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Keeping Pace with Construction Demands in Georgia

You don’t have to be in construction to know that Georgia is building new facilities, roads and infrastructure around the state. You’ve most likely sat in traffic due to lane closures, heard the beeping sounds of heavy equipment moving around a site and seen buildings spring up out of what feels like, nowhere, overnight. The commercial construction market in Georgia, specifically metro Atlanta, is experiencing widespread growth, reportedly up 19% in the first half of the year with a continued growth trend expected through the 4th quarter of 2017 and into 2018. With the tax incentives our State is offering companies to bring industry here, in addition to our growing population base, we anticipate these construction trends to continue well into 2018 and beyond. As project demands heat up the local construction market, the competition for talent becomes more and more intense. This fierce competition is extending beyond the organizations and into the subcontractor market, where it is...

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal

A Sandersville native, Nathan Deal served in the U.S. Army at Fort Gordon in Augusta after graduating with college and law degrees with honors from Mercer University. He then began a private law practice in Gainesville, the hometown of his wife, Sandra. While she taught in Hall County public schools, Deal began a career in public service, working as a prosecutor, judge, state senator and U.S. Congressman for Georgia’s 9th District. He was elected Georgia’s 82nd governor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. The Deals have four adult children and six grandchildren. What do you find to be the more rewarding part of your job? As governor, I’m privileged to meet people from all walks of life, in every corner of our great state, and to hear their stories. Site Selection magazine has ranked Georgia #1 for business for the past 5 years and the state has become the #1 state in feature film production, what makes Georgia so special? When I took office in January 2011, I made a promise to th...

Strong Foundations | Summer 2017

A message from Randall Redding Summer is quickly coming to an end, but we want to give it one last look in this month’s Strong Foundation newsletter. Our first article in this edition focuses on 2017 School Projects and the coordinated effort and teamwork required to complete summer renovations and additions while the students are on break. This year we completed over 680,000 SF of renovations in approximately 60 days. This always amazes me. Our team successfully pulls this off year in and year out. While the on-site work begins after the teachers leave for the summer, there is much preparation that has to occur during the months leading up to the break. Long-lead items have to be ordered early in order to successfully complete complex projects in such a short period of time. Also in this edition, our friend, Mr. Loy Howard, the long-time President/CEO of Tanner Health System offers a Q & A interview where he discusses many interesting and insightful topics. Loy is suc...

RKR Goes to Summer School

School is back in session, which is the universal reminder that summer is over. While many kids will be telling their friends and their teachers all about their summer adventures – trips to the beach, going to camps, and lounging by the pool – RKR has spent the summer months on renovation, addition, modification, and replacement projects. Year after year, school systems across the state take advantage of the summer months to address facility needs. These projects may be small like replacing light bulbs throughout the school or they could be quite large such as total gut renovation and build back and everything in between. These summer renovations are common, because construction crews can work full days uninterrupted without worrying about disrupting the classroom or traditional operations of a school without any students on campus. Beyond that, summer work is a staple because of the funding cycles. Each August, school districts submit their applications to the Georgia Departme...

Loy Howard, President & CEO of Tanner Health System

Q: Share with us a little bit of your background at Tanner Health System? A: I have been president and CEO of Tanner Health Systems since 1994. We certainly have grown dramatically in that time period, as our community has grown. We’ve expanded from two loosely associated hospitals to what will soon be a five-hospital system. We have grown in medical staff from less than 100 to more than 400 physicians. We’ve transformed into a regional medical center during that time period. Q:  What do you find to be the most rewarding part of your job? A: Working with the community. As a community hospital, it’s starting initiatives and programs and seeing them play out over time. Through serving patients, that helps patients and families stay close to home for high quality health care so they don’t have to commute to Atlanta. I think it is very rewarding that people are better off today and healthier because of the programs that we have started. That really is what excites me every day ...

Strong Foundations | April 2017

A message from Randall Redding Spring is in the air and I’m so glad to see new life appear along with warmer temperatures. It's with great pleasure that we present our latest Strong Foundations newsletter. Our first article in this edition focuses on how to decide which building construction system is right for you. Each of the systems we profile has earned its proven place in the design and construction industry. There are unique budget, schedule, aesthetics, durability and operation cost considerations associated with each system.   We also offer an interesting Q&A interview with Mr. Mike Jett, Vice President & Plant Manager of Honda Precision Parts of Georgia.  Mike shares some of the core principles that have guided him throughout his career while in Japan, as well as in the USA. I also want to congratulate the RKR team on recently being recognized as one of the Top Workplaces in Georgia by  The Atlanta Journal Constitution . I hope 2017 is shaping up to ...

A Chat With Mike Jett, VP of Honda Precision Parts of Georgia

Q: Share with us a little bit of your background with Honda. A: Mike Jett – I’ve been with Honda for 34 years. Prior to moving to Georgia, I was responsible for strategic planning for North America. My group was responsible for the feasibility studies for Alabama and Georgia facilities. However, my background primarily resided on the manufacturing side. My current role – as VP & Plant Manager – encompasses total operations here as far as manufacturing, with a focus on safety, quality and production.  As manager of the entire business of operations at this facility, I drive us towards the core characteristics which we work toward every day. These characteristics include building products of outstanding quality, delivering those to our customers in a way that is safe for our associates and our goal of being a company that society wants to exist. Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job? A: It’s working with the people. The Honda Precision Parts facility has s...

What Building Construction System Is Right For You?

You have been planning for a new building for months, maybe years, and now the stars have aligned and you have the property you need and the funding to build your facility, but, do you know what construction system is right for you and your project? If you do not build new construction everyday you might not know that there are options out there, each with their own intended applications and accompanying benefits and challenges. In this day and age, there are three primary building systems: 1. Concrete Frame Structures Concrete frame structures are a very common and might be one of the most common modern building systems used around the world.  This type of building structure consists of a frame of concrete supported or reinforced by rebar or steel bars. The mix of concrete and steel provide a very strong and relatively inexpensive building system. Concrete structures can be built traditionally or your builder may use Tilt-up construction   process where the building...

Lights, Camera, Classrooms!

Georgia has long been known for agriculture, namely cotton, peanuts, onions and peaches, but it’s fastest growing cash crop these days is the movie and production business. In fact, Georgia is now ranked third in the nation and fifth in the world for the number of productions on an annual basis. It is estimated that during the next 3-5 years, the film industry will generate 3,000 - 5,000 new jobs. Both K-12 school systems and higher education institutions are stepping up to provide unique education opportunities for students interested in the TV and movie making business. Two of RKR’s clients are helping to provide an educated film-ready workforce to help grow the industry. Fulton County Schools recently added a CTE facility to Benjamin Banneker High School, which features special labs for Broadcast Video & Production programs. Students from across Fulton County have access to this state-of-the-art audio metric exam room and full video production sound stage. The Univers...

Interview with University of West Georgia President, Dr. Kyle Marrero

Q: What is the day to day like for you as UWG President? A: It’s interesting to be a president of a university in today’s environment and it’s not what someone might think it is. It certainly encompasses many facets with the belief that transforming lives via educational obtainment being at the center. I think the most successful presidents are the ones that always remind their administrators, faculty and staff that any strategic planning or implementation of any actions or initiates need to be reviewed through a filter and lens of student success. What will this mean to focus and to allow our students to be the most successful - not only here as they enter our gates - but also beyond our gates. Our job is to prepare the students to be ready for an ever-complex world. The reality of the job is interesting, because it’s a 16- hour-a-day job, which I love and feel incredibly blessed to be a part of. And, there are multiple constituencies to serve and to help align, which can be ...