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MAY / JUNE 2016 THE NEWSLETTER FOR THE EMPLOYEES, FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF ZACHRY GROUP
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Zachry Force Report May-June Issue ENGLISH 2016 - · PDF filemay / june 2016 the newsletter for the employees, families and friends of zachry group. 2 zachry force report may/june

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Page 1: Zachry Force Report May-June Issue ENGLISH 2016 - · PDF filemay / june 2016 the newsletter for the employees, families and friends of zachry group. 2 zachry force report may/june

MAY / JUNE 2016 THE NEWSLETTER FOR THE EMPLOYEES, FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF ZACHRY GROUP

Page 2: Zachry Force Report May-June Issue ENGLISH 2016 - · PDF filemay / june 2016 the newsletter for the employees, families and friends of zachry group. 2 zachry force report may/june

2 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT May/June 2016 May/June 2016 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT 3

COVER: A harnessed and tethered worker carefully scales the new cryogenic steel tank at the Phillips 66 (P66) export terminal in Freeport, Texas. The tank will hold 23 million gallons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which will be exported in the form of butane and propane. Photo/Nick Grancharoff

Learn more about the project on page 10.

We want to hear from you. Please send your feedback or story ideas to [email protected].

DEAR READERSA letter from Tammy Mallaise, Vice President, Employee Relations

PAGE 3

RAMPING UP

ASSEMBLING THE WORKFORCE IN BRAZORIA COUNTYPAGE 7

Tranky Morales and Jesse Garza

PAGES 20 & 21

MASSIVE LPG TANK

AIR-RAISING EVENT TOPS PHILLIPS 66 STORAGE TANKPAGE 10

DEAR READERS,

Photo/Nick Grancharoff

“It’s the people who make it happen, day in and day out. We, after all, are Zachry.”

— Tammy Mallaise, Vice President, Employee Relations

FIND US ON FACEBOOK @ WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ZACHRYGROUP

@ WWW.PINTEREST.COM/ZACHRYGROUP

CONTENTS

DATA POINTS

SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SHIFTS FROM AN INPUT AND REPORTING DATABASE TO A MANAGEMENT TOOL PAGE 16

NEWS UPDATESZACHRY AROUND THE NATIONPAGE 4

Zachry Group is a company filled with incredible people, each one unique, each one a customized creation, each one an irreplaceable human being. That’s how I see it from where I sit, and that has been the prevailing people philosophy that I’ve observed from the day I became a Zachry employee more than 25 years ago. At Zachry, every individual employee matters—from the corporate boardrooms to the boots-on-the-ground construction sites; from individual hands moving cursors on screens, to the faces and eyes behind safety glasses, and the arms stocking paper towels and pushing mops across floors. Every role, every effort—every one of us—contributes.

This acknowledgment and celebration of the unique contri-butions of each employee has long been the foundation of our employment philosophy. It guides our efforts to recruit and hire new members of the Zachry team, it underlies our approach to managing our employee benefits and Total Employee Rewards program, and it is why we offer numerous opportunities for growth and development, personally and professionally. It’s also why we focus on an individualized, two-way approach to performance management, a constructive conversation between each employee and his or her supervisor. We recognize that a strong, trusting relationship between employee and super-visor is vital to both the success of the individual employee and the company’s overall success.

For more than 90 years, Zachry employees have designed, built and renewed amazing things, often taking a blank canvas and assembling intricate and complex structures that are true mechanized marvels. But for all our focus on machines and equipment, we know—perhaps better than anyone—that behind every glorious construct and powerful machine are the hands, the hearts, the minds and the aching muscles of individ-ual human beings. It’s the people who make it happen, day in and day out. We, after all, are Zachry.

It’s people like Jesse Garza, who works in the Crossing Café at the Home Office, and Tranky Morales, a field superintendent who has spent more than 20 years with the painting and scaffolding group. Both Jesse and Tranky are featured as I AM ZACHRY honorees in this issue (pages 20 and 21). As you read their stories, you’ll see that they are so much more than the positions they hold. Their unique humanity—their individual ability to make people feel good, feel inspired and feel moti-vated—makes them irreplaceable parts of the Zachry workforce.

Because we recognize and value the uniqueness of each employee, we have resisted shifting our people manage-ment approach to rigid, black-and-white rules, require-ments and processes; instead, we’ve deliberately retained an approach that allows more flexibility and lets us work with people individually, one on one, when appropriate. While it’s often easier to make decisions when rules are black and white, this exclusive approach to managing people can make a person feel more like a replaceable cog in a large machine. In any workplace, including Zachry, there are rules that have very specific consequences when broken. But we also believe that retaining flexibility in certain circumstances is important, as are the traits of listening and patience, and the focus on always improv-ing, always seeking ways to better support and assist each individual within our large workforce.

I love math, puzzles and solving problems, which is why I became an engineer. What I’ve discovered in my Employee Relations role is that each individual person is a unique puzzle, and each individual is an important part of the larger employee mosaic. What excites me every day—and what excites my incredible team—is understanding and working with employees on an individual level, and also working with our larger workforce, which evolves and changes from day to day. The ability to impact our employees’ lives and to leave a trace of something special behind gives purpose and meaning to our work.

It is a privilege to work for such an amazing company and to be part of a team that works to protect and support our unique people-focused culture. I want each of you to know how important you are to Zachry. I also want to convey my commitment, and my team’s commitment, to your well-being and to your continued growth and develop-ment. We are here for you. You are appreciated, you are valued and you absolutely matter.

Tammy

SERVICE AWARDSFIRST QUARTER 2016PAGE 19

I AM ZACHRY

The FSC® label identifies products that come from an environmentally and socially responsible source.

This newsletter is printed on paper that contains recycled fiber and vegetable-based ink.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY POLICYPAGE 22

NATIONAL CHAMP!

LINDSEY IRVINE WINS PIPE WELDING COMPETITIONPAGE 14

Photos/Nick Grancharoff

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4 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT May/June 2016 May/June 2016 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT 5

growing crops, having grown up in a small town and working on farms and ranches.

“I enjoy checking on the garden every day just to see how things are going,” he said. “It’s pretty neat that we work for an organization that supports this kind of project, which is beneficial from a corporate social responsibility perspective and from a health stand-point. It’s an investment that can be hard to measure, but it creates the kind of environment I want to be part of—and I hope others do as well.”

ISO CERTIFICATION

DESIGN CENTER RECEIVES ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFICATION, AFFIRMING HIGH COMMITMENT TO QUALITY

Zachry’s Engineering team received welcome news in March when told that the Houston Design Center earned ISO

9001:2008 certification, which signifies that the center meets international quality standards for engineering and consulting services for the design and construc-tion of petrochemical and oil refining and related industries. The certification, recommended and affirmed by a third-party consulting firm, represents the culmination of lots of work that included two separate audits at the Houston office.

“It’s a quality standard recognized around the world that essentially affirms that you ‘say what you do and

HOME OFFICE

GREEN THUMBS, AND LOTS OF HELPING HANDS, CREATE ZACHRY GARDEN

More than 85 volunteers turned out to help build 12 garden beds at the San Antonio Home Office on an unseasonably warm late-winter

day. Employees will plant and harvest seasonal veg-etables and fruits in the garden throughout the year.

The garden beds are modular gabion systems—rein-forced wire cages—filled with rocks to control soil erosion. Volunteers packed the cages with 44,000 pounds of rock, then lined the inside walls before filling them with soil. Gambling on a mild South Texas winter, a few teams took calculated chances, planting spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, kale, peppers, strawberries and flowers in January. Other teams huddled to determine what and when they would plant.

Risk Financing Manager Nathan Smith helped coordinate the garden-building effort. He emphasized that everyone is welcome. “There’s no predetermined skill level,” he said. “A lot of people are hesitant, but this helps employees gain new skills and confidence. It’s rewarding to hear stories about people who’ve started their own gardens at home because of what they learned here.”

From Smith’s perspective, the garden is a win-win, promoting healthy living, an improved diet and lower stress levels. He has a lot of experience planting and

NEWSUPDATESdo what you say,’ that you have procedures in place and you follow those procedures,” said Jeff Cloyed, Zachry’s chief engineer. Cloyed explained that the Houston Design Center has been ISO 9001:2008 compli-ant for some time, but as more current and prospective customers—particularly those in the petrochemical process industry—have expressed interest in the certification, the decision was made to pursue it. “It is a good step for us in terms of acquiring new work,” he said. “It also shows that we hold quality in high regard, that we are committed to providing more and more quality in our services.”

Kim Posten, manager of Quality Programs, lived and breathed the certification process for about six months. “We were fortunate that we had a solid foundation to start from,” Posten said, given the fact that the office had been ISO compliant prior to pursuing certification. “But we needed to clean some things up and make sure we had all of our processes and procedures accurate, implementable and up to date. It was definitely worth the hard work.”

Both Cloyed and Posten said the ISO certification helps underscore Zachry’s commitment to its custom-ers. “Having the certification shows we care about our customers, what they want and what they need,” Posten said. “Our customers are the primary focus of our busi-ness. By understanding and responding to their needs, the expectation is that our dedication will be recognized by the customer, creating customer loyalty; customer loyalty is return business.”

ISO is the International Organization for Standardization, the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards. More than 150 countries have ISO members. ISO 9001 focuses on quality management standards. Companies with ISO 9001 certification must pass inter-nal and external audits each year and be reassessed every three years.

FREEPORT LNG

ZACHRY FLNG FIELD EXECUTION TEAM COMPLETES 1 MILLION WORKHOURS WITHOUT A RECORDABLE INCIDENT

The Freeport LNG project’s liquefaction field execution team—with more than 500 craft workers—reached 1 million field construction

workhours without an OSHA Recordable Incident on Feb. 1. FLNG, a Zachry and CBI/Chiyoda joint venture that’s noted as the largest privately funded project in

the United States, is scheduled to culminate in 20 million workhours by the time of completion in 2019.

The three-train plant project includes two field con-struction sites, a pretreatment facility (PTF) in Oyster Creek, Texas, and the liquefaction facility (LQF) and ship loading/offloading facility in Quintana, Texas.

Field execution team construction activities began in December 2014 and included site preparation, soil stabilization and piling installation. The team then started foundations for pipe racks, towers, drums, compressors and turbines. In addition, they installed underground high-density polyethylene (HDPE) fire-water system piping, as well as a construction dock to bring building materials to the site.

This project milestone, along with the recent Heart of Zachry recognition, is the result of detailed plan-ning, effective communication and solid implementa-tion, said Senior Health & Safety Program Manager Butch McIntyre. “With 1,000 direct and indirect workers on site and more being added each week, it’s critical to have a close-knit team effort among all involved,” he said. “That collaboration started with the engineering group in the Houston office, and the construction teams have kept it going.”

FREEPORT LNG FACTS

• More than 500 craft workers were on site, as of April 1.

• Workers at the site reached 1 million field construction workhours on Feb. 1 without an OSHA Recordable Incident.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

More than 85 volunteers turned out to build the Zachry garden at the Home Office. Photos/Nick Grancharoff

“It’s rewarding to hear stories about people who’ve started their own gardens at home because of what they learned here.”

— Nathan Smith, Risk Financing Manager

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The hiring continues in Brazoria County, Texas. With more than 6,000 Zachry craft employees currently in place at three major work sites—the

Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) plant in Old Ocean, the Phillips 66 plant near Freeport and the Freeport LNG facility on Quintana Island—the employee numbers are growing, on the way to a projected peak of about 8,000 employees by the middle of next year.

Filling open positions at the Brazoria County job sites is important work that’s vital to the success of all three projects. More than one customer in the county listed “construction labor” as one of the biggest risks to its project. Customers count on Zachry’s ability to bring together the best possible engineering, procurement and construction team, and the Brazoria County ramp-up is providing another opportunity to prove that ability.

The hiring of skilled craft workers has been ongoing for the past two years in Brazoria County. In February 2014, just two short years ago, Zachry’s presence in CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

RAMPING UP ASSEMBLING THE CRAFT WORKFORCE IN BRAZORIA COUNTY

the county totaled about 750 turnaround and mainte-nance employees. By this past February, more than 5,000 craft workers had been added, which averages out to more than 200 new employees each month.

NEWSUPDATES

SAN ANTONIO STOCK SHOW AND RODEO

ZACHRY VOLUNTEERS LISTEN AND EDUCATE AT THE SAN ANTONIO AG MECHANICS SHOW

More than 30 Zachry volunteers staffed the Zachry booth at the Ag Mechanics Show earlier this year at the San Antonio Stock Show and

Rodeo. About 150 show-goers—including student exhibitors, parents and teachers—stopped by to learn about Zachry and the career options available. Zachry also safely stored 40 large projects for the participants on the Home Office grounds the night before the show.

The show featured more than 900 agricultural mechanics design and construction projects from Texas 4-H and FFA students. There was something for everyone on display in three barns—from restored tractors, farm implements and agricultural machines to livestock equip-ment, barbecue pits, trailers and hydroponic gardens.

“It’s rewarding to hear students talk about their projects and introduce them to Zachry at the same time,” said Employment and Labor Relations Director Rudy Ramirez. He said that the students who participate in agricultural mechanics programs have the qualities and talents Zachry looks for in employees.

“The students design, plan and construct their projects, just as we plan, engineer and construct our projects,” he said. “They also learn about hard work, dedication and commitment while building their projects, and it’s important to relay to the parents, teachers and students that there are organizations like Zachry that value these traits.”

GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING

CPCHEM EMPLOYEES TRAINED ON CLEANUPS AND SPILLS, WILDLIFE PROTECTION

Environmental Coordinator Jeremy Young has worked on the Chevron Phillips (CPChem) job site in Old Ocean, Texas, for a year now.

That’s long enough to know an opportunity when you see one. The biologist from the University of Oklahoma—along with Environmental Manager Justin Moncus—understands how quickly environmental issues can arise in large refineries and petrochemical plant construction. So together, they’ve developed a first-of-its-kind grass-roots environmental cleanup and wildlife incident training course to raise awareness among field employees there.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

CPChem Senior Construction Director Andy Power—responsible for the 2,700 employees on the job site—understood the need and approved the program when Young approached him about implementing it.

The one-hour class, which began in early March, focuses on spill prevention and response, storm water control, waste management and minimization, housekeeping practices, preservation and management of wildlife, as well as knowledge of the state and federal agency regulatory and protection laws. Starting first with field safety coordinators, Young will train one employee from each of the 200 project crews. All employees trained in the program will be identified by a hard-hat sticker specifically developed for this program, courtesy of Project Controls Senior Planner Zachary Inman.

The effort is strategic and preventive. “The goal is for these trained environmental leaders to bring lessons learned back to their teams and be able to take appropriate action in the field when, or if, something occurs,” said Young. “There’s a potential high return on having crews trained—one that’s hard to measure until an event occurs.”

The Regulatory Services Group, led by David Turner, is charged with meeting the environmental compliance requirements for Zachry, for clients and for the locations where Zachry operates. In total there are 16 people dedicated to managing these efforts. It’s a relatively small group, and they’re working to build momentum and get more involvement, more eyes and hands on the ground. The course provides the flexibility to be modi-fied by specific areas of concern, and it’s Young’s hope that it will be duplicated on other job sites.

A young student at the Ag Mechanics Show explains his project to event judges. Zachry volunteers staffed a booth at the show to connect with exhibitors, parents and teachers. Photo/Donna Vetrano

EMPLOYMENT IN BRAZORIA COUNTY

Former Zachry welders Juan Guevara (left) and Rito Galvan use computers in the Freeport Employment Office to look for new jobs after completing their work at the Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) plant in Old Ocean, Texas. Photo/Nick Grancharoff

February 2014:

750 employees

February 2016:

6,000+ employees

Summer2017:

8,000+ employees

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0

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First, the Houston area has the largest pool of craft employees for the type of work that Zachry does. It’s a market of prospective workers that Zachry knows well.

“We have had recruiters in that area for the past 15 years, and we’ve hired thousands of people there over the years, so we know the people in that area, and they know us,” Ramirez said.

Also appealing are the benefits and training that Zachry provides its employees, he said. “Our success is tied to being able to keep our promises to our employees when it comes to pay, benefits, opportunities and training,” Ramirez said. “That’s a key reason so many of our craft employees want to stay with Zachry.”

A third reason for Zachry’s hiring success in the county is the opportunity for craft workers to work on multiple projects in one area. Skilled construction workers often live rather nomadic lives, traveling from job site to job site, following the work across the region, the country and even across the world. The opportunity to work and live in one area for several consecutive years is appealing. The three large job sites in Brazoria County provide a unique opportunity for craft workers to move from one Zachry job to

another without uprooting and moving a long distance. A welder or pipefitter, for example, could start at CPChem, move to the P66 project, and then move to the Freeport LNG job site over a period of five or six years.

“To have three large projects like these in one geo-graphic area is unprecedented for Zachry,” Ramirez said. “It provides a great opportunity for craft workers who know us and like working for us to stay in one place for several years while working on multiple Zachry projects.”

Finally, there’s Zachry’s focus on safety. Zachry is not alone in emphasizing safety, but its long history of putting safety first and its reputation as a safety innovator are things that resonate with craft workers.

“Our customers and our employees know that we walk the talk on safety,” Ramirez said. “It’s embedded in our culture, and anyone who has worked at a Zachry job site knows that we truly want each and every employee to go home to his or her family at the end of a productive day. It’s a definite plus for us.”

ON THE EMPLOYMENT FRONT LINESZachry’s employment folks on the ground in Brazoria County emphasize all of Zachry’s selling points when talking to the 60 or so people who walk into the Freeport Employment Office each day to inquire about jobs. Freeport Employment Office Manager Christian Sullivan and her team of about 20 employees also have conversations with hundreds of prospects who call each week to inquire about jobs. The opportunity to work on several projects in one area is a definite selling point, she said.

“The message we have been driving home is there’s no need for you to quit this job because we have another Zachry job for you; we are going to work to get you on the next job,” she said.

Sullivan and her team recruited, hired and onboarded about 200 employees in January and the same number in February, for the Freeport LNG and Phillips 66 proj-ects. That hiring pace in the county will continue with the number growing gradually to hiring and onboard-ing 400-500 employees each month by spring 2017.

REPUTATION, REPUTATION, REPUTATIONIn the employment game, reputation is a big factor. “There’s a lot of competition in Brazoria County; there are other large projects in the same area,” Ramirez said. “Fortunately, our reputation as an employer is strong, and that has certainly played a positive role in helping us fill our craft positions.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

Sullivan said that she receives regular feedback from job seekers about Zachry’s hiring process, and so far that feedback is overwhelmingly positive.

“Our office environment is incredibly inviting and professional,” Sullivan said. “We focus on treat-ing people with respect; even if there is not a job opening that fits someone’s skill set today, we make sure they are aware that we will need them down the line. People say they appreciate our process, the one-on-one contact that we provide.”

That speaks to Zachry’s uniqueness as a company, and as an employer. The vision of being a “principle-based enterprise” that strives to create a “special business experience” extends to Zachry’s recruiting and hiring efforts. Putting that vision into practice on the employment front lines is paying off.

“There are a lot of tangible reasons why we’re having success right now in Brazoria County, but it basically comes down to the fact that we are Zachry,” Ramirez said. “We have a rich history and a strong reputation that we’ve built over many years of hiring craft workers. When we’re true to our history, true to our values, and when we consistently treat our craft employees well, the result is what we’re seeing right now—people want to work for Zachry.”

PLANNING AHEAD Zachry’s success at hiring and placing more than 5,000 new employees in Brazoria County job sites within 24 months wasn’t mere happenstance. It was the result of careful planning that stretches back to the last employment peak in 2009, said Tammy Mallaise, vice president of Employee Relations.

“We wanted to learn from our experiences during the last growth cycle, and we worked hard to make sure we had the right people on our team,” she said. “The planning piece is so important, understanding what was coming up in Brazoria County, knowing that we were going to be in a growth cycle, and recognizing the jobs and craft people we would need to support that new work.”

One of Mallaise’s key players is Rudy Ramirez, director of Employment and Labor Relations. Mallaise brought Ramirez to her team about six years ago to oversee craft employment at Zachry. He understands why Zachry appeals to craft workers.

“Our direct-hire model is one of the things that sets us apart, our focus on developing long-term relationships with our employees,” he said. “Our main focus is the care of employees year after year, and that brings us a great deal of loyalty from employees who stick with Zachry from project to project.”

KEY DIFFERENTIATORSRamirez highlighted several key reasons why Zachry’s hiring efforts have been successful thus far in Brazoria County.

KEY REASONS CRAFT WORKERS CHOOSE ZACHRY

• Direct-hire employment model

• Market-based compensation package • Employee benefits and training• Opportunities to remain employed from one job to the next

• Safety focus

Zachry Project Safety Facilitator Joseph San Xavier (right) goes over the Employee Expectation Card during an orientation session for new employees at the Freeport Employment Office. The new employees will soon head to the Freeport LNG job site in Quintana, Texas.Photos/Nick Grancharoff

Freeport Employment Office Manager Christian Sullivan works with Recruiter Megan Powell to review Zachry’s job postings on an external employment website.

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MASSIVE LPG TANKAIR-RAISING EVENT TOPS PHILLIPS 66 STORAGE TANK

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

Air—low-pressure air. That’s all it took to raise a 750-ton roof up nine stories in late January to cap a cryo-genic steel tank at the Phillips 66 (P66)

export terminal in Freeport, Texas. The tank, which will store liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), has a capacity of more than 23 million gallons and will be mechanically complete by this fall, according to EPC Project Executive Bobby Patterson. Most of the liquid petroleum stored there is expected to be exported in the form of butane and propane.

The massive tank is an impressive feature at the P66 project site. As joint venture partners there, Burns & McDonnell and Zachry (BMZ) oversaw construction and installation of the cryogenic tank.

10 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT May/June 2016 May/June 2016 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT 11

Workers within the massive enclosed dome of the P66 liquefied petroleum gas tank make final preparations for the roof-raising. Photo/Nick Grancharoff

JVIC welders and pipefitters will complete the pipefitting work. Zachry’s project and safety leadership has been huge, said Patterson, adding, “It took weeks of planning to ensure that all safety requirements were in place.” Once the tank is complete, he expects about 140 of the more than 1,000 Zachry workers on the project will begin integrating the tank into the overall project.

Cryogenic liquid propane storage tanks are an important and costly part of oil refineries, terminals and chemical plants, and the design and construction of these tanks can be complicated and costly. “Every process plant is unique,” said Patterson. In fact, in his 43 years at Zachry, he said this is probably the fourth air-pressure roof-raising he’s aware of at a Zachry job site.

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• LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) is a convenient, pressurized gas stored in liquid form in a tank, canister or bottle. It is a flammable hydrocarbon gas liquefied through a chilling process that comes from natural gas processing and oil refining. Propane is classified as LPG, along with butane and mixtures of these gases.

• Propane is used by homes, farms, businesses and industry, mostly for heating and cooling air, cooking, refrigeration, drying clothes, barbecuing and lighting. Industrial sites rely on it for space heating, brazing, soldering, cutting, heat-treating and many other uses. Petrochemical industries use propane in the manufacture of plastics.

• Propane is also rapidly being used in non-industrialized areas of the world to heat livestock facilities and to dry grain and ripen other agricultural products. It’s also used as a propellant for household aerosol sprays, including shaving creams and air fresheners.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

Patterson described the LPG tank: “Picture a big thermos—a really big one,” he said. Like a thermos, the tank has outer and inner shells, with 3 feet of space between the two. That space in between will eventually be insulated with perlite, which is mined volcanic glass heated at 1,600 degrees until it pops into little balls that are used for insula-tion. Most people recognize perlite as the small Styrofoam-looking balls found in potting soil.

This thermos-like structure—including all the connecting pipes throughout the tank—is used for storing the liquid propane before loading it onto a ship.

MONTHS IN THE MAKINGStorage tanks for natural liquefied gases such as butane and propane are uniquely built since they operate at temperatures below -45 degrees Fahrenheit. Preparation for the tank at the P66 terminal began last August 2015. Crews installed 864 piles—mixed with a special blend of concrete—at 110 feet below ground. These piles form the tank’s foundation.

After the exterior wall of the tank was built, crews began work inside. The roof, or dome, includes a lower ceiling attached to it, and is built inside the tank at floor level. This flat ceiling is suspended inside the top of the tank once the dome is raised. At the top of the outer shell, a compression ring protrudes up and over into the interior of the tank.

While all of this construction activity was occurring at floor level inside the tank, the rest of the crew painstakingly went through detailed safety procedures for the roof-raising. “There are stringent and necessary safety preparations,” said Patterson. “We had to classify exclusion zones—areas where only certain people were authorized to be. The domed roof is so large that once the lift starts, we must carefully monitor it to maintain levelness and uniformity.”

UP, UP AND AWAYOn the day of the lift, all goes well. Three industrial fans are hooked up to the tank, and air pressure slowly lifts the “lid” to the top. It takes a half day for the dome to reach the top. When it comes into contact with the compression ring at the top, welders waiting on scaffolding above secure it with a stitch weld. Only then are the fans turned off.

In April, JVIC was at work, welding and installing 2,000 feet of internal piping and 4,000 feet of external piping to run and tie points in the unit. This finish work is building the piping that will connect the inner workings of the tank to the LPG process plant. The work schedule calls for 53 consecutive 10-hour days for specialty welders and pipefitters, as well as fire watch employees with gas detection equipment to ensure all workers’ safety, said JVIC Fabrication Shop Planner Joseph Stephenson.

WHAT IS LPG AND HOW IS IT USED?“It’s potentially hazardous work, and the safety of our employees is paramount,” he said. For a small portion of the work, crews are operating in a tight space—a 3-foot gap between the outer and inner walls of the tank—installing pipe. They also will install a significant amount of piping on the exterior of the tank.

JVIC’s portion of the job should be complete by the end of June. “It’s our first tank like this,” said Stephenson, who said that they’re usually working in furnaces and boilers. “Because it’s a new element, it’s a challenge—we’ll be working in a compressed environment, so we’re running some air conditioning inside the walls of the tank and giving employees more frequent breaks. We’re doing all we can to meet the schedule requirements of the project without sacrificing anyone’s safety.”

Houston-based Phillips 66 broke ground in August 2014 on its liquefied petroleum gas export terminal—its first ever—in Freeport to sell gasoline, propane, butane and more to international markets. Joint venture partners Burns & McDonnell and Zachry (BMZ) are providing a range of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the massive project.

In prefabrication, JVIC’s David Polasek welds a flange for the 23-million-gallon Phillips 66 (P66) liquefied petroleum gas tank. Photos/Nick Grancharoff

With the domed ceiling safely attached to the tank structure, craft workers complete work inside the massive propane tank.

JVIC pipefitters and welders will install 2,000 feet of internal piping and 4,000 feetof external piping for the new liquefied petroleum gas tank at the Phillips 66 (P66)export terminal in Freeport. Pictured (l-r) are: Teren Schrock, Steven Crowder, Luis Martinez, David Polasek, Gilbert Cantu and Santu Thomas.

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Zachry’s top welding and pipefit-ting talent competed against the best craft workers in the nation at the National Craft Championships in March, and one of

Zachry Group’s finest brought home the gold. Lindsey Irvine, a welder for JVIC—Zachry’s turnaround and specialty services business—won first place in the pipe welding competition. She also earned the distinction of being the first woman to win in the 21 years since the category was established.

Irvine was one of five welders and pipefitters who made the trip to the annual Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (see sidebar). “We took a strong group to the competition this year, and each one of them repre-sented Zachry and JVIC well,” said Craft Development Director Jon Atteberry. “We know that we have some of the best welders and pipefitters in the country, and it’s fantastic that Lindsey displayed the kind of talent and skill to win her event.”

Irvine entered the competition with solid welding skills, but besting 21 competitors surprised even her. A top trade school recruit, she was hired by JVIC only two years ago. She’s still refining her craft and has quickly adapted to the world of traveling specialty welders.

It has been an ideal fit for Irvine, a sort of Renaissance woman and “jack of all trades” who craves learning new things. At 25, she’s a musician—she plays the piano, clarinet, guitar and accordion, and she’s learning the violin. She sews her own welding caps—which carry a lot of symbolism in the welding profession. She has a black belt in Karate and is learning to ride her unicycle.

“I’m hungry to learn anything,” Irvine said. Today, Irvine believes she’s finally doing what she was meant to do. “I never really planned on being a welder,” she said. “But I thought it was something I could do.”

NATIONAL CHAMP! IRVINE WINS PIPE WELDING COMPETITION

TESTING HER METTLE

Irvine’s love of creative construction started at a young age. The Baker, Florida, native says she has always enjoyed doing things with her hands. While her older brother was inside playing video games, Irvine was outside in her father’s carpentry workshop watching him build furniture. “He started giving me small things to do like sanding, and over time he gave me a little more responsibility,” she explained. “I eventually worked up to using the circular saw and even made myself a coffee table.”

So when her father pointed out a new, one-year welding program offered at Northwest Florida State College (NWFSC), Irvine didn’t hesitate quitting her fast-food shift manager gig. She signed up for the first welding class offered. The class got her hooked, and for the first time, she thought about a different kind of career path. Before she knew it, she earned her associate’s degree and vocational welding certification.

“It [welding] resonated with me” she said. “It wasn’t initially my dream to become a welder, but it became my dream.” And it’s a dream Irvine may not have real-ized if NWFSC had not recognized the growing gap in skilled laborers and began offering technical classes.

After receiving her certification, Irvine was discovered by JVIC’s Recruiter Kendra Johnson. “I search the country for newly trained welders from across the United States,” she said, explaining that every year, JVIC hires about 50 new welders who represent the top 10 percent of welding trade school programs.

For most of the new recruits, it’s their first job. “It’s an exclusive group,” said Johnson. “When I met Irvine, my first impression was that she was approachable and like-able. Though she actually had little experience with the materials we commonly work with, she taught herself,” said Johnson. “She did it all—I just kind of guided her and made sure she had all the resources she needed.” Irvine was the first person that came to Johnson’s mind when nominations for the NCC competition came around.

FINDING HER CALLING

“I totally enjoy what I do now,” said Irvine, adding that she had no idea how well she could fare financially while doing something she loves. Irvine believes it’s because she works for a company that cares. “I really like JVIC because they—like Zachry—push safety,” she said, “and they offer continuing education.”

“Finding skilled craft workers is important to Zachry Group’s continued success, and one of our highest

priorities,” said Atteberry. Both Zachry and JVIC offer a variety of opportunities for employees to further develop their skills, and both are making investments based on forecasts and demands in the market.

“JVIC gave me a shot early on going through the Welding University program (JVU),” said Irvine. Indeed, she has racked up time at JVU learning to weld in mul-tiple processes, and now she’s coaching new students, as well as helping out with JVIC’s recruiting efforts.

“When I get into something, I want to do my best,” said Irvine.

Cream of the crop represent Zachry, JVICThe Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) annual National Craft Championships (NCC) celebrates its members’ training and education efforts. Craft trainees from chapter and member training programs across the country come together to compete in the annual National Craft Championships. During the intense two-day event, men and women participate in one of 15 competitions, representing 13 crafts.

This year’s competition was the largest in NCC history, with 211 craft workers competing in one of 15 craft events. The two-day competition includes a written exam on the first day that’s worth 25 percent of the total score. Day two is a six-hour practical performance test, accounting for 75 percent of the total score.

Zachry and JVIC are naturally selective about who represents them in the NCC. It only makes sense that they choose from a pool of high-potential candidates who have already been selected to attend continuing education classes. This year, five competitors representing the best of the best from Zachry and JVIC were chosen to compete for NCC honors in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They included:

• Jose Gomez, structural welder

• Miguel Romero, pipe welder

• Nik Gerber, pipefitter

• Lindsey Irvine, pipe welder

• Tyron Downing, pipefitter

Irvine competed against 21 others in the pipe welding competition. She was awarded a first-place medal, as well as a hobby welding machine and a $750 cash prize.

A top trade school recruit and gold medal winner of the annual National Craft Championship’s pipe welding competition, Lindsey Irvine says she believes she’s finally doing what she was meant to do. Photos/Nick Grancharoff

On site at the BASF plant in Beaumont, Texas, JVIC’s Lindsey Irvine tack welds alloy pipe.

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revolutionized the way the company tracks and reports safety information. SIMS is well known across the company, and it is fully utilized to capture and report safety data—the input/output, administrative side of the system. The analytical, strategic side still has some room to grow, and that’s the current focus for Corinne Austin, the corporate safety systems manager who oversees the system and trains employees across the company to use the data tool.

“SIMS is now part of the Zachry safety culture,” Austin said. “The next step is to move out of the administra-tive side and into more of the strategic side, where SIMS is used as a management tool.”

The SIMS database is a vast trove of information. It includes historical and up-to-date information on

DATA POINTSSAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SHIFTS FROM AN INPUT AND REPORTING DATABASE TO A MANAGEMENT TOOL

No one argues the fact that safety is No. 1 at Zachry. At all Zachry work loca-tions—and especially at job sites—it’s a day-to-day, hour-by-hour, minute-to-minute

focal point. All that attention on safety generates a lot of data—near misses, recordable incidents, good catches, inspections, safety audits and much more. When properly managed, crunched and analyzed, the mountain of data can produce incredibly helpful information—information that can track trends, spotlight leading indicators of potential problems, and produce valuable safety reports for customers in a flash.

That’s where the Safety Information Management System (SIMS) comes in. The safety database launched in mid 2012, and during the past four years it has

SIMS

safety audits, inspections, learnings, recordable incidents, near misses and more for all Zachry work locations and projects. A corporate documents library within it includes Responsible Business Practices (RBP), OSHA summaries and site-specific documents. Having this information available through the SIMS library makes it easily acces-sible from wherever an employee is working.

Prior to SIMS, safety data was usually site-specific, compiled monthly on spreadsheets, which made sharing and analyzing data across multiple locations difficult and time-consuming. If a customer wanted information on a particular injury trend at its site, or information on recordable incidents at another project site, crunching the numbers could take days. Now with SIMS, all safety information is captured and available in one easily acces-sible location, and any of the system’s 800-plus users has the capability to pull together a comprehensive report in minutes. Users can also email the report to a distribution group with one keystroke.

In the couple of years since the system’s release, Austin has devoted a lot of time to demonstrating the system’s capabilities to safety staff, site leaders and others who need access to the company’s safety data. The capabili-ties were an immediate hit, and Austin spent a lot of time filling orders for reports and data. Today her approach is different—it’s more of a “teach them to fish” philosophy.

“I call it teaching folks to participate in their own rescue,” Austin said. “That’s what gets people more familiar with the tool, so they can get comfortable with it. And that’s what needs to happen for people to begin seeing it and using it as a management tool, not just a data or reporting tool.”

Adam Rubin is a believer and a disciple. He’s the corpo-rate safety manager supporting both the Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) polyethylene plant in Old Ocean, Texas, and the Freeport LNG natural gas liquefaction and loading facility on Quintana Island, near Freeport, Texas. He has moved well beyond using SIMS to generate reports. For him, SIMS is a critical resource that he uses

on a daily basis to make important safety decisions at the job sites he oversees.

“SIMS is my lifeblood,” Rubin said. “It’s a pretty amazing tool. I’ve been in the safety business for 10 years, and it’s one of the more innovative tools that I’ve been able to use to help me do my job better.”

Rubin explained that SIMS allows him to create a customized dashboard that provides real-time safety information for each of the projects he’s responsible for. He can view the data showing all his projects collec-tively, just one project, or he can drill down to individual project areas—whatever view he needs to see.

“My dashboard feeds me a lot of information, like leading and lagging indicators; it shows me the things that can be happening on a site before there’s an acci-dent or an injury,” Rubin said. “I can’t be everywhere all the time, but I can look at my dashboard snapshot and see what’s happening on a job while I’m not there, which is huge.”

Working on a past project, Rubin saw that there had been a number of eye incidents within a relatively short period of time. Another time, he saw that a supervisor had a significantly higher number of safety incidents within his crew than other supervisors at the site.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

ABOUT SIMS

• Safety information is collected and available in one easily accessible location.

• SIMS allows users to create a customized dashboard that provides real-time safety information at offices and work sites across the country.

• Any of the system’s 800-plus users has the ability to pull together a comprehensive report in minutes.

Corporate Safety Systems Manager Corinne Austin points out specific features of the Safety Information Management System (SIMS) during one of many training sessions she has led in conference rooms and at job sites during the last four years. Photo/Nick Grancharoff

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18 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT May/June 2016 May/June 2016 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT 19

1-800 / JOBSUSA(1-800-562-7872)

Call for Zachry job opportunities or visit 1800JOBSUSA.com

Find us on www.facebook.com/zachrygroup

“A lot of times we can go and look at what’s happen-ing and fix it quickly,” Rubin said. “And when I see something odd or something that stands out, I can immediately snag the information from my dashboard, and with one click I can email it out to the project team or to whomever needs to see it.”

That one-click capability extends to communications between safety staff and the customer. Often, it’s the customer that requests specific safety data for the site.

“Communicating with the customer is always one of the most important things we do,” Rubin said. Instead of spending hours compiling incident reports and emailing the information to various contacts, SIMS allows auto-matic alerts, which shoots the information to a predeter-mined contact list right after the incident information is saved. And if a customer requests a customized safety report, no problem. A report that once took seven-to-10 hours can be compiled and sent in minutes.

“This tool allows us to serve our customers better than we’ve ever been able to,” Rubin said. “We get constant compliments on how efficient our communica-tion is and how accurate we are with our leading and lagging indicators.”

Rubin acknowledges that he’s on the leading edge, using SIMS to its full capabilities. Others across the company aren’t quite there yet, but that’s changing. Rodney West, site manager at the Phillips 66 plant in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, wasn’t so sure about the new system when it rolled out several years ago.

“I was in a managers’ meeting, and here comes Corinne with this huge database thing, and I’m not a huge database kind of guy,” West said. “I’ve got plenty to do out in the field and in the office, and databases isn’t one of them. I thought, ‘Here we go with another database thing’—boy, was I ever wrong.”

Like Rubin, West is now a believer. He sees clearly the value SIMS brings to his job. “There are lots of things you can gather off of SIMS if you use it effectively on the job,” West said. “It brings things to light, it allows us to track and trend and get better at what we do. What would take emails and phone calls to track down a few years ago, it’s all now one click away at my desk.”

West credits Austin for keeping the focus on SIMS, and for patiently and persistently helping him and others learn the value. “She does an excellent job coaching people who do not listen well and who don’t take notes the first time,” he said with a chuckle. “She’s a great coach.”

Austin will take that compliment and keep on coaching. “The focus now is helping people learn to use it to help make good safety decisions, the kind that prevent injuries and save lives,” she said. “There is still a lot of growth potential, and we’re moving in the right direction.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

5 YEARS:

Antonio AguilarLuis Aguilar LeonTahssien Al AzawiJustin AldyMark AllenDavid AllredMaria Ami De RiveraThomas AndrewsArnold AnzalduaCharles AshmoreWilliam BamburgHarold BegayAdam BelcherStevie BernalGlendal BlevinsWilliam BoiceDenise BosseMatthew BridgemanDaniel BrownJohn BullardHumberto CalderonMichael CannonRogelio CantuBernardo CarrizalesCassandra ChanceyRobert CherryGreg ChessonRonnie CollinsAntonio Cortez SanchezJohn CoxKarla DaleyNolan DarthardJerod DawsonCameron DecosterRaymond DenetsosieMichael DomeikaClayton DriskellNathan DukeBart DuncanShane DurhamCorey DykesJohn EichelbergerJuan Elizondo LopezJose FloresEric FoxStanley FrankJuan GaitanJesus GarciaArturo Garcia IbarraCharles GardnerGlenda GarrettJoshua GonsalvesAlberto GonzalezJoel GonzalezJose GonzalezRamon GonzalezVictor GonzalezYanira Gonzalez-RodriguezGregory GoodspeedJose GraciaMiguel GraciaHarry GrimmetRandy GuerraJohn Guillory

Salbador Gutierrez-ZaragArturo GuzmanGregory HanesRusty HargroderKevin HarpDouglas HolmesJames IngramMichael JasperWilliam JefferyKeith KaminskiElmer LaguimonPedro Lazu RiveraDouglas LittrelMichael LizenbeeJovani MajanoJose Maldonado JimenezLarry ManygoatsJuan ManzanaresDiego MartinezEnrique MartinezRosemary MartinezLaura McHaleRandall McMinnEduardo MiesesAnthony MillanViviana MojicaRoberto MoralesJulio Morales-RojasMoises MorenoSandra MorenoJoshua MunozJesus NavarroLuis NegronScott OlsenRobert OrosEdelmiro OrtegaRoy OwensJose Oyola GomezAnthony PaineDaniel ParadaSteven PattersonJulio PerdomoEligio Pereira OchoaSherman PetersenByron PhillipsJoshua PierceRalph PostonGuillermo PuenteCorey RachalEduardo Ramos JordanShaddric ReedEmilio ReynaJose RicoJavier RiveraDavid RowellMatthew RusherCarlos SalinasJoe SangsterStephen SansonOnorato Savala SantoyoAmanda SchrageMicah ScofeliaRodolfo SepulvedaJose Serrano-TejadaMichael ShepardCody ShoopmanRogerick Shorty

Curtis SlackDerek SmithMarshall SmithMichael SmithRyan SotoHoward TanksleyDale TateWilliam TaylorRicky ThomasMichael TijerinaGilbert TomimbangAldo TrevinoRegulo Trigo MartinezJavier ValdezCarlos Vargas MaderaEnrique VazquezJuan VillarrealImer Viveros-QuirozTroy WalkerMelanie WhippleLouis WrightTerrence YazzieJ. Zavala Gutierrez

10 YEARS:

Abraham AguileraManuela AraujoJesus ArriagaMelissa AshleyDietrich BaldridgeLouis BenavidezRobert BlackhatNorman BolotteKimberly BourqueNathan BoydenWilliam BristerIrene BrooksDuane BunceFrancisco CalvilloEdgar CamposRoss CargillJames ChaneyJesus Chavez DiazMichael ClemensonPaul ColletteMichael CooleyStephanie CottonTahnee CoulstonBrian CrowJoseph CurryMary Ann DeLaTorresJuan DeleonOjaswin DesaiKevin DriscollMichael DubeaCharles EmoryRiley FincherErica FranklinMagdalena GarzaNelson GarzaVictor GomezAlberto GonzalezMartin GuzmanRaul HernandezRobert Hodgson

Alaina HoodZachary InmanSylvester IsaacJennifer JonasVere JosephCharles KehmTammy KnutsonEric LeeKeith LincolnSteve LynchJuan MagallonJacob MaguireAntonio MartinezMichael MartinezJustin McDonnellJohn MilnerJohn MorenoJohnny NeugentAlden OrrRodolfo OrtegaCearly ParkerTravis PhillipsLloyd PhilpotRolando PilataxiLeonel PinedaMichael PipesRobin PoirrierVince QuesadaPeter QuistDavid RasmussenKelly RhoadesJonathan RicksEden RuizLemuel RussellMaria SalazarBerin SchneiderEvan SchoelAllen SmithBrian SmithHolga SmithRanulfo Vasquez AlcalarJack WheatleyPhillip WhiteJoshua Yeager

15 YEARS:

Jose AguilarLarry AllenJohn ArandaJon AtteberryMitchell BectonMichael CaddellJorge CastilloVernon ElliottDavid GossettMario HurtadoRoe McAnallyScotty MiskellTuan NguyenDeborah NortonMorgan NowellAlfredo OrtizJose PerezWilliam RawsonThomas ReruchaTimothy Schappa

Patrick SleezerMichael SondalleWhitney TaylorEric ThompsonRichard ThompsonStaci TijerinaZere WeldemicaelChad WieselerMichael Zavala

20 YEARS:

Stephen DedmanDavid DemelloRawle FarleyTodd MayeauxSteven PenningtonJohn RayStephen SupersonMcKnight ThomasMarcel VermeirePeter WoodinLinda WrightMichael Yoder

25 YEARS:

Gordon BaumbachHoward GoldenRoger GomezRudy HernandezTravis HillRene LozanoEsse MorenoMike MosleyMark NolteLisa PetersSergio RangelMaria ValdezMagid Zoobin-Arangeh

30 YEARS:

David MalikDempsey McClellandDaniel MingsSylvia SandersDavid Waer

35 YEARS:

Robert Atkisson Jr.Timothy DevenneyMark GravellDoyle McCulloughPatricia Whitehead

40 YEARS:

Doug DanielKenneth LaxTimothy Pillsbury

SERVICEAWARDS FIRST QUARTER 2015

Service award recipients, visit zachrycentral.com for your service award gift options. You will need your certificate number, located on the lower left side of your service award certificate.

From his desk, Corporate Safety Manager Adam Rubin is able to use his SIMS dashboard to keep updated in real time about everything happening safety-wise at the Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) plant in Old Ocean, Texas, and at the Freeport LNG project in Quintana Island, Texas. Photo/Nick Grancharoff

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20 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT May/June 2016 May/June 2016 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT 21

I learned a long time ago that work is a lifetime thing. Why not enjoy it? I’ve been a cook and cashier in Zachry’s Crossing Café in San Antonio for 17 years. I enjoy my job—

especially the people. They thank me for smiling and for being who I am. I don’t feel I do anything special.

To me, this isn’t just a job, it’s my second family. People here have always treated me like I’m one of them. The appreciation they show for me—you cannot buy that.

Growing up in a family of migrant workers—I was one of eight children—we traveled from state to state, harvesting crops. I went from school to school, and vacation time was traveling and working. Maybe that’s where I get my love of people.

My hours are from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., but you’ll never see me leave by then. After a busy day, I like to stick around and relax. Visit with people. Sing and joke. I might also deco-rate for an upcoming holiday or tend the kitchen garden.

I first knew I wanted to be a cook watching my mother and grandmother. I was fascinated by food preparation. I would watch the women cutting and cooking and mixing. And when I was by myself at home, I experimented.

Before Zachry, I worked as a restaurant cook for 17 years. I worked six days a week, 11-12 hours a day. My kids were young and I wanted to be at home more with them and my wife. I heard about a job opening at Zachry, applied and was hired. I started behind the grill, cooking breakfast, making sandwiches and burgers, preparing the salad bar

People call me Tranky. My given name is Tranquelino, but in school one of my teachers thought Tranquelino was too long and called me Tranky. It stuck and that’s

who I’ve been ever since.

I started my first job with Zachry more than 30 years ago. I was a laborer for a coal burner job. That was right after I finished high school in Tatum, Texas. I did just about any-thing they needed me to do, mainly painting and shoveling. My father worked for Zachry, and I wanted to work here, too. I left Zachry for a time when I was young, but I came back in 1992, and I’ve been here ever since. Now my son works at Zachry, too. He’s the third generation of our family to work for Zachry. We are a Zachry family.

In my early days, I had several laborer jobs before settling with the painting and scaffolding group. One of the things that I liked about Zachry back then was the family atmo-sphere. It’s one of the things I still love. We form a bond, and we help each other with everything, even outside of work.

I worked for many years on the painting and scaffolding group before I had my first opportunity to be a supervisor. It was about 18 years ago in Arizona. I became a general foreman in the painting and scaffolding group. A few years and a lot of hard work later, I became a superintendent in the group, supervising foremen and general foremen.

I work with some very good people. I always tell them that they are the ones who make me—I don’t make them. They are important to me. We treat each other and take care of each other like family. I’m no one without the people around me—we have a lot of mutual respect for each other.

The work we do is very important. Our job is to provide safety for all other crafts. All other craft workers depend on the support groups. We provide the scaffolding and the lifelines that they need to do their jobs safely. What we do every day can impact the success of the project—it affects the schedules and capabilities of the other craft workers. We take that responsibility very seriously because we feel that in everything we do, we have people’s lives in our hands. We take a lot of pride in our work.

“Tranky will go out of his way to help people, both on and off the job. He insists on a job well done, and he would never ask you to do anything that he isn’t willing to do himself. He is fair in his dealings with people and is a man with outstanding personal morals. There are so many of us he has helped along the way.”— Kimberly Wallis, Crane & Rigging Clerk

MY NAME IS TRANKY MORALES, AND I AM ZACHRY.

Do you know an employee who lives the Zachry values? We want to hear from you—especially craft employees! Send your nominations to [email protected].

IAMZACHRY

I AM ZACHRY

MY NAME IS JESSE GARZA, AND I AM ZACHRY.

I AM ZACHRY

and washing dishes. Then a cashier position opened up, and my boss told me I was going to learn the register. I was nervous and scared. I’d never worked in front of people. My manager told me not to worry. And I’ve stayed there ever since.

Sergio, the breakfast cook, and I are the first ones in every morning. I turn on the lights and ovens, start coffee, cook oatmeal, biscuits, muffins, scones and cinnamon rolls. Every day, there’s something differ-ent. I fill up ice machines, set up the breakfast bar, get money from the safe, and look in the mirror one last time before I open the kitchen doors and say, “Damas y cabelleros (ladies and gentlemen)— bienvenidos (welcome) to the Crossing Café!” Then I fist-bump everyone who walks in.

I like to use my Bluetooth speaker to sing. It might be songs like La Bamba, Volver or Happy. On Fridays, I like to keep everyone upbeat with Happy. The kitchen staff groans, “No, not again.” But every Friday morning, from 8:30-9 a.m., I play it. Some customers dance, some start to move their shoulders, some just tap their feet. It’s crazy, packed full, and people like to join me.

I’ve made a choice to make a difference—I have my health, work and family, and that’s more than many others have. I like to make others smile. If I feel it, I want to help others feel the same. I wouldn’t want to be any place other than where I am right now. I’m proud to be at Zachry and hope to be here for a very long time. I looked up the meaning of the name Jesse, and it means “gift.” Whether it’s a good one or a bad one, I’m here! And that is why I AM ZACHRY.

I feel like I’m in a place now to help motivate the people around me. I have that “refuse to fail” mindset, and my team will do whatever we can to succeed. I tell people that we can’t be satisfied; we have to continue to improve and do better.

When I’m not at work, I enjoy riding my motorcycle. I owned my first motorcycle when I was 16. I got away from it for a while and then came back to it about 15 years ago. It’s my hobby, my stress-reliever. It brings back a fresh perspective on life. I help organize motorcycle runs that raise money for charity. One recently was led by the local police depart-ment and raised money for a local woman’s shelter. A lot of Zachry employees participate in the rides. It’s a great way to spend time with friends and help the community.

I’m an example of what can happen at Zachry when you work hard and continually improve. There are opportunities for you if you want them. Never settle; always try to improve yourself. I never settle, and I try to instill that in the people I work with, and that’s why I AM ZACHRY.

NOMINATE A PEER

Photos/Nick Grancharoff

“Jesse provides precisely what we aim for at the Crossing Café: He continually goes above and beyond for each of our customers. He is far more than a cashier or a cook at the Home Office; he is an unyielding optimist with a talent for bringing joy to everyone he encounters. We do not consider Jesse our cashier; he is our marketing director.”— Adam Steinman, Crossing Café Executive Chef

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22 ZACHRY FORCE REPORT May/June 2016

ZACHRY HOLDINGS, INC., ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES OBSERVE EEO & HARASSMENT POLICIES

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO) POLICY

It is the policy of Zachry to assure that employees and applicants for employment are treated without regard to their race, religion, sex, color, national origin, or age. The company will not discriminate against individuals because of a physical or mental disability, or status as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam Era. Moreover, all employees are encouraged to refer qualified applicants to apply for employment, training, or promotion with the company regardless of race, religion, sex, color, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a veteran.

Zachry’s policy of nondiscrimination applies to all work-related actions. These actions include, but are not limited to, the following: employment, upgrading or promotion, demotion, transfer, layoff or termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation, recruitment or recruitment advertising, selection for training, and, apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.

To promote our continuing commitment to diversity, reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified disabled persons according to existing federal, state and local law. Requests by qualified disabled persons for reasonable accommodation are encouraged by the company. All employees are requested to encourage women, persons of minority races and disabled persons to apply for employment with the company or to apply for training under available programs.

POLICY AGAINST HARASSMENT, INCLUDING SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Zachry is firmly committed to a work environment free from all forms of harassment to any employee or applicant for employment by anyone, including supervisors, co-workers, clients/customers, other contractors or visitors. Such harassment may violate state and federal discrimination laws, as well as the Zachry Policy Against Harassment.

This policy prohibits any conduct (verbal, physical or visual) by an employee or within the work environment that belittles or demeans an individual on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sex, age, color and disability. This policy specifically prohibits sexual harassment, as well as all other forms of harassment. Sexual harassment includes any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

• Submission to such conduct is an explicit or implicit condition of employment.

• Employment decisions are based on an employee’s submission to or rejection of such conduct.

• Such conduct unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.

EEO & HARASSMENT POLICIES

RESPONSIBILITY

All employees are responsible for complying with the company’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy and its Policy Against Harassment and for reporting possible violations of these policies.

COMPLAINTS

Employees or applicants for employment who feel they have encountered a situation that may be in violation of these policies are encouraged to make known their concern as soon as possible. Applicants for employment are encouraged to utilize the Dispute Resolution (DR) Process by contacting a DR representative. Employees are encouraged to discuss their concern or complaint of perceived discrimination with their immediate supervisor. The supervisor’s obligation is to try to resolve the concern or complaint. If it is not resolved at the supervisory level, or if the employee is uncomfortable discussing the issue with their supervisor, the employee should utilize the company’s DR Process. Supervisors who fail to act on employee questions or complaints brought to them under these policies are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including discharge.

The Dispute Resolution Process is facilitated at the corporate office. Employees must comply fully with any lawful investigation under these policies. In the event of questions about, or an investigation of, alleged discrimination by any governmental agency, employees must promptly notify a DR representative. The DR representative will provide answers to inquiries under these policies and, when appropriate, will promptly and thoroughly investigate complaints. The company recognizes that employee input is essential to the success of these policies.

CONFIDENTIALITY

In handling complaints, every effort will be made to maintain confidentiality. However, certain laws require the company act on information brought to its attention, and it will sometimes be necessary to do a full investigation in order to comply with the law. Investigations are intended to be a confidential process and every effort will be made to maintain confidentiality to the extent possible.

RETALIATION

Retaliation against individuals who report violations of these policies is strictly prohibited. Employees who violate these policies or who attempt to retaliate against individuals acting under these policies will be subject to immediate disciplinary action up to and including discharge.

WHO TO CONTACT

• Dispute Resolution Program P.O. Box 240130, San Antonio, Texas 78224-0130 Phone: 1-877-350-0129 Email: [email protected]