Geopier System (Rammed Aggregate Piers – RAPs) is a ground improvement method that prestrains and prestresses the soil using soil “replacement” and soil “displacement” technology to strengthen soft soil and loose soil with very dense, stiff, rock columns constructed by heavy equipment crowd force and vertical impact ramming.

The Geopiers we constructed are 30” in diameter  and reach moderate depths. Compared to other the foundation systems that we considered, we found the geopiers to be just right for our conditions.

How it’s done is fairly straight forward:

1. Form the “geopier shaft” by drilling a hole in the soil.
2. Form a geopier “bottom bulb” by ramming a foot or so of crushed rock into the bottom of the geopier shaft, so that the stone is pressed against sides and bottom.
3. Layer crushed rock in by successively ramming from the top. The ramming effect creates a very dense, stiff pier that expands the drilled shaft in the process and thus reinforces the soil around it.

There are no complicated steel or concrete connections, only conventional spread footings on top of the geopier, hence the name “intermediate foundation systems.”

Our team found the system effective, especially for our needs: a tight urban site with a need to vertically reinforce the existing soil conditions and thus supporting structures above.

A couple of years ago, we had the opportunity to work on a piece of Americana. Rickwood Field, the oldest baseball park in the country, called on us to remodel the locker rooms, perform structural modifications to the grandstand and our favorite–build a historically accurate scoreboard. Our work there was a part of history, something to be proud of.

We’ve recently had the opportunity to see our scoreboard come to life in 42, a biographical film about the life of baseball’s Jackie Robinson. The movie details Robinson’s path to become the first African-American player to break the color barrier in baseball when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickwood also doubles for Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, N.J.

While filming at Rickwood is nothing new–baseball scenes of Cobb were shot here– it’s a bit more unusual for the field to appear as itself. The opening sequence shows Robinson coming to Birmingham as a member of the Negro Leagues’ Kansas City Monarchs in 1945.

The filming process took place last May. Several Birmingham natives got large roles in the film including Andre Holland, who plays Wendell Smith, the black sportswriter who traveled with Robinson and ghost-wrote a column for him. For each day of filming, 600 extras were onsite. Alan Walker of our estimating department was one of them. He’s interviewed at the 7:50 minute mark of this Alabama Inc episode.

Seeing Alan out there made it feel like the project came full circle for us. It’s an honor to be a part of something so significant.

Last week, I had breakfast with Ken Simonson, chief economist with the Associated General Contractors of America. While we see a good bit of positive news, it was interesting to listen to his national perspective, hearing the facts and the trends as he sees them.

• Construction spending totaled about $854 billion in 2012, a 10% increase from 2011, but 27% below the peak year of 2006.

•  Right now, there are three main drivers nationally for construction spending, both upstream and downstream:

–Shale Gale. Technological conditions have made it profitable and practical to recover natural gas that otherwise would have been left in the ground in years past. These new reserves in are production from Pennsylvania, to North Dakota and Texas.

–Panama Canal Expansion. Panamax Ready Ports is prepping for the expansion of the Panama Canal. This will affect ports on the east coast including Miami, Mobile, Charleston, Jacksonville, Savannah, Norfolk and New York/New Jersey, and along with west coast ports. All are getting ready with larger/wider/deeper facilities to take care of cargo ships containing 2 – 3 times the containers that are presently able to navigate the Canal, prior to its expansion.

–Residential Revival. Multifamily is up about 50% since 2011 and single-family is up 30%. Expect multifamily to experience continued growth through 2014. Maybe by the end of this year, single-family will begin to taper off because of credit, higher pricing resulting in downward pressure. Single-family costs are up about 9% in the last year.

• Cities/Urban Living should continue its own revival, with increased population growth in these urban areas and in the first ring of suburban neighborhoods.

• Government spending on infrastructure is trending downwards.

• In terms of square footage per employee, office space is shrinking. There is not a lot of office growth, except on the west coast in the tech markets.

• Expect construction growth to be in the 8-10% range this year. Material cost will be up +/- 4% and labor costs 2 to 3.5%.

• The economy should continue to grow 2 to 3% a year for the next several years with population growth in the 1% a year range or slightly less.

What trends are you seeing in the market?

This place called Lonesome Valley

The Jennings family first came to Western North Carolina about 1900 when great-grandfather EH Jennings, an industrialist from Pennsylvania, purchased 30,000 acres. A the heart of this land was 800 acres, a box canyon, considered by many to be the gem. It would stay in the family through the years, later becoming known as “Lonesome Valley.”

After returning from the war, Richard Jennings (Dick, Sally and Binford’s father) started raising minks for the fashion world on this land and continued until the 70s. Parallel, he raised trout, which continues today under the guidance of his daughter Sally at the Sunburst Trout Farm, now located a few miles away.

In late 90s, faced with the knowledge that family politics would never allow consensus on what to do with the property after they were gone, the three Jennings children decided to control the destiny of the land they love. Land planning went through a number of developer interviews and in the end the Jennings, consumed with a desire to preserve the heart of what the land meant to them, chose to take on the task of development themselves. “It looks like it did when we were children, and it always will,” Sally told me.

The box canyon down the road from Cashiers is called Lonesome Valley, and boasts the tallest wall of sheer granite rock face east of the Mississippi River, about 1400 vertical feet.

The Jennings divided the land into 122 parcels total and intertwined them with 300 acres of donated land put into special conservation easements for perpetuity. The wild nature of the property will always be preserved and cottages will coexist in harmony with the land.

Canyon Kitchen: Another Gem

Along the trail, Sally discovered one of her favorite James Beard chefs was close to retiring from Blackberry Farms. Canyon Kitchen was built. John Fleer‘s masterpiece sits near the front of the property with vistas back across the meadow. There are gardens adjoining where vegetables are grown and they even a chicken coop for fresh eggs. Jennings-Eason’s Sunburst Trout Farm is often served as well, alongside other local producers. I have experienced the food there and give it the highest accolades.

The Road to Now

While the future is bright, because of the recession things have been tough on LV, just like with all of us. The Jennings are no exception and their road has been choppy with stiff headwinds. Through it all, to me, they never lost sight of what they wanted to achieve. If their great grandfather Jennings could see what they have done he would be proud.

While they were strangers in the past, it seems to me that bricks and mortar commerce and the e-commerce experience are coming closer together, two strangers no more. I’m convinced that before long, a combination of the two experiences will just be “retail.”

A few years ago, everyone was “shorting the stock,” counting the demise of the bricks and mortar stores, but the truth is that still today more than 90% of products bought and sold are at physical store locations. Technology has upended many products, and the experience has simultaneously created opportunities to make the store shopping experience more relevant and confluent with one another.

It seems there is a growing trend among major retailers to report sales of their product together,rather than dividing them by store sales and online sales. This makes sense. Last week, I saw a product in the Brooks Brothers store which sparked my interest. Then a few days ago, I decided to buy the shoes from Brooks online. Is this an Internet sale or a store sale?

What about the person who, while in a store, buys a product using his smartphone because he does not wish to carry the product home? I would say these are complementary parts of the same experience.

Sites like Amazon are moving toward pickup locations, and the likes of Target and Macy’s are transforming their stores into fulfillment gateways. While they may be a showroom for the e-commerce of others, bricks and mortar stores that can get the guest in the store ought to be able to fill their needs and make the sale.

Obviously, some products are more e-commerce oriented. Think about electronics vs fashion or food. But then again, most of us are in need of socialization–the experience–which is hard to get in front of a screen. Take for instance this shopping mall in the UK. We have a similar project scheduled to start in 2014, where retailing will meet up with an enhanced experience.

While retailing is changing at an increasingly faster clip, the omni channel strategy keeps evolving, as does the store footprint size.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a dinner and listened to the CEO of ESPN, George Bodenheimer, respond to a question on the future of technology in regards to the ESPN platform. His reply: “Our strategy remains largely unchanged. Our mission has always been to serve the fans in the best way we possibly can, and we plan to continue doing this with whatever new technologies come down the pike.” To me, this sums up everything that our service businesses should be seeking.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with several senior advisors to the National Economic Council in Washington DC. Our “Gang of Nine” business leaders from the South included people involved in construction, agriculture and the food industry. We were invited to the Capital to discuss immigration reform.

Interestingly, we all found fairly common ground. After our meeting, it seems there is finally enough congressional and executive branch momentum to get immigration reform passed in 2013. Hopefully. Equally important, at least to me, is the congressional “Gang of Eight,” a bipartisan group from both sides of the aisle working together to find common ground. It was music to my ears.

Here are 5 takeaways from our group:

1. Too many employers are gaming the system by hiring undocumented workers. Eleven million of these are “living in the shadows,” often being paid less than a living wage. We need to even the playing field.

2. Immigration reform will provide gains and bring improvements to our GDP from the creation of small businesses. Present job opportunities can be filled. Immigration reform will help attract and retain the best and the brightest from outside the US. 

3. The new standards to gain citizenship need to be tough but fair. The rules should be enforceable and “doable” at the same time. They should accommodate employers in case mistakes are made through e-verify, giving them safe harbor. Good faith compliance should be an affirmative defense. Prior to any civil or criminal penalties, the government should be required to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the employer had actual knowledge that the employee circumvented the e-verify system.

4. We discussed the guest worker program, where an applicant for the program already living in the US can pay a registration fee with a sponsoring employer and comply with all rules and regulations necessary under the new law. The employer may be able to aid the worker in paying the fee, or the worker can have his/her fee withheld from wages over a period of time. In accordance with the current requirements under Federal law, guest workers and their resident families will not be entitled to any type of government assistance or aid during the pendency of their guest worker status.

5. The strength of our border security is important. The good news is that the federal law will effectively override fragmented state attempts at their own immigration and e-verify laws, which 17 states have already enacted. While both the Senate and House versions of a bill are working their way through the process, hopefully there will be a vote this summer.

After our morning session, we were invited to the South Lawn of the White House to view another National Championship Team being honored by the President. All well done.

Maybe this is a good omen for championship immigration reform.

Last week, I was talking with the recently “retired” Mike Prior, who formerly managed a mortgage loan investment portfolio of $5-6 billion for a major life insurance company. Mike now offices in our quiet wing (the financial/accounting side of the office) as a friend and a good sea anchor for our customers.

Our conversation reminded me of a few things I picked up at the ICSC Open Air Conference, which had an attendee makeup of  mostly“C” suite folks…and me. Here are a few of Mike’s thoughts, which seem in sync with those from the conference:

Printing money. Through QE3, the Fed  is continuing to purchase bonds at a rate of about $85 billion a month. This means more cash is going into the banks, the equivalent of the Fed printing money. Someday, the Fed is going to have to take this manufactured money back out of the system, and we will be left with serious implications in the form of interest rates. The Fed dialog seems to be a move afoot to start to trim back, as soon as this summer.

Available Capital. Right now, there seems to be an unlimited amount of capital available for real estate from banks, insurance companies and the capital markets (conduits) who are seeking more investment yield and more aggressive lending from the commercial banks. This is driving cap rates down, and thus real estate, offering some of the higher risk adjusted returns in the investment markets.

Inflation Ahead. Based on the deficit spending and the Fed’s current activity, there is some fear in the market of the  potential for the early 1980s type of inflation. That was not a fun time. It seems like it is not matter of “if,” but “when.”

Government Deficit. When interest rates ease upward, the real challenge will be a dramatic increase in deficit as higher yields are paid on government debt.

RE Debt. We are living off subsidized rates. This means long term debt on real estate pricing right now is a blessing.

Lenders. Lenders seem to be more insensitive to asset quality these days, which continues to put downward press on cap rates across all sectors. This contrasts with the last robust period for asset trading, where there was a flight to quality.

What trends are you seeing in the real estate market? Are you changing your business accordingly? 

There are a zillion books out there on business that we all think we need to read to be successful. To me, the standouts are those that help us in business and in life, like Good to Great by Jim Collins and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Who can ever forget the impact of fixing broken glass or why getting the wrong people off the bus (team) is just as important to success as teaming with the right people in an organization.

I just finished up another book that I think is a keeper: Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger.

If you’ve ever wondered why some things go viral, he claims there are six links in our minds:

1. Social currency–Making people feel like they are “in the know.”
2. Triggers–Introducing everyday things that remind us of an item or idea.
3. Emotional resonance–Implanting a desire to share with others, maybe because of anger or outrage.
4. Observability–Making something highly visible.
5. Usefulness–Giving people practical or helpful information to share.
6. Storytelling–Establishing a connection with a product/idea using a narrative.

Becoming top of mind or maybe even viral is not necessarily a game of chance, I learned. As I read through the chapters, I started to wonder why I liked certain things and did not like others or why I brought up certain stories with friends.

As the author explains, social currency is one of the most fundamental human motives. While it’s hard to see it in ourselves, it’s easy to spot in others. People care about what others think about them. We want to look smart rather than dumb, cool rather than uncool. We wish to be in the know, so we talk about things that make us look that way.

While I found some of the marketing tactics explained were commonly known, others did surprise me. Given the failure and success rates of publicizing about any product or service at all, it seems that anyone can use some of the basics in the book to spread the word about what they are offering, no huge advertising budget or marketing creativity required.

The author must have done something right, because I am sharing this cool read with others. To me, this is similar to lessons learned via a business conference or a “must read book.” It is about the small things one remembers, then acts upon one at a time.

In 2012, we hired a recent college graduate as a part time gardener to manage the crop. He did a great job increasing our variety and yield. After our team took what they needed for their families, we donated the extras to Jessie’s Place, a local shelter for women and children.

At season’s end, Sam decided to head to Washington State for graduate school, where he is now pursuing environmental studies.

This year, when it came time to find a gardener, we saw a pattern developing. Our garden is turning into an incubator of sorts, for folks wanting a starting place for a career in horticulture.

We were pleased to see so many resumes pour in for the job. While it was hard to choose just one, we gravitated toward two unique individuals who have just finished their college experience in Maine.

Katherine Murray and Matthew Smith, who will work in tandem, are in the process of starting Magic City Gardening. They have organic gardening experience in several different countries as well as in Boston, MA on Waltham Community Farms. These two needed a foot in the door here in town, and we’re glad to be their showplace.

Here are a few innovations they have on the radar for this year’s summer crop:

• All organic. In the past, we’ve grown as natural as possible, but this is our first year to make that effort official. Captain Compost was onsite this week, bringing us fresh organic material for our beds.
• International Garden. Katherine and Matthew will be grouping produce by regions to create an easy platform for making culturally-focused meals. They plan to introduce the Native American “Three Sisters” concept, where corn, beans and squash are grown in close proximity because of their symbiotic relationship. Other regions include Italy, Thailand, the southern United States and Mexico.
• Butterfly Garden.  They will be building a small contained areas for caterpillars to grow and mature. This will mean planting a few more more nectar producing flowers in the vicinity, and gives us an opportunity to help with the preservation of butterfly species.
• New breeds. We are introducing small crops of plants we’ve never tried to grow here, with the intention of broadening our palettes.

It’s exciting to watch the garden take shape as we move into the growing season. If you stop by  to see us this summer, we’ll likely send you home with a few tomatoes.

Last week, I was with a customer in Phoenix who shared how integral colored polished concrete is saving them about 75% in annual maintenance costs. While all customers are different with their experiences and needs, when I got back, I asked our team the best ways to ensure good integral colored floors.

They shared a few thoughts to keep in mind should, if you wish to consider polished concrete:

• The placement and finishing of the concrete is the first step to ensure one will have an attractive final product. Good QC on the concrete mix is mandatory, otherwise color will be inconsistent. FF (floor flatness) numbers are important to have in the 50 to 55 range.

• Depending on the diamond grit and steps taken to polish the concrete, one will achieve different levels of sheen. These range from matte to a glassy mirror-like finish.

• With most of our high gloss floors,  we take 8 different grinding steps, starting with a 40 grit metal bond and going all the way to 1500 grit hybrid. A sealer is then applied and burnished.

• While there are dry grids, we use water, which lubricates, keeps pores clean and creates less dust. Our eight step process is accomplished in about a week.

• Once completed, beyond a visual, there is a gloss meter that can be used to assess the degree of reflection when light hits the concrete surface. Gloss ranges from 0-100, with 20 to 30 being low glass and 70 to 80 as high gloss. If you don’t have a meter, a good rule of thumb for a high polished floor is to stand back about 20 feet. You should be able to count the light bulbs from the ceiling.

While top coatings and stains are an option for exposed floors, it seems recently we have seen the market trend toward integral color. If the floor gets damaged, it is easier to repair and better resists the fade factor of UV rays. Are you using integral color?