Power Up

This week, I visited one of our projects that covers several acres. It’s not ready for permanent power, but also needs power in a lot of locations. In the past, we’ve run conduit to a stationary board, which works, but has its downfalls. If there is too much load demand, breakers get tripped and the whole job shuts down until the problem can be fixed. There is very little flexibility to relocate easily. As walls go up, locations have to be changed. In short, productivity is lost.

On this project, we’ve brought in temporary power distribution units. Simply put, these units are daisy chained throughout the job, so that we now have multiple temp electrical locations. They are easy to move, with no single source. A few advantages:

• Safety. There are fewer cords, less chance of overload and all plugs are GFI protected.
• Portability. We can easily move the units from space to space to accommodate changing needs.
• Convenience. There are multiple plug in spots for equipment that needs to charge overnight.

While temporary power distribution units are frequently used in industrial construction, we are seeing potential with these system in our commercial mix. Good call by the management on this job.

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Construction Efforts Scale with New Drone Mission Capabilities

Drones are already making a difference at construction sites. Companies are collecting data to monitor progress, optimize job reports and complete many other construction functions by deploying these small, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Find out how they're doing this here. 

12 Steps for Developing and Driving Stronger Business Strategies

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” The purpose of business planning is to set overall goals for your business and to develop a strategy to achieve them. This includes implementing deducting and balancing approaches, making decisions, setting a destination or direction, and action planning. However, many construction companies have no long-term plan, with some even touting, “We just bid and pray.”

Securing Better Bonding

For contractors, securing bonding is the lifeblood of their businesses, but it comes with challenges that range from having the necessary working capital to demonstrating a track record of success. Find out how to overcome these challenges, ensuring your construction business is in a good position to attract a surety, and, in turn, profitable projects. 

Reach Out

Not too long ago, as I was traveling home on a Friday evening, I found myself at an escalator in the Chicago airport. It was one of those long steep ones that takes you down to travel under the tarmac to the next concourse, and I noticed no one was traveling down. As I approached, I realized the situation. There was an elderly woman with a baby strapped to her back. She was dressed in clothes that clearly placed her from another country and seemed frozen in fear as she looked down that long escalator. She may have never been on escalator before.

If I had faced a similar situation years ago, I might have let someone else help. I have since realized that we all need a hand at times to take leap of faith, or in this case ride down about 100 feet under the airport runway. This time was different. I reached out, held her arm and said, “Let’s go.” While she had no understanding of what I said, I must have established a little trust because we rode down together. On the other end, going back up, she got on with ease, and about half way up looked back at me. I gave her a thumbs up and she smiled. While we spoke different languages, we connected that evening.

Maybe we all could do a bit better job, me included, offering a reassuring hand and a smile as we travel these trails. Who knows? The roles might be reversed one evening.

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5 Things To Consider When Hiring New Talent

Throughout your business life, especially as a chief executive officer (CEO), president or business owner of a company in the construction industry, you will be hiring people to work for you. In fact, you may sometimes observe you are in a constant cycle of hiring people to properly staff and grow your company. There are many factors to think about when hiring, depending on the circumstance and the job position to be filled.

Understanding the Profile of a Fraudster

“I didn’t think fraud would happen to me—I have the best employees,” is a phrase I hear all too often when I meet a new client. Unfortunately, fraud is a real and ever-present threat to business.