As the season of spring officially begins, site crews continue to take advantage of the good weather by making great headway at Swope Middle School.
“It is exciting to see the swift progress happening at the school, and we only have greater milestones in store as we embrace spring,” said Casey Gunther, Operations Manager for United Construction. “Our site crews are continuing with framing, retrofitting, HVAC installation, and many other finishes within the new classroom building, which is getting closer and closer to completion.”
During the Washoe County School District spring break, crews worked in both the new two-story classroom building and the existing school at the same time. In the new building, the team continued with rough-in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. They are substantially complete with the metal stud framing on the first floor, and the next focus will be the soffits and ceilings. On the second floor, the team insulated the exterior walls and began metal stud framing there as well.
Within the existing school, site crews are finishing the retrofit of the HVAC system. They cut a large hole in the gable at the front of the building to install new equipment in the attic. Additionally, they are insulating specific areas of the ceiling to increase the R-value, which is a figure that measures how well insulation resists conductive heat flow.
In the north courtyard, the team has installed the new sewer line that connects the new two-story classroom building to an existing sewer line. On the northwest side, crews also began the installation of piping for the new chiller.
United Construction will continue to update neighbors with current construction information.
Photos by Ryland Sweigard
Crews are making great progress at the project site of our industrial 664,000-square-foot inventory facility in North Las Vegas. Superintendent Colton Brock is celebrating the fact that the pad subgrade is about 90% completed, and only 40,000 yards of export remain. Additionally, crushing for Type-II is currently taking place onsite.
Additionally, swift progress is afoot at our logistics project in Henderson. Our work on this project will initially consist of two logistics buildings (of a four-building project). Building 1 will be 330,000 square feet, and Building 2 will be 265,000 square feet. Under-slab utilities for those first two buildings have recently been completed, and according to Superintendent Kerry Brock, crews are beginning the tie-ins for the sanitary, storm, and water systems. Up next, the team will start digging footings.
Below, the photo to the left features March progress at our North Las Vegas site, and the photo to the right highlights our Henderson project, also in March.
United Construction Welcomes Edward Morgan as New Chief Financial Officer
CFO Brad Breach to retire after serving 35 years with the Nevada-based design-builder
United Construction Company (UCC), a best-in-class general contractor and design-builder serving both Northern and Southern Nevada industrial and commercial markets, has named Edward “Ed” Morgan as their new Chief Financial Officer, beginning March 7, 2022. This announcement comes as UCC’s beloved CFO Brad Breach announces his retirement after 35 years of professional service to the company.
Morgan joins UCC with several decades of accounting, finance, analysis, reporting, and operations leadership experience in Colorado, Northern California, and the Truckee/Tahoe region, serving the majority of those roles for residential and commercial real estate development companies. Most recently, Morgan served as the Chief Operating Officer for Taylor Builders, one of the Sacramento region’s largest land developers. As COO at Taylor, he instituted policies, procedures, and controls to help a start-up business grow into a large development company through leading the human resources, administration, risk management, and finance teams to success. Before his career with Taylor Builders, Morgan was a Vice President and the Corporate Controller for Mountainside Partners and East West Partners-Tahoe, where he secured public financing and construction loans, managed accounting and project teams, prepared annual business plans and much more. In addition to an established accounting and auditing career in Colorado and holding a Master of Accountancy degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, Morgan is a finance veteran in the construction industry.
“Ed is a highly-experienced leader in construction, operations and finance, which makes him an excellently well-rounded and ideal choice for our next CFO,” said Michael Whittaker, President of United Construction. “As he begins his tenure with UCC, we are looking forward to seeing Ed leverage his expertise to ensure not only our solid financial management continues but also enhances our abilities in all aspects of our business.”
As CFO, Morgan will oversee the accounting and IT teams, company finances, employee benefits, contract and labor law, taxation and other financial and human resources-related roles for both United Construction and United Concrete Specialties. He will also spearhead organizational productivity initiatives, cost-control measures, risk management and strategic goals alongside Whittaker, Chief Executive Officer Michael Russell and Operations Manager Casey Gunther.
Breach has been the leader and guardian of UCC’s finances and accounting department with committed consistency and transparent accuracy, and he has provided invaluable advice to numerous customers, managers and employees since his arrival to the company in 1987. He has paved the way to a well-deserved retirement.
“Brad has hired the people, created the processes, implemented the software and established many of the routines that have ensured our success today,” said Russell. “Brad’s legacy will forever be a part of United Construction’s rich history, and he will truly be missed. As Brad supports Ed in his transition to CFO over the next few months, we are confident Ed will carry on our company’s mission, vision and traditions.”
Here at United Construction, we are proud to celebrate the women who lift up our company every day, bringing us to new heights and reaching key milestones and successes. Happy Women in Construction Week (Sunday, March 6 – Saturday, March 12) to all the wonderful women who serve in the construction industry!
Our celebratory video that we recorded for AGC Nevada can be found via this link.
Featured from left to right:
(Not videoed: Glady Robinette – Project Administrator, Catherine Bernauer – Project Administrator)
Despite supply chain issues affecting our industry, construction in Nevada continues onward efficiently and with confidence, as builders and developers help our state grow. Our CEO Michael Russell was recently a part of Nevada Business Magazine’s Builder & Developer Roundtable with other Silver State construction/development leaders to discuss the reality of these matters and how the industry continues to overcome these obstacles.
Dive into Michael’s words of wisdom as well as insight from the other expert panelists in Nevada Business Magazine’s Industry Focus article, which highlights the conversation at the recent roundtable.
If you’ve driven through the Mill Street and McCarran intersection in Reno recently, you may have noticed a new structure tilted up at Park at McCarran. Our site crews recently finished tilting one of the industrial buildings, marking the completion of a major milestone for the project. Superintendent Chuck Brown oversaw the progress onsite and ensured the tilt-up commenced safely and efficiently. Drone photography done by Ryland Sweigard (along with a corresponding video) showcases this successful process.
Site crews at Swope Middle School continue to quickly hit major construction milestones, especially in regards to the new two-story classroom building.
“We are thrilled to be about a quarter of the way through with the final phase of the expansions and renovations at Swope,” said Casey Gunther, Operations Manager for United Construction. “Our team has been using the dry weather this winter to their advantage and making great progress, so students and staff can start making more use of their new facilities.”
Site crews have completed the concrete masonry unit walls for the new two-story classroom building and scaffolding has been removed. Structural steel, including roof beams and columns, and second-floor concrete slabs are also complete, and exterior grid insulation and steel stud framing is currently underway. United Construction and crews are working after school hours on mechanical, plumbing and electrical upgrades within the current classroom building.
The new library will be housed within the new classroom building. While construction is underway, students are still utilizing the temporary library set up in the activity room of the new gym.
Inside the new kitchen, walls have been painted, and the epoxy floor is in. The facilities are close to completion and will soon be ready for use.
Please note that neighbors will continue to see increased truck traffic as site work continues throughout the school year. Be advised that safety and road controls will always be put in place whenever needed. United Construction will continue to update neighbors with current construction information.
Photos by Ryland Sweigard
We are honored to be one of three finalists under the “Battle Born” category at this year’s Nevada Business Awards! The Battle Born award recognizes companies that have been in business for more than 25 years, and we are thrilled to be in the Top 3 considered for this honor.
Thank you, Nevada Business Magazine! The team at United Construction looks forward to attending the awards luncheon in May.
A full list of the finalists, and more information about this awards program, can be viewed HERE.
Work on the grounds of the planned 664,000-square-foot inventory facility in North Las Vegas continues onwards into the new year, reaching new milestones and exciting moves. According to Superintendent Colton Brock, crews have 150,000 yards of export remaining out of their 430,000-yard operation, with under-slab utilities set to be installed at the end of February. Concrete is also on the horizon soon.
Towards the end of last year, crews also commenced rock blasting to quickly and cost-effectively remove rock from the site, which helped them immensely with an efficient mass grading process.
Colton happily reported, “It’s nice to have seen this progress during and after the lengthy grading portion of this project!”
Check out the most recent drone flyover of the site of the industrial project here, some awe-striking footage of the rock blasting here, and photos below!
