Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture of Denver was recently honored with an Aquatics International Dream Designs award for its design of The Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Salem, Ore. According to the Aquatics International website, “the Dream Designs showcase is an annual program that highlights extraordinary aquatics facility design projects.” Photo courstesy of BRS Architects The 91,500-sq-ft community center represents part of the program initiated by a $1.8-billion gift from the late Joan Kroc, wife of McDonalds founder Ray Kroc. The Dream Designs program considers such factors as the incorporation of sustainable technology and/or equipment, creative
Post-show attendee and exhibitor surveys recently unveiled from CONEXPO-CON/AGG and IFPE 2011, held in March, confirm that the shows are vital business tools connecting buyers and sellers. Show management sayu they will use the survey data in future planning "to offer even more value at the next edition of the co-located exhibitions. " Among the results from the post-show surveys:• Why buyers attended the shows: for CONEXPO-CON/AGG, 89% of attending contractors and 91% of attending producers had a “buying influence” for products at the shows; 73% of IFPE attendees also had a “buying influence,” which is above the manufacturing/industrial exhibition average.
Have you ever driven past a billboard that would cause an accident if anyone actually read the whole thing or wished that a salesperson would stop blabbering about how perfect their product or service is? Worse yet, have you ever sat through a presentation that features a bunch of PowerPoint slides being read to you by the speaker? The advertiser, salesperson and speaker all missed the opportunity to reach and influence their target audiences. Time and money are wasted. Productivity suffers. It’s probably time for an “extreme messaging makeover.” Five Ways to a Makeover 1. Focus on One Big Idea. We’re bombarded
No matter which news source you follow, the story is the same: economic recovery for the construction industry is trailing behind other sectors. As a result, contractors are searching for every possible means to lower bidding costs to win more jobs. Many merit-shop contractors may not be aware of how to use the flexibility afforded by wage determinations on projects to which the Davis-Bacon Act applies. About the Davis-Bacon ActHere’s a brief primer on Davis-Bacon:• Applies to all contracts funded in whole or in part with money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (also referred to
Over the last few years, small- and medium-sized builders have been hit hard by the recession and an ailing real estate market, causing many in the industry to resort to “survival mode,” cutting back on marketing, staff and overhead costs in an effort to weather the storm. A majority of these contractors have slashed prices to reduce inventory and are executing a duck-and-cover approach to management. While this seems intuitive, it is not a strategic approach that lends itself to long-term viability. In actuality, savvy builders should do the opposite, by investing time, money and resources into their company
Do your employees trust you? The brutal truth is—probably not. It may not be fair, and you may not want to hear it, but chances are that previous leaders have poisoned the ground on which you’re trying to grow a successful business. Make no mistake: Unless you and all the leaders in your organization can gain the trust of your employees, performance will suffer. And considering how tough it is to survive in today’s business environment, that’s bad news for your company. Before a team can reach its full potential, leaders must act in ways that transcend employees’ fears of
The recent completion of a streetscape renovation of Fillmore Plaza in Denver’s Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District allows the plaza to be easily converted from a special events venue into an open street for limited vehicle traffic. Courtesy of Design Workshop The new Fillmore Plaza serves as the gateway to Cherry Creeks popular retail and dining district. The plaza redesign is the final improvement of The New North, the districts privately funded, 16-block, $18.5-million streetscape project. Other key goals of the project were to increase pedestrian “dwell time” and establish the area as a citywide destination for multiple activities.
Colorado business leaders remained confident, although generally less optimistic about the economy looking ahead to the third quarter, according to the most recent quarterly Leeds Business Confidence Index, or LBCI, recently released by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. Expectations are lower for the third quarter of 2011, with the LBCI posting a reading of 51.6, down from 56.8 in the second quarter. Confidence waned across all indices, although most remained above the neutral mark of 50. Expectations for the national economy were once again especially bleak, falling back below neutral after two consecutive quarters of optimism, according
Construction employment remained mired in a five-year-long slump as the industry shed another 9,000 jobs from May to June, according to an analysis of new federal employment data recently released by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that declines in public-sector construction activity will negate any pickup in private sector demand unless Congress and the states promptly and fully fund needed infrastructure spending and streamline the approval process for public projects.The industry unemployment rate fell from 20.1% a year ago to 15.6% in June 2011, said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. However, Simonson noted that the
Nashville-based Gaylord Entertainment Co.’s plan to build an $824-million hotel and conference center northeast of Denver in neighboring Aurora County, targeted for a late-2015 opening, has spawned friction between the two cities. The complex would be located on 85 acres in an area known as High Point, just south of Denver International Airport. Gaylord is buying the land from LNR Property LLC, Miami Beach, Fla., for an undisclosed amount, with the sale expected to close this year. Greeley, Colo.-based Hensel Phelps Construction Co. will serve as the general contractor.The 1,500-room resort, which would become the largest hotel in the Denver
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