Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

The December issue of the Centennial Connection is now online. In addition to this month's message from Mark Bailey and new customer relationships, read more about Centennial's strategic relationships, learn about its new employee wellness program, and discover the latest news from the field. Plus get safety tips and other fast facts!

JOC and Green

Green is seemingly everywhere today.  For us in the facilities world, much of the focus seems to be on glamorous new LEED buildings.  But the fact is the greenest building is almost always the one you're already in.

That's because of a concept called embodied energy.  Simply put, our existing buildings took alot of energy to build--the manufacturing process for the windows and brick, the transporting of materials to the jobsite, the machinery run on site.  And it takes a great deal more energy to demolish that building down and rebuild a new one, no matter how green.  By some measures, there is a 60+ year payback on replacing the biggest energy hog with a LEED platinum building, when embodied energy is considered. 

This isn't to say that we should stop building new LEED buildings.  We will continue to need new buildings for new purposes, and the move to LEED and other certifications is an important first step in the awareness of how our buildings impact the environment.  But an AIA study reveals that 75% of existing buildings will required major renovation by 2030, and how we go about that work, and the many incremental upgrades that occur in existing buildings, will have a far greater impact on our environment and our pocketbook than the sexy new buildings that make the magazine covers.

Of course most facility managers are more concerned with current budget issues than with embodied energy that was paid for long ago, and shrinking capital budgets are requiring us to reconsider the financial viability of new construction and focus on maintaining our existing buildings and upgrading them for greater energy efficiency and sustainability wherever possible. 

Job Order Contracting has an important role to play in the greening of our existing buiding stock.  As a collaborative, performance-based delivery method focused on remodel, renovation and repair, JOC can help building owners identify and implement green and sustainability strategies.  Studies have proven that collaborative delivery methods that involve the contractor at the outset are more successful in achieving sustainabiltiy goals; the focus of these studies has been CM At-Risk and Deisgn-Build, but Job Order Contracting brings the same approach to the table for retrofits and upgrades.

JOC's focus on cyclical upgrades means that building owners can integrate green materials and systems as they have maintenance funding available, and over time they can achieve increasing sustainability, energy efficiency, and occupancy comfort without a single major capital outlay.  The joint scoping and design-to-budget capabitlies of JOC mean that an owner can determine the level of green investment, after considering a menu of options.  By incorporating energy audits and payback analysis into the JOC proposal process, a contractor can empower the owner to make wise decisions based on a balance of lifecycle costing and more altruistic sustainability goals.

An exciting development in the JOC world is the upcoming release of a Green Building Cost Data book from RS Means, which will allow JOC contractors to accurately price some of the more cutting-edge green building technologies like solar installations and green roofs.  This book is being rolled out at Greenbuild in Chicago later this month, and we can't wait to get our hands on it!

Centennial's Director of Training and Development Helps Oversee Educational Programming for Greenbuild Expo

The U.S. Green Building Council chose David Sturdevant, LEED AP, director of training and development for Centennial, to serve on the 2010 Greenbuild Program Working Group (PWG).  PWG oversees the development and delivery of educational programming for the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, scheduled to take place in November. 

Sturdevant served on PWG with 11 individuals diverse in the green building industry including representatives from Carrier, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CB Richard Ellis, University of Florida, and the City of Cambridge make up the team.  From February to June 2010, including a three day Chicago retreat, the Working Group prepared for the November Conference.

Greenbuild is the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building.  Thousands of green building professionals from all over the world come together for three days of educational sessions, renowned speakers, green building tours, special seminars, and networking events.

The 2010 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo is November 17-19 in Chicago, Illinois where General Colin L. Powell is the opening keynote speaker.  The event expects more than 20,000 attendees, including representatives from Centennial, who are going to get fresh ideas for sustainability.

Centennial Presents Free Job Order Contracting Webinar

If you're curious about Job Order Contracting (JOC) or want to gain an informative perspective, Centennial presents an educational solution.  Centennial, along with Angela Prather with the National Intergovernmental Purchasing Alliance, will provide a free JOC Talk Webinar, “Extreme Procurement Makeover: Small Construction Edition” on October 27.

The free webinar covers the basics of Job Order Contracting and the JOC Request for Proposal (RFP) process and will last an hour and a half, beginning at 1pm EDT.

Prather, the webinar's presenter, has more than 18 years experience in public procurement at the Federal, State, and Higher Education levels.  She is a US Navy Veteran who specialized in Supply Chain Management with direct responsibility for implementation of JOC projects at the local base level and has developed numerous RFPs to establish JOC Programs.

To register, please visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/570045082.

Centennial is Going Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

For the fifth year in a row, employees of Centennial Contractors Enterprises and joint venture partners will go “Passionately Pink for the Cure."  Since 2006, Centennial employee's have been encouraged to be creative and dress passionately for the cause, and the upcoming "Dress in Pink Day" on October 27 will be no different. 


“Sometimes business is personal and it’s our business to help” says Mark Bailey, president of Centennial. “The Centennial family wears pink to draw attention to Breast Cancer and encourages more awareness and donations for care and research.  We hope to ultimately contribute to the end of this disease.”

Centennial and joint venture partners will donate $5 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure to raise funds and support for Breast Cancer Awareness. Visit the Centennial “Passionately Pink for the Cure” website to make a personal donation and learn more about ways to help fight the disease.  We posted pictures from past events for inspiration.  We can't wait to see you participate in your best pink!

Centennial Wins Golden Shovel!

Centennial has proven it’s not only a leader in Job Order Contracting, but also in sand sculpture! This year, Centennial won the Golden Shovel in the annual Sand in the City event benefitting the Olympia Hands On Children’s Museum.

This is Centennial’s sixth consecutive year fielding a team for the benefit. About 20 Centennial employees participated in the event. The team spent hours planning the design and had six hours to build the actual sculpture on-site. Centennial has placed in the competition every year, and 2010 Golden Shovel was the third time the organization has earned first place. 

The Hands On Children’s Museum stimulates curiosity, creativity and learning through fun, interactive exhibits and programs for children, families and school groups. Centennial also sponsors a community team in the event. 

Strong Subcontractor Base Key to Design-Build Success

Whether a construction company is expanding into a new geographical territory or a new market, the key to success is establishing a strong, reliable subcontractor base. Attendees at the Design-Build Institute of America’s (DBIA) 2010 Conference next month will learn how to build this critical base thanks to Centennial’s Gary Sylvester and Scott McGrew.   

Overseeing Centennial's Design-Build department, Gary, design build manager and Scott, senior project general manager, both have a great deal of experience with this construction delivery method.

Gary and Scott will identify helpful tools to find qualified subcontractors, discuss meeting minority requirements and describe how to build lasting long term relationships with reliable subcontractors. They'll also cover introducing a new subcontractor to Design-Build processes and procedures as well as the terms and conditions of the Design-Build contract as they impact the subcontract. Gary and Scott will include discussions regarding subcontractor budget pricing, final fixed pricing and early teaming as well as the impact of LEED Certification as it relates to the subcontractor’s requirements.

Centennial is also excited to be an exhibitor and the Diamond Sponsor of the DBIA Conference in Las Vegas. In addition to our company booth, we're hosting a special booth where attendees can “Relax Their Backlog” with professional neck massages, so stop by and say hi!

Owners, Who is Reviewing Your Construction Estimates?

A recent webinar on Job Order Contracting by RS Means (view the archive here: http://bit.ly/czfWcl) highlighted for me the importance of proposal review in the JOC process, and I wanted to share the guidance of a couple of the panelists, and share some of my own thoughts.

Allen Henderson, former Facility Manager for Texas State University, emphasized the “Trust but Verify” approach, which Centennial absolutely champions. We want our clients to understand the line item proposals and have confidence in the pricing structure.

When I was first hired by Centennial, I was working on a team with a new operational manager who insisted that we not provide a detailed line items proposal to clients, because he was afraid they would pick it apart. He and I did some rounds on this one, because I believed it was critical to validating our pricing and building trust with the client. If you have questions about pricing, I want us to deal with those upfront. I don’t want you to have buyer’s remorse. Needless to say, this manager didn’t last too long with Centennial, because he wasn’t doing it the Centennial way. Any good Job Order Contractor should be willing to sit down and review a line item proposal with the customer, explaining the logic behind the selection of line items and sharing takeoff calculations. If a JOC contractor won’t, that’s a red flag.

OK, so we all agree that doing a proposal review is important, but who is going to do it for the owner? Allen had some good suggestions on this one. In-house tradesmen who are familiar with the details of work can be a good option. Purchasing personnel, who often administer compliance efforts for Job Order Contracts, generally lack the construction know-how to review line items for accuracy and appropriateness. Whoever is reviewing the proposals should have training in line item estimating and the specific unit price book used to build the proposal.

Some of our more sophisticated owners actually use the same JOC software to build their own estimate at the same time the JOC contractor is building theirs, and then compare the two. Though not every client will have the capability or people resources to build an independent estimate, a review of two line item estimates can add tremendous value by revealing differences in how owner and contractor are approaching the job that can enlighten both parties and ensure that final scope of work is fully aligned.

John Murray of the State of Missouri pointed out that proposal review should cut both ways, with the goal of both parties being the most accurate estimate to produce the right final lump sum price before proceeding. This means a contractor should be willing to review and explain line items that the owner may have questions about, but the owner shouldn’t just be looking to eliminate or cut back line items, but to ensure that all line items are captured. John says they have had instances where their internal estimate review staff has caught line items that the contractor missed, and requested that they be added to ensure the full scope was captured. I don’t know if there are many owners that would actually request a price add like that, but it demonstrates that the State of Missouri team is working in true partnership with its JOC contractor.

If you don’t have the expertise or man hours in house to review JOC proposals, you have options. Experienced consultants can perform this service for you, either as part of a turnkey JOC program like The Gordian Group’s, or from an independent consultant who works with an off-the-shelf unit price book like RS Means and software you have selected.

And while most of the above pertains to Job Order Contracting, I think the principles are the same for any contracting methodology. If you don’t have some level of transparency and communication in you pricing discussions, and faith that you are receiving value for the dollar, you probably have the wrong contractor, or the wrong delivery method, or both.

August Connection Now Available!

The August issue of the Centennial Connection is now online. In addition to this month's message from Mark Bailey and new customer relationships, read more about Centennial's outstanding customer service, learn how it's building brand awareness, and discover the latest news from the field. Plus see an Earth Day Celebration recap and get safety tips and other fast facts!

Centennial's a Green Business Award Finalist!

A couple of months ago, we showed you the world’s first train bridges made from recycled structural composite (RSC) built for the US Army Transportation School at Ft. Eustis. Now, we’re honored that the Washington Business Journal has named Centennial as a finalist in its Green Business Awards- Green Invention category.

Centennial worked with RSC manufacturer, Axion International as well as Parsons Brinckerhoff, Innovative Green Solutions and English Construction Company to complete the project. RSC, which is comprised entirely of post-consumer recycled plastic such as milk jugs, detergent bottles, disposable coffee cups and industrial plastics (car bumpers and computer casings) was invented by scientists at Rutgers University in New Jersey who melted the different types of plastic in a precise formula creating a material stronger and more durable than any recycled plastic.

The material proved to be very similar to working with conventional materials such as wood or steel. It does not leach any toxins into the environment which will also protect the local wildlife and people who come in contact with the bridges. Using RSC on these two bridges kept 334,000 pounds of material out of landfills and saved more than 50,000 gallons of gasoline and 496 metric tons of greenhouse gases.

The Washington Business Journal will announce the category winners at a breakfast honoring the finalists on September 24th.

Is Construction Like Toilet Paper?

I sat in an interesting conference presentation earlier this summer. The entire premise was to compare the purchase of Job Order Contracting to the purchase of toilet paper—complete with props of toilet paper rolls, a picture of house that had been teepeed (that was the illustration of getting ripped off in your construction purchase), etc. Now I have to begin by saying that the presentation actually had some really informative content and it was presented by someone who has a lot of experience with JOC and works for a company that I respect.

But I took huge exception to the comparison of Job Order Contracting to toilet paper. Maybe it is because I have often used the same example to explain why purchasing JOC, or any complex construction service, is not the same as purchasing a commodity (As in “It’s not like buying toilet paper!”) For me, it pointed up an important philosophical debate when it comes to JOC, or any alternative project delivery method, which I thought was worth discussion.

Is construction a commodity? In some provocative dialogue after this presentation, it was argued that a specified doorknob is a specified doorknob—it is a commodity just like toilet paper. The definition of a commodity is a product that is sold by all suppliers without differentiation. The low-bid approach follows that definition. Materials and even construction means and methods and tolerances are prescribed, and the lowest-priced contractor is selected based on the assumption that there is no differentiation between contractors—they are interchangeable and it doesn’t matter who is installing your doorknob, so you might as well get it for the cheapest price.

Except it really does matter a lot who is installing your doorknob. It matters in the quality of installation. It matters in whether the right doorknob was even selected in the first place. It matters whether the installer is accommodating your ongoing operations and working with your end user when they install that doorknob. And it matters whether you have a contractor who will come take care of any warranty concerns on that doorknob without hassle. Now amplify that into a Bio-Safety Level 3 lab, or a time-sensitive school renovation, or any complex project, and the contractor matters even more.

AGC’s Legislative Platforms asserts that construction should not be treated as a commodity. “Construction must be addressed as a service because of the site-specific and design specific distinctions for each construction project, unlike manufacturing which is a repetitive, rarely changing process.” JOC and other alternative delivery methods raise the stakes beyond just the site specific distinctions. They recognize that the contractor has an important role to play in planning and managing the process, and that it takes creative thinking to bring the best, unique solution to each and every project. (I actually think this is one of the things I like best about construction—each and every project is different and demands a different solution, calling for continuous growth from construction professionals.)

So I think owners should carefully consider what they believe about construction before plunging into JOC. If you believe it is a commodity, then why do anything other than low-bid? But I think that most owners who are considering JOC and alternative delivery methods are looking for a better way because they recognize that construction is not a commodity, but a professional service.

Hi! My Name is Lisa.

As David Carrithers leaves Centennial to pursue an opportunity with a startup outside of the construction industry, he passes the baton on this blog to me. David’s shoes are big ones to fill, but he has assembled a team at Centennial through the last five years that will continue the important work he has accomplished. It is hard to overstate how far Centennial has come in this time. We went from virtually no branding beyond a dated logo to a comprehensive branding program including branding standards, a suite of advertisements and direct mail materials, and a brand store. More importantly, there is clarity across our organization about what the brand means, and what it is that we are selling to our customers (hint: it isn’t just construction). The brand was brought to life as the promises we make and keep to our customers.

But there is another role that David played within Centennial that I believe is critical, and that is as the conscience or “gut” of the company. Seeing and feeling where we might not be living up to the brand and inspiring us to do better. Watching the industry and being the bellweather for where the opportunities are.

Big shoes to fill, indeed. David was a marketing guru. I’m more of a construction gal. So the tone of this blog will inevitably change, but it will still bring you the latest news from inside Centennial and highlights about the difference Centennial is making in our world.

Hear Centennial CEO in Free Webinar

Centennial's president, Mark Bailey will speak on the topic of Job Order Contracting (JOC) during a new webinar presented by RS Means. Centennial has been starting up and operating successful JOC programs for public entities, both federal and state funded organizations for over 20 years. In addition, Centennial has experience completing projects under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.

The webinar, “Job Order Contracting, the Stimulus Ready Delivery Method” will be presented August 19th, at 2 pm ET.

In addition to Mark, John Murray, State of Missouri Division of Facilities Management and Allen Henderson, Consultant, Former Facility Manager Texas State University will speak. Robert (Bob) Gair, Principal, RSMeans Business Solutions will moderate the discussion.

The presentation will address what partnering actions owners can take to promote the successful use of JOC at their facilities and will provide an overview of typical JOC contractor- submitted project proposal content as well as basic tips for the owner regarding JOC proposal review. Mark will share insights from the JOC Contractor’s point of view to help in the successful start up and ongoing relationship development.

The webinar is free. To attend, please visit Reed Construction Data’s website.

2010 Maryland Minority Contractors Association Diversity Solutions Award

Last Friday, July 16th, Centennial received the 2010 Diversity Solutions Award from Maryland Minority Contractors Association (MMCA), along with letters of recognition/commendation from both Maryland Senators Benjamin Cardin and Barbara Mikulski at MMCA’s 2010 Awards Banquet and Summer Soiree. Terry Dubbs, regional operations manager, accepted the award on Centennial's behalf.

Centennial was honored with several others, including Governor Martin O’Malley, Congressman Elijah Cummings, Senator Joan Carter Conway and Gilbane.

According to the MMCA, the Diversity Solutions Award is given to the organization that historically provides exceptional outreach to the minority contracting community; exhibits consistent inclusion of minority subcontractors that far exceeds goals set by the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland; empowers minority contractors by supplying strong contacts within the Baltimore business community; helps minority contractors build a stable reputation by providing access to a wider variety of construction projects; provides mentoring and training to assist minority subcontractors in their professional growth; helps minority contractors untangle the often convoluted web of regulations involved when dealing with City and State licensing governments; and bridges the gap between minority contractors and governmental institutions in order to better coordinate projects that directly benefit the Baltimore City community.

Centennial is honored to receive the Diversity Solutions Award from the Maryland Minority Contractors Association. The collaborative partnership we've established with the MMCA and its members ensures that both sides achieve a potential for growth that neither could have realized individually. We are proud of the many successful relationships that have been forged between Centennial and minority contracting organizations – both large and small – over many years in Baltimore.

Here is the letter and commendation:

Respect, Collaboration and JOC

In the recent July/August edition of The Military Engineer I had the opportunity to write an article on project delivery method, Job Order Contracting. The article is titled Respect, Collaboration and JOC.

At the core of this article is the ability to share on the benefits of JOC that help military facilities achieve their goals, including funding local economies, supporting sustainable projects and working with less.

Rick Wilson Named 2010 HRLA Honoree

Our VP of Human Resource, Richard (Rick) Wilson was named as a 2010 Honoree by the HR Leadership Awards of Greater Washington on June 15th. During his tenure at Centennial, Rick has reduced voluntary employee turnover and expanded employee training programs and benefits packages believing that employees are the differentiator between good companies and great companies.

Since 2001, the HR Leadership Awards of Greater Washington have honored HR executives for outstanding contributions to their organizations and to the field of human resource management through organizational leadership, risk taking, innovation, vision and communication, community service and ethics.

I attended the awards dinner and I thought it was great to hear about all the exciting people development efforts the leading companies in the U.S. are carrying out, like training and development efforts, wellness programs, pay for performance, alignment of the organization with goals, and session planning. At the same time to realize that Centennial is doing the same things as a Northrop Grumman or Marriott Corporation was amazing.

Rick Wilson was nominated based on his HR leadership skills and the outstanding effort at alignment between the employees and the mission of the business. Rick has positively impacted the long term culture of Centennial and it was great to see him honored at this event.

Branding Schmambing Continued – What Color Are The Business Cards Anyway? A Few Branding Examples

Air Products & Chemicals
In the early 1980's (yes, I am dating myself now) I had the grand privilege of working for Air Products & Chemicals. Before "brand" was a fledgling thought in the eyes of the business, Air Products already understood how key this was to their future success. Not only did we have very well thought out brand standards (which I helped with), but they said across all 66,000 employees, the brand must be lived. We are about quality, safety, responsiveness and helping our clients improve results. Think about it, Air Products sold air. But how and what did the liquid nitrogen mean to that company, that hospital, that assembly line? Things like making sure the 3,000 tanker trucks and delivery trucks were designed and painted to match - to stand out. That we made sure the trucks were washed once a week (others in the industry never washed their trucks) or hand wiped every cylinder when it was delivered. To systems, we put in the first telephony system for the liquid cryogenics in the world so that the cryo tanks would call the customers and say (based on their desired refill points) "I am half empty do you want me to send a truck or do you want to talk to a live person?" To the training of employees, and to the safety truck rodeos we sponsored. Even the fact that we had research labs targeting the key markets that any client could use at no cost (food freezing, steel, semiconductor etching, etc.) These were all key to the brand meaning what it did/does.

Center for Job Order Contracting Excellence
CJE transitioned from being part of Arizona State University to a stand-alone organization. I was the industry chairman during this transition. I called for a facilitated session on the strategic planning going forward (key in this was the brand development elements). Here are a few links with information worth looking at: http://www.jocexcellence.org/strategic_plans.htm
http://www.jocexcellence.org/documents/CJE_Strategic_Plan_Session.pdf
http://www.jocexcellence.org/documents/Elevator_Pitch_CJE_12-2-08.pdf
Prior to this effort we had no clear understanding of the organization’s focus, what the members want from us, etc. After going through the strategic planning process, we defined the brand to mean education and sharing best practices in JOC. One key brand platform is the website www.JOCexcellence.org, where the design, flow and message were driven by the brand vision. A second example where brand drove the elements was the development of a new simplified logo (the old one showed skyscrapers being built, when we do not support skyscrapers being built). The strategic effort has helped time and time again. When we are challenged to change or take action, we always go back to “What does this mean to the brand/what are the brand impacts—good, bad, risk, alignment?”

Branding Centennial Contractors Enterprises
I was hired in 2004 to help evolve the Centennial brand from stealth to the world class recognized industry leader that they really were and are. I started at the brand development side. I questioned everything from the mission statement, the core values, the development of a value statement, etc. There were difficult sessions from the president on down. I even talked with the competition. I wanted to know the perceptions, the beauty, the soft and the hard spots. The process took about six months to bring to a point were we could craft a branding statement and move forward. Today we have a brand store that gives insight to this brand thinking, but at the high level look at our elevator pitch. We realized that our brand was about people, solutions, and living up to our promises and that we are a different kind of company. So we made sure that we pulled this brand thinking into our themes, our designs, and our approach to all the marketing and sales. Once the brand platform is crafted and believed and understood, the communications and marketing development efforts flow from here. We realized that our key growth efforts were building brand awareness and building a body of knowledge around JOC and Centennial. We also focused on the media and public relations side based on this brand thinking.

Brand is a challenge, because if left untended and cared for it can grow all weedy and diminish over time. People begin to change it, shape it to their view and next thing you know you are no longer aligned and it is hard to be honest with yourself and the organization all the time.

Branding Schmambing – What Color Are The Business Cards Anyway?

I was recently asked to explain what brand means to an industry association. So I shared some thinking and background on how to look at the importance of branding within the mix of a business or a nonprofit organization. My background includes a large non-profit organization, where I found that branding was even more important in the growth of the organization.

A few high level thoughts.

1.Brand is not the logo (although the logo is a key brand element), the colors, the ads, or the website.
2.Brand is a promise. It is the outward meaning, understanding and value of the company (or product or service) being associated with that entity.
3.Brand must be aligned with the organization and what it represents.
4.Brand is the split second relationship feeling associated with an organization, its employees and the clients.
5.Brand is the spirit, the feel of an organization.
6.A powerful brand is 100% aligned with the value, the meaning, the movement forward of an organization/product/service. It is the most honest thinking and conversations you will ever have - if not, the brand promise is hollow.
So many people end up spending way too much time on colors and business card designs when they say brand, but they miss the underlying key thinking and drivers to a truly great brand. In technical environments this urge to jump into tactical stuff too soon is always prevalent. Branding should be the anchor point for the whole organization and the thinking from which other things flow - like design, message, actions within marketing, sales, etc.

Key: Brand allows for alignment of the whole organization. It brings the history and the future vision into the mix. It challenges us to ask, How is what we say we are demonstrated; how is it coming to life? Brand is the experience. It is the proof that what you say you are, you really are. I use a slide when I get to this point of a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger, all pumped up, with guns blazing and the wording "brand means you can say you are this...." But in realty you are this... and it is a picture of the Teletubbies. You know what I mean, we have all experienced it in our lives. A store that has a tagline, "friendliest store in town" and you never see a smiling face. Or an airline that says "on time and best in class awards for...." and they are hardest people to travel with, or the bank that says in their TV spots "you matter to us" and when you call them you never get a live person and it takes forever to push button your way to one.

I can fill up pages of examples like these. The fact is, the more aligned the brand is with the value you bring, and the people in the organization are living to that brand promise, the more successful you will be in growing and reaching more people. The more off you are, the less alignment there is - well the fact is you can actually create negative brand value and drive the business into the ground.

Podcast: Creating Sustainable Bridges at Fort Eustis

Learn more about recycled structural composite and how Centennial built the first train bridges using this material at Fort Eustis.

The Green Bridge to Somewhere

The interest is amazing. Two train bridges made from 100% recycled milk jugs, detergent jugs and tires. They are the first of their kind in the world. It started with the interest by our client at Fort Eustis in the Commonwealth of Virginia wanting to do something green and meaningful. It was accomplished thanks to the ability of Job Order Contracting to allow collaboration and innovation between owners and contractors and the fact that the base has had a long term successful JOC program in place and a team at Centennial aligned with their goals.

Recently ENR ran a story on the bridges at Ft. Eustis. It was exciting to see this project come together and take shape. It is a positive testament to job order contracting, sustainability and creativity.

Yesterday, at media day for the bridges, spokespeople from Centennial, Axion, who manufactures the material and Ft. Eustis described the project and its benefit to the environment to local TV and print media. They noted that the material is just as durable as traditional materials, has the same life expectancy, without the maintanence worries. It also keeps these materials out of landfills.

Phil Reed, Fort Eustis Directorate of Public Works Engineering Division chief, said "Centennial, our go to team, allowed us to use a design-build fast-track process to get into the hands of the new technology and came up with this for a better alternative for the long term and allowed us to complete the process in half the time that we would have using conventional construction."

There is a strong tie in public funded construction and job order contracting for sustainably. We wrote a white paper, Shades Of Green on this topic and it sets the ground work for why JOC and sustainability go hand in hand in a public facilities environment.

RSC materials being delivered to the construction location.

Train bridge was built to sustain a 130-ton load.

Members of Centennial's Ft. Eustis team pose for picture on completed bridge.

Job Order Contracting Helping the Commonwealth

In the recent May edition of the Commonwealth Contractor I had the opportunity to write an article on Job Order Contracting and how it is helping the public facilities with their renovation and repair efforts. The article is titled Job Order Contracting a Collaborative Solution For Virginia Facilities Owners.

At the core of this article is the ability to share on the benefits of JOC, including:

· Responsive support allows for reduced backlog of projects

· More funds are applied to construction instead of procurement costs

· The majority of the funds go to the local economy

· Growth of small, minority and disadvantaged subcontracting businesses

· Dependable ongoing relationships

· Reduced or eliminates claims, change orders and punch lists

Every public facilities person needs a job order contracting program!

For more information public facilities managers and construction managers should look to the industry association, CJE The Center For JOC Excellence and their regional chapter.

Brand Store Remodeled

We have just updated our branding and marketing guidelines for 2010. It was interesting to work through this update and think back almost 6 years when I started on all this. It was pretty much a clean slate. No written guidelines, no marketing plan. Centennial had operated for 15 years very successfully as a stealth brand, but the founder realized that to grow into new markets and non-federal segments, we need to grow the brand recognition and the awareness of job order contracting and take it all to the next level.

The process started with the traditional brand development efforts. Assessment of the current brand, interviews with the clients, with the key field and corporate leaders, the subcontractors, the industry and even the competition. What did the Centennial brand mean, represent, say? What was the promise held and committed to by the brand. Everything was explored, refined, defined and tested. I was blessed to have a solid starting point – a brand that truly lived up to the inferred promise, “Building relationships that withstand the test of time by keeping our promises and honoring our commitments”.

From no web, no written guidelines to where we are today is fun to remember. So with the recent release of the new standards, including marketing, development and public relations processes, samples and more it is worth stopping and recognizing how far we have come and re-engaging a vision of where we are headed. It is more than a binder or a website – it is a general alignment of all areas of Centennial on a single brand message and image. The new brand store is one level of the effort.

Texas Time

I recently spent a week traveling all over the great state of Texas. The goal was to get a sense of how the different markets are doing in the state and also to start building a plan for the legislative activities for 2011. It was a great trip, seeing a lot of old friends, visiting the Centennial teams and regional industry leaders, meeting with clients and getting a sense of the state’s activity level. I spent time with our lobbyists John and Marta Greytok of Texas Government Solutions. I was also able to stop by to say hi to Laura Fowler and as always gain a sense of energy and positive movement forward in the state.

A few thoughts jump out after this whirlwind tour:

1. Texas was the trailing indicator state on the construction industry economic issues and it is the leading indicator state on the recovery. Almost as if the economic issues that started for the country in 2008 are just a speed bump in Texas.

2. Texas is already seeing a build up of new design and engineering project requests and solicitation development (the pre-curser to construction work).

3. The mood across the state was positive and very focused on growing the economy. Everyone could see the need, the demand and the interest in public construction. Doesn’t mean there aren’t tough areas and situations, but the real sense was positive and confident.

4. The 2011 legislative calendars are being built right now and that there is going to be an effort to get legislation on the docket again to try and clean up the construction procurement laws, this includes design-build, CM at risk and job order contracting.

5. I am going to really try and help the local Texas JOC industry (owners, trade associations, educators, coops, contractors, subcontractors, consultants, etc.) work together to make sure job order contracting is not singled out and/or attacked. We need to find a way to work together to bring the right type of bill to the floor. All indicators are positive for this effort at this time.

6. Sense of growth and optimism.

One site I like to reference and track in Texas is ARRA Texas Eye On The Dollars .

All Indicators are Trending Positive

On April 27th, I attended a Design-Build Institute of America Mid Atlantic chapter meeting at Ft. Myer, VA. The 2010 Economic Outlook in the Construction Industry (with a key focus on the Washington, DC region) at The Officers' Club at Fort Myer to by Dr. Stephen Fuller of George Mason University .

The full presentation can be found here: 2010 Economic Outlook Construction.

The takeaways for me were a few simple points:

1. The top economic indicators are trending in the right direction. This is a positive thing.
2. We are not out of the woods yet – there will be ups and down in the rest of 2010 (or someone adding too many zeros to a stock sell order).
3. By 2011 the turn around will be well under way.
4. Do everything you can today to get your business in order and build up resources.

For Centennial I had the clear sense we are doing all the right things (have been since before the economic issues, during them, and still are).

Recycled Structural Composite Bridges Media Day

Construction is almost finished on the first ever recycled structural composite railroad bridges! Centennial built these “plastic” bridges at Fort Eustis, VA for the U.S. Army. On May 27th, we’re holding a media day at the base to unveil the bridges. If you’re a member of the media interested in attending, please email me at dcarrithers@cce-inc.com.

Stay tuned for more photos from the event!

Centennial Connection Hits Mailboxes!

The April 2010 Connection focuses on our federal work. It also includes a wrap up of Centennial’s Annual Leadership Conference and regular columns about safety, new business and community service projects.

Federal Campaign Underway

Over the past few months we have been planning and developing our 2010 – 2011 marketing campaign to target federal owners. This includes federal facilities managers and owners at the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Energy, Department of Veteran Affairs, Department of Interior, and Department of Health and Human Services.

The goal of the campaign is to reach out to key decision makers within the federal facilities and construction world and remind them of the value of Job Order Contracting and Centennial. We are also touching base with past customers and current ones as well. With all the demands of federal facilities to grow to support new staffing requirements, requirements to reduce energy and carbon use, along with demands to grow local and small business use. These combined demands require responsive, collaborative construction and renovation solutions platforms to deliver on. The goal is to remind the market that there is a tool they all need in their contracting tool box – Job Order Contracting.

We are reaching out every month via either a postcard, brochure mailer, or an e-newsletter. In addition we are attending key industry events like SAME (Society of American Military Engineers) as a Gold Sponsor of this years event in Atlanta and DBIA’s conference this fall in Las Vegas as a Diamond Sponsor (their first ever!), We want to be creative, simple, and just remind federal owners and stewards of federal facilities they have an option ready to help them meet their time deadlines and project backlog that also helps the local small and minority businesses.

Our Busy Schedule

Throughout the year, we attend conferences around the country. Coming up, we’ll be at SAME, School Building Expo, and IFMA Capital Chapter Focus On Sustainability in Facilities. We love these conferences because we get to talk to so many different people and learn about what’s going in your world, what challenges you face and what needs you have. So if you’re going to these events, please stop by our booth and say hi—we’d love to meet you!

Sustainability Continues to Grow at Centennial

The Centennial Sustainability Council, an internal group made up of representatives from all areas of the organization, has put together a list of training and awareness efforts for the next 12 months. The council meets once a month and shares best green practices, training and education of green skills, and makes recommendations on green strategies. The group also works with each site's Project Sustainability Officer (PSO).

One of the outcomes of this list was the creation of support materials to help build awareness and excitement around the sustainable focus of Centennial. This included hard hat stickers, posters and as part of our on going marketing campaign to Federal facilities, a postcard mailer.

On April 15th, 2010 at George Mason University, Centennial is sponsoring a conference with Virginia Sustainable Building Network on Green Building Outlook 2010 and beyond. The day long conference includes Michele Russo, LEED AP, director, Green Content & Research Communication, McGraw-Hill Construction, presenting Green Outlook: Trends Driving Change Over the Next Five Years. Additional speakers include, Dr. Anthony Sanders, director, Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship, George Mason University; Sally R. Wilson, AIA, LEED AP, global director of environmental strategies, CB Richard Ellis; Elizabeth Heider, AIA, LEED AP, Skanska and Anne Gardner, vice president of business specialties & education, Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®.

Just recently Centennial wrote an article in the April edition of Modern Contractor Solutions, JOC Achieves Value: Using Job Order Contracting to Implement Sustainable Practices and Approaches at Existing Facilities.

We see the integration of, growth of, support of green practices for facilities renovation and construction for public funded facilities as a cornerstone of our future services. It is just like in the early 1990’s when safety was, and still is key, to our ongoing support for our customers. Both safety and sustainability are not “nice to have” but instead are integral and “must have standards” of the support we provide everyday on every project.

Safely - The Only Way We Do It!

Recently NICCjv a joint venture of North Island and Centennial received a safety award from NAFAC, Naval Facilities Engineering Command of Washington, DC. The award is titled, ‘Safety Excellence Award and Recognition of Outstanding Safety Performance” presented by H.R. Hemstreet Captain, CEC U.S. Navy dated March 31, 2010.

This is a great award to receive and it is a reminder that safety means so much to those we support and requires continued leadership. Recently we updated our Safety First solution snapshot. Safety is more about building a culture that allows safety to flourish. Back in November we wrote an article, 5 Ways To Promote A Culture of Safety in Construction, which provides some examples of how to grow a safety thinking culture.

This month we'll be holding our PSO (Project Safety Officer) conference in Houston, Texas, where over 100 people will get together for a few days to focus on site and project safety. This includes training, best practices sharing, feedback and planning ALL focused on safety!

Melding Yesterday’s Homes and Today’s Technology

Centennial is thrilled to be Seattle City Light’s partner in updating its historic housing district to be energy efficient. These homes were built for Seattle City Light’s employees in the 1920’s and people have lived in them continuously ever since.

Centennial and Seattle City Light will install energy efficient heat pumps, lighting and water heaters, and additional insulation to maximize energy savings in 34 homes and roughly 24 commercial buildings. The improvements will save 2.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. That’s enough to power 277 average Seattle homes for a year.

This project is just one example of energy efficiency projects happening all over the country and it’s great when your job contributes to real change. I hope we have many more opportunities to do these types of projects because if an historic home can meet today’s energy standards, can’t any home or building?

Growth of the JOC Industry

On February 17th, the Center for Job Order Contracting Excellence (CJE) held its annual board meeting to hold elections of the new officers. This is both an exciting and challenging time for the organization and for me personally. In 2006, we began the journey of transition from an organization that was placed under ACE (the Alliance for Construction Excellence) which was part of Arizona State University to a stand alone national organization. Centennial was one of the key founding supporting organizations of CJE nearly 15 years ago.

This transition included the set up of the bylaws, the incorporation, the filing with the IRS for a 501(c) 6, a new Web site, new board, set up of an office in Washington DC, transfer of the old organization intellectual property and the raising of almost $100,000 from past donations and new dollars. This was a fast paced change with the goal of evolving the organization and growing its long term viability.

This recent election is a milestone, resulting in the first female Industry Chair . My goal was to help lay the ground work and give the organization the best chance to thrive. The addition of regional chapters, new blood on the board, a growing membership, and an owner lined up to be the Industry Chair in 2011 are all good things for CJE and the industry!

This is the first time since re-creation I am not on the board and the success of CJE is tied to the new leadership. I feel proud of where we are today and hopeful for where we are headed as an organization.

Centennial Works to Grow Design-Build with DBIA

On March 15th, Lisa Washington the executive director of the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) met with key Centennial people. After a tour of the new offices in Reston, Virginia we sat down to talk about the industry. First, she thanked Centennial for the years of ongoing support and also for our recent agreement to be the first Diamond Level sponsor of the national meeting.

At the core of the conversation was the fact that design-build and the approaches and processes it uses needs to grow beyond just large and new construction, and can really help in renovation, repair and rehabilitation. We talked about the fact that Job Order Contracting is a form of design-build (we call it design-build light). We also discussed the need to grow the understanding and awareness of design-build within the subcontracting community as well. We agreed that Centennial, DBIA and the underlying values of design-build support the growth of performance-based construction, quality results and sustainable practices.

Remember Your First Bike?

Two weeks ago, we held our annual Leadership Conference at the Arlie Center and we had almost 100 of the company’s key operational, business and support leaders together. The theme this year was “Focusing on What Matters Most” and we covered a range of topics, including core processes, forecasting, market development, etc.

On Thursday, March 18th the afternoon session took a different twist on this theme. We were challenged to think about being legendary and what it takes to attain this, as individuals and as a company. One stage of this session asked, “What is one of those key memories from our childhood?” Most said their first pet or first bike. We all started sharing on our first bikes (mine was a small, camouflage, military looking bike with a real sounding machine gun and hand grenades) and we all realized that this was a key moment in our lives – something that stays with you for the rest of your life.

At that moment we broke up into small groups of 4 people and were challenged to build a bike. At the end of this session it was revealed that we would be presenting the bikes to kids from the local Boys & Girls Club. WOW – what an exciting moment! It was great to see the smile on the little boy that received the bike my team worked on. It was a one in a million smile.

The takeaway was, that at the facilities we as a company support everyday (schools, universities, hospitals, military bases, cities, etc.) there are end users that will benefit and enjoy the work we do. Just like these kids – we make a difference every day in the communities we serve and support. It was a powerful few hours and 24 kids in the local community and another 24 elsewhere got bikes.

I wonder what their first memory of their bikes will be when they are older?

Federal Facilities' Green Efforts Require Collaboration

On February 22nd-24th, I attended a Military Construction Summit in Vienna, VA and there were a wide range of topics covered. This well-attended summit was focused on US Military Construction efforts for all branches of the Department of Defense. One session was headed up by Melissa Gallagher-Rogers Director, Government Sector of the US Green Building Council and she went over a pretty standard LEED and USGBC presentation. The questions by the audience were focused around the standard “how do you justify costs to do green?” or “what are the costs to get a building LEED certified”? As she was talking I realized that this idea of collaboration between owner, designer, constructor, end user, subcontractors, etc. to come up with the most green and sustainable solution will not really work with a restrictive and divided contracting method like design-bid-build.

So I raised my hand and asked Melissa, “Based on the fact that sustainable building approaches – both for new and existing buildings – require tons of communications, collaboration, sharing and flexibility, what is the USGBC preferred method of contracting on federal and public funded facilities?” After a few minutes of back and forth clarification questions the response was “we have not really looked at that point, and I can’t answer it.” So I raised the fact that construction contracting methods of design-build on new buildings and Job Order Contracting on existing buildings really favors the tenets, approaches and processes of LEED.

I challenged the group to understand that for the end product to be the best, greenest, and most sustainable solution there needs to be open, two-way collaboration. Make sure your contracting method allows for this. To apply pre-World War II contracting methods to 21st Century demands might not make sense. In the end, green efforts require relationships that are structured as open, win-win-win focused.

What Are Federal Facilities Executives Doing To Hit The 30% Plus Reduction?

On Tuesday, March 16th Centennial representatives including myself attended the National Academies Of Science, Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment. This session was part of the Federal Facilities Council focused on Workforce and Management Practices. The lead presentation was given by Mr. Brian Costlow, director of the Office of Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy, on the topics of federal facilities management, customer service, and staff retention.

The presentation was very interesting and covered a lot of points on looking at building your support teams and what it takes to hire, retain and build a world class team. During his presentation a few interesting points beyond just staff development popped out:

At the Department of Energy alone there is a need to provide space for almost 2,500 new employees coming in as part of the ARRA funding efforts. These are three-year positions and as such not long term employees to the DoE. His challenge is the fact that they must utilize the existing space they have in DC today and cannot add new leased space. This spike in people has created the opportunity to think differently about the space and about how people do their jobs. They are looking at “hot seating” shared space/cubes and working from home via the internet. They are setting up cubical banks, shared conference rooms, etc. and basically people are “hoteling” where they work.

Executive Order 13423 requires all federal agencies to reduce greenhouse gases through a reduction in energy intensity at all federal facilities by 30% by the end of fiscal year 2015. Federal agencies must ensure that at least half of renewable energy comes from new renewable sources and agencies must reduce water consumption by 2% annually through fiscal year 2015. Costlow stated that this date will be here very quickly; the Department of Energy has done all the low hanging fruit efforts in the past, like replacing the lighting systems with florescent set ups and moving to Energy Star equipment; and the next stages will require more creativity, thinking and development. His goal is to surpass the 30% and shoot for a higher number.

What hit me was the need for increased creativity, flexibility and speed of change. When looking at construction methods to support these rapid changes and renovation efforts its clear that the traditional contracting methods of design-bid-build do not allow for the necessary two-way communication, sharing, collaboration to come up with the best solutions. Methods like Design-Build and Job Order Contracting are exactly what are needed at this time to help with these challenges.

While sitting at the table with the Department of the Army, the Air Force, NASA, Department of Energy, District of Columbia Capital Planning Commission and DC Government, I wondered how they can accomplish all these goals, plus deal with human resource issues, marketplace demands and economic issues? They will need different tools in their toolboxes – including a key collaboration tool, Job Order Contracting and a trusted advisor who understands how to help them succeed.

Centennial is Giving a Fish Hatchery a Facelift

Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery in Tupelo, Miss., is scheduled to get several major improvements, thanks to stimulus funds.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded a contract for $976,807 to Centennial Contractors Enterprises of Reston, Va., in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, popularly known as stimulus funds. The hatchery improvements include a new office / visitor contact station, repairs to the historic manager’s residence that is used by the public, and a new well and pump to provide water to raise imperiled fish species.

Ricky Campbell, the hatchery manager said, "This multi-part project is going to make a big difference in how the fish hatchery does its job, and in the way we interact with the public. In addition, the nearly $1 million contract is going to be felt right here, benefitting the local economy. The majority of the contract will go to a new office / visitor contact station on the grounds of the hatchery. The office building now being used for visitors and school groups has suffered from structural damage and is no longer large enough or dependable enough for the hatchery’s needs."

Established in 1901, Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery is named after the local Congressman who gave a tongue-in-cheek speech in Congress arguing for funding for the hatchery, which included: “thousands and millions of unborn fish are clamoring to this Congress today for an opportunity to be hatched at the Tupelo hatchery.” It’s located in downtown Tupelo, one of the only fish hatcheries in an urban setting.

For more information: http://www.fws.gov/pvtjohnallen/

Centennial Revamps Newsletter

Centennial’s quarterly newsletter, the Centennial Connection, hasn’t changed much in 15 years—until now. The January issue kicks off 2010 with a fresh new look. Inside, this issue focuses on Centennial’s sustainability efforts and includes a recap of 2009 and forecast of 2010 efforts; the winners of the sustainability President’s Challenge; and sustainable project profiles. It also contains regular columns about safety, new business and IT tips.

This and every issue of the newsletter is printed on recycled paper using vegetable-based inks and 100% wind power. It is distributed to current and past employees and clients.

Virginia Business Interviews Centennial About ARRA

Robert Burke from Virginia Business magazine recently analyzed stimulus funds in Virginia to see where the money went and what it was used for. He interviewed Centennial and one of its subcontractors, Pool’s Window and Doors Service, about work performed in Virginia through stimulus funds. In “The Big Fix” Centennial described how its use of IDIQ (indefinite quantity/indefinite delivery) contracts is quicker than your average delivery method at getting projects started and relies on hundreds of local subcontractors.

What has been missing in the ARRA funds is the contracting methods allowing the dollars to get to the local, small businesses. This is a challenge for local communities and could be why it is hard to see the funds actually showing up in the local markets across the US. That is why Job Order Contracting (JOC) is a great fit with the ARRA funding. It allows for open, best value, competitive bidding on an umbrella program and from that point out the funds can be driven to the local communities and mainly to the local subcontracting base.

Centennial Writes Article for Commonwealth Contractor

Our very own Vice President of Human Resources, Rick Wilson wrote an article for Virginia ABC’s Commonwealth Contractor. In “Why Investing in Your Employees is a Good Business Practice…Recession or Not”, Rick provides contractors with a look at programs Centennial implemented in an effort to reduce voluntary employee turnover. The results—voluntary turnover went down 16.6% in four years.

Here are a couple of quick highlights from the article:

• The Centennial College of Excellence helps employees get career training and advance their careers at Centennial
• Managers get leadership training annually at the Leadership Conference which helps them become people managers rather than project managers
• A variety of recognition programs reward hard work and promote company initiatives, like safety and sustainability.