On Thursday, October 30th, Hunzinger Construction Company held its annual Q3 awards recognition reception at its Hunzinger Construction University Building. Over 60 office and field personnel attended the event that celebrates our commitment to Q3, our Total Quality Management Program.
In keeping with Hunzinger’s high standard for quality craftsmanship, twenty years ago, we established a company-wide Total Quality Management Program called Q3. Q3 simply reinforces our mission statement of “Do the Right Thing”when dealing with employees, subcontractors/suppliers and clients. This effort encourages employees to continually examine how Hunzinger delivers services and empowers them to make recommendations that improve the way we work. Employees are also encouraged to bring new quality control initiatives forth for evaluation, consideration and implementation. Successes are celebrated and become a regular part of the project delivery system for all future projects.
As part of our Q3 initiative, we solicit nominations from our employees of clients, subcontractors, and fellow employees who have demonstrated an exemplary dedication to excellence and illustrated the qualities outlined in our Total Quality Management program. This year, we received over 50 nominations that are reviewed by our company owners and recipients are selected. Fifteen Hunzinger employees and 6 subcontractors were recognized with Q3 Awards.
Hunzinger Project Manager Dave Tengler and Superintendent Casey Trucksa received Q3 Awards for their work on the Yankee Hill Plaza Repair project which was a challenging job that Hunzinger served as general contractor. This intricate project involved the reconstruction of masonry knee walls at the main plaza level including replacement waterproofing, expansion joints, and concrete wearing slab. The work spans over two city blocks occurring at both the north and south towers of the apartments. Wiss, Janney, Elstner Engineers, Architects, Material Scientists Associates of Madison, WI shepherded the engineering and design work.
Andie Roderkirch was recognized with an award for his work at Mayfair Mall where Hunzinger is serving as construction manager for the Mayfair Mall Nordstrom Pad, Connector Link and new 635 stall parking structure. Project Manager Andie was called upon to transition to project superintendent for this project when the superintendent was pulled from the project to start another one mid-way through due to contractual obligations. Andie stepped in gradually to become the on-site superintendent – a vast change from the office role he had up to this point. He tackled the full time superintendent role and took charge of the site. Without Andie’s dedication and commitment to the project and the company, we would not be where we are today, turning over the parking deck on schedule and keeping the job successfully on point. Whenever given a compliment or a thank you, Andie’s only response is, “That’s what I’m here for.” Thanks for the great job Andie!
Kevin Lally received a Q3 Award for his great work on We Energies ERGS Entry Improvement. Jack Hollman received one for his work as superintendent on the CUNA Mutual Group Corporate World Headquarters Main Entry & Lobby. Tim VerHeyen was recognized for both his exceptional work providing cost estimating services and in his capacity as our IT guy for spearheading our IT upgrades this past year. Laura Fluegge received a Q3 Award for her efforts to completely overhaul and redesign our company website. The redesign was her vision and she did a wonderful job making that vision a reality. She oversaw the process from beginning through final execution and the end result is stunning. The new website is sharp and crisp and really presents Hunzinger exceptionally well. She was also recognized for her work with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Hunzinger Big Brothers Big Sisters Construction Day along with Hunzinger superintendents Tony Mayek, Dan Parente and Pat Schoenike who all donated their time and talents for a second year to ensure that this event was a huge success.
Pat also received a Q3 Award for his work as superintendent on the Milwaukee School of Engineering’s Tower Apartments project, along with Project Executive Jon Jansen and Assistant Project Manager Brent Verhyen. This project had a very aggressive schedule, was very high stress, had many unforeseen issues that had to be tackled and overcome, and, in the end, a very happy owner. The team did an exceptional job!
Senior Project Manager Craig Konrad, Project Superintendent Dave Klermund and Forman Kevin Coerper were all recognized for the incredible job they did on the Johnson Controls expansion project located at 801 South 60th Street in West Allis, WI. Hunzinger was the construction manager for this 130,000 square foot interior build out project completed in just 5 months. The team showed total dedication to meet the aggressive schedule and set the bar for collaborative work with subcontractors, suppliers and designers. Congrats to Craig, Dave and Kevin for once again exceeding the client’s satisfaction!
This year, there was a very talented group of subcontractors nominated and awarded Q3’s. Steve Griffith of Venture Electrical Contractors working with us at Harley Davidson always acted in the best interest of the project and the owner. He would suggests cost effective ways to improve the overall product delivered, while staying within the confines of the project budget. He was very responsive to the needs of the project team, and maintained a proactive approach towards potential pitfalls on the way to project completion. He consistently displayed a positive “can do attitude”.
Greg Janke of Pieper Electric functioned as a dual project manager/superintendent role for Pieper Electric to oversee a very complex, multi-phased, and fast-paced series of projects at ABB. The role of the project electrician is crucial in any project but here it was especially important considering that the facility had to maintain ongoing manufacturing operations while renovating and expanding processes that all revolved around electrical systems. Greg was an exceptional team player that communicated effectively with Hunzinger, the designers and owner to ensure deadlines were met and goals were achieved. When any conflicts arose he was very proactive in developing solutions that always took into account the needs of the customer. Moreover, even at stressful moments on the project, Greg always maintained a positive and supportive attitude that was motivating for everyone. Congratulations, Greg!
While working with Mike Schenepf of Lippert Tile at Waukesha Memorial Hospital, it was clear that Mike went over and above in his role. He was an extremely hard worker and always followed Huninger’s safety and infection control rules with a great attitude. Mike is a team player and was a pleasure to work with.
Two subcontractors were acknowledged for their excellent work at the MSOE Tower Apartments. First, Tony Paul of Uihlein Electric was the first person to work onsite other than the Hunzinger team members. Tony’s background in testing allowed him to systematically check all feeders, transformers and switchgear and verify proper function. The coordination efforts put forth by Tony and Uihlein Electric included extensive lighting orders, fire alarm systems, low voltage systems, generator and emergency panels and completing existing building electrical systems. Tony even cancelled his vacation to Sturgis to work another 7 day, 80 hour week to meet the strict schedule established by the start of the upcoming school year. Between late February and Labor Day Weekend, Tony was completely dedicated to the success of this project.
The second subcontractor to receive a Q3 Award for The Tower Apartments was Jeff Chase of Common Links Construction. During the 13 weeks Common Links was involved with the MSOE Tower Apartments project, they logged 7,500 man hours which included extended crews, long days, multiple shifts, and weekends. Jeff and his crews managed to complete all of the odds and end included in the contract as well as tackling extras daily. As more walls were opened up in the building, more problems were discovered. The drywall crew, led by Jeff, tore open and repaired hundreds of shaft walls while still managing to progress with contract work and in a manner to allow other subcontractors to complete their work as well. With the tight timeline and preleased rooms, MSOE would not have had a complete building in time without the extra effort put forth by Jeff and the Common Links Crew.
Two subcontractors were also recognized for their incredible work with us on Johnson Controls expansion project in West Allis. Keith Mestre of Uihlein Electric was outstanding from the first day he showed up on site. It all came down to his work ethic and great attitude towards everything. He communicated very much with the Hunzinger team as well as the other trades. We had some outstanding subcontractors on this job and even though Keith had one of the toughest jobs out there, he stood out above the rest. Keith is exactly what this project needed to have any chance of being a success. He was absolutely deserving of a Q3 Award.
The final award of the night was given to Brady Berquist, Tony Fowle, and Justin Gelhausen of Wall-tech, Inc. This team was contracted to complete the steel stud framing and drywall work for the JCI project. The project had an extremely accelerated project and the Wall-tech team’s performance was second to none. The team set the pace for the project, beating all of their scheduled milestones. The team ran an extremely efficient and organized crew. Their site was always organized and clean. Everyone had a “can do attitude” and were very professional and a joy to work with. Extraordinary performance. Congratulations Wall-tech!