With the state’s breakneck growth, it seems you can hardly cross a city block in Utah without encountering some new project under construction. But as you look around, you also can’t help but notice some new contractors listed on fence line signs. ABC Utah hopes to introduce and connect with new firms in the coming year.
“We have more construction companies coming here to the state of Utah. We want to be a resource to those who want to come to Utah and do business,” JuliAne Burton, ABC Utah Membership Director, said. This coming year “is about growing ABC, but also assisting with the growth that is happening here in the state of Utah.”
Having recently handed out its Excellence in Construction (EIC) Awards and hosted its annual safety roundtable, the chapter now hopes to bring construction site tours back to the event lineup this year. The first is already scheduled and taking place in Ogden, and three additional tours are in the works for later this year, according to Burton.
Revitalization and Reconnection in Ogden
Now that in-person tours are back on the agenda following disruptions during Covid, how do you pick a location for a site tour amid so many exciting, unvisited projects? ABC’s answer is: you don’t.
This year ABC will be touring whole neighborhoods, with guest speakers selected from the communities themselves, to gain perspective on strategies for sustainable growth and development, Burton said. After the tour this month in Ogden, the series will continue with possible stops in Salt Lake, Park City, Sugar House, and Millcreek.
“I chose Ogden because of its vibrant synergy among their city executives,” Burton said. “Their city officials have a great energy, and they’re very excited about the things happening there [...]. Things are never as they seem, and it’s fun to see there is truly a strategy behind what cities are doing to make things more functional, more accommodating.”
Ogden City Mayor Mike Caldwell led the May 13 tour, which began with an overview of MAKE Ogden and the Union Station master plan. Stops on the tour included the Union Heights project by Makers Line, the Lotus building, Dumke Arts Plaza, and The Monarch. Tour attendees had the opportunity to network with city staff and each other face to face.
“It’s an exciting time to get out and see the state of Utah,” said Burton. “Yes, we are experiencing growth, and yes, there are concerns about how to accommodate that, but our greatest resource in answering those questions is our cities and their development teams.”
Communication, Coordination Clinch Top Prize for R&O Construction
R&O Marketing Manager Jacob Mortensen can’t single out an individual responsible for making their work on the Roy Innovation Center worthy of this year’s ABC Champion of the Year award. The project, which ABC honored last month for its quality of construction and design, degree of difficulty, and innovation, was singular in the level of teamwork it required, Mortensen said.
“The EIC awards program is the construction industry’s leading state competition that honors general and specialty contractors for their world-class safety, and innovation on construction projects,” Chris DeHerrera, ABC chapter president and CEO, said. “Our members bring significant value to the state, and its economy. We are immensely proud of the work that our members do, and we as an association celebrate in our joint success.”
The Roy Innovation Center was designed to serve as the future headquarters of Northrop Grumman’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent Program, which has received a $13.3-billion defense contract for the construction of 400 new intercontinental ballistic missiles. Construction used concrete tilt-up panels reinforced with structural steel, with pedestrian bridges connecting each building on the five-building campus to its neighbors. The high-security nature of the project brought multiple unusual challenges, from navigating security at Hill Air Force Base, where the campus is located, to dealing with a project site littered with asbestos, explosives residue, steam lines, and tanks.
Following an initial groundbreaking in July 2019, R&O completed the first four buildings in two years and five months, meeting or exceeding the deadline for each structure. The final building will be completed in September of this year. Completing the project on time in spite of supply chain disruptions triggered by the pandemic required “extreme diligence” with respect to communication, Mortensen said.
“Normal timelines would allow different fields to work at different times, but with this particular project, everyone was working on top of each other,” Mortensen explained.
To mitigate strain, R&O had a dedicated team tasked with monitoring supply chains and materials, allowing them to pre-order even the most basic supplies, like drywall, well ahead of schedule to ensure it would be available when needed.
The award, Mortensen said, “is a direct reflection of every member of the team, whether in the office, out in the field, or anywhere in between.”
In addition to R&O, ABC recognized IMS Masonry’s work on the Pocatello Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Subcontractor Project of the Year. ABC named R&O the General Contractor of the Year, and named Sinc Constructors Co. Subcontractor of the Year. Jason Coates of Coates Electrical and Instrumentations was recognized as a Committee Volunteer for his work with the chapter.
Safety Week Highlights Mental Health
While EIC awards only go to their respective recipients, safety is a group effort–a contest everybody can win. And ABC Utah Chapter member companies are six times safer than averages reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to the 2022 Safety Performance Report released earlier this month. Using proactive safety practices reduced the incidence of recordable injuries by 84%, the report concluded. However, a growing awareness of mental health means safety isn’t limited to the jobsite, according to ABC Utah.
“Welcome to the total human health era of construction safety,” said Joe Xavier, Seniors Director of Health and Safety for ABC National. Now it is “a whole person approach to safety that accounts for the risk factors that make the construction industry more susceptible to death by suicide.”
While the construction industry reported fewer than 1,000 deaths on the job in 2016, there were 5,560 suicide deaths in the industry that same year, Xavier told chapter members during a construction safety week roundtable.
Based on thirty years of research into effective safety measures, ABC recommends an “in-depth indoctrination” into company culture and processes during new employee orientation. Companies that implement these measures reduced total recordable incidents by 70% and days away from work by 72% compared to companies that limit orientations to safety and health compliance topics, according to ABC. The organization also recommends the implementation of robust substance abuse prevention programs and policies.
“ABC Utah Chapter and our contractor members understand that our people are our greatest asset, and we will continue to advance world-class safety through valuable resources like the Safety Performance Report,” Chris DeHerrera, ABC Chapter President and CEO, said in a statement. “It is vital to create a culture of safety for each employee to complete their work without incident and go home safe and healthy every day.”