The general contractor Balfour Beatty has been working with the San Diego Unified School District for 13 years. Over the past five years alone, the firm has completed five projects for the District, with number six currently under construction.
On all improvement and construction projects, the District has a mandatory goal of 50% participation by emerging business enterprises, or EBEs. That goal includes 5% for disabled veteran business enterprises (DVBEs).
For the District’s recent $38 million project that modernized its Innovations Academy, a K-8 charter school with nearly 400 students, Balfour Beatty delivered more than 62,000 sf of educational space within a tight five-month schedule. The contractor awarded $5 million in contracts, nearly 13%, to local DVBE firms, a portion that more than doubled the District’s participation goal for DVBEs. “That was outstanding,” says Tim Berry, senior vice president and one of Balfour Beatty’s K-12 market leads in California, whom BD+C interviewed earlier this week.
In total, Balfour Beatty has awarded contracts to five San Diego-area DVBE firms—Audio Associates of San Diego, IO Environmental & Infrastructure, Penn Air Control, PN Supply, and Veterans Engineering Services—that have worked on 22 projects for the District.
A SKILLED LABOR POOL
At a time when the construction industry has struggled with shortages of skilled labor, tapping the veterans’ community for workers can fill gaps for firms like Balfour Beatty. These partnerships, the firm has stated, “bring a pool of talent that is rich in leadership and complex problem-solving skillsets.”
Berry notes that over the past two decades Balfour Beatty has done a lot of work for the federal government and the military. On such projects, the vast majority of the construction is typically performed by small-business enterprises. Over this period, Balfour Beatty itself has also hired lots of vets, and continues to have a proactive outreach and networking program, particularly in southern California where there’s a large military population.
Programs that encourage, or even mandate, the hiring of veteran-owned businesses “open the door for us,” says Mike Bilodeau, CEO of IO Environmental & Infrastructure, which he started in 2007. With four offices and 50 employees, the company has grown to where it is performing jobs nationally (it currently has projects underway in North Carolina, Utah, and at Fort Dix in New Jersey.)
The San Diego Unified School District is one of IO’s long-standing clients. Ever since the District moved its properties into lease-leaseback agreements, many of its building upgrades have been whole-school remodels. “It’s almost like a design-build situation,” says Bilodeau, who served in the Coast Guard, and was also an environmental specialist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
CONSISTENT CASHFLOW A MAJOR BENEFIT
The modernization of the Innovations Academy included 27 classrooms, the gym, exterior play area and parking facilities, according to ABBA Project Management.
For the Innovations Academy project, the scope of IO’s work consisted of landscaping, irrigation, and decomposed granite resurfacing. Dan Parker, IO’s operations manager (and a U.S. Air Force vet), lauds John Atherton, MEng, CCM, DBIA, LEED AP, Balfour Beatty’s project executive, for keeping the Innovations Academy job moving forward smoothly. (Berry notes that this project required modifying the existing building’s structural component with 30- to 50-ft-deep shoring.)
To achieve dynamic DVBE participation on a hard-bid project like this one, Balfour Beatty develops targeted bid packages during preconstruction. Oftentimes, DVBEs come in as second-tier trade partners, so it’s important for the contractor to establish clear participation goals for the entire supply chain.
As consistent cashflow is of critical importance to small businesses, Balfour Beatty makes a point of paying the DVBEs it hires on time and in full. It also works with these subs to expedite the hiring process. “It’s essential that the paperwork be filled out properly, especially when financing is an issue,” explains Berry.
Balfour Beatty’s involvement with DVBEs may be about giving back to the community, and providing equal opportunities to all subcontractor companies. But the firm’s motives aren’t entirely altruistic: Berry says these partnerships help the firm grow. And the presence of vets on the jobsite can lift up the entire team. “There’s no entitlement mentality with vets, no ‘I can’t.’ ”
Related Stories
Contractors | Feb 14, 2023
The average U.S. contractor has nine months worth of construction work in the pipeline
Associated Builders and Contractors reports today that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined 0.2 months to 9.0 in January, according to an ABC member survey conducted Jan. 20 to Feb. 3. The reading is 1.0 month higher than in January 2022.
Contractors | Feb 13, 2023
Webcor names Matt Rossie CEO
Matt Rossie, the President and Chief Operating Officer at San Francisco-based general contractor Webcor, assumed the responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer effective January 1.
Office Buildings | Feb 12, 2023
Smyrna Ready Mix’s new office HQ mimics the patterns in the company’s onsite stone quarry
Designed by EOA Architects to showcase various concrete processes and applications, Smyrna Ready Mix's new office headquarters features vertical layering that mimics the patterns in the company’s stone quarry, located on the opposite end of the campus site. The building’s glass and concrete bands are meant to mirror the quarry’s natural contours and striations.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 10, 2023
Dallas to get a 19-story, 351-unit residential high-rise
In Dallas, work has begun on a new multifamily high-rise called The Oliver. The 19-story, 351-unit apartment building will be located within The Central, a 27-acre mixed-use development near the Knox/Henderson neighborhood north of downtown Dallas.
Sustainability | Feb 9, 2023
New guide for planning, designing, and operating onsite water reuse systems
The Pacific Institute, a global nonpartisan water think tank, has released guidance for developers to plan, design, and operate onsite water reuse systems. The Guide for Developing Onsite Water Systems to Support Regional Water Resilience advances circular, localized approaches to managing water that reduce a site’s water footprint, improve its resilience to water shortage or other disruptions, and provide benefits for local communities and regional water systems.
Office Buildings | Feb 9, 2023
Post-Covid Manhattan office market rebound gaining momentum
Office workers in Manhattan continue to return to their workplaces in sufficient numbers for many of their employers to maintain or expand their footprint in the city, according to a survey of more than 140 major Manhattan office employers conducted in January by The Partnership for New York City.
Giants 400 | Feb 9, 2023
New Giants 400 download: Get the complete at-a-glance 2022 Giants 400 rankings in Excel
See how your architecture, engineering, or construction firm stacks up against the nation's AEC Giants. For more than 45 years, the editors of Building Design+Construction have surveyed the largest AEC firms in the U.S./Canada to create the annual Giants 400 report. This year, a record 519 firms participated in the Giants 400 report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
University Buildings | Feb 8, 2023
STEM-focused Kettering University opens Stantec-designed Learning Commons
In Flint, Mich., Kettering University opened its new $63 million Learning Commons, designed by Stantec. The new facility will support collaboration, ideation, and digital technology for the STEM-focused higher learning institution.
Sustainability | Feb 8, 2023
A wind energy system—without the blades—can be placed on commercial building rooftops
Aeromine Technologies’ bladeless system captures and amplifies a building’s airflow like airfoils on a race car.
Codes and Standards | Feb 8, 2023
GSA releases draft of federal low embodied carbon material standards
The General Services Administration recently released a document that outlines standards for low embodied carbon materials and products to be used on federal construction projects.