Competitive Value

Ex-college athletes working in Utah’s A/E/C industry reflect on how competitive sports have aided their professional careers.
By Brad Fullmer

Author’s Note: This year’s edition of UC&D’s ‘Ex-College Athletes in the A/E/C Industry’ features five individuals from four different sports—football (2), basketball, soccer, and swimming—who each immensely enjoyed their collegiate athletic careers. They have taken the lessons, experiences, and values they learned from the playing field, court and pool, respectively, and applied them to their professional careers. And they are quick to draw parallels from athletics to the real world, especially in an industry as competitive as construction and design.

Name: Dave Hogan
Title: President 
Company: Wadman Corporation 
College: Weber State University
Sport: Football; Steer Wrestling 
Years: 1986-87; 1991-92

Dave Hogan has experienced more than his fair share of tragedy in life but he’s risen above it all to become one of the major movers and shakers in Utah’s construction industry. 
Hogan, 54, has been the President of Ogden-based general contractor Wadman Corp. since April 2007, at the youthful age of 39. During his 15-plus years as the company’s top executive, he’s led Wadman to great heights, with the firm consistently ranking among Utah’s Top 10 GC’s in annual revenues, according to UC&D’s annual rankings. 
At 6-foot-2 and a stout 220 lbs., Hogan was a standout two-way football player (tailback and defensive end) at Weber High (Class of ’86) and played two seasons for Weber State University (1986-87). He also competed in steer wrestling for Weber State’s rodeo program for two years (1991-92), with a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Guatemala (1989-91) sandwiched in between. 
At the beginning of his senior year at Weber, Hogan’s father, Jack, was killed in a trucking accident outside Baggs, Wyoming, on September 3, 1985, the day before Hogan’s 18th birthday. He remembers vividly the last football game his father had seen him play, the previous week against Davis High, which Weber lost, 24-20. 
Hogan recalled, “We were ahead 20-17 in the fourth quarter and coach put in the JV kickoff team, and they ran a reverse down to the five-yard line and scored with 20 seconds left. My wife’s like, ‘You can’t even remember the kids’ names but you know exactly what happened in a football game!’ he said. 
“At 18, you lose your dad, it’s quite the deal,” said Hogan. “The community rallied around our family like no other.” The team dedicated the season to Jack Hogan, and the tiny school from Pleasant View would go on a historic playoff run in November, unexpectedly claiming the 4A State Championship, defeating the likes of much larger schools including Hillcrest, Olympus, Alta, and ultimately, Davis High in the title game, exacting a measure of revenge for the pre-season loss.  
“We had no business winning the title […] we beat Olympus and then beat Alta in the semi-finals and weren’t supposed to touch either of them,” he said. 
He earned a scholarship to Weber State and played two years at linebacker for Coach Mike Price before deciding to serve a mission. When he returned from Guatemala, he was done playing football and switched to steer wrestling, competing for Jack Hannum, who had been something of a father figure to Hogan when his father died. Hogan was equally as feisty competing in rodeo, ranking fourth in the NCAA Finals in steer wrestling in 1991. 
Hogan was also a hard worker, learning the ropes of the construction industry from his maternal uncle, Bryce Nelson. Starting at age 12, Hogan would stay with his uncle’s family in Cedar Hills during summers. He served as a “gopher” in his early years, and eventually learned how to pour concrete, use various concrete tools, framing, layout, and even doing more complex finish work as his skills sharpened. 
“I really learned a ton from him, construction-wise,” said Hogan.
He dropped out of Weber State in ’92, two days into his final year, having become disenchanted with the fact that his accounting professor and his finance professor both filed bankruptcy multiple times. “I went down to administration, got a refund, and walked out of there. I’m like, ‘I’m out. I’m going to go start framing.”
Hogan later went to work for Ogden-based R&O Construction as a carpenter and superintendent. In 1997, he was working on a Smith’s Food King remodel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when a friend of his older brother said to contact Dave Wadman. Hogan interviewed and was hired within two weeks as an estimator and project manager. Moving to the office full-time was a bit of a transition, Hogan admitted. 
“I really never projected myself in an office, like ever—it’s like putting a lion in a freaking cage!” he chuckled. “Still somedays, I’m like, ‘What in the hell am I doing’? I still like to work with my hands. I like to build things.” 
Hogan learned estimating via 10-key and “green sheets,” doing estimating takeoffs by hand while also running projects. In 2001, he was snowmobiling with friend and co-worker Rob Allred, who was Wadman’s Chief Estimator and VP of Business Development, when Allred got buried in an avalanche and died, another devastating tragedy. 
“When that happened, David (Wadman) put me in as VP of Business Development and I continued to run projects,” said Hogan. “At an early age I figured out you just move on.”
He moved up the Wadman corporate ladder to VP of Operations a couple years later, “then one day David called me and asked me to be President.” 
He credits the influence of his dad, his grandpa, and his uncle for instilling within him a strong work ethic. “Grandpa was a contract miner in Butte, Montana. He mined ore with a pick and shovel. Whatever he put in the bucket, that’s what he got paid. Dad was a hard worker [and] did whatever he needed to provide for our family.”
Hogan has been active in the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Utah, serving as Chairman in 2016. His time in that position taught him that “there are a lot of good general contractors in Utah, and even better human beings,” he said. “It was a great experience being involved, gaining a better understanding of the state legislature, how things get accomplished, and how the AGC champions rights and opportunities for contractors.”
He expressed gratitude for the Wadman family, which included learning valuable lessons from founder V. Jay Wadman, who established Wadman Corporation in 1951 and passed away in January 2013. 
“The coolest thing was going up to his office and just talking to him,” Hogan said. “You’d go up there for one question and walk out 45 minutes later with stories that taught a lesson. When they put me in as President, I went up to talk to Jay and said, ‘Man, I’ve got some big shoes to fill’. Jay said, ‘Just put your own shoes on. We chose you to run this company because we trust in you’.”
He continued, “I could never repay Dave Wadman for everything I’ve learned here […] unbelievable person.” 
“He’s got a lot of drive—he’s not afraid to tell people what to do,” said Wadman of Hogan. “If people need to be corrected, he doesn’t have any problem moving them along to the path they need to get to. He’s good at making hard decisions. He and the team have taken us to places we’d never have dreamed about. It’s been a very good thing.”
Wadman Corp. currently has 150 employees and reported another banner year in 2021 with revenues of $230 million. “They’re good, solid numbers for what we do,” said Hogan. 
Two of his five children currently work at Wadman, and his youngest son, Kohl, played football at Snow College, earning 2nd Team All-American JUCO honors last season as a linebacker. His stepson, Kyler Harsha, started as a Project Manager in April, while Kohl works in the warehouse.
Hogan believes there are a lot of similarities between the playing field and his career. 
“Whether it’s the playing field or the work environment, it’s all the same,” he posited. “It’s teamwork. It’s knowing the fundamentals and being a master of your craft. At the end of the day—and at the beginning of the day—it comes down to people.”
And he’ll always cherish the memories of playing for Weber High’s 1985 State Championship football team and the impact it had on helping him grieve his father’s death. 
“We weren’t the most talented team—we shouldn’t have won it,” he said. “We were just a bunch of rag-tag kids that played hard together and took care of each other.”
 

Name: Robby Loose 

Title: Director of HR & Safety

Company: Stout Building Contractors 

College: Brigham Young University

Sport: Swimming 

Years: 1992; 1995-98


Robby Loose was born into a sports family, and quickly realized while growing up in Washington State the value of competition. 

The youngest of four children, his father, Robert (Bob), was a college and high school football and track coach for more than 50 years. Bob was also a passionate sports fan, particularly of his alma mater, Brigham Young University, where he played football in the 1950’s. 

Loose, who turns 49 in August, followed in his father’s footsteps by competing for BYU—albeit in swimming—earning four letters in 1992 and from 1995-98 (he served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Guam/Micronesia from 1993-95). 

“Dad was a football coach, and he was okay with me playing football, but he said ‘Let’s get you into a sport where you’re not going to have to your hips replaced or your knees replaced. You want to able to move when you’re older,’” said Loose. 

Two of Loose’s siblings also gravitated to coaching professions. Dee Loose has been a swim coach for 30+ years, including a decade at BYU as an assistant coach and he currently runs Hilltop Aquatics in American Fork. Colleen Long has taught gymnastics for 30-plus years and now owns and operates Alpha Gymnastics club in Woodinville, Washington. 

Loose’s most notable achievement in swimming, he said, was being named an All-American as a senior at Woodrow Wilson High in Tacoma in 1991-92, where he swam the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. He was recruited by BYU, the University of Utah, the University of Iowa, and the University of Arizona, but said he “desperately wanted to go to the University of Washington. But my swim coach told them I was Mormon and going to go on a mission and to not look at me. I found that out after my mission.” 

He nonetheless takes pride in his career at the Y, and it made his father extremely proud to have a son attend his alma mater. “He was stoked—he loves BYU,” said Loose. 

Loose said he had a good collegiate career, earning a few conference titles in relay races and clocking a personal best time in the 200-yard free of 1:38.2. “At the time I was a solid college swimmer, but not elite,” he said. “The NCAAs back then were won with a 1:31; now they win with 1:29—they’ve broken the 1:30 barrier. Kids today are off the charts—they’re otherworldly!

Loose is relatively new to Utah and the construction industry, having been hired in October 2021 to serve as Director of Human Resources and Safety for Bountiful-based general contractor Stout Building Contractors. He had spent the previous 16 years at MAU Workforce Solutions as Director of Risk Management and Safety, living in North Augusta, South Carolina, just across the Savannah River from The Masters and and the famous course at Augusta National. 

Loose has relished his brief time working at Stout and said the principles he learned as a collegiate athlete have aided him during his professional career. 

“You are programmed for goal setting and achievement [in sports], and I would like to think I’ve brought that to Stout in the form of performance development and our application of it here among our 120 employees,” he said. “It’s fun to work in construction at this period when the pipeline for business is wide open. You’re really pushed hard to make the environment hospitable for existing employees and attractive for potential employees. And it’s so competitive.”

“Robby is driven by passion,” said James Stout, Founder of the 16-year-old general contractor. “His contribution to Stout is recognized, celebrated, and is backed with his intentional and meaningful communication, insightful initiatives, and desire to see others excel and succeed. There is no doubt that Robby approached construction with the same passion which pushed him to be an elite athlete.” 

Loose added, “If you’re an athlete, you’ve got be competitive, otherwise you get washed up. And [construction] is competition. Construction in Utah, from what I’ve observed, is a competitive, fraternal order. There is this notion that if we all work hard, (a competitor’s) success equals my success, and I really think that’s what is happening here in this pocket of America, where construction is just going crazy. It’s a different professional culture.”


Name: Brittney Boyle

Title: Director of Marketing

Company: Pentalon Construction

College: Queens University of Charlotte

Sport: Soccer

Years: 2001-03


As the Director of Marketing for Salt Lake-based general contractor Pentalon Construction, Brittney Eakins Boyle is relishing the opportunity to utilize her competitive chops in the pursuit of new construction projects.

“I absolutely think it’s the best industry for me to be in because it mixes my creative side and my competitive side,” said Boyle, who marked her one-year anniversary at Pentalon at the end of June. 

“To go after a job, or a bid, or RFP, I take those so personal. I have very little control once it gets out of my office—I don’t control the estimating or the numbers, but I keep track of every win-loss, interview, second-round bid. I’m super competitive.”

She grew up in a competitive sports family. Her father, Rich Eakins, was the all-time scorer in basketball at Juneau-Douglas High in Juneau, Alaska (his record was later broken by former NBA/Utah Jazz star Carlos Boozer) and was recruited to play at the University of Washington. Her great-uncle, Jim Eakins, was a standout 6-foot-11 center at Brigham Young University and played 10 professional seasons—eight years in the ABA (which included 100 games over two seasons for the Utah Stars) and two in the NBA. 

Boyle, 39, was born in Utah (her parents met at Dixie College) and grew up in Mesa, Arizona. She started playing competitive soccer at age 11, including with several club teams. Her family moved to Lexington, Kentucky her junior year in high school where she competed for Tates Creek High as a striker and forward.

She was recruited to play at Queens University of Charlotte (then Queens College) in Charlotte, North Carolina by coach Jonathon Brabson, one of 12 incoming freshman women that year, and played two full seasons from fall 2001 to spring 2003, before a spate of injuries caused her to cut her collegiate career short.

“My body gave out—back, knees, nose, ankles—lots of injuries, lots of surgeries,” she recalled. “I didn’t start as a freshman, but I was usually the first sub in, and started a couple games as a sophomore,” she said. “We did pretty good, we held our own.” She enjoyed the experience and ultimately graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration on marketing and pre-law. She stays in contact with several former teammates via a Facebook alumni page. 

She is also a passionate sports fan, describing herself as a “Cheesehead and a Dookie”, in reference to her love for the Green Bay Packers and Duke University. 

She started working in Utah’s construction industry in 2016 and spent five years at two different general contractors, before landing her current role at Pentalon. She has enjoyed working for the firm and has gained a better understanding of the industry—particularly the multi-family market—under the tutelage of firm President Carl Tippets. 

“That was one of the things that was enticing to come here, to being able to work under him and see how he handles his business relationships and his company,” she said of Tippets. “I’ve always liked to sit back and watch people—I got that from my grandpa when I was a kid sitting in his business meetings. So, listening to how he talks, how he phrases answers, and how he addresses questions is valuable to me. I’m able to now go into these meetings and be confident.” 

She continued, “He’s also this gentle giant in a sense—Carl’s a tall guy. It’s interesting to watch him put teams together. He’ll admit that he doesn’t know everything. We have great people in (COO) Shay Johansen and (VP of Construction) Brian Stewart.”

“I like to hire employees who have participated in athletics at the collegiate level—I firmly believe they come to the workforce with some skill sets that are advantageous for them and the company that is fortunate enough to hire them,” said Tippets. “First, they are obviously competitive by nature. That competitiveness is a directly transferable skill to the business world. Secondly, and even more importantly, they have learned the concept of team. They have learned that you win and lose as a team. Brittney comes to us with both of those skillsets. She is a winner who has learned the necessity of working as a team to come out on top.”

Boyle has immersed herself in learning as much as she can about construction marketing and is quickly finding her stride. She served on the 2021-22 board of the Utah chapter of the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS Utah) as Programs Chair and will maintain that role for the 2022-23 year. She was also named as a 2022 Elevate HER Cohort by the Zweig Group, a special task force comprised of individuals with a commitment to promote diversity to combat recruiting and retention challenges in the A/E/C industry. 

She has enjoyed marketing to the multi-family sector, saying “I prefer to do business in the private sector. My personality is very much a handshake and relationship building. I like you, you like us, let’s do a project together. I view my competitive nature as an asset because it keeps me going. I want to see who’s doing what, what is next, [and] what I can do better on the next one.”


Name: Craig Hammer

Title: Executive Director of Secondary Schools

Company: Washington County School District

College: Dixie College; University of Utah

Sport: Basketball

Years: 1978-80; 1980-82


Craig Hammer credits his high school basketball coach Dee Jensen for instilling within him a vision of what his life could be. 

“I’m who I am today because of him,” said Hammer, Executive Director of Secondary Schools for Washington County School District in St. George and a 39-year veteran of Utah’s education system. “He saw something in me I never saw in myself. He convinced me I could be more than I could be. I didn’t make a big decision in my life without talking to him.”

Hammer grew up in humble circumstances, his parents were hard-working, blue-collar folks; his father, Norman, worked at Wonder Bread in Salt Lake for 38 years. Hammer loved sports growing up and was standout four-sport athlete at Murray High (2x Deseret News basketball first-team) who also starred at Dixie College (NJCAA All-American his sophomore year), before finishing his hoops career at the University of Utah. 

During his junior year (1980-81), Hammer played on a 25-5 Utes team that won the Western Athletic Conference (13-3 record) and were a No. 3 seed in the 32-team NCAA Tournament. 

It was a team stacked with talent, including future NBA players Tom Chambers (4x All-Star) and Danny Vranes, along with Karl Bankowski and Pace Mannion. The Utes crushed Northeastern in their first game, 94-69, then faced blue blood North Carolina in the Western Regionals, held on Utah’s homecourt at the Huntsman Center. 

North Carolina was led by future NBA stars James Worthy and Sam Perkins, and packed the paint against the Utes, who shot poorly from outside and succumbed 61-56, a game that still gnaws at Hammer.

“I remember walking out of that locker room like it was yesterday—it took me forever to get over that game,” he said. “What hurt even worse, (North Carolina) didn’t get touched until they lost to Indiana in the finals. That should have been us.”

He said his main reason to play at Utah was so that his parents could see him play. “Looking back on it, I made the best decision […] they got to see every game—row 8, across from our bench,” said Hammer. “My last [home] game at the U they gave the seniors the mic; I was the only senior. That’s the first time I saw my dad cry.”

Hammer earned a Bachelor of Political Science from the U in 1983 and was strongly considering going to law school. Out of the blue, his high school principal at Murray called to see if he’d be interested in coaching at his alma mater on a part-time basis. 

“I had the greatest experience,” he said. That led to a student teaching job, and ultimately, a full-time position, where he spent six years. “I never thought in a million years I’d be a schoolteacher, ever. I got in for all the wrong reasons, but I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Besides teaching, Hammer coached football, baseball, and golf, including five years as Murray’s head basketball coach.

He earned a Master of Education Curriculum and Instruction in 1989 from the U, and in the spring of 1990 moved with his family to St. George to teach at Dixie High and serve as head basketball coach. St. George is also his wife’s hometown—they met and married while at Dixie College. 

Hammer spent two years as a teacher and two as assistant principal, before serving as principal for 13 years. He joined WCSD’s District office in 2007 at Executive Director of Secondary Schools, a role he’s held for 15-plus years. He has thoroughly enjoyed each of the different roles he’s held in his education career. 

“One of the greatest things about being principal at Dixie High, it was a smaller school with 1,200 students, and I knew every kid and they knew me,” said Hammer. “It was hard to walk away from coaching—I miss that relationship with the kids.”

He recalled a former student that died a few years ago in a car accident, and recently looking at the obituary he had saved and tearing up. “It’s like your own kid,” he said, wistfully. 

His current job has morphed into one where he is tasked with everything related to school facilities, including land purchasing, overseeing the selection of the design and construction teams, best practices, and everything in between. He said it’s been an incredible experience, one that keeps him hopping, particularly with the challenges of today’s construction climate. 

“When the district created this position—I’m the only one to have it—they put me in charge of facilities,” he said. “When I got this job, I didn’t know a yard of cement from a yard on the football field. But I brought the perspective of being a high school principal.” 

Hammer said he’s overseen the new construction or major remodel of 30 buildings, including six large high school projects, during those 15 years. 

“One of the interesting things that has happened is we used to go vertical with schools, then went to one level […] now we’re back to going vertical because of the cost of land,” he said. “Buildings are built so much better now. Of the projects we’ve built, 90% are tilt-up concrete and we’re going to get 75-plus years out of buildings. And they look like they’re still brand new. We save 20% (construction costs) going with tilt-up, and it works great for our climate. I wouldn’t try to sell that [concept] to every [school district], but it’s worked for us.”

Hammer has also served with the Utah High School Activities Association since 2009 and is currently the Constitution and By-Laws Committee Chair. In 2013, he was presented with a NFHS Citation, one of the most prestigious awards given by the National Federation of State High School Associations, recognizing individuals whose long-time contributions have had a prominent impact on high school activity programs. 

The 62-year-old Hammer is nearing the finish line of his career (he’s set a June 2023 retirement date) one he believes has been infinitely better because of what he learned competing in sports. He believes students who participate in school sports are better prepared for life post-graduation. 

“I know what athletics did for me and I know there are plenty of kids like I was before I started playing,” he said. “It opens doors and creates opportunities. Anything related to sports or other extra-curricular activities helps students. They get better grades and have better attendance.”

A year from now, “I’m hanging up my cleats and golfing full-time,” he said. “It’s been a great career. We’ve got a great (district) team, from the architect to the facilities person. It’s consumed most of my career at this level and pulled me away from the academic side. But it’s been phenomenal.”


Name: Brett Cooper

Title: VP of Marketing & Sales

Company: Roper Buildings

College: Brigham Young University

Sport: Football

Years: 2003-06


Pull quote: 

“Sports taught me how to take criticism and coaching, as well. You learn to be coachable. You have to play as a team, but really, how well do you do when performance is required, and somebody is telling you that you need to do better?”


It was literally more than five years from the time Brett Cooper played his final high school football game at Bonneville High to the time he laced up his cleats to compete on the gridiron for Brigham Young University, and remarkably, the speedy wide receiver didn’t lose much in terms of raw speed. 

“It was bizzarro. I was a freshman and hadn’t stepped on a football field for five years. I was able to maintain my speed and ran sub 4.4 40s,” he said. “I was one of the top three fastest guys every year.” 

A native of South Ogden, Cooper was one of five boys in a competitive family playing football, baseball, and running track. His father, Sam, he said, was “a legit five-star athlete” in Southern California (West Covina) and was initially recruited to play running back at the University of Southern California (USC), but blew out his knee his freshman year and ended up transferring to Utah State, where he played receiver and running back over two seasons (1968-69). Brett Cooper’s brother, Jason, also played receiver at BYU (1994-95).

At 5-foot-11 and 180 lbs., Cooper was a slot receiver, safety, and kick returner at Bonneville High, earning 4A All-State honors his senior year (’99 graduate), He was also a burner on the track, claiming back-to-back 4A titles in the 100-meter dash, including a blistering time of 10.6 seconds his senior year. 

He was recruited by a half dozen schools to play football and run track—including BYU and the University of Utah—and chose the Y, but elected not to enroll right away and instead served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Chile Osorno Mission in southern Chile from 1999-2001. 

He redshirted his first year back and then played from 2003-06 for two coaches—two years under Gary Crowton and two years under Bronco Mendenhall. His most successful season individually was his freshman year, as he led the Cougars in kickoff returns (18 returns for 435 yards). From a team perspective, his senior year was most rewarding, as BYU claimed the 2006 Mountain West Championship with a perfect 8-0 mark (11-2 overall, good for No. 16 in the final AP rankings). 

The final regular season game of 2006 is well-remembered in BYU-Utah ‘Holy War’ lore, as the Cougars went into Rice-Eccles Stadium and stunned the Utes 33-31 on a last-second 11-yard touchdown pass. The play is simply known as ‘Beck to Harline’ or ‘The Answered Prayer’ as scrambling QB John Beck slung the ball to tight end Johnny Harline, who caught the ball near the middle of the end zone, while on his knees, as time expired. 

“It was crazy,” Cooper recalled of that play. “It’s kind of a funny story. I got subbed out on that last play […} [After] I threw up my helmet and it hit the middle of the field and rolled in front of (Utah Coach) Kyle Whittingham and the whole University of Utah team, so I had to run out onto the field and grab my helmet […] and the entire (Utah) team and coaching staff were wanting to break my neck. I threw it so high it bent my face mask.” 

After graduating with a Bachelor of Spanish and Business, and a Master of Public Administration, Cooper spent 11 years in the healthcare industry as a nursing home administrator, working primarily in California and Idaho for The Ensign Group, before moving back to Utah.

He stumbled into the construction industry in 2018 via his neighbor, Dan Scarbrough, founder/CEO of Ogden-based Roper Buildings, a company that specializes in steel pole buildings and high-end barn structures. 

“I connected with Dan and he said he had a business and needed help running it and really wanted the sales department to grow,” said Cooper. “It was happenstance—we got to be friends as neighbors and I thought, ‘What if I came to work for him?’”

Cooper said he enjoys seeing the satisfaction clients get from having their projects built according to their wishes. 

“I have found it extremely satisfying to build projects that people work their entire life for—barns, shops, garages,” he said. “It’s neat to see people’s dreams realized and us being a small part of it. I’ve seen hundreds of buildings built and it’s satisfying to build what people want.”

Cooper believes his sports background has been a boon to his professional career as it taught him lessons he’s able to use in his day-to-day work.

“I’ve always said I wish anybody in the working world grew up playing sports—there is a lot you learn from sports,” he said. “You learn how to fail; you don’t win all the time. How do you take failure? Do you let it get you down, or do you get up for the next play, the next pitch, the next at bat? Sports taught me how to take criticism and coaching, as well. You learn to be coachable. You have to play as a team, but really, how well do you do when performance is required, and somebody is telling you that you need to do better? […] Sports taught me that I had to prioritize and be organized with my time to get a lot done. That’s helped a ton in my professional career.”

Utahraptor State Park

By Taylor Larsen • June 30, 2025
Not often does an opportunity come around to build a new state park. But the project team jumped at the chance and helped bring amenities to the off-roading wilderness around Moab to deliver the new Utahraptor State Park. The unique project received design collaboration from Johansen & Tuttle Engineering, GSBS Architects, Horrocks, and Spectrum Engineers. Hogan & Associates Construction led construction efforts to bring in site infrastructure, utilities, and vertical construction to build new recreation opportunities for Moab’s tourism hotbed. The project’s remote location made this a major challenge. Still, best-in-class coordination helped to mitigate labor concerns and site issues to build a fitting tribute to the area’s history as Utahraptor State Park prepares for its first summer tourist season in 2025. Designing a Fitting Park for the Area The park was created in 2021 via legislative action (H.B. 257), while the infrastructure and more began construction in 2023. The site is historic in two senses. It is home to ancient history, with fossil sites of the Utahraptor found throughout the area—fossils first discovered outside the Dalton Wells Quarry by paleontologist “Dinosaur Jim” Jensen in 1975. It is also an area of 20th-century history as the former site of the Dalton Wells Isolation Center, the Civilian Conservation Corps facility-turned-internment camp where Japanese Americans were detained from 1942-1945 during World War II. Owner’s representatives from the State of Utah’s Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) said an overall goal for Utah State Parks was to preserve these historic assets amidst steady and consistent tourist and recreation growth. According to Matt Boyer, Assistant Director of Capital Development for DFCM, Utahraptor State Park's development would happen “in a way that would preserve the historic nature of the site while maintaining the opportunity for recreation in the process.” According to Clio Rayner, Principal for GSBS, the design goal aimed to complement instead of compete with the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. “We wanted to provide a subtle sense of arrival where people feel a sense of welcome and comfort,” she said. Design leaders wanted the harsh beauty and serenity of the Colorado Plateau Desert to remain the showstopper. “We went into this design not wanting to make an architectural statement but rather wanting to create a visitor experience focused on the landscape. In a place like this, it should not be about the architecture.” Since the built environment of Utahraptor State Park would consist of recreational facilities and a visitor center, Rayner explained, “We used a material palette and building massing that reflected natural features of the site and created flexible open interior space for multiple uses.” Interior design, said Rayner, “Provided an open opportunity for Utah Parks to create interpretive exhibits inside the Utahraptor visitor center that tell the story and convey the significance of the site.” Design incorporated economical and durable features like natural wood and CMU colors and patterns drawn from the stone features that abound in Utah's eastern majesty.

Multi-family Highlights

By Taylor Larsen • July 30, 2025
Much like a good bonfire, multi-family construction in Utah, and especially Salt Lake County, has blazed. According to real estate brokerage CBRE in their 2023 report, Utah multi-family builders delivered a steady burn of units between 2019-2022—over 5,700 units per year on average. And then the fire roared in 2023 with over 10,000 units delivered, nearly half of them coming from outside of Salt Lake. That’s hot. But slow absorption, steady vacancy rates, and falling rents from 2023 to the present (1) have chilled the market somewhat since the “free money” era of the pandemic ended as Federal Funds Rate rocketed from 0.5% in March 2022 to 5.5% in July 2023. This cold water on the multi-family development fire made for a strange 2024 into 2025, even as deliveries reached similar heights from 2023’s delivery boom. While it’s made developers re-think a project or two, it has been excellent news for tenants. The growing range of options across the desirability and location spectrum from this recent delivery glut has pushed rents down in the form of concessions. Raise your hand if you’ve seen an apartment complex offering 10 weeks free—a substantial discount from the standard rental rate. But make no mistake, even amidst a cooler period in development, there are plenty of recently completed, hot multi-family projects bringing unique features to the table for tenants, while showing how designers and builders are delivering successful work to a changing market.

Sign Of The Times

By Brad Fullmer • June 30, 2025
The transformation of the heart of South Salt Lake from a gritty, somewhat dilapidated industrial area into a legitimate 'downtown' urban area with active neighborhoods of stylish residential and commercial buildings, got a major boost in June with the official grand opening of the eight-story, 180-unit One Burton apartment complex, ushering in a new era of modern development in the city. "I'm very happy to be where we're at now," gushed Jason Algaze, a Principal with New York-based Abstract Development Group, as One Burton marks the firm's first completed project in Utah. "The building is unique, and we had a good [team] to help us execute our vision." One notable caveat of the $70 million project—with its location directly adjacent to Interstate 80—was that the previous landowner, YESCO, be allowed to keep its billboard on the property, leading to the building to being dubbed 'the Billboard Apartments' during construction. Architects from Salt Lake-based Architectural Nexus, led by Mihnea Dobre, Principal-in-Charge, and Charles Bagley, Project Manager, were quick to roll with that interesting design nuance, along with other design constraints specific to a location smack dab next to a bustling U.S. highway. They embraced the billboard, ultimately coming up with the idea of INFLUENCE—something that is shaped, carved, and molded by the constant effect of environment—as the design brief and conceptual driver for the project. Since the billboard would have a direct impact on the building form—and is emblematic of the very idea of what influence is—the design leaned heavy into it. From the south side, you can visually see its influence carving and shaping the building with a continued ripple effect bending and folding the eastern façade. "This project is all about influence," said Bagley. "The billboard is about influencing people, so we wanted the view corridor to influence the shape of the building, with a ripple effect as the east facade folds and crinkles." "The billboard is certainly a prominent feature," said Dobre. "We had a requirement to maintain the view corridor and build around existing billboards, so we used that to aid the design, and in maximizing site development without interfering with legal requirements. We decided to embrace what was [viewed as] a limitation." "We turned what could have been a huge hurdle for design and turned it into a 'wow' factor," said Algaze, adding that residents are not impacted from the signs due to billboard screens having directional baffles that eliminate light disturbance back to the apartments. Constructing around the billboard and next to a busy freeway offered various challenges to the contractor team, said KC Burns, Project Director for Salt Lake-based Jacobsen Construction, mainly being so directly in the public eye, along with limited access for material delivery from north and south roads only and limited space to choreograph the litany of heavy equipment, delivery trucks, lifts, and cranes. "Prior to construction, the billboard was removed and relocated slightly to allow it to be outside the building footprint—that's not something you see every day," said Burns. "The highway presented little issue itself; the exposure from passersby [traffic], however, kept us on our toes as there was a lot of oversight from freeway traffic. We became aware early that we either did it right, or it would be known immediately by all."

Finding a Groove

By Brad Fullmer • June 30, 2025
Salt Lake-based di'velept design has broken the mold for how an architectural firm finds success. As the firm celebrates its 10th anniversary, founder Jarod Hall couldn't be more satisfied with how things have shaken out the past decade. "I'm so happy with where we're at, where di'velept is as a firm," said Hall, 44. "We're more of a lifestyle firm. I enjoy a lifestyle of working from home, [and] spending more time with my family, while also doing great projects. The growth in front of us is exciting." "It's a different sort of story," admits Hall, a Vernal native who wasn't quite sure about a career after graduating from Uintah High School in 1999. He attended then-Utah Valley State College (now UVU) for four years and worked part-time for a painting contractor while in school. "That got me interested in architecture," said Hall, noticing how the buildings he was painting were designed and what he liked and didn't like. He would interact with architects from time to time and started envisioning what their day-to-day schedules were like before deciding to jump to a new career path. He ultimately earned a Master of Architecture from the University of Idaho in 2008 and landed work at a large Salt Lake-based architecture firm, where he learned the ins and outs of the craft from 2008-2013. Hall quickly proved his mettle at the firm and worked under former Principals Steve Crane and Boyd McAllister in the K-12 studio. "He was really great—he got right in there and figured out what to do," said Crane, who moved to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands after retiring in 2017. Today, Crane resides in St. George, and is working with Hall on some projects. "The partners really liked him. He was a good designer. Now, he's got me working for him!" Hall eventually decided to launch di'velept design in late 2014, and by early 2017 was actively trying to grow the firm. Firm Buoyed by Success in Self-Storage, Multi-Family In early 2015, Hall and a friend, Jeremy Larsen, were hired to design a self-storage unit in Vancouver, Wash.—a 100,000 SF, three-story building. Success on that initial self-storage project has led to a fruitful relationship with a couple of developers who have built dozens of projects in more than a dozen states, including the Pacific Northwest, Texas, New England, Florida, and Hawaii, in addition to Utah. In 2016, Hall recognized potential opportunities in the burgeoning multi-family market and started making inroads with some smaller developers. To date, the firm has designed 18 multi-family projects that are either finished or under construction, with another 80 projects they did master planning for—projects that will advance to full design once market conditions are more favorable. Approximately 50% di’velept’s annual revenues are from townhomes and apartments, 40% from self-storage facilities, with commercial office and retail projects, including restaurants and bars, comprising the rest.

Village People

By Taylor Larsen • June 30, 2025
Economics isn’t for everybody. Some in this industry excel in real options analysis to understand risks and returns of capital outlay for a project. Others, like this writer, struggled to understand anything described in Econ 110 lectures. Independent of one’s understanding of economics, everyone in Utah lives through the social sciences’ most trusted law: supply and demand. Namely, the demand to live races onward while the housing supply lags behind. Utah is the place to live—and the data backs it up. Utah’s net in-migration has been over 20,000 yearly since 2016, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. Whether incoming residents are seeking the greatest snow on earth or looking to discover linguistic quirks—have a Utahn say “Millcreek” and hear the phonetic difference—there are many reasons to move to the Beehive State. It’s excellent news for the industry. High housing demand means plenty of opportunities to design and build. The good news continues—the industry built more housing units than new households created in the state from 2019-2022, according to Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. In 2021, the state set a record, delivering 40,144 new housing units and nearly cutting the reported housing shortage in half. The bad news? It hasn’t been enough. According to that same data, Utah still needs to build an estimated 37,000 more units, or enough homes to support a city comparable in population to Provo or St. George, to meet 2025 demand. Answering the Crisis Call The bad news is glum, but the good news is that developers are helping to solve Utah’s housing challenge, creating expertly crafted homes in job centers like Salt Lake City. Key among these developments is the recently completed The Village at North Station, the largest low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) property in Utah history: a spectacular 827 units. According to Michael Batt, Managing Principal with developer Gardner Batt, the project helps to meet an urgent need for housing, specifically affordable housing. “There is definitely a demand for affordable options as we’ve seen significant housing cost increases over the last five-plus years,” Batt said. Remember the single-issue Rent is Too Damn High Party? What it lacked in political power, it revealed a commonly held belief regarding residential tenancy—the rent is too damn high, especially in Utah. According to the 2022 Economic Census, over 47% of renters spent over 30% of their income on housing. The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute showed that Salt Lake County alone lacks the breadth of options to be affordable—190,000 units short, to be exact—for those on fixed incomes, single-parents and one-income households, and those just entering the workforce. According to Batt, one great tool to meet demand and lessen the rent burden for tenants is “the utilization of the tax credits and bonds” in development across the state, where LIHTC is the most recognized example. According to the Utah Housing Corporation, the independent state agency that administers Utah’s LIHTC program, tax credit awardees receive a dollar-for-dollar reduction on their tax liability in exchange for making an equity investment into affordable rental housing with below-market rents. Who says the government and business can’t coexist?

Carrot Over Stick: Connecting in Commercial Office

By Taylor Larsen • June 30, 2025
The stick is a powerful tool for bosses in the white-collar world, especially in bringing people back into the office. But how do you get employees back willingly? How about a carrot? “We were designing our space post-pandemic, so one of our primary goals was to create a space that would genuinely draw people back into the office,” said Sierra Smith, Partner & COO with Leavitt Equity Partners, tenants of the new space. The carrot was the tool of choice via “a space where our team could reconnect, collaborate naturally, and enjoy being together again.” Utilizing the carrot had a secondary effect, which Leavitt Equity Partners wanted to capitalize on. Smith noted, “We also wanted to create an environment where we’d be proud to invite clients and partners.” With the completion of this tenant improvement within the award-winning 95 State office building, design and construction partners from EDA Architects and Layton ICS, respectively, showed the value—and values—of creating such a connective space. Creating the Carrot Ownership listened to what their team wanted in a post-COVID workplace: “more chances to interact informally, flexible spaces to work and meet, and the amenities that made being in the office feel rewarding,” said Smith. Jason Dunn, BD/Preconstruction Manager for ICS, who served as Project Manager during the project, agreed with the intent, which comes through in this TI’s welcoming nature. “This is a good approach to get people back to the office accustomed to working from home, where they already have a comfortable, convenient environment,” he said. Dunn spoke about how the creature comforts of home have inspired interior design to bring a high-end residential mood and features to the modern office, “especially if we’re going to spend a quarter of our life at work.” As design commenced, Evan Cindrich, Principal and Director of Interior Design for EDA, created a Pinterest board to send to Smith and the team at Jane Smith Design, who assisted with design, to collaborate on ideas. At the same time, Smith and Jane Smith Design were working on one of their own. “It was incredible to see how much our ideas lined up,” said Cindrich. It lined up to such an extent that some of the same photos appeared in each set of ideas. Aligning intent to budget proved rewarding as collaboration in design honed in on the final decisions. Cindrich mentioned how rendering tools helped ownership sign off on a traditional stick-framed aluminum office front that maintained the luxurious feel originally envisioned and matched dollars to purpose.

Prototype Prowess

By Brad Fullmer • June 30, 2025
The success of the new Subaru Ogden dealership for Young Automotive Group (YAG) has as much to do with the outstanding design-build construction process of the $31 million building as did the patience of acquiring 14 parcels of land needed for the sizeable project spanning seven acres. Designed and built by the team of Morgan-based Center Point Construction and Ogden-based Case, Lowe & Hart (CLH) Architects, the two-level building makes a bold statement with a sleek, modern design and impressive functionality highlighted by a world-class customer showroom, state-of-the-art drive-thru alignment machines, quick change oil bays, and a jaw-dropping 52 high-performance maintenance bays for service, repairs, and washing. At 72,000 SF, it’s also the largest automobile dealership for Layton-headquartered YAG, which continues its impressive growth trajectory with new, statement-making buildings. At the grand opening on May 9 on Riverdale Road in Ogden, YAG President Spencer Young Jr. praised the design-build team and singled out Ron Hales, Center Point's President, for his company's efforts in delivering a phenomenal project. "He's been a great partner of ours the past seven years," Young Jr. said of Hales. "He's built many projects, including this one, and done an amazing job. His team, his people, it's a great company." Hales said Subaru's strict design guidelines challenged his team to design a new prototype building for the Tokyo-based automotive giant. It yielded excellent results, even with a few modifications per Hales' construction expertise. “[Subaru] sent a design, and Center Point modified various aspects of it," said Hales. "The owner liked the changes so much that they modified their design to mirror the changes." Hales pointed to the service drive as a "very unique feature that Subaru really liked" which allows customers to have their vehicle alignment checked by a state-of-the-art machine, along with other services like oil changes and minor repairs. "The Young team and our team spent many hours planning for the very best equipment in addition to maximizing customer flow and efficient service," said Hales. Interior finishes were overhauled to modernize the look and feel, with new colors, designs, flooring, extra glass for more open and aesthetically pleasing views, a custom sound system that pipes music throughout the entire facility, and custom furniture. Hales added that ownership spared no expense wh en it came to staff amenities. "Young Automotive recognizes the importance of their people, and there was an emphasis on making sure the technicians, parts employees, administrative staff, and the sales team have their own spaces and environments," said Hales, in addition to spacious break rooms with TVs, large restrooms and locker rooms."

Latest Shifts in Structural Engineering

By By B. Garn • May 2, 2025
The continued spread of and improvements to BIM, new fuse plate technology, and the rise of mass timber are a few of the topics shaking up structural engineering in the Beehive State. Utah Construction + Design reached out to some Utah’s leading structural engineering firms to find out about current trends, technologies, and with five years of reflection, how are owners and designers looking at and learning from the 5.7 magnitude earthquake that shook the Wasatch Front in spring 2020. Jerod Johnson, Senior Principal at Reaveley Engineers, wrote a detailed retrospective of the event in 2023 and says researchers and engineers learned a few things from the quake from how different building types responded to insights into the geology of our region. “Research has revealed that the shape of the Wasatch Fault is different from what was previously believed. The Magna earthquake, initially thought to have occurred on a fault in the western part of the Salt Lake Valley, actually took place on the Wasatch Fault. The fault extends into the valley at a much shallower angle than expected, rather than descending steeply from the toe of the mountain. This new understanding of the fault's geometry has significant implications for seismic design and building codes. We anticipate changes to the spectral acceleration maps used in structural design. The lateral shaking observed during the 5.7 magnitude earthquake was much higher than expected,” says Johnson. “It highlighted the need for updated design practices that account for this amplification. These findings will influence future building codes and practices in Utah, ensuring that structures are better equipped to withstand such events.” But Chris Hofheins, a Senior Principal at BHB Structural, is concerned the wider public may not have learned enough from the event. “Most structural engineers thought the earthquake would be a wakeup call but to a large degree I think it had the opposite effect,” said Hofheins. “People looked around and felt like it wasn’t so bad and we’ll be alright if something bigger hits. We’ve seen a few owners who decided to increase the seismic safety of their buildings but we’re also seeing the opposite where I think some people are overconfident.” Blowing a Fuse Structural resilience, designing buildings that not only protect those inside during a seismic event but can be quickly reoccupied, continues to be of great interest to structural engineers. Replaceable fuses, or structural sections that can be sacrificed dissipating energy during a seismic event and then replaced, have continued to gain popularity with designers and improve the resilience of buildings. “This innovation represents a significant shift from traditional methods of enhancing ductility in earthquake design. Instead of merely adapting existing practices, replaceable fuses offer a new paradigm for building resilience,” said Dorian Adams, Senior principal and President with Reaveley Engineers. Adams said fuse technology like buckling restrained braces (BRBs) have been available and widely adopted for several decades. Newer proprietary systems like Durafuse, among others, for moment frames have been gaining popularity. “New technologies are emerging that offer exciting possibilities. One such innovation is the SpeedCore steel shear wall with a concrete core, which is included in the new AISC seismic provisions, the 2022 edition. This technology represents a significant advancement in seismic design,” said Adams. Replaceable fuse technology is also being employed with mass timber construction as interest in and use of the material around the world continues to grow. Jordan Terry, Principal at KPFF Consulting Engineers has designed structural systems for several mass timber and mass timber hybrid projects such as the ICCU Arena at the University of Idaho in Moscow and the recently completed Portland International Airport Terminal Core Redevelopment with its 400,000 sq ft mass Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) roof. He said there have been important advances recently in seismic systems for mass timber structures. “Typically, when you get a mass timber building over five stories you have to look at the seismic reinforcing and that is where you introduce something other than just timber. You might have a concrete core with the elevator shafts or use BRBs,” Terry said. “We had a client in Portland that absolutely wanted to use as much timber as possible. We helped develop a new system called a rocking CLT core wall. The base of the shear wall panels isn’t connected to the ground and it can rock back and forth but there are energy-dissipating sections or fuses, between the panels. They are very ductile. You swap them out and it’s as good as new.” David Dunn, CEO and principal at Dunn Associates, said the firm had utilized a rocking CLT shear panel in their design for a new all mass timber building currently under construction for the Zion National Park Discovery Center at the national park’s east entrance. Terry also said the firm was assisting researchers at the University of California San Diego in developing more all-timber lateral systems but noted like all materials, it should be used for its strengths. “CLT is really strong and stiff so you’d think it would be great for seismic reinforcement, but it is not very ductile,” he said. “We have a project in Spokane [Washington] where we used BRBs. We are letting the wood be stiff and strong like it wants to be and letting the BRBs deal with dissipation.” Hofheins noted mass timber research is going on here at the University of Utah as well. Dr. Chris Pantelides and the U of U’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering are developing a BRB encased in timber. Adams noted Dr. Pantelides’s project is not the only fuse research underway locally. “One such project involved a device placed in the middle of an X brace, with elastic braces and a fuse at the intersection of the diagonal braces. This device would compress and stretch, cycling through combined flexure and shear,” he said. “A University of Utah PhD candidate recently further enhanced this concept in his dissertation, adding curved plates of steel that cross one another and engage in tension only after reaching a certain threshold of displacement. This supplemental strength activates only when needed, providing a dual-level design solution that accommodates different magnitudes of earthquakes. The idea of replaceable fuses holds significant potential for the future of structural design. These innovations will become an integral part of performance-based seismic design, offering tailored solutions for varying seismic events. Simpson's Yield-Link connection is another example of this technology, although it is currently more suited for smaller applications.” Dunn said making buildings resilient and potentially reusable quickly after a seismic event not only has implications for safety but for sustainability as well. “Designing resilient structures is really an environmental consideration that is undervalued in my view,” said Dunn. “Code-based buildings will undergo massive deformations and damage after an earthquake. Sometimes small, incremental increases in first-costs can make huge differences in anticipated building performance, salvaging buildings that would otherwise be landfilled. That is a huge environmental impact, but not as buzzy as bike racks, low-water urinals, solar panels, etc.”

No Waterway? No Problem for the Utah Inland Port Authority

By Taylor Larsen • May 2, 2025
Ports? In landlocked Utah? Sure, the traditional idea of a port in Utah, with cargo ships, cruise liners, container cranes, dockworkers, barges—not to mention coastal water—is farfetched. But the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) has broadened the meaning of a port since its formation in 2018. Even without a coast, UIPA has worked to strengthen rail, air, and road cargo infrastructure to turn Utah into a 21st century logistics hub and changing the economic trajectory of the Beehive State in the process. It’s been seven years of increased industrial development that has been a boon for the A/E/C community, but more importantly the logistics and manufacturing network to build for an ever-growing consumer demand. There have been plenty of detractors to UIPA, especially as it relates to ecological conservation. Ben Hart, Executive Director of UIPA, has heard it loud and clear as he sets the organization on a path to aid in development goals that benefit the entire state and the values Utahns hold dear. Origin Story + Coordinated Efforts UIPA was created to pioneer and implement strategic and sustainable logistics-backed economic solutions that enhance the lives of Utahns and establish Utah as a global industry connector. While UIPA began its journey overseeing 16,000 acres in the northwest portion of Salt Lake County, the Northwest Quadrant, it has grown in area and emphases since 2018. Today, UIPA is associated with 110,000 acres in 12 project areas across the state. Most importantly for the organization, Hart said, is how developments within UIPA project areas create high-paying jobs to strengthen Utah communities. Where regional logistics infrastructure does not exist, UIPA can make strategic investments to unlock regional economic growth. “Part of the [UIPA] charter is developing projects that provide economic strength for their entire region. Regional projects need regional infrastructure, which most importantly includes transportation infrastructure,” said Hart, detailing UIPA tools to build out transportation infrastructure intended “to help grow the entire regional economy. Hart said that UIPA has grown its overall area scope to help meet statewide initiatives from current Governor Spencer Cox and regional initiatives from municipal leaders around the Beehive State. Speaking specifically of many of Utah’s rural counties, “There is more commerce going on in those areas than what people recognize,” Hart said, “and you still have a really good workforce in those areas as well.” Municipalities and counties of all levels (see project area map) have been willing to go through a four-step process to access UIPA capabilities in route to industrial development and the high-wage jobs that come with it.

Steely Resolve

By Taylor Larsen • May 1, 2025
Tariff talk is loud. But don’t let that be the only thing that garners attention in steel fabrication trends. Leaders in this field said that they continue to innovate and build up their spot within the industry to ensure steel continues to be utilized in projects across the Beehive State. Tariffs Add Volatility On March 12th, 2025 the Trump administration announced 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. With over 25% of steel imported, according to the US Dept. of Commerce, steel procurement is set to get even pricier. Matt Blaser, President of Price-based Intermark Steel, sees plenty of similarities with tariff policy and the pandemic effects on the supply chain. Much as supply chains needed reconfiguring during the pandemic, “The overarching goal [of tariffs] is to bring manufacturing back into the United States,” said Blaser. “Where we’re not dependent on a global supply chain.” It’s worked as intended before, when 2018 tariffs (25% on steel imports) helped increase domestic steel production by 6 million tons from 2017-2019. For Richard Wood, President of West Jordan-based Rightway Steel, the expected increase in domestic steel production, “It’s just getting started. Many new companies have plans to build steel producing plants in the US.” These incoming ‘minimills’ are bringing faster throughput in a smaller area via a much more efficient steelmaking process. According to a 2020 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report, over half of the national steel output was produced in minimills. These mills use an electric arc furnace (EAF) to melt and refine steel scrap by passing an electric current from the electrodes through the materials to melt it at a scorching 3,000 degrees. It’s making blast furnaces and “rust belt” technology a thing of the past. But on-shoring production has still been a tough pill to swallow for fabricators as steel prices surge. “As of April 1st, steel material prices have increased upwards of 25%,” said Wood. “We’re unsure if or when the tariffs will be reduced.” Even as tariffs escalate, fabricators like Rightway Steel have sought a way forward even as Wood has seen demand and project starts slow down. Rightway has pivoted with new pricing, reduced quote hold times, and internal efficiencies to stay competitive. As developments in EAF take a greater share of steel production market toward stability—and hopefully lower prices—those internal efficiencies Wood mentioned will shape the future of steel fabrication. Innovating Internally “In any steel fabrication, or any type of production, there is a four letter word that makes all the difference: flow,” said Tyler Oliver, President of Centerville-based Fineline Steel Fabrication. Limiting the amount of movement required from the fabrication team in the shop is one internal efficiency keeping costs low. Inside Fineline’s shop, TV screens and tablets keep the team in the shop fully aware of what’s going on—and keep everyone in flow. Touring through the firm’s Centerville shop, one quickly notices how long the building is. Think arena football field, but five of them end to end to reach 1,000 feet long. If Fineline could have a facility twice as long and half as wide, Oliver said, it would help that flow even better. Oliver claimed that Fineline;s facility houses “One of the most state-of-the-art fabricators in the world.” Fineline’s Voortman Steel Fabricator has been a key part of the firm’s innovative flair. The fully-automated welding system starts with the VACAM system to determine the feasibility of assemblies, production times, etc—particularly helpful when determining the amount of automation required in the welding process. From there the magnetic handling robot grabs the steel pieces fed by the Fineline team, rotates the steel, and welds steel members in the right place. Rightway Steel has looked for similar internal efficiencies, with Wood saying the firm is improving year over year with new equipment and processes to improve quality, speed, and safety. “There’s always room for improvement,” he said before mentioning how it will be incumbent on fabricators to find or train workers capable of learning the ropes as the company invests in more robotic welding, improved machinery, and emerging technologies like wearable exoskeletons to keep production humming. Technological Infusion With lead times getting shorter for many of these projects, Oliver said, “[Owners] need their parts and members bigger, better, and faster. This is why we have innovated and are constantly working on adding automation.” Technological innovation reigns supreme. Construction software Stalwarts like Procore and Building Connected are combining with emerging technologies that incorporate in-field scanning from team members to improve accuracy. “We have also seen improvements in modeling and steel shop and erection drawings through Advanced Steel and Tekla,” said Wood. As modeling has improved, so has the final product created by fabricators. Blaser echoed Oliver’s comments on speed to delivery and Wood’s thoughts on digital collaboration, saying that the ability to fabricate from a digital file has been catalytic in today’s high-speed construction market. Blaser also reiterated points from the other fabricators regarding internal systems. Having a CNC machine isn’t enough—it’s the bare minimum. Instead, working in a “Henry Ford-esque” assembly line makes all the difference today, especially when combined with digital innovations and steel detailing software. But the future is one where those systems are bolstered by AI. “Larger companies will have machines interconnected via AI,” said Blaser. With enough capital to invest in interconnected machinery that needs less human help, AI adaptation within steel fabrication will “Consolidate the market and probably push smaller shops to the wayside.” For Oliver, “AI is the top of our list as it is with everyone else,” namely allowing the team to spend their time processing material for fabrication. “There are some major advancements with AI and how we can final QC some of our members.” While AI grows in importance on the shop floor, Wood said his teams have utilized AI as much as possible in the office for great efficiency in take-offs, proposals, RFI support, and meeting information.