INSIGHT VOLUME 26 WINTER
MISSION STATEMENT Through the expertise of our team, we will provide our services to meet or exceed client expectations - safely, on time, every time. VISION STATEMENT 1 To be an expanding, highly-profitable company providing best in class electrical and communication solutions. STRONGER TOGETHER Wally Budgell, President & CEO As everyone on the RBI team knows, on Monday November 28th, Sean Venable fell through a skylight and suffered a serious injury. Sean spent several weeks in the intensive care unit at UMC Medical Center in Las Vegas and then was moved to a rehabilitation center to begin physiotherapy. Sean has undergone several surgeries and procedures over the last couple of months and will continue with physiotherapy for quite some time. Just a few days ago, I was in my office finishing up on a conference call when I heard a conversation in the hallway. The conversation included a voice I was not expecting to hear. I opened my door and there stood Sean. It was a wonderful moment in what had been a bit of a difficult day. As you can see in the picture, Sean is a little thinner than he was before the accident, but I can tell you that for those who know him, it s still the Sean we all know. He has even been cleared to drive! Sean is hopeful that he will be cleared by his doctors in the next few weeks to begin working light duty in the office. The team in Las Vegas is very excited to welcome him back and there has even been some bickering as to who gets to take advantage of his many skills and abilities. We are all very grateful for Sean s miraculous recovery and I want to thank everyone at RBI for the prayers, support and well-wishes that have gone Sean s way. While this event has been one of the most difficult in our 63-year history, the way our team rallied to support Sean and his dear wife Teresa has been tremendous. Personally, I am honored to lead such a wonderful group of men and women. It is through difficult times that we know how important relationships are. What has been clearly communicated over these last couple of months is that the RBI team is a community that supports each other, regardless of the circumstances. As we are now well into a new year I want to encourage everyone on our team to focus on the positive aspects of all your relationships- be them with friends, family, or at the job site or office. We have all been blessed with one life to live; let s live it to the fullest and enjoy our time together. I know that some of you are thinking it s not that easy. We have difficult days on the site or in the office, that s true. But if we rally together, we will get through it. Just like Sean and Teresa have gotten through their difficult days. Finally, I would like to note that our workload continues to increase at all our offices, and we expect 2017 to be a positive year at RBI with many new faces joining our team. Let s all work to bring new members on to the team and help them feel at home so we can continue to provide our clients with best in class service. Thank you for your efforts and for helping RBI be the best service provider we can be.
Business Development Jason Bosnos, COO Our RBI family has been working hard this season, and we ve taken some big steps with our Business Development plan. We are always striving to stay ahead of the market. We aim to pursue quality projects with respected clients. As one person, I only have so many ideas on how to lead in Business Development, but when we unite together, it really is amazing what we can do as a team. In the past few months, I ve assigned all of our staff with various Business Development projects. The groups working together have been both within each of our branches and spanning across them. With members of the RBI family working together from different geographic areas, time zones, and cultures, we ve discovered how our individual strengths can be developed into a winning formula that benefits everyone our clients, our staff, and our bottom line. The quality of our product and service makes it clear that we take our Mission Statement to heart to meet or exceed client expectations, every time. The team approach has resulted in wins across North America for RBI. In Canada, our Ontario branch was awarded the Taunton Mills Retirement Residence, University Heights Multi-Use Tenancy, 195 Joseph Street Office Redevelopment and Georgina Transfer Station projects. The Alberta branch has been awarded the Rock View County project, the Foothills Soccer Facility project, Old Navy tenant improvement in Cross Iron Mills Mall. In the US, the California team has won several school projects, Vacaville Low Voltage and site work, Carl Sundahl, and Folsom Schools, Willis Jepson Middle School modernization and the Dublin High School renovation. The Nevada branch recently won the Clark County School District Ford and Riley project and the Centennial Skilled Nursing project. Overall, the RBI team has won small projects and the performance of our outstanding Service Division has been unprecedented. Robertson Bright has shown truly exceptional performance within our Pre-Construction and sales teams, pursuing quality projects with respected clients. We always strive to be a best in class company, which means we constantly work to maintain our consistently high quality of craftsmanship and to develop our knowledge of current and future market needs, trends and technology. It proves that we take our work seriously and we want our clients to know that Robertson Bright is not only ready to pursue their work, but we always have the right team ready for the right project at the right time and aim to meet and exceed our client s expectations with the utmost commitment from all our staff. WHAT S INSIDE Stronger Together 1 Mission Statement 1 Vision Statement 1 Business Development 2 Alberta News 3 Ontario News 5 Nevada News 7 California News 9 In Other News 11 Anniversaries 11 Charity 12 Training & 13 Development Information 14 Technology Branch Locations 15 Stay warm and be safe out there! 2
ALBERTA NEWS Bethany Care-We are continuing work on the main care center by upgrading the chillers and associated mechanical equipment. The project will be completed by the end of March 2017. Calgary Foothills Soccer Club-Calgary s first and only full-size indoor turf facility is located in the Shepard Industrial Area, on a six acre parcel of land, which includes 10,000 square feet of office space on two floors, a full size outdoor and indoor soccer facility, and 85,000 square feet of turf space. We are working with Ricklan Construction Ltd. to complete the full electrical installation. Evanston Plaza (Buildings A & C) and Evanston Towne Centre (Building M)-We have recently been awarded these projects in Calgary, where we will be working with PCL Construction. Joey Restaurant in Chinook-We will be completing a tenant upgrade with Bonn Construction for this casual dining venue in Chinook. Old Navy-We have been awarded the tenant improvements and will be working with Krown Retail Construction on this store in the Cross Iron Mills Mall. Rocky View County Hall-This project in East Balzac was approved in 2015. The site is currently home to the Balzac Fire Hall and their fleet maintenance building. Construction of a new hall began in August 2016 and is expected to complete in late 2018. The county awarded the contract to Bird Construction, who in turn subcontracted RBI to carry out the electrical services installation. Royop Development Corporation-We are working with Elan Construction on upgrading and expanding various office spaces. 3 3 Foothills Soccer Club
HIGHLIGHT ROCKY VIEW COUNTY HALL We were supposed to start layout of the slab deck on the morning of February 9th, but the site was blanketed with a majestic layer of snow! With temperatures dropping to -23C (-10F), construction was brought to a halt for a few days. However the breathtaking view was worth it! Employee Spotlight Jeremy DeLong Jeremy joined the Alberta team back in November 2016 as an Account Manager. He is a Master Electrician with 18 years of experience in the commercial and industrial sectors throughout Alberta, focusing on new construction, building automation, fire alarm, LV control systems, as well as TI, service and maintenance. 4
ONTARIO NEWS 195 Joseph Street in Kitchener-This is a six-month project for Harrington and Associates in Kitchener. This old tannery building will be converted into a new office space for the accounting firm, Deloitte. Bishop Strachan-This historic girls school in Forest Hill neighborhood of Toronto turns 150 this year, making it as old as Canada itself. We are subcontracted by the Gillam Group, who is the construction manager on this project. It is scheduled to wrap up at the end of March. Rogers Centre-We are working with PCL on updating the exterior of this iconic stadium where the Toronto Blue Jays play ball. Solace-Another project with Harrington and Associates. This indoor agricultural facility located in Mississauga has a six-month schedule. Our team in Nevada has provided a wealth of knowledge, as they have completed similar projects south of the border. Taunton Mills Retirement Residence-This eight-story retirement residence and additional four-story parking garage is being constructed in close proximity to the existing property. This 24-month, Whitby-based project is with Maple Reinders. University Heights-Haven Developments is building this six-story commercial complex in North Toronto, which will be home to multiple tenants. We are again working with the Gillam Group, who are the construction managers on this project. 5
HIGHLIGHT BISHOP STRACHAN We are currently working on the new gymnasium and gallery seating area, as well as the performing arts centre of the BSS campus. As you can see, we are making excellent progress on site! Employee Spotlight Ozzie Dabo Ozzie has been a valued member of the RBI family for over twenty years. He has held many positions here as an electrician, from driving a service truck and working on construction projects both large and small. His most recent project was for Amazon, one of our many important clients. Amazon could not speak highly enough of Ozzie s quality of work. Full of energy, Ozzie always has a smile on his face-our customers love him! Ozzie s son, Chris, also works for our Ontario branch, which makes us proud to see a father-son team working together. The two of them prove that we truly are an RBI family. Keep smiling, Ozzie! We really appreciate all that you do for us and our clients! 6
NEVADA NEWS Clark County School District (CCSD): Ford and Riley- Construction has begun on this new 100,000 square foot elementary school, which consists of three buildings. RBI is providing all systems, including electrical, communications and fire alarm. This project should be complete by the end of the year. CCSD: Galleria-At the time of writing, this project is moving into its final stages, with all four buildings getting their last coat of paint and finishing touches. We plan for substantial completion in late March. Centennial Skilled Nursing-With general contractor Ledcor, we are looking at a 10-month build schedule for this 70-bed facility, set to begin in March. Clark Country Service Contract-We continue to work on many county buildings, providing upgrades such as wireless access, uninterrupted power supplies, voice and data services, and electrical improvements throughout Southern Nevada. Mountains Edge Marketplace-Pole lights are in and Pad shell electrical is complete. We are nearing the finish line and full completion is targeted for end of February. Precision Surgery-We have just finished the remodel of the surgical suites and office space as well as the installation of a new generator on site. St Rose Skilled Nursing-All systems provided and installed by RBI, including nurse call, fire alarm, security, voice and data, access control, lighting, power and an emergency generator. Completion forecast for this April. Mountains Edge 7
8 HIGHLIGHT CCSD GALLERIA SCHOOL The low voltage backbone, seen here, ties the data, security, fire alarm, public address system, as well as grounding between the buildings at the Galleria Elementary School. All of the conduits have been color-coded in order to meet the specifications of the Clark County School District. Employee Spotlight Dustin Mulligan Dustin recently joined RBI as an Account Manager and brings over nineteen years of electrical experience to the team. He prides himself on being able to see a project through from start to finish. Dustin has a love for the outdoors, especially camping, fishing and hiking with his son. Their Father s Day trip together has been an annual highlight for the last fifteen years. Dustin is excited for this opportunity with RBI and can t wait to see what the future holds. Welcome to the team, Dustin!
CALIFORNIA NEWS We had a number of school projects over the past summer to keep our crews busy before staff and students returned in the fall. Vacaville High School and Sierra Vista Elementary School needed new parking lots. Other school sites required underground power distribution, new fire alarm and voice evacuation systems, data cabling infrastructure, and intercom, clock and bell systems. The PP&S team self-performed all of the projects without any subcontractors since we have our own excavation equipment and are factory certified from the various manufactures on the low voltage systems. Scandia Elementary, Carl Sundahl, Dublin High, Dougherty Elementary, and Riverbank Elementary Schools-For the past six years, Northern California has been in a drought, which means winter has not had an adverse effect on the construction industry. This past season, however, we have seen record amounts of snow and nearly double the amount of rain, so all of these school projects have been delayed. Fortunately, we had other new projects that weren t impacted by the weather at Yolo Education Centre, Harmon Johnson School, Willis Jepson Middle School and Sutter Hospital. The Carl Sundahl School project consists of four new class room buildings. The concrete slab was poured in January, and framing has begun on the first building. We are working on un derground excavation at Dougherty Elementary and Dublin High Schools when weather permits. Scandia School s temporary housing was redesigned using above-ground conduits in order to keep the project on schedule. We just received a letter of intent to award for two projects at Vacaville High School. These projects include underground conduit distribution, power distribution, fire alarm voice evacuation system, and data cabling infrastructure to support thirty new classrooms. 9
HIGHLIGHT DUBLIN HIGH SCHOOL We broke ground and are performing all the trenching and underground work with two excavators and a Bobcat, as well as the conduit and boxes. Our team is working hard to beat the next big rain storm in Northern California. Employee Spotlight Mike Messer The PP&S team had a busy year full of changes after being acquired by RBI in July 2016. Mike Messer, former President of Pacific Power & Systems, is now the Regional General Manager of the California branch. Mike has over forty years of experience in all phases of electrical construction, fire alarm design, installation & programing, intercom-speaker design, design-build and project & business management. We value the expertise and professionalism that defines him as a leader in the industry and we are excited to have him as part of the RBI family. 10 10
IN OTHER NEWS Pancake Party Billiards Tournament Alberta Ontario We hosted a pancake party and raised funds for our charity committee. The Mississauga branch knows how to start the day off right! RBI participated in a team billiards tournament with Alberta Electric Association with other industry partners and peers for a night out and social activities. RBI is a proud active member with the Alberta Electric Association. WHERE S WALLY? CALIFORNIA & NEVADA Our President and CEO has been making the rounds to all of our branches. Here he is with Mike Messer in California and at Galleria School in Las Vegas with Jose Martinez, Glen Nelson, Janiel Jensen-Yep and Jason Bosnos. ANNIVERSARIES Henry Lukassen 5 Kurtis Dassen 5 Glen Nelson 9 Greg Crader 9 Dennis Bolen 13 Gerry Stoddart 17 Rob Lamb 19 Paul Quick 41 11
GIVE A LITTLE. HELP A LOT. One of the significant impacts a business can make is being able to give generously to community organizations and charitable causes. This is a fundamental belief of RBI so a committee was formed to support causes both locally and globally. We are dedicated to making a positive impact! Opportunity International We just made a 3-year committment to donate to Opportunity International to be designated to Tuition Scholarships and to the Pilot School program for children with disabilities. This will bring greater educational opportunities to disadvantaged children, helping them to break the cycle of poverty. CARE Critical Assistance Relief Effort Love Does Gala The Women s Centre of Halton held a Fundraising Gala on Saturday February 18th, 2017. We supported the cause by becoming a corporate Bronze Sponsor and table sponsor. The Women s Centre provides support and education programs to women in the community and we were proud to be a part of the Love Does Gala. The Women s Centre was able to raise close to $20,000, surpassing their goal! CARE is dedicated to the elimination of homelessness. Through the devout efforts of CARE and the Las Vegas community, they are striving for their clients to achieve self-reliance in order to assimilate back into society. The CARE facility was in need of some electrical improvements, and we happily provided design-build services pro bono. Our scope of work included replacing the existing light fixtures, and installing power for the new rooftop HVAC unit and rewiring the hallway lights. We want to graciously thank our friends at Graybar, who donated materials and Dennis Gambel of Quick Electrical Engineering for providing the drawings. 12
INTERNATIONAL SAFETY COMMITTEE Jason Braam, Director of Human Resources & Safety In the last quarter of 2016, RBI held the inaugural International Safety Committee meeting where we brought together safety team members from our four locations, in three time zones and two countries in a single web conference meeting. Gathering the members of the RBI safety committees together leverages the knowledge, skills and experiences of our colleagues and allows us to share in our safety struggles, successful work procedures and even the special variations that exist in our differing geographic regions. Interestingly, across RBI we have to deal with the extremes of heat stress, cold exposure, a documented step to ensure that open trenches are scorpion free and policies that state that firearms are not permitted on job sites. The multiple dangers that are experienced in RBI s varying geographies were discussed in our meeting, as were some actual incidents and near misses that we ve seen at RBI. Approaches and potential solutions to some safety struggles were also reviewed and discussed around the virtual table where we were able to use our collective knowledge to implement a number of improvements. These included the global purchase required use of the Fectogoggle style of eye protection for all work above shoulder height where the risk of potential eye injury exists. This is a prime example of where a problem in one office was solved by products that had been seen by team members in another office, and the solution applied globally across the RBI universe. As with any program at RBI, we seek to continuously improve our safety methodologies with dynamic processes that we adjust based on the best in class practices that we are exposed to. While operating in four distinct geographical areas under OHS Acts, OSHA and CAL OSHA we have a number of legislative requirements to maintain, however we aim to establish a single set of protocols across RBI, whereby we adopt the safest work practices of the jurisdictions that we operate in as the RBI way. While we have a good safety program at RBI, we continue to look for improvements, striving to be best in class, and engaging our team members for their recommendations and suggestions, participating in ongoing education and training while perpetuating a safe culture and enhancing procedures to ensure our teams work in the same manner as safely as we can across the entire RBI organization. We look forward to the next gathering of the RBI International Safety Committee within the next few weeks and the enhancements and learning that will come from our discussions. 13
NETWORK TRAFFIC JAMS Bradley Fisher, Manager of Information Technology Approximately forty-seven million packets of data move across our network in a twenty-four hour period. How big is a packet of data you ask? The average packet size is estimated to be 576 kilobytes; therefore, our network handles close to 27 terabytes per day, which is equivalent to about 5,400 digital movie files. So what counts towards this number? Every WebEx you participate in. Every email you send or receive. Every website you click on, and all the subsequent clicks during that browsing session. Every document you access. Every entry into Accubid or SAGE. Every time you hit print. This number is only going to increase in size as our company continues to grow. Everything listed above is essential to business operations and the continued success of RBI. We all rely on the integrity of the RBI network, and while it is my job to manage, maintain and grow the infrastructure to meet our needs, the onus is on all of us to ensure that we are using the network responsibly. The next time you find yourself browsing the Internet without reason, printing that one-hundred page document, or clicking Reply All to an email, ask yourself: Shouldn t I be doing my online shopping from home? Do I really need this to be printed? Does everyone need my response to this email? Chances are, when you stop and pause, you ll hear somebody shouting WHY IS THE NETWORK SO SLOW? That might help answer your question. There are some big changes on the horizon, which will require re-educating and training users on best practices; however, the benefits will be noticed by all and will significantly increase performance across the RBI network. For all our business partners and clients reading this, please consider the needs of your organizations infrastructure and practice responsible clicking. 14
BRANCH LOCATIONS ONTARIO 2875 Argentia Road, Unit 1, Mississauga, ON L5N 8G6 T: 905-813-3005 F: 905-813-8878 ALBERTA Unit 1137 6027-79th Ave. SE, Calgary, AB T2C 5P1 T: 403-277-3077 F: 403-230-3986 NEVADA 5125 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89118 T: 702-914-2290 F: 702-914-2237 CALIFORNIA 4970 Peabody Rd., Fairfield, CA 94533 T: 707-437-2300 F: 707-437-2388