ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. one of the nation’s oldest and largest privately-held construction companies and a 100 percent employee-owned business, was honored last night with a 2012 Training Magazine Top 125 Award. The award was presented during the Training 2012 Conference & Expo in Atlanta, recognizing the top companies based on excellence in employer-sponsored training and development programs. For the second year in a row, McCarthy was honored with placement on the prestigious list, moving up 102 spots from 112th in 2011 to 10th in this year’s ranking.

“As an employee-owned company, it is our responsibility to help one another achieve our greatest potential,” explained McCarthy Chairman and CEO Mike Bolen. “And in our highly technical industry with little room for error we know we must meet the highest standards in construction quality and safety. When each of our 1,400 owners focuses on small incremental improvements, the impact is very powerful. Our comprehensive approach to training and development is a key part of this process. To be included once again among the Training Top 125 companies is an outstanding honor.”

Lorri Freifeld, editor-in-chief of Training magazine added, “The competition was fierce this year, and it was a very difficult task to choose the winners from the many excellent applications we received. Congratulations to the 2012 winners, who demonstrated their unwavering commitment to, passion for, and investment in training.”

Founded as a family owned business almost 150 years ago, McCarthy is one of the largest 100% employee-owned companies in America today. The firm has long fostered a culture dedicated to continuous improvement, and “Learning” represents one of McCarthy’s six company Core Values.

While a formal McCarthy Training Program had been in place for decades, McCarthy formally launched an entirely revamped training program in 2008 under McCarthy Build U®. Unusual in the construction industry and among best-in-class training programs outside of the construction industry, McCarthy Build U is a personalized approach to employee development. Through a comprehensive array of in person, online and self-directed training opportunities, employees are empowered to take control of their personal and professional development.

“McCarthy’s outstanding builders and industry professionals are among the best in the business,” noted McCarthy President and Chief Operating Officer Derek Glanvill. “Our intensive focus on developing best-in-class training enables us to attract and retain the best talent, execute complicated work with highly skilled labor and develop the leaders of tomorrow. For us, that’s what being employee-owned is all about.”

About the Training 125

Now in its 12th year, the Training Top 125 ranking is based on a variety of benchmarking statistics such as total training budget; percentage of payroll; number of training hours per employee program; goals, evaluation, measurement, and workplace surveys; hours of training per employee annually; and detailed formal programs. The ranking is determined by assessing a range of qualitative and quantitative factors, including financial investment in employee development, the scope of development programs, and how closely such development efforts are linked to business goals and objectives. More information about the 2012 Training Top 125 Award winners may be obtained online at http://www.trainingmag.com.

About McCarthy

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial builders. Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build services for healthcare, educational, commercial, parking structures, science and technology facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; bridges; and highways. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is a 100 percent employee-owned private company, or “S corporation employee stock ownership plan” (S ESOP). More information about the company is available online at http://www.mccarthy.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: To download high resolution images: http://www.mccarthy.com/ftp-2012-training-125-award

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Ownership Culture Rockets McCarthy Building Companies Up 102 Spots to Number 10 on the Training Top 125

The resources ministry said the adviser will work at the building regulations office.

Jurgen Balzan

Additional reporting by Julia Farrugia

The ministry for resources and rural affairs has told MaltaToday that the architect Arthur Apap, revealed in a PQ of having been engaged on four-month contract on a €24,000 fee, will be serving as an adviser to minister George Pullicino in the Building Regulations office.

"The office can now function after the parliamentary approval of the building regulations law. The office will implement regulations including the safeguarding of neighbours' rights during construction works and the classification of contractors," a spokesperson for Pullicino said.

The ministry added that during his four-month employment, Apap, 62, will stop practicing his profession. "His engagement required him to work for at least eight hours per day without being eligible for overtime. He was given a temporary contract because the office needs to be operative with immediate effect before the end of the process which will see the permanent employment of somebody else."

Apart from the monthly €6,000 wage, Apap will receive a monthly €290 car cash allowance and mobile phone facilities.

Although the contract is only valid for four months, it could be extended for a further period. Attempts to speak to Apap were futile. A person who took MaltaToday's call to Apap's office said Apap "is never in the office".

The ministry insists that the engagement is in line with established procedures and was approved by the permanent secretary. The ministry also stressed that it was not pressed to publish the contract but was tabled in Parliament on 2 February.

The conditions of payment for Pullicino's personal secretariat and other political appointees appointed as 'persons of trust' to government entities, were revealed in a reply to a PQ by constituency 'rival' Robert Arrigo.

The ministry belatedly tabled the contracts of Ronald Camilleri, Albert Caruana, Mathieu Cilia, Alicia Said and Emanuel Schembri, last week in parliament in a reply to a further PQ by Labour MP Charles Buhagiar.

Ronald Camilleri, the former head of the minister's secretariat at the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Environment, was engaged as an "adviser" in November 2011 on three year contract worth €35,216 annually. He is also entitled to free mobile phone and internet facilities.

Albert Caruana was employed by the ministry in December 2008 as an environmental projects coordinator. He was engaged on a one-year contract worth €31,873.

In March 2011, the ministry awarded Mathieu Cilia a one-year €32,191 contract as the ministry's "projects coordinator". Cilia stepped down as president of the PN's youth organ in June 2010. He held the post for five years. Cilia, a canvasser for Pullicino, has also held other posts within the ministry and was responsible for the events celebrating the reopening of St George's Square  in 2009.

Another contract was awarded to Alicia Said in November 2011. She was engaged as an "adviser" on a one-year €22,272 contract.

Emanuel Schembri was employed in May 2010 for an initial eight-month contract. Schembri was engaged as "senior manager for services to be rendered to the civil abattoir". He received a €32,130 salary, a fully-expensed car, a telephone landline and mobile phone and internet facilities.

All five were employed on a full time basis. The persons were engaged as political appointees, accountable to Minister George Pullicino, and not as civil servants.

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Pullicino adviser to serve in building regulations office

Written By:  Kristianne Fusilero
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Category: Economy

The Office of City Building Official will start requiring business establishments starting next month to secure an approved construction safety and health program from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) before the issuance of building permits.

Acting City Building Official Jaime G. Adalin said it would be an added requirement before getting a building permit for the companies that planned to construct their projects like commercial, high-rise or residential units in the city.

“This (requirement) is to ensure safety especially of the construction workers,” he said.

He said the move to require the companies to secure first a DOLE-approved construction safety and health program before getting a permit is needed to avert what had happened before when two different malls collapsed.

The DOLE-approved construction safety and health program outlines the plans of companies to prevent accidents during construction like providing safety signage, proper equipment for the workers such as goggles, first aid and monthly accident and illness report.

The program is already one of the requirements set by DOLE pursuant to Department Order No. 13. The general contractor or main contractor should submit the program in the department for approval before the company could start the actual implementation of construction works.

The department decided to issue the order after the 39-storey Eton Tower in Makati collapsed early last year. The incident killed 10 construction workers when an electric gondola that they were using gave way while constructing the tower.

In April last year, the DOLE with the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Interior and Local Government and Professional Regulation Commission also signed an agreement to strengthen its linkages toward promoting the welfare among workers.

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Companies to be required to submit safety, health program

Plenty of statistics point to the need for new office construction in Manhattan, and the city’s aging building stock isn’t least among them.

Indeed, no meaningful addition to the city’s roughly 400 million square feet of commercial space has been added to the skyline in two decades, raising questions as to whether it could face a shortage in the coming years, a situation that has pressured rental spikes in the past. For now, however, amid what appears to be at least a hiccup in leasing during the last quarter of 2011 and the opening quarter of this year—not to mention lingering concerns about the health of the economy—only the most intrepid developers have gone into the ground with projects.

51 Astor Place.

Uncertain demand and other hurdles that developers must negotiate to build, including securing a site in a city where prime development parcels are both difficult and expensive to acquire, only partly explain the dearth of construction.

In the wake of tightened lending standards, construction financing remains hard to secure, and for developers who are able to source loans, the terms have shifted in a way that places far more of a project’s risk on their shoulders.

“We’re finding that for the right projects and sponsorship, there are lenders in the market who are willing to provide financing,” said Charles Bendit, a principal at Taconic Investment Partners LLC, a real estate investment and development firm that has built a number of buildings despite the challenging lending conditions in recent years, including the boutique office building at 15 Little West 12th Street. Mr. Bendit and Paul Pariser, another principal at Taconic, are in the process of starting 837 Washington Street, a roughly 55,000-square-foot office and retail property that, like 15 Little West 12th, is located in the trendy meatpacking district and will be built on speculation.

But Mr. Bendit pointed out that even developers like himself and Mr. Pariser, who have an impressive track record, have to front as much as 45 percent of the cost of a new building to secure financing, a far higher equity requirement than in the years before the recession hit.
“It used to be that you could get construction financing for 75 percent of a project’s cost,” Mr. Bendit said.

Link:
Construction Financing is Back But, As Developers Are Learning, Equity is Key

Published on Feb 13, 2012

A family service centre at an Ang Mo Kio block's void deck. Volunteer groups benefit from subsidised rent. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG

By Shuli Sudderuddin & Tay Suan Chiang

Voids decks have become a hot topic following the recent petition against a day-care centre for the elderly in Woodlands.

Yet, despite the controversy, voluntary welfare groups which have set up shop in these communal spaces say there are distinct benefits.

For a start, it helps them to be more accessible to the community. Some can even pay three to five times less in overhead costs.

Mr Alfred Tan, executive director of the Singapore Children's Society, said the voluntary group started opening branches in Housing Board void decks in the 1980s in a conscious decision to get closer to its beneficiaries, and because it is cheaper.

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Void deck centres 'benefit public', make services accessible

From the top of an Olympic podium to scrubbing barnacles from the bottom of a boat, Dane Martin Kirketerp is making quite a sacrifice in the hope of one day sailing around the world in the Volvo Ocean Race.

The word 'unassuming' does not do justice to Kirketerp, who won gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 49er class in Qingdao despite the fact that he has one glass eye.

He hopes to taste glory again by competing in the Volvo Ocean Race but for now that seems a distant goal as he works his way up from the bottom, scrubbing and polishing the boat as a member of the shore crew for Chinese team Sanya.

"Winning the Olympics was the best feeling in the world," he told Reuters. "It was ecstasy for me.

"I spent the next four months enjoying myself but I knew I wanted to come and sail around the world, to get that same feeling of the adrenaline rushing.

"I'm not there yet but a wise man once told me you get a long way with hard work. All big things come from starting small so that's just what I'm doing."

While the 11 onboard sailors received a rapturous welcome from the crowds at their home port when the race arrived in Sanya in southern China this month, Kirketerp went on working unnoticed in the team's shore base.

He will continue to bide his time for the remainder of the round-the-world race, which started in Alicante last year and will not finish until July in Galway, in the hope of being called up as a substitute or, more likely, getting a chance in the next race from 2014-15.

CANCER BATTLE

Kirketerp plays down a battle with cancer that caused him to lose an eye when he was one and a half years old.

"I don't speak about it, not having one eye," he says. "It's just part of who I am and I don't even think about it. I always had it so I don't know any different.

"And anyway, I'd rather lose an eye than an arm. You can't grind winches on a boat with one arm, but with one eye it's no problem."

Victory for Denmark's Kirketerp and Jonas Warrer back in 2008 came against the Spanish pair of Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez, who were then Olympic champions.

While the Spaniards had to settle for silver on that occasion, they are on the crest of a wave now as skipper and trimmer onboard Telefonica, the team currently leading the Volvo Ocean Race after winning the first three offshore legs.

Kirketerp, bu contrast, has turned down offers of coaching at the London Olympics and at this stage does not even think he will be in England to see his own event.

"My job here now is about cleaning and polishing the boat, keeping things in place in the workshop, but it's a stepping stone to other things," he said.

"I have a lot to learn about these boats and this kind of sailing and hopefully I may get a chance to sail a leg or two even in this edition."

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Olympics-Danish gold medallist swabbing decks for ocean dream

SANYA, China, Feb 14 (Reuters) - From the top of an Olympic podium to scrubbing barnacles from the bottom of a boat, Dane Martin Kirketerp is making quite a sacrifice in the hope of one day sailing around the world in the Volvo Ocean Race.

The word ‘unassuming’ does not do justice to Kirketerp, who won gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 49er class in Qingdao despite the fact that he has one glass eye.

He hopes to taste glory again by competing in the Volvo Ocean Race but for now that seems a distant goal as he works his way up from the bottom, scrubbing and polishing the boat as a member of the shore crew for Chinese team Sanya.

“Winning the Olympics was the best feeling in the world,” he told Reuters. “It was ecstasy for me.

“I spent the next four months enjoying myself but I knew I wanted to come and sail around the world, to get that same feeling of the adrenaline rushing.

“I’m not there yet but a wise man once told me you get a long way with hard work. All big things come from starting small so that’s just what I’m doing.”

While the 11 onboard sailors received a rapturous welcome from the crowds at their home port when the race arrived in Sanya in southern China this month, Kirketerp went on working unnoticed in the team’s shore base.

He will continue to bide his time for the remainder of the round-the-world race, which started in Alicante last year and will not finish until July in Galway, in the hope of being called up as a substitute or, more likely, getting a chance in the next race from 2014-15.

CANCER BATTLE

Kirketerp plays down a battle with cancer that caused him to lose an eye when he was one and a half years old.

“I don’t speak about it, not having one eye,” he says. “It’s just part of who I am and I don’t even think about it. I always had it so I don’t know any different.

“And anyway, I’d rather lose an eye than an arm. You can’t grind winches on a boat with one arm, but with one eye it’s no problem.”

Victory for Denmark’s Kirketerp and Jonas Warrer back in 2008 came against the Spanish pair of Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez, who were then Olympic champions.

While the Spaniards had to settle for silver on that occasion, they are on the crest of a wave now as skipper and trimmer onboard Telefonica, the team currently leading the Volvo Ocean Race after winning the first three offshore legs.

Kirketerp, bu contrast, has turned down offers of coaching at the London Olympics and at this stage does not even think he will be in England to see his own event.

“My job here now is about cleaning and polishing the boat, keeping things in place in the workshop, but it’s a stepping stone to other things,” he said.

“I have a lot to learn about these boats and this kind of sailing and hopefully I may get a chance to sail a leg or two even in this edition.” (Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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Danish gold medallist swabbing decks for ocean dream

MADISON TWP. - When Dan and Toni Luscher bought their double-wide trailer in Kearney's Mobile Park I in 2004, they expected to live there for a long time.

They had more space than they needed with three bedrooms and two full baths. They added porches, planted shrubs and last year replaced the windows and flooring.

Now, they are being forced to move from the park and take their mobile home with them.

The Luschers and about 60 other tenants of Kearney's Mobile Park I and II were given notice from owner Robert Kearney Jr. that the park is closing. Their personal possessions, including their homes, must be removed by April 30, according to a notice Mr. Kearney sent to all residents.

The notice came after months of rumors about regulators looking into the shared utilities at the lots. The parks are served by two wells and have a sewage system connected to a common septic mound, tenants say. Both have had problems, the Luschers say, adding that park officials blame regulators for requiring expensive system upgrades and testing for forcing the parks' closure.

Attempts to reach the park office by phone and email were unsuccessful Sunday. The state Department of Environmental Protection and federal Environmental Protection Agency also could not be reached for comment over the weekend.

Whatever the reason, the parks' closing in less than three months presents residents with some difficult problems to solve.

Alissa Lozenski and her husband had decided to move from Kearney's Mobile Park II with their two children. But they have few options. Their parents and aunts live nearby, but they have medical issues. Money is a problem.

"I want to leave, but we have no money to go anywhere else," Mrs. Lozenski said.

The Luschers figure the cost of moving a mobile home would be between $5,000 and $7,000, not including out-of-town moves and the large mileage surcharges. Special pilings are required for newly set mobile homes. The bank that has the mortgage to the home has to approve the move, and that could take months.

The problem underscores the limits that tenants of mobile home parks face. While they often own the home in which they live, they rent the land and can be evicted. In January, the park raised the lot rent from $230 to $250 per month.

Mr. Luscher is on disability. Mrs. Luscher is taking classes at Luzerne County Community College, hoping to get into an allied medical profession. Their son, Connor, is in preschool and could have to change schools.

They point to their neighbors, some elderly, who have lived at the park for decades, as having particularly hard times with the prospect of moving.

The Luschers also have looked at land, but any option requires more money than they have. "We don't have that kind of money," Mrs. Luscher said. "If we did, we wouldn't be living in a trailer park."

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com

Original post:
Residents of North Pocono mobile home park have to move hearths and homes

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Archadeck of Kansas City has been awarded the prestigious 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award, an honor bestowed annually on approximately 5 percent of all the businesses rated on the nation’s leading provider of consumer reviews on local service companies.

“Only a fraction of the businesses rated on Angie’s List can claim the sterling customer service record of being a Super Service Award winner because we set a high bar,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “The fact that Archadeck of Kansas City can claim Super Service Award status speaks volumes about its dedication to consumers."

Angie’s List Super Service Award winners have met strict eligibility requirements including earning a minimum number of reports, an exemplary rating from their customers and abiding by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

Service business ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List, but members can find the 2011 Super Service Award logo next to business names in search results on AngiesList.com.

Angie’s List collects consumer reviews on local contractors and doctors in more than 500 service categories. Currently, more than 1 million consumers across the U.S. rely on Angie’s List to help them make the best hiring decisions. Members get unlimited access to local ratings via Internet or phone, exclusive discounts, the Angie’s List magazine and help from the Angie’s List complaint resolution service. Take a quick tour of Angie’s List and view the latest Angie’s List news.

Archadeck of Kansas City based out of Overland Park has been serving the metro Kansas City area for over ten years. Archadeck builds custom backyard structures including decks, screened porches, open porches, sunrooms, three- and-four-season rooms, pergolas, patios, hardscapes, and custom outdoor living areas. Archadeck is proud to have won the Super Service Award four times including each of the last three years. Read more and view multiple photo galleries at http://kansas-city.archadeck.com.

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Archadeck of Kansas City Earns Coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award

Kempner Volunteer Fire Department seeks funding from Lampasas County Posted On: Monday, Feb. 13 2012 11:17 PM Bathroom renovations to comply with American Disabilities Act

By Mason W. Canales

Killeen Daily Herald

LAMPASAS — County commissioners agreed Monday to consider financing the remodeling of the Kempner Volunteer Fire Department bathrooms to bring them into compliance with the American Disabilities Act before the municipal elections.

Kempner Volunteer Fire Chief Dan Hause approached county commissioners Monday in hopes the governing entity would pay for renovations to a public bathroom in its main station on Pecan Road in Kempner.

"Technically, the majority of the people that come into the building are the public because of the court," said Hause, who noted earlier that Justice of the Peace Sheila Hood also uses the facility.

The Kempner Volunteer Fire Department has allowed the county official to use the facilities for several years at no cost, said Hause.

The restrooms are the closest to the courtroom and do not meet American Disabilities Act compliance.

"When we know there is a handicapped person coming to court, we do make the courtroom accessible, but we do not have restroom facilities there, not even a water fountain," said Hood.

Hause said the fire department already sought one contractor's opinion on remodeling the bathrooms and estimates it would cost about $26,000.

County Auditor Jack Clark questioned why the county would pay 100 percent of the remodeling cost for a joint-use facility, especially when it includes a shower that members of the public probably would not use.

"Over the years, we have been giving, giving, giving, and now we are asking," said Hause.

Clark said the county has helped pay for fire trucks and other equipment since the creation of the department.

Commissioners debated whether the bathroom should be paid for this year or next, until County Elections Administrator Dorothy Person said without ADA-compliant bathrooms, the site can't be used as a polling place for elections.

The facility has the largest parking lot and has served as the polling site in Kempner for years and the county would like to continue to do so, she said. Person said she didn't know the bathrooms weren't in compliance until fire department officials brought it to the county's attention at Monday's meeting.

Commissioners agreed to find funding for the renovations, but asked Hause to seek two to three more bids from contractors by their next meeting, when they plan to formally vote on the issue.

County commissioners also took the following actions:

Appointed Commissioner Alex Wittenburg to sit on the Lampasas committee for the design of the Lampasas City Fire Station.

Requested the county attorney draft a surety bond to cover damages caused by Oncor Electric Delivery on county roadways.

Approved a platting for a seven-lot subdivision on County Road 4700.

Contact Mason W. Canales at mcanales@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7474. Follow him on Twitter at KDHCoveEditor.

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Bathroom renovations to comply with American Disabilities Act