Materials Martin-Marietta Moves onAcquiring Vulcan Materials Martin-Marietta Materials, a Raleigh, N.C.-based aggregate supplier, made a tender offer on Dec. 12 to acquire Birmingham, Ala.-based Vulcan Materials Co. M-M has offered one of its shares for every two shares of Vulcan, a deal roughly valued at $4.7 billion. Vulcan operates in the Southeast, Southwest and California. M-M operates in the mid-Atlantic states, the Southeast and Midwest. M-M CEO C. Howard Nye, in a letter to Vulcan CEO Donald M. James, noted that the firms had been in merger discussions for over a year and a half but that Vulcan had broken
Military construction contracting officials touted their efforts to award work to small businesses at an industry conference last month, but attendees noted the procurements are fraught with issues, from slow-moving awards to bait-and-switch tactics by prime contractors.Tracy Pinson, director of small-business programs for the U.S. Army, highlighted its "robust" small-business contracting program to the 1,900 attendees at the Society of Military Engineers event in suburban Washington, D.C. In fiscal 2011, the Army let approximately $90 billion in construction contracts to U.S. firms—close to $24 billion, or about 26%, went to small businesses. Other officials, such as Brig. Gen. Stephen Leisenring,
The construction recession is killing off numerous smaller companies and surety losses are growing, said insurers at the International Risk Management Institute's construction conference in San Diego, which ended Nov. 17. But bigger, better-managed companies continue to win jobs, so surety losses overall will be manageable.At the same time, risk managers, brokers and insurers in attendance at the IRMI event said the never-ending legal wrangling over scope of coverage has led lawmakers in four states to attempt to assure that construction defects are covered under contractor liability insurance. As a result, they added, a few insurers reportedly are steering clear
Related Links: Contractor-Controlled Wrap-Up Insurance Plans Gain Popularity The construction recession is killing off numerous smaller companies and surety losses are growing, said insurers at the International Risk Management Institute's construction conference in San Diego. But bigger, better-managed companies continue to win jobs and the surety losses overall will be manageable.At the same time, say risk managers, brokers and insurers at the conference, the never-ending legal wrangling over scope of coverage has led lawmakers in four states to attempt to assure that construction defects are covered under contractor liability insurance. As a result, a few insurers reportedly are steering clear
Galvanized by the Federal Aviation Administration's two-week shutdown this summer—and the 22nd consecutive short-term funding extension—airport advocates are stepping up a campaign calling for both the government and airlines to agree to an increase in airport user fees and a decrease in federal regulations.“Our airports are being held back due to a Nixon-era framework of government regulations,” said Greg Principato, president of Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), in remarks at the association's annual convention in San Diego on Oct. 17. Criticizing airlines for agreeing with the regulations in order to stifle competition, he added, “Let’s tell them to get out
PHOTO COURTESY OF FIRST SOLAR / John Morris SEED MONEY Despite controversy over the Solyndra venture, DOE is determine to press forward with loan guarantees for solar-energy start-ups. Despite questions about the Dept. of Energy's loan guarantee program raised by the bankruptcy of solar manufacturer Solyndra, DOE closed all but seven of its 35 conditional loan guarantees before the end of the government's fiscal year and the Sept. 30 end of the stimulus-backed program.With just hours to go, DOE closed four outstanding loan guarantees totaling $4.76 billion: $1.2 billion for SunPower to build a 250-MW photovoltaic solar farm; a $1.4-billion
The launch of a new career mentoring program for public-works professionals was the headline event at the annual American Public Works Association convention, which was held in Denver on Sept. 18-21 and attended by more than 6,000 APWA members.The association has created the Donald C. Stone Center, named for the federal planner who founded APWA in 1937. It supports career education and organizes the association’s 96 newly inaugurated Fellows to mentor industry professionals.“We inducted our first-ever group of industry Fellows at the convention, and they will be linked as mentors for a full year to people entering the careers program,”
A federal district court has dismissed a class action lawsuit filed by Henry Gifford, owner of New York-based Gifford Fuel Savings Inc., and others who claimed that the U.S. Green Building Council made false claims to consumers.In an Aug. 17 ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said that Gifford and the other plaintiffs lacked the legal standing to sue because they do not compete with the USGBC. As a result, the court did not address the broader question of the credibility of the organization's claims about the energy efficiency of buildings it certifies under
Over the past fifty years, construction management has evolved from its role as the owner's liaison with prime contractors to its new role of coordinating the technical and functional dynamics of complex building programs within any one of an “ever-hybridizing” array of delivery methods. So it is no surprise that a “one size fits all” approach to CM has gone the way of steam shovels.“Today, one size fits one,” says Blake V. Peck, president and chief operating officer of Fairfax, Va.-based construction management firm McDonough Bolyard Peck Inc. (MBP). “Every owner, every project is different, and the construction manager has