Spotlight on Casie Sears Kerr of Sears
Contract by Joan Krause, GroundBreak Carolinas
A woman-owned commercial drywall business. Definitely not your typical “About Us” company description, but it’s a perfect fit for Sears Contract, Inc. of Raleigh, North
Carolina. Founded in 1995, this family business has grown over the past 22 years to become a leading specialty contractor in the Carolinas — known for customer satisfaction, safety and uncompromising quality. In addition to its Raleigh headquarters, Sears Contract has an office in Charlotte. The company has about 300 employees, the majority of which are field-based craft professionals.
Silica may not sound like an issue that needs to be
addressed by facility owners. But this ubiquitous mineral compound is a major component of the actual bricks and mortar that companies build with, and it has made news lately as a substance being targeted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Leaders of Japanese companies gathered in Greenville, S.C. this week for the 40th Annual Joint Meeting of the Southeast U.S.-Japan Association (SEUS) and the Japan-U.S. Southeast Association (JUSSA Japan.) The gathering of global business leaders was held October 21-24 and celebrated longstanding economic and cultural ties, and offered delegates from Japan and seven southeastern U.S. member states the opportunity to connect.
The Urban land Institute (ULI) South Carolina Upstate hosted a Panel Discussion on Mass Timber — an increasingly popular sustainable design solution that also has substantial benefits to a developer’s bottom line. Co-sponsored by Britt, Peters and Associates and Clemson University’s Wood Utilization + Design Institute the panel featured experts Hans-Erik Blomgren from Katerrra
and David Impson and Graham Montgomery from Britt, Peters and Associates.
by Tim Neubauer and Julia Kunlo, Evolution Safety Resource
While stressing the importance of building a safety program that reaches beyond written policy, our series explains the need for a Safety Management System (SMS) while exploring common SMS components. Defined as a structured and organized means of achieving and maintaining a high level of safety, Safety Management Systems are a collection of efforts, policies, and strategies that work together to keep your team safe. We previously noted the National Safety Council’s Nine Elements as a collection of common SMS
principles. In this article, we will discuss the second element in this collection – Organizational Communications and System Documentation.
The second Annual Clemson University Construction Industry Symposium presented by Clemson’s Department of Construction Science and Management (CSM) was held in Greenville, S.C. on October 12th. “The Ever-Changing World of Construction: Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Opportunities” was the theme for the Symposium that drew facility owners, construction companies, specialty contractors, designers, vendors and other construction industry service providers.
ConstructConnect, a leading provider of construction information and technology solutions in North America, announced its ninth annual fall economic webcast: 2018 Design & Construction Outlook – Cheery or Dreary? The complimentary webcast — featuring industry-leading chief economists Kermit Baker of The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Ken Simonson of The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Alex Carrick of ConstructConnect — will take place at 2 p.m. EST on November 2.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is releasing the second part of the once-in-a-decade 2017 edition of the A201, design-bid-build family of documents for a total of 34 newly revised 2017 documents. This release includes updated versions of the Architect Scope documents and many of the frequently-used AIA forms. Working with architects, contractors, subcontractors and owners, the AIA Documents Committee updates this core set of documents every 10 years. This helps ensure that the AIA legal forms and agreements reflect changes and trends in the industry, and that the AIA Contract Documents remain the Industry Standard.
