On Saturday, June 11th, our employees and their spouses gathered at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater to celebrate the 2021 safety year and to recognize our teams’ outstanding achievements. The event kicked off at 5:00 p.m. with a variety of appetizers, sliders, and desserts at food stations surrounding the theater. The slider stations featured chicken caprese, pulled pork, and Impossible Burger sliders, and desserts included chocolate mousse and key lime pie. Guests also enjoyed a selection of craft and domestic beers, wine, sodas, and bottled water.

At 6:30 p.m., Mike Henley welcomed the crowd into the auditorium for the service and apprenticeship awards followed by the safety prize drawing. The grand prize was $5,000 this year. Take a look inside for the full list of winners.

It was a pleasure to be back at Ruth Eckerd Hall, celebrating with our colleagues outside of work. The dramatic light fixtures in the Grand Lobby were designed by APG Senior Electrical Designer Bill Evans and were installed by Project Foremen Quentin Clark and Sergey Kharchenko.

APG would like to acknowledge the hard work of all those who put this event together. Bonnie Gerhart coordinated the event with the help of Rachel Kotsch, Corrie Fernandez, Averi Lew, Jenna Durst, Carol Quiroz, Todd Litchy, Patty Mellon, Charmin Henley, Erick Shepard, Trina Rodriguez, Kevin Gerhart, and our DJ, Zak Davis. This talented team acquired the facility and handled the set-up, awards, certificates, apprentice bonus checks, tickets for the safety drawing, prizes for the safety drawing, catering, photography, audio/video, entertainment, and much more.

​A special thank you to Megan Gurba, the Director of Catering & Sales at Ruth Eckerd Hall, and her team for the delicious food, beverages, and effort that went into a lovely event.

This year’s golf tournament on Monday, April 11th was fantastic! The weather could not have been better. Our guests put on Hawaiian shirts and tropical attire to go with the Margaritaville “Golf in Paradise” theme. After a buffet breakfast, the tournament began with a shotgun start at 9:30 am. This tournament was organized to thank our partners for an excellent year and for giving our community numerous successful projects. Over one hundred golfers attended the tournament, consisting of clients, general contractors, construction managers, architects, engineers, distributors, and vendors. Each of our golfers enjoyed a full breakfast, lunch from our APG Food Truck, an open bar, and a goodie bag.

APG would like to thank Hunter’s Green Country Club for hosting this year’s event and Tesca Buick GMC for sponsoring the par-three hole-in-one contest. Thank you to all of our partners for being a part of our success in 2022!

​Our customers had this to say about the tournament:

“You guys never treat us like ‘just’ your customers… you treat us like part of your APG family.”

“Fantastic job, as usual. See you next year!”

“Thank you so much for inviting me to your annual Golf Event. It is always such a fun event and APG truly does an amazing job. You always make us feel right at home and make sure everyone is having a good time. It takes a lot of thought, time, and hard work to put on a successful event like this and you all made it look easy. Please extend my gratitude to everyone involved. It’s always a true pleasure to work with APG.”

FIRST PLACE:
BJ Klingensmith (APG), Hank Fyock (Five Star Senior Living), Luke Geary (DynaFire), Thomas Perry (DynaFire)
SECOND PLACE:
Heather Callaway (APG), Justin Koenen (Skanska), Chuck Berg (Gensler), Daniel Valin (Skanska)
THIRD PLACE:
Chris Johnson (APG), Todd Watson (Robins & Morton), Harry Irwin (ESI Group), Christa Guzzo (AON)  
 
MEN’S LONGEST DRIVE:
Brandon Cox (World Electric Supply)
MEN’S CLOSEST TO THE PIN:
Luke Geary (DynaFire)
WOMEN’S CLOSEST TO THE PIN:
Christa Guzzo (AON)
WOMEN’S LONGEST DRIVE:
Christa Guzzo (AON)
PUTTING CONTEST WINNING TEAM:
Jeff Decius (APG), Bob Coffman (Sesco Lighting), Kevin Lewis (Siemens)
PUTTING CONTEST HOLE-IN-ONE WINNER:
​Kevin Lewis (Siemens)
 
We’re looking forward to next year’s tournament and are already coming up with fun ways to highlight its theme: The Masters. See you there!

This cover article of the Pipeline is dedicated to Quentin Clark and what it means to be APG SAFE. He was a victim of an arc flash event on January 27th while installing static discharge relays on a circuit breaker within a medium voltage (13.2kV) essential switchgear.

​We are grateful that Quentin miraculously survived this event with only severe burns on his hands and forearms. He wasn’t even admitted into the hospital and is expected to return to work very soon.

Our company is still healing from this event since we almost lost one of our own. This article in the Pipeline is one of many steps toward making our already best-in-class safety program even better! We are reminded that even though our Experience Modification Rating (EMR) is 0.65 and we have received multiple safety awards from IEC, ABC, NAWIC, Liberty Mutual, Amerisure, and construction managers — an accident can still happen.

We Simply Can’t Let Our Guard Down

Reporting safety issues such as hazards and incidents at the job site helps prevent harm to our employees, colleagues, and even other subcontractors. If an APG employee sees a one-time or ongoing issue on a job site, they should always report it to their supervisor immediately.

It is time to raise the bar even further when it comes to safety. Safe practices must be taught, followed, and enforced on our project sites, while driving our vehicles, and even while working from home on personal time.

These safety measures are here to protect you and others, and every APG employee should feel confident in voicing their safety concerns to their supervisor or the APG safety team.

There is nothing more valuable than your health and life! Safety will NEVER be sacrificed to save time or money, no matter what.

BE SAFE, EVERYONE!

Facing one of the most stunning coastlines in the United States, the JW Marriott on Clearwater Beach is currently under construction. Developed by Kiran Patel and managed by Moss Construction, this luxury hotel will feature 162 guest rooms and an additional 36 residences. APG Project Superintendent Josh Falini has 
led the charge in the field and has done a phenomenal job of keeping up with a constant flow of design changes and an aggressive construction schedule. 

Standing tall at 16 levels and sprawling nearly 450,000 square feet, the new JW Marriott will feature unmatched amenities, including an elevated 11th-floor swimming pool and bar, a full-service spa, meeting rooms, flexible ballrooms, a gym, and an oceanfront restaurant with private dining. An emergency standby generator will keep things running during Florida’s stormy season, and designer finishes throughout will ensure that this building becomes a go-to destination for tourists from around the world.

As concrete was poured for each level, Josh and his team stayed ahead of the game by installing nearly 15 miles of conduit in the slabs. Because of this pre-planning and coordination, the majority of our homerun 
wiring was able to be pulled in before walls were laid out. A topping-off party was held on January 7, and the project has been progressing by leaps and bounds this past month. Electrical panels are already on the walls with homeruns terminated, and permanent power was brought online far ahead of schedule. Trim-out is starting in guest rooms on the lower levels, and with paint going on the walls, everything is starting to take shape! The installation of a highly complex lighting control system and many thousands of feet of specialty 
light fixtures is still ahead, with a projected completion date of February 2023. 

As Moss Construction’s contractor of choice, we are grateful for the opportunity to participate in this exciting project. Moss’ Senior Project Manager Tyler Harper and Project Manager Brock Troutman are true professionals and we appreciate their hard work in successfully coordinating the efforts of APG and dozens of other contractors on the job. 

We’d also like to thank Josh Falini for his exceptional work and skill on the job; it’s extraordinary to see what’s being accomplished by a relatively small crew. A special thanks to Senior Project Manager Ted Maczuga and Project Manager Jonathan Henley for supporting Josh’s team behind the scenes and helping to coordinate the work of the many APG groups on site. We are proud to be putting our mark on a signature building that will stand out on the Clearwater Beach skyline for decades to come. Be on the lookout for a project update 
when we finish early next year!

APG was founded in 1984 on the guiding principles of treating all employees fairly, taking care of our customers, and providing careers, not jobs. Many of you have worked at APG for decades, and it’s become a second home. It’s not uncommon to come to the Clearwater office on the weekend and see several employees washing their personal vehicles or borrowing ice chests, picnic tables, or tools needed for a home project. We love that you want to be here!

Over the years, we have adopted additional principles that guide our decision-making, but “Doing It Right” is an all-time favorite still in use today. Before his retirement, one of our original project managers, Scott Riedy, would say, “It takes just as much time to do it wrong as it does to do it right, so just ‘Do It Right!’” Several years ago, our official mission statement was written around that principle and emphasized the importance of maintaining  “…a passion for excellence and the desire to go above and beyond in serving our customers and each other. ” Lately, we’ve been hearing some of our employees refer to that kind of thinking as “The APG Way,” especially after being thanked for a job well done.

What is “The APG Way”?  

One relatively new employee, Senior Estimator Bryan LaFleur, made this comment: “When I was at my previous company, everyone had to watch their backs, but here, everybody has your back.” Recently, Senior Preconstruction Administrator Alicia Flounoy assisted someone with the photocopier and, after being thanked for stopping what she was doing to assist, she simply said, “Hey, it’s ‘The APG Way!’” This attitude certainly extends beyond the office. The craftsmanship of our field technicians is second to none, and we’re very proud of it. So proud, in fact, that it’s been suggested we tag lesser-quality work installed by our competitors at existing facilities with stickers that say “Not APG Work,” just to make sure our clients never think we’ve lowered our standards.    
​
All APG employees take so much pride in our work and in our relationships with our customers and each other that the phrase “The APG Way” fittingly describes our attitude and work ethic as a whole. With a challenging year behind us and as we jump into 2022 — CONGRATULATIONS to everyone on contributing to “The APG Way!”

The APG family had a fantastic time at our 37th annual picnic, held at Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure!

Everyone began arriving at 9 AM with smiling faces, sporting our APG team shirts. The morning started with sunshine and clear skies, and we could spot APG logos in every direction. With our best walking shoes on, we wasted no time getting to the attractions at both parks. Families filed into lines for superhero and movie-themed rides and played the many arcade and outdoor games at the park. At 12:00 PM, we met on the upper promenade of Universal CityWalk for a lunch buffet. There we enjoyed hot dogs, burgers, perfectly grilled chicken, salad, and desserts. With our plates piled high, we took our seats while the DJ played music and joked with APG team members as they walked by. Some of our favorite Universal characters paid a visit, and we had a great time taking pictures with them! The social media photo booth was a hit too. Attendees took photos with family and friends while the park’s stilt performers made colorful balloon art for the kids. With our bellies full, we were ready to power on through the afternoon to more rides and family fun!

Things got a little stormy in the afternoon, but we didn’t let the rain wash out our day of fun. Many of us hopped on to roller coasters and water rides at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Others made their way over to Universal Studios Florida to take advantage of the indoor attractions.

APG Preconstruction Estimator George Lambert’s kids wrote thank you cards after attending the picnic. Here are some snippets of what Carlson, Kelsey, and Madeleine had to say:

Thank you so much for organizing this great event for all the families.

The APG picnic is something I look forward to each year! I enjoy going to amusement parks with my dad’s work. Thank you for making this possible for us.

Thank you very much for always making the annual anniversary trip one to remember. I loved this year’s trip to Universal. All the rollercoasters were fun to ride. I always look forward to this trip.
​
We’re so glad that everyone had a great time! Thanks to all the employees and family members who attended our picnic this year, and a very special thank you to Bonnie Gerhart for arranging this wonderful event, and to her helpers, Averi Lew and Autumn Esker. We look forward to seeing you all again next year for more family fun.