each year, ACE Mentor students participate in a community service by building a furniture project, which is then donated to local charities. ACE Mentor needs material and team sponsors to help "Build It Forward."
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The Greater Houston Partnership announced the release of its Fall Impact Report. Among its highlights, The Partnership successfully advocated for legislation in our three priority areas during the 84th Legislative Session, which will help to ensure our region's continued growth and success. Our three priorities included: early education, transportation and economic development incentives.
The Partnership also urges Houstonians to support Proposition 7 for transportation funding.
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Thousands celebrated Buffalo Bayou Park's transformation from an underused space along the bayou into the city's fourth "destination park" at an all-day grand opening ceremony Saturday. October 3, 2015.
Houston residents biked, drove and walked to free boat rides, yoga, art talks and a fireworks display at the improved 160-acre park that stretches from Shepherd to Sabine, bordered by Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive.
For information about the Buffalo Bayou Preservation, click here.
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On Saturday, November 14, 2015, Uptown Houston will be recognized as an exceptional patron of architecture and urban design at the Rice Design Alliance gala. Since its formation in 1987 as the city’s first management district, Uptown Houston has established the area around the Galleria as a commercial and residential destination and world-class example of decisive urban development, with ongoing projects fostering greater mobility on Post Oak Boulevard and lasting stewardship of Memorial Park.
AGC Houston is proud to sponsor the event as a benefactor and to be have supported the RDA for the past 25 years!
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Katy ISD’s budget is set to increase by nearly $59 million from last year’s after the district’s board of trustees unanimously approved a $780,852,617 proposal Aug. 25.
The fiscal year for 2015-2016 begins Sept. 1 and it assumes an enrollment increase of about 3,100 students, bringing the total number to 73,578.
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