02.06.2013 Views

open PDF in a new window - Austin Industries

open PDF in a new window - Austin Industries

open PDF in a new window - Austin Industries

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

THE SPAN<br />

Published for Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong> employee-owners s<strong>in</strong>ce 1925<br />

Issue 777<br />

February/March 2012<br />

100% Employee Owned<br />

www.aust<strong>in</strong>-<strong>in</strong>d.com<br />

F Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial lands <strong>new</strong> contract<br />

<strong>in</strong> New Mexico, pg. 2.<br />

F Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial completes large<br />

solar panel system <strong>in</strong> Phoenix, pg. 2.<br />

F Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial manages<br />

construction tasks through Vela<br />

software and iPads, pg. 3.<br />

F Aust<strong>in</strong> Bridge & Road completes<br />

roadway project <strong>in</strong> Navajo Nation, pg. 4.<br />

F Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial achieves safety<br />

milestone at Motiva ref<strong>in</strong>ery, pg. 5.<br />

F Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial employee-owners<br />

volunteer for charitable events, pg.6.<br />

F 401(k): Don’t let a loan hurt your<br />

sav<strong>in</strong>gs, pg. 8.<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Bridge & Road completes road work <strong>in</strong> Native American territory, pg. 4.<br />

Roadway and dra<strong>in</strong>age work was recently performed <strong>in</strong> the Navajo Nation <strong>in</strong> New<br />

Mexico and Arizona - the largest Native American land area <strong>in</strong> the United States.<br />

February/March 2012<br />

THE SPAN


2 • NEWS<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial<br />

lands <strong>new</strong> contract<br />

<strong>in</strong> New Mexico<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial recently<br />

transitioned about 50 <strong>new</strong><br />

employee-owners at two Holly-<br />

Frontier sites where the company<br />

will provide ma<strong>in</strong>tenance services.<br />

HollyFrontier is an <strong>in</strong>dependent<br />

energy company <strong>in</strong>volved with<br />

crude oil ref<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g and wholesale<br />

market<strong>in</strong>g of ref<strong>in</strong>ed petroleum<br />

products.<br />

With headquarters <strong>in</strong> Dallas,<br />

the company owns and operates<br />

five ref<strong>in</strong>eries with a total crude oil<br />

process<strong>in</strong>g capacity of 443,000 barrels<br />

a day.<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial is provid<strong>in</strong>g<br />

ma<strong>in</strong>tenance services at HollyFrontier’s<br />

Navajo Ref<strong>in</strong>ery <strong>in</strong> Artesia,<br />

New Mexico, and Lov<strong>in</strong>gton, New<br />

Mexico.<br />

A welcome d<strong>in</strong>ner was recently<br />

held <strong>in</strong> Artesia where workers and<br />

spouses learned about Aust<strong>in</strong>, its<br />

benefits and the transition process.<br />

“We were also pleased to <strong>in</strong>form<br />

those <strong>in</strong> attendance that we<br />

are proud to be work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Artesia<br />

Bulldogs territory,” said Jim Bruce,<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial operations manager<br />

The Bulldogs are the Artesia<br />

high school football team for which<br />

residents of the city take great<br />

pride. Dur<strong>in</strong>g football season, street<br />

names are replaced with the players’<br />

names.<br />

In addition to Bruce, other<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial employee-owners<br />

who attended the welcome d<strong>in</strong>ner<br />

<strong>in</strong>cluded John Bourgeois, Francisco<br />

Canepa, Roger Gossett, Earl High<br />

and Darbie Morris. s<br />

THE SPAN<br />

February/March 2012<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial recently <strong>in</strong>stalled more than 16,000 solar modules at the Sky Harbor International<br />

Airport <strong>in</strong> Phoenix.<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial completes five megawatts<br />

of solar electric capacity at Phoenix airport<br />

At the<br />

end of<br />

2011, Aust<strong>in</strong><br />

Commercial<br />

(assisted<br />

by Empire<br />

Southwest)<br />

<strong>in</strong>stalled more<br />

than five<br />

megawatts of<br />

solar electric<br />

capacity at<br />

Phoenix’s Sky<br />

Harbor International Airport.<br />

At the peak of construction,<br />

more than 200 workers were<br />

busy complet<strong>in</strong>g one of Arizona’s<br />

largest commercial solar panel<br />

systems. The team completed the<br />

project on-time despite hav<strong>in</strong>g a<br />

compressed project schedule of<br />

less than two months and multiple<br />

moratorium days. The system will<br />

help the airport reduce its energy<br />

consumption<br />

from<br />

the local<br />

utility,<br />

APS.<br />

The<br />

project was<br />

divided<br />

<strong>in</strong>to two<br />

systems<br />

located at<br />

the airport’s<br />

east<br />

economy park<strong>in</strong>g garage and rental<br />

car center. A total of 16,512 Sun-<br />

Power solar modules were <strong>in</strong>stalled<br />

between the two sites. More than<br />

4,000 modules (1.3 megawatts)<br />

connected to four <strong>in</strong>verters were<br />

<strong>in</strong>stalled at the east economy park<strong>in</strong>g<br />

garage, and more than 12,000<br />

modules (3.8 megawatts) connected<br />

to seven <strong>in</strong>verters were <strong>in</strong>stalled at<br />

the rental car center. s<br />

Core Value: Integrity


Super<strong>in</strong>tendents on the Parkland Hospital project use iPads to track construction checklists,<br />

punchlists and other construction tasks.<br />

‘There’s an app for that’: Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial uses<br />

Vela software to manage construction issues<br />

Note: Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial field and<br />

office staff are us<strong>in</strong>g a software named<br />

Vela through iPads to better manage<br />

construction issues. The Span talked to<br />

Ryan Evans, Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial project<br />

eng<strong>in</strong>eer on the Parkland Hospital project,<br />

about how this <strong>new</strong> technology is mak<strong>in</strong>g<br />

manag<strong>in</strong>g projects more efficient. (Aust<strong>in</strong><br />

Commercial is build<strong>in</strong>g Parkland as part<br />

of a jo<strong>in</strong>t venture, BARA, comprised of<br />

Balfour Beatty, Aust<strong>in</strong>, H. J. Russell and<br />

Azteca Enterprises.)<br />

Span: What is the Vela software?<br />

Evans: Named after a constellation,<br />

Vela is a web-based application<br />

that allows you to track<br />

multiple types of issues with a<br />

community of users. An issue is any<br />

task that is outstand<strong>in</strong>g. And you<br />

can assign responsibilty to any Vela<br />

user.<br />

Span: What does it do?<br />

Core Value: Performance<br />

Evans: Vela allows users to create<br />

and assign issues or outstand<strong>in</strong>g<br />

tasks to other users <strong>in</strong> the system. It<br />

also has the capability of creat<strong>in</strong>g<br />

checklist templates for use <strong>in</strong> quality<br />

control <strong>in</strong>spections. It can also<br />

allow equipment commission<strong>in</strong>g to<br />

be adm<strong>in</strong>istered.<br />

Span: How is Aust<strong>in</strong> us<strong>in</strong>g Vela?<br />

Evans: At Parkland, we are us<strong>in</strong>g<br />

Vela to track issues; and perform<br />

quality control <strong>in</strong>spections, equipment<br />

commission<strong>in</strong>g, and punch<br />

lists. There is a free iPad app (Vela<br />

Mobile) that allows users to perform<br />

all activities <strong>in</strong> the field.<br />

Span: Which Aust<strong>in</strong> projects use Vela?<br />

Evans: To my knowledge Methodist<br />

West Houston, Tarrant County<br />

College, Museum Tower, W Hotel<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> and Parkland all are us<strong>in</strong>g<br />

Cont<strong>in</strong>ued on page 8.<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial<br />

w<strong>in</strong>s Project of Year<br />

award from ASA<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial was<br />

awarded a Project of the<br />

Year award (between $5 million<br />

and $15 million) by the<br />

American Subcontractors Association<br />

(ASA) for the Methodist<br />

Sugar Land Hospital<br />

Level Renovation 6 project.<br />

Several obstacles were<br />

overcome dur<strong>in</strong>g the five<br />

months of hospital renovation:<br />

a significant amount of<br />

under-floor plumb<strong>in</strong>g work<br />

to facilitate program changes<br />

on Level 6; the relocation of<br />

medical gas and domestic water<br />

risers for the east tower; the<br />

challenge of work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a fully<br />

occupied hospital; the need for<br />

all deliveries to be on pallets<br />

and shr<strong>in</strong>k wrapped; and all<br />

material handl<strong>in</strong>g/deliveries by<br />

subcontractors had to be made<br />

before 7 a.m. and after 6 p.m.<br />

Headwall units (small<br />

reta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g walls placed at the<br />

outlet of a stormwater pipe or<br />

culvert) were prefabricated and<br />

shipped to the project, which<br />

took extensive coord<strong>in</strong>ation<br />

between Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial<br />

and its subcontractors.<br />

In spite of the complexities<br />

of the project, the renovation<br />

to Methodist Sugar Land Hospital’s<br />

Level 6 was completed<br />

under budget and three weeks<br />

ahead of schedule. s<br />

February/March 2012<br />

3 •NEWS<br />

THE SPAN


4 • Performance<br />

THE SPAN<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Bridge & Road builds roads <strong>in</strong> Navajo Nation<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Bridge & Road recently<br />

completed a project<br />

<strong>in</strong> the Navajo Nation with<br />

the Navajo Hous<strong>in</strong>g Authority<br />

<strong>in</strong> New Mexico and Arizona.<br />

The project <strong>in</strong>volved the<br />

design and construction of<br />

roadway and dra<strong>in</strong>age improvements,<br />

along with the<br />

addition of speed bumps, <strong>in</strong><br />

10 communities with<strong>in</strong> the<br />

Native American territory.<br />

Several months <strong>in</strong>to the job,<br />

the Navajo Nation was granted<br />

additional funds from the<br />

Bureau of Indian Affairs for<br />

improvements to 10 additional<br />

communities across the two<br />

states, and Aust<strong>in</strong> contracted separately<br />

for work <strong>in</strong> three more communities.<br />

The <strong>new</strong> work <strong>in</strong>creased<br />

the orig<strong>in</strong>al $3.2 million contract to<br />

$5.3 million.<br />

To perform the work, the<br />

Southwest regional office of Aust<strong>in</strong><br />

Bridge & Road teamed up with<br />

local Native-American contractor,<br />

Arrow Indian Contractors; and<br />

eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g firm, Michael Baker.<br />

To hire Native American work-<br />

February/March 2012<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Bridge & Road recently completed a project for roadway<br />

work <strong>in</strong> Navajo Nation, a Native American territory, spann<strong>in</strong>g two<br />

states, Arizona and New Mexico. A luncheon was hosted by the<br />

construction team for officials of Navajo Nation and the Navajo<br />

Hous<strong>in</strong>g Autbority to celebrate the on-time completion.<br />

ers for the job, Aust<strong>in</strong> held job fairs<br />

<strong>in</strong> Navajo Nation, advertised on<br />

Navajo radio stations and targeted<br />

local residents with flyers.<br />

To celebrate the on-time, successful<br />

completion of the job, the<br />

project team hosted a luncheon at a<br />

local restaurant and <strong>in</strong>vited officials<br />

from the Navajo Nation and the<br />

Navajo Hous<strong>in</strong>g Authority. Aust<strong>in</strong><br />

team members <strong>in</strong>cluded Jerod Teller,<br />

project super<strong>in</strong>tendent; Stuart<br />

Black and Randy L<strong>in</strong>iger,<br />

super<strong>in</strong>tendents; Don Davis,<br />

preconstruction manager;<br />

Brad Folczyk, project coord<strong>in</strong>ator;<br />

and Deanna Millar,<br />

field office manager.<br />

Navajo Nation is a Native<br />

American-governed<br />

territory cover<strong>in</strong>g more<br />

than 27,000 square miles. It<br />

occupies all of northeastern<br />

Arizona, the southeastern<br />

portion of Utah and northwestern<br />

New Mexico. It is<br />

the largest Native American<br />

land area with<strong>in</strong> the United<br />

States. It was established<br />

accord<strong>in</strong>g to the Treaty<br />

of 1868 and expansion cont<strong>in</strong>ued<br />

through 1934.<br />

The discovery of oil on its land<br />

<strong>in</strong> the 1920s prompted the need for<br />

a more systematic government. A<br />

tribal government was established<br />

to work with oil companies that<br />

wanted to lease Navajo land for<br />

exploration. The government was<br />

reorganized <strong>in</strong> 1991 as a threebranch<br />

system - executive, legislative<br />

and judicial. s<br />

Core Value: Responsibility


5 • PERFORMANCE<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial reaches two million safe hours at Motiva<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial employee-owners<br />

on the<br />

Crude Expansion Project<br />

(CEP) at the Motiva Port<br />

Arthur Ref<strong>in</strong>ery set a safety<br />

milestone on January 4.<br />

Workers celebrated two million<br />

safe work hours without<br />

a recordable <strong>in</strong>jury and<br />

3.2 million safe work hours<br />

without a lost-time <strong>in</strong>jury.<br />

The last OSHA recordable<br />

was on August 7, 2010.<br />

Nick Smallwood with<br />

Motiva, and Bob Foster and<br />

Chris Pulver with the Bechtel<br />

Jacobs Jo<strong>in</strong>t Venture presented<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> with awards<br />

for this safety achievement.<br />

Management from Aust<strong>in</strong>,<br />

Motiva and Bechtel Jacobs<br />

commended the workers<br />

for their cont<strong>in</strong>ued efforts<br />

toward quality and safety.<br />

Dur<strong>in</strong>g the safety<br />

celebration that <strong>in</strong>cluded a<br />

shrimp and catfish lunch,<br />

the rock band, “The Band<br />

with No Name,” comprised<br />

of CEP employees, enter-<br />

Core Value: Safety<br />

The 1,100 Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial employee-owners at this Motiva ref<strong>in</strong>ery <strong>in</strong><br />

Port Arthur, Texas, recently achieved a significant safety milestone.<br />

From left: Joe McKee, senior projects director, and John Brightwell,<br />

health, safety and environmental manager, are presented with a plaque<br />

commemorat<strong>in</strong>g Aust<strong>in</strong>’s safety achievement by Nick Smallwood, Motiva’s<br />

project manager on the CEP project.<br />

The Band with No Name (left photo),<br />

comprised of Motiva CEP employees,<br />

performed bluesy rock and roll dur<strong>in</strong>g<br />

the recent safety celebration at the Motiva<br />

Port Arthur Ref<strong>in</strong>ery while workers<br />

were treated to a catfish and shrimp<br />

lunch (right photo).<br />

ta<strong>in</strong>ed the crowd with their<br />

bluesy rock follow<strong>in</strong>g the<br />

awards ceremony.<br />

After complet<strong>in</strong>g<br />

two units at this ref<strong>in</strong>ery,<br />

Motiva asked Aust<strong>in</strong><br />

Industrial to help with<br />

pre-commission<strong>in</strong>g work.<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial’s 1,100<br />

employee-owners at the<br />

site are now assist<strong>in</strong>g with<br />

pre-commission<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />

all discipl<strong>in</strong>es - scaffold<strong>in</strong>g,<br />

<strong>in</strong>sulation, pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g,<br />

electrical, mechanical and<br />

pip<strong>in</strong>g.<br />

When this CEP project<br />

is completed, the Motiva<br />

Port Arthur Ref<strong>in</strong>ery<br />

will be the largest <strong>in</strong> the<br />

United States.<br />

Motiva is a jo<strong>in</strong>t venture<br />

between Shell and<br />

Saudi Arabia Ref<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g.<br />

It ref<strong>in</strong>es, distributes and<br />

markets oil products <strong>in</strong> the<br />

eastern and southern U.S.<br />

The company owns and<br />

operates three ref<strong>in</strong>eries <strong>in</strong><br />

Texas and Louisiana. s<br />

February/March 2012<br />

THE SPAN


6 • Community serviCe<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial employee-owners give back to their community<br />

THE SPAN<br />

February/March 2012<br />

Employee-owners at ConocoPhillips<br />

Employee-owners at the ConocoPhillips site <strong>in</strong><br />

Ponca City, Oklahoma, were <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> multiple<br />

charitable events last year. Coat drive - Employee-owners’<br />

donated 90 coats to a local church<br />

that then distributed them among needy families.<br />

Playground - Aust<strong>in</strong> employee-owners braved<br />

cold weather on a Saturday to assist Conoco Phillips<br />

build a playground at the Ponca City Lake. Volleyball<br />

for March of Dimes - The Aust<strong>in</strong> team took<br />

second and third place <strong>in</strong> a volleyball tournament<br />

benefitt<strong>in</strong>g the March of Dimes. s<br />

Employee-owners participate <strong>in</strong> Candlelighters banquet;<br />

Br<strong>in</strong>g cheer to ‘adopted’ familes at Christmas<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial employee-owners <strong>in</strong> the<br />

Houston area participated <strong>in</strong> the Candlelighters<br />

event dur<strong>in</strong>g Christmas. It was created to help<br />

give families with a sick child (normally cancer) a<br />

wonderful Christmas. This year Aust<strong>in</strong> adopted 12<br />

families. More than 300 gifts were purchased by<br />

employee-owners. All the gifts, plus donated money,<br />

totaled more than $7,000. Participat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the<br />

event were workers from the home office, equipment<br />

yard, employment office, and the Lubrizol,<br />

Bayer, Exxon, Baker Petrolite, Oxyv<strong>in</strong>yls, Total,<br />

Lyondell Ref<strong>in</strong>ery and Lyondell Bayport sites.<br />

“No one deserved a great Christmas more<br />

than these children, and I am so proud we helped<br />

give them that,” said Paige Clark of Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial<br />

who helped organize the event. s<br />

Core Value: Employee-ownership


Aus t i n Br i d g e & ro A d<br />

Promotions<br />

Alexis Briggs, to account<strong>in</strong>g supervisor<br />

for equipment operations<br />

Joanna Nguyen, to controller<br />

New Employee-owners<br />

Adalberto Baca, foreman, North<br />

Texas<br />

Richard Crosby, senior project manager,<br />

North Texas<br />

Just<strong>in</strong> Ebersole, eng<strong>in</strong>eer 1, North<br />

Texas<br />

Archie Lark<strong>in</strong>, foreman, North Texas<br />

Chris Leahy, assistant project manager,<br />

North Texas<br />

Todd Wilson, eng<strong>in</strong>eer 2, Southeast<br />

Aus t i n Co m m e r C i A l<br />

Promotions<br />

Ruben Arias, to project adm<strong>in</strong>istrator,<br />

University of Texas<br />

Southwestern Medical Center<br />

(UTSWMC)<br />

Chris Harren, to project manager,<br />

Rice Unversity<br />

Rick Moore, to senior MEP coord<strong>in</strong>ator,<br />

Tr<strong>in</strong>ity Heart<br />

Marti Morton, to assistant field office<br />

manager, Phoenix district office<br />

Kyle Priesmeyer, to super<strong>in</strong>tendent<br />

II, Methodist Sugar Land<br />

Rehired<br />

Marcus Ruiz, super<strong>in</strong>tendent I,<br />

Museum Tower<br />

New Employee-owners<br />

Beau Beaupre, office eng<strong>in</strong>eer,<br />

COP aviation signage<br />

Trenton Beeler, safety representation,<br />

UTSWMC<br />

Richard Brooks, super<strong>in</strong>tendent<br />

II, California<br />

Chip Buchan, senior super<strong>in</strong>tendent,<br />

California district office<br />

Jeff Featherston, PE-BIM coord<strong>in</strong>ator,<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> district office<br />

Les Goolsby, super<strong>in</strong>tendent II,<br />

California<br />

Jeff Graham, super<strong>in</strong>tendent I,<br />

California<br />

Stephen Gulfoile, estimator PM,<br />

California<br />

Brett Krause, office eng<strong>in</strong>eer,<br />

Charlton Methodist<br />

Denzil Lee, super<strong>in</strong>tendent II, California<br />

Casey Plummer, project eng<strong>in</strong>eer,<br />

Museum Tower<br />

Jeff Sasich, super<strong>in</strong>tendent II,<br />

California<br />

Gabriel Slye, assistant super<strong>in</strong>tendent<br />

I, HMS host, Arizona<br />

Randy Stephenson, senior project<br />

manager, California district office<br />

Mary Welch, market<strong>in</strong>g assistant,<br />

California district office<br />

Diversity Award<br />

Simeon Terry was recently named<br />

to the Champions of Diversity list<br />

for 2012 by DiversityBus<strong>in</strong>ess.com.<br />

The list is determ<strong>in</strong>ed by nom<strong>in</strong>ations<br />

submitted by peers with<strong>in</strong> the<br />

diversity practitioner community.<br />

Wedd<strong>in</strong>g<br />

Congratulations to Nicole He<strong>in</strong>le<br />

on her January 14 marriage to Just<strong>in</strong><br />

Simone.<br />

New Arrival<br />

Josh Burress, a son, Nathan Michael,<br />

born December 28.<br />

In Memoriam<br />

Sympathy is extended to Brett<br />

Edmondson whose father, Thomas<br />

Edmondson, died January 7.<br />

Sympathy is also extended to<br />

John Heise whose mother died<br />

January 3.<br />

Aus t i n <strong>in</strong> d u s t r i A l<br />

New Employee-owner<br />

Brandy Reed, adm<strong>in</strong>istrative assistant<br />

In Memoriam<br />

Sympathy is extended to Chuck<br />

Daniels whose mother died Jan. 6.<br />

Sympathy is extended to Reygan<br />

Farris whose grandmother died<br />

December 30.<br />

7 • people<br />

Sympathy is extended to Fred<br />

Gertzel whose wife died recently.<br />

Sympathy is extended to Gene<br />

Sanders whose brother died December<br />

8.<br />

Sympathy is also extended to the<br />

family of Charlie Williams who<br />

died December 11.<br />

Aus t i n <strong>in</strong> d u s t r i e s<br />

Promotion<br />

Valerie Adair, to controller, corporate<br />

f<strong>in</strong>ancial services<br />

Role change<br />

Dana Bartholomew, to corporate<br />

f<strong>in</strong>ance adviser provid<strong>in</strong>g strategic<br />

support to the operat<strong>in</strong>g companies<br />

Open Door and Aust<strong>in</strong><br />

Hotl<strong>in</strong>e merge <strong>in</strong>to one<br />

<strong>in</strong>dependent, third-party<br />

resolution process<br />

The Open Door and Aust<strong>in</strong><br />

Hotl<strong>in</strong>e dispute resolution<br />

processes have been comb<strong>in</strong>ed.<br />

All Open Door issues should be<br />

directed to the Aust<strong>in</strong> Hotl<strong>in</strong>e<br />

number, (800) 880-4991.<br />

Now called the Aust<strong>in</strong> Open<br />

Door Hotl<strong>in</strong>e, all calls are answered<br />

24 hours, seven days a<br />

week, by an <strong>in</strong>dependent third<br />

party.<br />

Employee-owners can call<br />

this one toll-free number to<br />

report <strong>in</strong>appropriate or unethical<br />

activity or to get assistance with<br />

work-related compla<strong>in</strong>ts or questions.<br />

The decision to comb<strong>in</strong>e the<br />

programs <strong>in</strong>to one was meant to<br />

lessen employee-owner confusion<br />

as to which number to call and<br />

for what purpose, and to make<br />

the process more efficient. s<br />

February/March 2012<br />

THE SPAN


8 • Feature<br />

Request<strong>in</strong>g a loan from your<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> 401(k) plan may seem<br />

like a good idea, but it may reduce<br />

the retirement sav<strong>in</strong>gs that you<br />

have worked hard to accumulate.<br />

Before tak<strong>in</strong>g a loan from your<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> 401(k) plan, consider all of<br />

your f<strong>in</strong>ancial options and the effect<br />

the loan can have on your future<br />

comfort and sav<strong>in</strong>gs. Tapp<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to<br />

your sav<strong>in</strong>gs for short-term expenditures<br />

rarely offsets the long-term<br />

consequences.<br />

Before tapp<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to your Aust<strong>in</strong><br />

401(k) plan sav<strong>in</strong>gs, ask these questions:<br />

(Cont<strong>in</strong>ued from page 3.)<br />

or have used Vela. It really comes<br />

down to cost when consider<strong>in</strong>g us<strong>in</strong>g<br />

it for a project. I would recommend<br />

it for all projects.<br />

Span: What are the benefits?<br />

Evans: All issues, checklists,<br />

punchlists, etc., that you create <strong>in</strong><br />

Vela are available <strong>in</strong> a searchable<br />

format to all project-specific users.<br />

For example, if you are the drywall<br />

subcontractor you can log <strong>in</strong>to Vela<br />

and run a report of all outstand<strong>in</strong>g<br />

issues that apply only to your<br />

company. This allows the different<br />

trades to focus on their tasks without<br />

be<strong>in</strong>g distracted by all the other<br />

issues. Conversely, as the general<br />

contractor we can use this data to<br />

determ<strong>in</strong>e such th<strong>in</strong>gs as who is<br />

fall<strong>in</strong>g beh<strong>in</strong>d and who is do<strong>in</strong>g a<br />

good job. s<br />

THE SPAN<br />

The Aust<strong>in</strong> Advantage 401(k) Plan<br />

Don’t let a loan hurt your sav<strong>in</strong>gs THE SPAN<br />

• Vela software manages<br />

construction tasks<br />

February/March 2012<br />

• Am I liv<strong>in</strong>g with<strong>in</strong> my means?<br />

• Is this money really that important?<br />

• Can the money come from another<br />

source?<br />

• Do I want to sacrifice part of my<br />

paycheck to pay off the loan?<br />

• Will I wish that I had this money<br />

at retirement?<br />

• What if I leave Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong>?<br />

The after-effects<br />

Is it a good idea to request a loan?<br />

Consider:<br />

• You reduce the amount of sav<strong>in</strong>gs<br />

available to grow and compound.<br />

• You may have to work longer to<br />

make up lost ground.<br />

• If you leave Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong>, you<br />

have to pay off your entire balance<br />

with<strong>in</strong> 90 days <strong>in</strong> order to avoid a<br />

taxable distribution.<br />

• You must pay fees, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g a<br />

one time loan application fee ($35<br />

when apply<strong>in</strong>g onl<strong>in</strong>e or through<br />

the VOICE® Network, $85 when<br />

apply<strong>in</strong>g by phone with personal<br />

assistance from a Vanguard associate),<br />

and an annual ma<strong>in</strong>tenance<br />

fee of $20. And these fees can not<br />

be paid by check; <strong>in</strong>stead, they’re<br />

swept from your account balance,<br />

reduc<strong>in</strong>g your assets even more.<br />

Get all the facts<br />

You can get even more <strong>in</strong>formation<br />

by go<strong>in</strong>g to vanguard.com anytime<br />

or by call<strong>in</strong>g a Vanguard Participant<br />

Services associate at (800)<br />

523-1188 from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.<br />

Central time. s<br />

All <strong>in</strong>vest<strong>in</strong>g is subject to risk.<br />

Vanguard.com and VOICE are trademarks of The<br />

Vanguard Group, Inc.<br />

© 2012 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights<br />

reserved. Used with permission.<br />

Au s t i n <strong>in</strong>dustr ies<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Bridge & Road<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial<br />

Kay Bishop......................Editor<br />

The Span is published bimonthly by<br />

the corporate communications department<br />

for Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong> employee-owners.<br />

Address all correspondence to:<br />

The Span<br />

Communications Dept. • P.O. Box 1590<br />

Dallas, Texas 75221<br />

e-mail <strong>in</strong>formation to:<br />

kbishop@aust<strong>in</strong>-<strong>in</strong>d.com<br />

www.aust<strong>in</strong>-<strong>in</strong>d.com<br />

© 2012 by Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong>, Inc.<br />

An Equal Opportunity Employer<br />

An <strong>in</strong>tense concern for the development, success and<br />

well-be<strong>in</strong>g of all Aust<strong>in</strong> people... And an unrelent<strong>in</strong>g<br />

emphasis on performance.<br />

Build<strong>in</strong>g on the base of our proud past, we’re<br />

now creat<strong>in</strong>g our own future. We’re determ<strong>in</strong>ed to<br />

build a truly great company on the foundation of our<br />

commitment to people and performance. That’s our<br />

mission. That’s the Aust<strong>in</strong> Advantage.<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Open Door Hotl<strong>in</strong>e<br />

(800) 880-4991<br />

The Aust<strong>in</strong> Open Door Hotl<strong>in</strong>e is Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong>’<br />

dispute resolution process. Employeeowners<br />

have access to facilitators who can assist<br />

with work-related compla<strong>in</strong>ts or questions.<br />

Report <strong>in</strong>appropriate or unethical activity at<br />

this toll-free number. All calls are answered by<br />

an <strong>in</strong>dependent third party.<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Bridge & Road<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Commercial<br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong><br />

Aust<strong>in</strong> Industrial<br />

All calls are confidential.<br />

It is the policy of Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong> to afford equal employment<br />

opportunity to all qualified applicants and<br />

employee-owners without regard to race, age, sex,<br />

religion, national orig<strong>in</strong>, veteran status or disability with<br />

or without reasonable accommodation. Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong><br />

complies to the fullest extent with the Civil Rights Act of<br />

1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Immigra -<br />

tion Reform and Control Act of 1986 and other applicable<br />

regulations. It is the policy of Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong> to ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><br />

and ensure a work environment that is free of harassment,<br />

<strong>in</strong>timidation and coercion at all locations, and <strong>in</strong> all facilities<br />

where employee-owners are assigned to work.<br />

© 2012 by Aust<strong>in</strong> <strong>Industries</strong>

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!