Mike Harms, left, senior vice president at GE Johnson Construction Co., Denver, with Don White, owner of Denver’s E-Light Electric, Karen White and Bill Caile, former owner of Trautman and Shreve, at the Déjà vu Rendezvous in Denver on May 13. The industry benefit raised $217,000 for the Assistive Technology Partners program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. ATP supports people with disabilities through innovative technologies and services. More than 650 people attended the annual fundraiser, which has raised nearly $700,000 over four years. “This event was first envisioned as a way to unite past and current members of the Colorado construction community annually and celebrate the industry relationships we have established,‘ said Harms.’It has grown well beyond that, and we will continue to set our sights higher. The ultimate reward is that we are raising money for such a great cause.”

Photo courtesy of Marlin Cohrs, Assistive Technology Partners

In his May 20 visit to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., Vice President Joe Biden touted the Obama administration’s record of fostering innovation through government investments in science and technology. Biden toured NREL’s new netzero- energy Research Support Facility and told a roomful of employees: ’Now, more than ever, America’s future competitiveness depends on our capacity for technological advancement. We are laying the groundwork for the most fundamental innovations of our time.’

Photo By Mark Shaw

The Colorado Chapter of Society for Marketing Professional Services hosted the annual Marketing Excellence Awards in Denver on May 19. The event highlighted the industry’s best-of-the-best marketing pieces and individuals. SMPS members who received awards included Karen Gilbert, Fentress Architects, the Leonardo Award; Kim Robertson, Norris Design, Member of the Year; Stacy Stout, Shaw Construction, Marketer of the Year; Matthew Campbell, Fransen Pittman, Business Developer of the Year. Winning firms were JVA Inc., Shaw Construction, Adolfson & Peterson, Group 14 Engineering, CH2M Hill, Catamount Constructors, Shaffer · Baucom Engineering & Consulting, Western Summit Constructors, The Gallegos Corp., Rider Levett Bucknall, OZ Architecture and Milender White.

Photo by Mark Shaw

The Design-Build Institute of America Rocky Mountain Region hosted Pam Hutton, chief engineer for the Colorado Dept. of Transportation, at a Denver luncheon program in late April for an overview of the department’s new Colorado Bridge Enterprise program. Hutton and CBE program manager Ken Szeliga said the program was created to accelerate the repair of the state’s worst bridges, those designated by CDOT as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The state has 154 such bridges, with 69 of them assigned to the CBE program and 23 under construction. The idea behind CBE, Hutton said, is to ’challenge normal business procedures and do things better, faster and cheaper. We want to spend the money to fix these bad bridges as quickly as we can.’The CBE is receiving about $100 million a year from FASTER, the Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery Act of 2009.

Photo by Mark Shaw

Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, told members of the Colorado Contractors Association at an industry forecast luncheon in Denver in late April that federal stimulus funding is ‘about done,’ with more than 70%of Recovery Act funds already paid out and 100% of federal funds already obligated for water and wastewater projects. Simonson said there could be ’significantly less money’ for highway construction this year, but he is ’optimistic about the prospects for residential construction, especially the rental sector, in the near future.’ Simonson forecasts total construction spending in 2011 to be up for the first time in four years, but he told the group that additional public spending for construction projects “isn’t going to be there for many years .”

Photo by Mark Shaw