Effectively managing a project can be difficult if you have processes spread out across different technology platforms. A good method for increasing efficiency could be to bring everything together into the same database, which will eliminate the trouble of trying to locate missing pieces of the puzzle.

One example comes from Swinerton Inc., www.swinerton.com, San Francisco, Calif. The construction company recently chose to integrate all of its project management functions into a single software solution—CMiC Open Enterprise v10 from CMiC, www.cmic.ca, Toronto, Ont.

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CMiC the leader in providing software solutions for the construction industry, announced today that Swinerton Incorporated, one of the nation’s largest General Contractors, choose CMiC Open Enterprise v10 to reduce transaction time and improve productivity by integrating all project management functions on a single, integrated database. 
 

“CMiC Open Enterprise v10 had an intuitive workflow that matched our own internal processes,” said Dave Higgins Jr., Regional Manager. “We believe that using this software will allow our field employees to be more productive and allow them to focus on tasks that will add more value to our clients. Since CMiC Open Enterprise v10 uses a single database, the software allows for more information to be combined to improve speed and accuracy of project final costs, information that is always critical for our clients.”

To read the full press release, please visit the link below:

http://www.i-newswire.com/swinerton-incorporated-the-premier/54350

Ohr Shalom, $600,000 short of its $4.2 million goal, went public Wednesday with an appeal for donations to complete the renovation of the former Temple Beth Israel, a 1926 landmark on Laurel Street in Park West.

“Make it Your Business to Make History” fundraising campaign, spearheaded by Luis Maizel, president of LM Advisors, was created as a way to involve the greater San Diego community in contributing to the expensive restoration endeavor.

Swinerton and the Architect have worked hard in making this restoration possible, with their hard work being recognized by all.

“The painstaking combination of the old and the new was a challenge for Zagrodnik & Thomas Architects and Swinerton Builders,” Meltzer said, referring to the architects and builders in charge of the restoration project, “and it is evident now that it will be beautifully accomplished.”

To read the full article(s) click the links below:

http://ow.ly/2oScl

http://ow.ly/2oSbo

Two businessmen and a veteran parks advocate are the newest directors of the Presidio Trust.

David Grubb isn't exactly a new director. Chairman of Swinerton, a San Francisco-based general construction company, Grubb was chair of the Trust's board from 2003 to 2009. He also served as a trustee of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy from 1990 to 2000.

Click the link below to read more:

http://bit.ly/anjorh

Construction of the new Sustainability Base collaborative support facility, expected to become the highest-performing building in the federal government, continues at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.

To view the entire article, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/cWZMrT

William McDonough + Partners, AECOM, and Swinerton Builders use Autodesk software to help develop NASA Ames Research Center's new Sustainability Base, one of the federal system’s greenest facilities.

Swinerton has fully adopted model-based coordination. In past projects, these bimonthly coordination meetings required members of the contracting team to gather in a conference room around a light table. "A single meeting could last up to five hours, not including travel time," says Gonzales. With help from Navisworks Manage, Swinerton and the subcontractors were able to conduct online coordination meetings that typically lasted no more than 90 minutes. "Use of Navisworks Manage is standard practice at Swinerton. It provides a tremendous competitive advantage."

To view the entire article, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/dzphxf

New methods of delivering power are spurring one local electrical contractor to adjust its growth strategy. Sprig has installed 15 fuel cells in California, including ones made by Bloom Energy of Sunnyvale and Oregon-based ClearEdge Power, which has offices in Sunnyvale.

In one project, Sprig partnered with San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders to install a 1.5 megawatt cell at San Francisco State University.

To view the entire article, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/azgrQE

When Sprig invited Swinerton to partner on the job, Swinerton jumped at the opportunity.

"I worked with them on a data center project, a fast-track project that was worth between $8 million and $10 million to Sprig, and they performed admirably. They were just wonderful to work with," said Dale Beverett, a project executive with Swinerton. "Renewable energy as an industry can do nothing except grow, and Sprig is a big player at the forefront of it. They’re well-positioned in the market."

To read the entire story, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/8XqSLj

Excellence in our People...

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key administration posts including retired Swinerton Chairman David Grubb.

David Grubb is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Swinerton Incorporated, a San Francisco-based general contractor. At Swinerton for four decades, he worked successively as project manager, branch manager, vice president, executive vice president, and president and chairman.

Click to read more: http://bit.ly/4Cm6Pa

Congratulations to the Swinerton Builders Hawaii Division for being named one of Building Industry Hawaii Top 25 Contractors! Coming in at number 21, Swinerton's own George Ehara explains how Swinerton pulled ahead in the tough economy:

George Ehara, vice president and division manager for Swinerton Builders Hawaii, points out, “In the first quarter of 2009, the economy basically fell off a cliff, yet we remained profitable in 2009 on a much smaller revenue base.”

We are an employee-owned company and many of our employees are shareholders. Our people understand that construction is our only focus and as a company that was founded in 1888, we are in it for the long run.

“We have been very fortunate to remain profitable in 2009,” Ehara emphasizes, “and things are looking even better in 2010. We have picked up almost $150 million in new work since the beginning of the year.

To read more about Swinerton in Building Industry Hawaii and view the full list of Top 25 Contractors in Hawaii, view the pdf and link below:

http://bit.ly/9bEHMh

Nearly 65,000 Yingli Solar multicrystalline modules are being delivered between now and mid-year 2011, which will be installed at multiple Kaiser Permanente hospitals and office facilities in California.

Swinerton Renewable energy chose Yingli Green Energy Americas modules based on their quality, and will design and intall the modules over the next few years, creating about 180 jobs.

"We chose to work with Yingli Green Energy Americas not only for their proven product, but also for their stellar customer service and flexibility," said George Hershman, vice president of Swinerton Renewable Energy. "High quality, reliable modules are a pre-requisite for our solar projects, which is why we look forward to continuing to partner with Yingli Green Energy Americas in the future."

To read the full article, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/93TrKI

Swinerton Builders San Diego began renovations on the historic Ohr Shalom Synagogue in the Park West neighborhood of San Diego. The building is one of the foremost examples of Mediterranean revival, an American Architectural Style popular during the mid-1920's.

Featured in the San Diego Business Journal, the Synagogue's congregation has raised $3.6 million to date with over 350 members contributing - they hope to raise a total of $4.2 million. Ohr Shalom is attemptiong to raise the final $600,000 needed to complete the project through the "Make It Your Business to Make History" support campaign.

The scope of the renovation includes a complete repair of the facade, structural seismic upgrades to comply with today's codes, but has also included details like removing the wood paneling lining the halls to reveal the original stucco.

To read more about Swinerton's project and the Ohr Shalom Synagogue renovations, view the pdf file below:

Sr Superintendent Bill Montgomery of Swinerton Builders Los Angeles was interviewed for "Voices of the Recovery Act," an ongoing campaign from the United States Department of Transportation which gathers workers insight on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Taking place at Palm Springs International Airport where Swinerton is currently building a new air traffic control tower, Bill speaks of how the Act has helped fund projects such as the ATC tower.

"The project Bill and his crew are working on also has important safety benefits for air passengers flying through Palm Springs. The new tower will be nearly three times taller than the existing one, allowing controllers an unobstructed view of the entire airport."

To read about Bill's interview and see the video, click the links below:

http://blogs.pe.com/business/2010/07/builder-of-air-traffic-control.html

http://bit.ly/duN5Cs

http://www.youtube.com/usdotgov

In March, Swinerton Orange County was selected as the Design-Build General Contractor by The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, The Angels Foundation, and Major League Baseball All-Stars for the City of Anaheim.

The OCBJ featured the project in this weeks issue about Baseball's Super Bowl. Mentioned in the article was the $2-million upgrades to Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Improvements include new carpet in the visitors clubhouse and painting. The team also redid the stadium’s “Big A” sign, recovered seats, replaced flooring and did “basically, a lot of cleanup.” 

The Angels also have added things at MLB’s request, such as more seats for the press.

To read the entire article, please click the link below:

http://bit.ly/cyijj4

Featured in July's issue of Mountain States Construction Magazine is Swinerton Builders Colorado 45-story Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences in Denver. This project will add 240 hotel rooms to the city’s inventory, along with 102 for-sale residences, with occupancy expected at the end of August.

With materials and fixtures coming from around the world, tracking shipped parts proved to be a challenge during this project.

“Tracking all the bits and pieces was certainly a good lesson in world geography,” says Dan Macintosh, project manager with general contractor Swinerton Inc. of Denver. “Coordinating the orders and deliveries definitely presented some unique challenges.”

Even with the repeated holdups, Swinerton managed to stay on schedule by working with subcontractors to resequence the project as issues arose. Swinerton relied on building information modeling to avoid conflicts and coordinate the mechanical design with major trades.

To view the entire article in Mountain States Construction, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/aXeZMT

http://bit.ly/b4qugo

Swinerton Builders San Diego's UCSD Housing & Dining Facility project wins American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Divine Detail Award. The project was honored June 19th at the AIA Design Awards 50th Anniversary in La Jolla, CA. This win would not have been possible without our friends at Studio E Architects and their divine design.

The AIA's Divine Detail Award "recognizes a specific, ingenious and graceful design detail that is worthy of recognition all by itself."

To read more about the AIA awards and view a complete list of winners, click the link below:

http://www.aiasandiego.org/2010-winners

This recent award was also featured in San Diego's Daily Transcript newspaper on June 28, 2010. To view the full article please see attached pdf.

JPL has done it again, landing the cover of California Constructor's June 2010 issue! The artcile showcases Swinerton's federal and green work as well as our latest #1 Green CA Contractor and #1 LEED AP rankings. Along with JPL, the article also features our Sustainability Base project.

“Based upon our experiences to date with Sustainability Base construction, I would have to say Swinerton has been a model general contractor,” commented Steve Zornetzer, Associate Center Director of NASA Ames. “They are fully on board with NASA’s intention to build an extremely high performance building that meets and exceeds LEED Platinum Certification and are as invested in the ultimate success of the project as NASA.”

To view the June issue of California Constructor, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/9WjNdr

A highly-anticipated high-profile Four Seasons Condo in Austin is finally complete! This month, residents are moving into the 32-story building spanning 435,000 square feet with 148 luxury condominiums located at 98 San Jacinto Boulevard, next to the hotel bearing the same name.

The project’s design architect is Michael Graves. Ardent Residential LP is the developer, Lyda Swinerton Builders is the general contractor and Post Properties Inc. is the owner. The $125 million project, which was announced two years ago, is 55 percent sold, with units ranging in price from $400,000 to $4 million.

To read the full article, click  the link below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/06/07/daily56.html

After Rucker's presentation and with little debate, trustees transitioned into their regular meeting and awarded a $20-million contract to Swinerton Builders to construct a parking lot, an aquatics center and a wing of classrooms at Christopher High School. The classroom wing is scheduled to be complete by August 2011.

http://bit.ly/aZGrC3

Swinerton Builders San Francisco's new Bay Bridge toll plaza project awared was featured in The San Francisco Examiner.

"The existing toll building was built in 1936 and is a seismic safety risk because of its outdated design and perilous site above unstable seabed...

The $13.7 million project will be built by Swinerton Builders of San Francisco and is completely funded through toll revenue. Construction will begin later this month, and the project is expected to be completed by late 2012."

To read the entire story, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/cfoHL5

Atlanta-based Post Properties is working with developer Ardent Residential of Austin and general contractor Lyda Swinerton of San Antonio, Texas, to build the new Four Seasons Residences Hotel in Austin.

“Lyda Swinerton has been key in ensuring the quality on this project,” Konas says. “They brought their trusted team of subs with them and got Michael Graves to do the overall building design.”

To view the entire article, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/bvpMR2

The construction market is a tricky thing, especially in the current economy. But a look inside California Construction Magazine's annual list of the Top Project Starts for 2010 reveals some exciting and interesting insight into work going on across the state.

Swinerton Builders Orange County is featured at #30 for their Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills project that includes a tower expansion and remodel of the main entrance and food service/dining areas.

To view the full list of Top Project Starts in 2010, visit the links below:

http://bit.ly/aNg9Qm

http://bit.ly/b4hmrD

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory debuts its new Flight Projects Center, the greenest completed facility in the NASA family.

Swinerton Builders Los Angeles was the General Contractor for the project and helped the Center reach LEED Gold Certification.

To view the video debut, click the link below:

http://www.green-life-magazine.com/green-living/green-building/nasas-gorgeous-leed-gold-building/

One of the nation's top builders is vying to be the general contractor for the design and build of the federal courthouse planned for downtown Yuma.

"It's really a small investment for the benefits," said Cheryl Johnson, business development manager for Swinerton Builders based in San Francisco. She said the company likes to use as many subcontractors and suppliers as possible for a project.

"It's a tremendous benefit to us. They know the community they have a better sense of the workforce and they may be more competitive because they're not paying for transportation."

http://www.yumasun.com/news/courthouse-61298-yuma-project.html

Gary Wells has been tapped by Swinerton Interiors to lead business development efforts in Northern California. In his new role as Director of Business Development, Wells will enhance Swinerton Interiors' position within the real estate and design community, cultivate new business relationships and grow services aimed at the real estate brokerage, management and development communities.

To view the entire article, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/dyUz9S