Construction Bulletin articles from November 2006

Construction Bulletin archives from November 2006

Partnerships Produce Winning Results.
November 3, 2006... By Ivy Chang Majority and minority contractors find partners who help expand their businesses -- and their profits. In the mid-1990s, the city of St. Paul, Minn., noticed that ethnic minority and women contractors were not getting the...

Editor's Report.
November 3, 2006... By Ivy Chang Construction Bulletin is constantly changing to give readers what they want to know. Now we are launching a new used-equipment section that will serve the construction and logging industries in Minnesota, North Dakota, South...

Wortman joins Braun Intertec.
November 3, 2006... Staff Braun Intertec, engineering and environmental consulting and testing firm, named Elizabeth Wortman as its new manager of marketing communications. She will oversee marketing, advertising, public relations, promotions, and the...

BOMAG Americas names president.
November 3, 2006... Staff G.E. (Jerry) Randecker has been appointed president of BOMAG Americas, Inc. effective October 1, 2006. He succeeds Charles M. Simpkins who is retiring after more than 15 years with the company. Randecker will be responsible for...

St. Paul Travelers receives award.
November 3, 2006... Staff The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that St. Paul Travelers, an insurance provider, received an Energy Star designation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its largest campuses in St. Paul, Minnesota, and...

ASLA releases survey results.(American Society of Landscape Architects)(Brief article)
November 3, 2006... Staff At its annual conference in Minneapolis, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) released its salary and demographic survey results. Average total compensation rose from $74,600 to $89,700 from 2004 to 2006, a rise of...

AGC accepts applications.
November 3, 2006... Staff AGC of America is accepting applications for its annual awards which will be presented at its annual convention on March 21 -- 24, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas. Award categories are 1) Aon Build America award -- recognizes large and...

Bobcat produces safety videos.
November 3, 2006... Staff Compact equipment owners and operators can now watch all of Bobcat's product safety videos on one DVD in either English or Spanish. The training resources are also available online by clicking on Training Resources at www.bobcat.com...

Don't Step On Hidden Landmines.
November 3, 2006... By Steve Nagle, P.E., Braun Intertec Corp. Unless they have struck oil, most land developers and property owners don't like surprises. In many cases, soil and water conditions in the Red River Valley have been affected by both nature and...

Major Construction Serves Students' Needs.(Dunwoody College of Technology)
November 10, 2006... Story By Richard Parrish The 24,000-square-foot addition provides new spaces for Dunwoody's students and staff. Major new construction, renovation and remodeling projects totaling more than 24,000 square feet will make 2006 another...

Familiar Product Line Updated.(Five Star Industries)(Weiler E650 Asphalt Elevator and W730 Road Widener)
November 10, 2006... By Curt Grandia Five Star Industries, Inc. has made improvements to the previous Barber-Greene/Caterpillar base design. Though the name and paint scheme may yet be unfamiliar to some asphalt contractors, the equipment itself shouldn't...

Lyste joins Rachel.
November 10, 2006... Staff Dave Lyste joined Rachel Contracting as project manager and will be responsible for bidding and managing public and private civil construction projects, budgeting and cost analysis, and GPS system operations manager. Lyste has six...

Webinar scheduled.
November 10, 2006... Staff RiverGuide Inc. and Sage Software will present a free webinar, "Best Practices for Selecting Construction Software," concentrating on 10 critical steps to manage the selection of construction software. The webinar is based on...

MnDOT receives award.(Brief article)
November 10, 2006... Staff At the International Conference on Perpetual Pavement in September, MnDOT received a Perpetual Pavement Award for a section of Trunk Highway 18 between Brainerd and Garrison, Minn. Contractor for the original paving job was W....

Braun Intertec lab honored.
November 10, 2006... Staff For the second consecutive year, Braun Intertec, an engineering and environmental testing firm, has been honored with the Seal of Excellence from the American Council of Independent Laboratories (ACIL) for its analytical chemistry...

Ramun hired as manager.
November 10, 2006... Staff Jewell Attachments LLC appointed Mark Ramun to the position of Sales and Marketing manager. Ramun has 15 years of experience in a variety of positions within the manufacturing, demolition contracting and insurance industries,...

Building permits rise in Fargo.
November 10, 2006... Staff A report showing the number of building permits issued in Fargo for projects that are $1 million or more indicates that the permits for 2006 through September 30 exceeded calendar year 2005. James Gilmour, director of Planning and...

St. Thomas renames business school.
November 10, 2006... Staff The University of St. Thomas renamed its business school in Minneapolis to Opus College of Business in honor of the Opus Group. Opus started as a construction firm, then expanded into real estate and property management and was...

Green Sheet debuts.
November 10, 2006... Staff Construction Bulletin is launching a new used-equipment section that will serve the construction and logging industries in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This section, called Green Sheet, will give...

Registration deters theft.
November 10, 2006... Staff The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. and the National Equipment Register (NER) formed a team to help contractors handle the growing problem of heavy equipment theft, which involves more than one billion expensive pieces of construction...

Topcon buys KEE.
November 10, 2006... Staff Topcon Positioning System Inc. has acquired KEE Technologies Pty. Ltd. of Adelaide, Australia. KEE has over 25 years of experience in agricultural electronics and applications and focuses on the precision agricultural market. Topcon...

Matt Alexander hired.(Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. appoints Matt Alexander )(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... Staff Kraus-Anderson Realty Company hired Matt Alexander as director of real estate development. He will manage all aspects of new development, including site selection and acquisition, design and engineering, contractor selection, and...

Jay Hill promoted.(Schoell and Madson Inc. )(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... Staff Jay Hill , P.E., L.S., was promoted from senior project manager to Engineering Department manager at Schoell Madson, a full-service civil engineering consulting firm. Hill will lead the residential team and the continued expansion of...

Veit donates $15,000.
November 17, 2006... Staff Veit, a specialty contracting and waste management company based in Rogers, Minnesota, was recognized as the largest corporate contributor at the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) Walk/Run for Diabetes held recently in suburban...

Kraus-Anderson honored.
November 17, 2006... Staff The Minnesota Rehabilitation Association's Job Placement and Development Division selected Kraus-Anderson Construction Company as Large Metro Employer of the Year. Association officials said Kraus-Anderson "excels in working with...

Management changes.
November 17, 2006... Staff The Boler Company and Hendrickson announced executive management changes. John M. Boler assumed the responsibilities of president and CEO of The Boler Company in addition to continuing as chairman of the board. Reporting to Boler...

Oshkosh buys JLG.
November 17, 2006... Staff Oshkosh Truck Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., announced its plans to acquire JLG Industries, McConnellsburg, Pa., for about $3.2 billion in cash. JLG reported $2.3 billion in revenues during fiscal 2006 and has estimated a 20-percent to...

Insurance studies accidents.
November 17, 2006... Staff Progressive Commercial Auto, a commercial auto insurance company, studied claims filed between September 2005 and August 2006 of light local vehicles, those under 16,000 pounds and vehicles of more than 16,000 pounds. Findings...

Link-Belt Presents CraneFest '06.
November 17, 2006... Story by Tom Hale Company introduces new products at its world headquarters Link-Belt Construction Equipment Co. hosted CraneFest '06 at its world headquarters in Lexington, Ky., in October. Over 700 crane customers, executives and...

Council Certifies Security Professionals.(Building Security Certified Professional)
November 17, 2006... By An Pham Courses and exam will address building securityusing a multidisciplinary approach Building security is a multi-faceted concept that requires coordination of many different design disciplines, such as mechanical, electrical,...

AGC MN accepts nominations.
November 24, 2006... Staff The board of directors of Minnesota's AGC is accepting nominations for two awards, the Skill-Responsibility-Integrity Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Submit your written nominations to Dave Semerad, AGC Minnesota, 525 Park...

Caterpillar promotes Taylor.(Caterpillar Power Systems North America promotes George Taylor )(Brief article)
November 24, 2006... Staff George Taylor was appointed director of Caterpillar Power Systems North America succeeding Jim McReynolds who will lead the Caterpillar Global Paving division. Taylor was marketing manager for Caterpillar Asia Pacific Marketing...

Minnesota receives construction grant.(Federal Highway Administration)(Brief article)
November 24, 2006... Staff Minnesota, Iowa and South Carolina will be the first states to receive a $1-million grant under the Federal Highway Administration's Highways for LIFE program. The grants will help develop new approaches to cut construction schedules...

Kubota approves B5 fuels.
November 24, 2006... Staff Kubota Tractor Corp. approved the use of B5 biodiesel fuels in certain diesel-powered products. The approved blends of biodiesel range up to a B5 blend that consists of 5-percent biodiesel and 95-percent petroleum diesel. Kubota...

Building owners use LEED.(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)(Survey)(Brief article)
November 24, 2006... Staff According to a study by PinnacleOne, a construction consulting firm, in 2006, 48 percent of public building owners have built construction projects using energy-efficient designs, the majority of owners is familiar with Leadership in...

Non-residential building climbs.(Brief article)
November 24, 2006... Staff Ken Simonson, economist at AGC America, announced that non-residential construction spending climbed to its 13th consecutive record in September. However, the record wasn't enough to offset a 1.1-percent monthly drop in residential...