DPR Construction, the California-based building contractor and construction manager that has built itself into a $2-billion-a-year business on high-tech construction and a push for innovation, is making moves to expand its footprint. And the company’s first step in that direction is starting in the Southeast. Photo: NY Focus Photography DPR Construction built the Max Planck Florida Institute project, located in Jupiter, Fla. Related Links: California-based DPR is Set to Buy Hardin Construction In its first major purchase, DPR announced last month that it plans to buy Hardin Construction Co. LLC, the Atlanta-based general contractor. DPR, based in Redwood City, plans
Related Links: See who else has moved up, or moved on, in the AEC sector Will Michael Baker Opt to Go Private? Spanish Exec Becoming Hochtief CEO May Tighten Hold on U.S. Unit John DiCiurcio, who had been, since 2011, the Chicago-based chief operating officer of building contractor Turner Construction Co., New York City, has been elevated to CEO of Flatiron Construction, the Longmont, Colo., infrastructure builder.Previously named as Flatiron's COO in December and a member of its executive board since 2007, he now replaces Tom Rademacher, who has left the company, a Flatiron spokeswoman confirms.DICIURCIOBoth Flatiron and Turner are
Related Links: The Icarus Effect: FMI on Why Contractors Fail Winning the 'War for Talent' is Key Challenge in Growing Industry, Says New FMI Report Even as contractors age and seek to transfer firm ownership and management to a younger generation, more are finding that the recession and inadequate transition planning likely will keep them on the job longer. In a new study, industry management consultant FMI says that even though more than half of those construction firms surveyed will change ownership in the next decade, 52% of contractor-owners don't have management in line to replace them and 56% have
Cojurtesy of FMI Contractor ownership transition plans can differ widely by age. Related Links: Engineering News Record Retire? Maybe NotThe recession has curtailed retirement plans for many construction firm owners even as their average age rises, says a new survey by FMI. In a study sent to 6,700 contractors with revenue of more than $15 million, more than half of the 4.1% of owners who responded say they don’t yet have a team of management replacements ready, and 56% don’t have a formal plan to transition themselves out of a job.“Many business owners now want to work longer, benefit from
In a corner of Appalachia used to visits from bureaucrats and other would-be do-gooders, it's not hard to understand why, a decade ago, the people of Tennessee's Coal Creek region were suspicious of geotechnical engineer Barry Thacker's offer to clean up their mine waste-tainted waterways.
Courtesy of C3TS/Stantec Inaugural poet and engineer Richard Blanco delivers a poem at 2008 groundbreaking for Miami urban project he helped design. Related Links: Inaugural Poem: "One Today" by Richard Blanco, P.E. Blanco Poem at 2008 Groundbreaking for City of South Miami, Sunset Drive Improvements Richard Blanco, who wrote and delivered the Inaugural poem "One Today" at the Jan. 21 second-term swearing-in of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden, made history as the first Hispanic gay man and, at 44, the youngest person selected as the inaugural poet.He also carries the distinction as the first civil engineer with
Related Links: How DPR Construction Pushes Innovation and Industry Change-ENR Contractor Business Quarterly DPR Construction, the building contractor and construction manager that has built itself into a $2-billion-a-year business on high-tech construction and a push for innovation, appears to be trying something else relatively new—a big acquisition.In its first major purchase, DPR announced Jan. 18 that it plans to buy Hardin Construction Co. LLC, the Atlanta-based general contractor that would further boost the Calfornia firm's national scope.DPR, based in Redwood City, plans to buy 100% of Hardin shares from its manager-owners in a move that expedites regional growth.DPR ranks at
Related Links: Board of Michael Baker Corp. Starts 2013 Facing Big Decisions The board of engineering firm Michael Baker Corp. has begun 2013 facing new pressure from stockholders who have sought for months to boost the publicly held firm's share value. The Pittsburgh company's board announced Jan. 7 that its "independent" members will now seek new "strategic alternatives," including an unsolicited buyout offer it received last month from a financial-firm investor. The tumult, which includes the ouster of CEO Bradley L. Mallory, may signal new challenges for the industry's public firms—particularly smaller ones—at a time of changing market conditions. SHAWThe Michael
Related Links: DC Capital Partners Sends Letter to Michael Baker Board of Directors Crescendo Partners Sends Letter to Board of Directors of Michael Baker Corp. Michael Baker Corp.-investor relations page The board of engineering firm Michael Baker Corp. starts 2013 facing new pressure from stockholders who have been seeking to boost share value for months. Now one of the Pittsburgh-based firm's investors is pushing a buyout offer, with another urging it to accept. The overture comes in the midst of a search for a new CEO.The board and long-time Chairman Richard L. Shaw, 85, have to make a "compelling case"
Related Links: See Who Else in the Industry Has Moved Up, or Moved On HopkinsJohn L. Hopkins, Fluor Corp. group executive for corporate development and new ventures, will retire in March to become CEO of NuScale Power, a Portland, Ore.-based nuclear-power R&D startup firm in which the contractor is the majority investor. He replaces Paul G. Lorenzini, also NuScale Power's co-founder, who will become a firm consultant.Hopkins, also formerly president of Fluor's government group, joined Fluor in 1984. NuScale Power is developing a technology for a small modular reactor (SMR). Lorenzini has led the firm since 2007, when it
