AGC of Greater Florida Presents Project Awards

The Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida recently recognized the 2003 Horizon Award Winners at its Annual Dinner and Horizon Award Program, held at the World Golf Village Renaissance Resort in St. Augustine.

Projects were judged on seven guidelines including: overall project management; unique challenges; client service; safety; innovative use of construction techniques; community involvement; and positive public relations for the industry.

Winners were as follows:

• Projects greater than $1 million, Supplier - Gate Concrete Products Co., Jacksonville, for The Prudential Drive Parking Facility.
  
• Projects less than $1 million, Subcontractor - Ed Waters and Sons Contracting Co., Jacksonville, for the Banana River Subaqueous Pipeline.
  
• Building Projects less than $2 million, New Construction - Vogel Bros. Building Co., Lakeland, for The Lopez Exceptional Center.
  
• Building Projects from $2 million to $6 million, Renovation - Perry-McCall Construction, Jacksonville, for the Ancient City Baptist Church.
  
• Building Projects from $2 million to $6 million, New Construction - Auld & White Constructors, Jacksonville, for the Educational Community Credit Union Headquarters.
  
• Building Project from $6 million to $15 million, Renovation - Batson-Cook Co., Jacksonville, for the Landon Middle School Renovations and Addition.
  
• Heavy/Industrial Projects from $6 million to $15 million, New Construction - L.C. Gaskins Construction Co., Jacksonville, for the Air Traffic Control Facility.
  
• Building Projects from $6 million to $15 million, New Construction - Creative Contractors, Clearwater, for the St. Petersburg College - Fine Arts Educational Enhancement Center, Leepa-Rattner Museum, and Michael M. Bennett Library.
  
• Municipal/Utility Projects greater than $15 million, New Construction - Vogel Bros. Building Co., Lakeland, for the Navy Water Treatment Plant.
  
• Building Projects greater than $15 million, New Construction - BECK, Tampa, for the University of Tampa Vaughn Hall.
  

The Horizon Award program is limited to commercial contractors and subcontractors and has categories including building, highway, heavy/industrial, and municipal/utility construction.

Projects may be either new construction or renovation and they are further broken down into one of four contract amounts.

Industry Leader Andy Mayts Passes Away

Andrew "Andy" J. Mayts Sr., 74, a founding member of the Underground Utility Contractors of Florida and former president of the National Utility Contractors Association, passed away recently.

A statement from the UUCF commented on the loss: "This association and the construction industry has lost a great leader. Those who knew him respected him for the high standards he set for himself and others. He was involved in our industry's associations on a local, state and national level for more than 29 years."

Mayts served on the UUCF board from 1985 to 1988 and as president in 1988. In 1997, UUCF established the Construction Performance Awards. The Andrew J. Mayts Award was established and is presented annually to a UUCF board member who has made a significant contribution, on the state level, to the industry and/or association.

Young Constructors Deliver Habitat for Humanity Project

The Young Constructors Forum of the Associated General Contractors of Central Florida brought the largest group of volunteers to a recent Habitat for Humanity project. The 15 members of the YCF from AGC of Central Florida firms spent the day hanging drywall.

Wharton-Smith, Lake Mary, partly sponsored the event by providing lunch, beverages and workday t-shirts for the YCF volunteers.

Peri Relocates Regional Headquarters to Lake County

Peri, an international company that manufactures formwork and scaffolding, announced recently it will relocate its Southeast headquarters to Groveland, Fla.

The company will build a $6 million production and warehousing facility, which will be completed in Spring 2004, at Ford Commerce Park. About one third of the space will be used for administration offices, while the rest of the 15,000 sq.-ft. facility will be used for the manufacture, refurbishing and storage of the company's large construction trusses and forms.

The Groveland facility will serve Peri's customers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and the Caribbean.

Florida Masons Win National Fastest Trowel Contest

Two Florida masons were awarded national honors at the Masonry Contractors of America Association's Annual Convention, held recently in Tampa. Rex Allan of Cunningham Masonry, Jacksonville, took first place in the national contest. Allan and his helpers won an assortment of tools and $5,000 from the contest sponsors, Spec Mix, of Minneapolis.

Pascal Robinson of Robertson Masonry, Orlando, placed second, and also won tools and $2,500. Placing third was Glenn Houghton, of Houghton Masonry, Iowa City, Iowa.

Also, Chris Sutherland won his final masonry building contest at the annual convention. Sutherland, who has won every contest he has entered as a masonry apprentice, is employed by Red Brookshire of Florida, Tampa.

Devon Brookshire, president of Red Brookshire, said, "Chris is phenomenal and a true craftsman.

He continues to do excellent work and has been promoted to a foreman position with the company. We hope Chris's skills and work ethic will rub off on all our journeymen and employees."

Robins & Morton Ranked as Top Health-Care Contractor

Modern Healthcare magazine recently ranked The Robins & Morton Group as the top health-care general contractor for 2002. The Birmingham, Ala.-based contractor's 2002 health-care volume was $317 million. The company also maintains offices in Orlando and Nashville.

Roger Kennedy Wins Two Aurora Awards

Altamonte Springs-based general contractor Roger B. Kennedy received two 2002 Aurora Awards for "Best Office Building" and "Best Interior Detailing" for its work at the new $1.4 million, 10,000-sq.-ft. Special Olympics Florida Headquarters building in Clermont. The Evans Group, Orlando, was architect. Interiors were designed by Evcon, a division of The Evans Group.

Roger B. Kennedy, Inc. and its subcontractors contributed their profits along with a substantial amount of labor and materials.

WilsonMiller acquires Florida Technical Services

WilsonMiller has acquired Tampa civil engineering and land planning firm Florida Technical Services and plans to locate a new office in Pasco County. All FTS employees will join the WilsonMiller staff.

Thompson Pump named Vendor of the Year

The Central Florida Chapter of the American Public Works Association recently named Thompson Pump as its "Vendor of the Year" for 2002. The APWA honored Thompson Pump for the company's continuous involvement in the public works industry. Members of the APWA also expressed gratitude to Bill Thompson for his generous donation made to the APWA Central Florida Scholarship Fund.

Fortune Magazine Lists Skanska as "Most Admired"

Fortune Magazine's annual ranking of the "World's Most Admired Companies" listed Skanska AB No. 1 in the category of engineering and construction. The rankings are based on the votes of 10,000 business executives and financial analysts in 345 companies worldwide.

Skanska AB is the global parent company of Skanska USA Building.

Turner Reports Record Earnings

Dallas-based Turner Corp., recently announced record earnings and income results for the year ended Dec. 31, 2002. Earnings from construction contracts ended the year at a record $224.6 million, an increase of 8 percent over the prior year's $207.2 million total. Also, the company's backlog value of construction to be completed showed a 14 percent increase.

Income from construction operations in 2002 also grew to record levels, a 15 percent increase over the $68.5 million level achieved in 2001.