Howard Shockey & Sons News
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Download the ready. set. BUILD. Newsletters By Rebecca Layne | The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER - A local contracting company has earned national attention for its success.
Howard Shockey & Sons Inc. of 1057 Martinsburg Pike (U.S. 11) is ranked as the 78th-largest designbuild contractor in the nation, according to Engineering News-Record's (ENR) list of Top 100 Design-Build Firms.
The criteria for being ranked are based on combined contracting and design revenue. Engineering News-Record is a weekly magazine that provides construction- related news worldwide and annual lists of the largest construction and engineering fir ms.
Design-build is a construction project delivery system in which design and construction aspects are performed by a single entity. The system is used to reduce the delivery schedule by overlapping the design and construction phases of a project.
"To be included in the Top 100 Design/ Builders in the United States is humbling," wrote Jeff Boehm, Shockey vice president, in an e-mail.
We, at Shockey, are such believers in this delivery model - and we have been for decades. It is exciting that public and private owners are now seeing the advantages it provides to them, " he said.
Examples of the company's design- build projects include the City of Manassas Park Community Center and the Winchester Medical Center parking garage. Shockey was not on last year's ENR list.
Howard Shockey & Sons Inc. is a member of the Shockey Cos., which provides general contracting, design/ build, construction management, and precast and ready-mixed concrete to the mid-Atlantic region.
Other Shockey projects include the East and West Warren County high schools; Winchester Medical Center Amherst Campus (original facility); the George Washington Autopark; and renovations to Stephens City United Methodist Church.
The company is now building the 161,000- square- foot Clarke County High School, for which it bid $23.3 million.
Don Cooper is the chief executive officer. Howard Shockey & Sons Inc., a 114-year old general contracting and construction management firm, provides construction services in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland - with a focus on health care, commercial, industrial and public/private partnership opportunities.
Roanoke, VA -- The Western Virginia Regional Jail received its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Howard Shockey & Sons was the general contractor for the project. AECOM was the design firm for the project.
The Western Virginia Regional Jail is a state-of-the-art, 265,000 square-foot correctional facility which was constructed to relieve overcrowded conditions in the local jails of the four localities that make up the Western Virginia Regional Jail Authority.
Environmental features were incorporated in the regional jail's design to minimize the jail's impact on its site which is adjacent to the Roanoke River in the Dixie Caverns area of Roanoke County, and LEED certification was sought in recognition of the jail's environmentally-friendly design.
Two of the jail's more significant environmental features promote water conservation:
* A roof drainage system which works in conjunction with a storm-water recycling system to provide water for the regional jail's laundry operations. This rain-water harvesting system is estimated to conserve approximately 4.3 million gallons of water annually.
* A vacuum-assisted waste system which reduces water consumption and prevents inmates from damaging the facility by allowing staff to monitor and control individual components of the system. The water savings of this feature are estimated to be 6.1 million gallons annually.
Constructing a building to LEED standards can increase construction costs up to 5 percent; however, AECOM was able to incorporate the chosen "green" features in the regional jail's design so that project costs increased only 1.2 percent. A majority of the regional jail's green features should pay for themselves within the first five years of the jail's operation.
The jail's innovative green design was awarded the 2009 Real Estate and Construction Review Northeast Green Building of America Award and a 2010 American Council of Engineering Companies Virginia Honor Award in the Building/Technology/Structural Systems category for its plumbing design.
The Western Virginia Regional Jail is a partnership of the counties of Franklin, Montgomery, and Roanoke and the city of Salem.
The design firm for the project was AECOM; a global firm with offices in Roanoke, Virginia. The contractor is Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., a Virginia-based general contractor. The regional jail is the first correctional facility in Virginia to receive LEED certification and one of the first in the United States.
Source: Blue Ridge Business Journal, author Michelle Skeen
Construction Under Way on $30M Hospital in Berkeley Springs
By Christine Miller Ford, The State Journal
BERKELEY SPRINGS -- The spectacular $10 million downtown courthouse won't be Morgan County's newest superstructure for long. Work has begun on a modern hospital and medical office building that patients are expected to occupy by 2012.
The $30 million complex on an 80-acre site just outside of town will replace War Memorial Hospital, which dates to the 1940s and employs more than 160 full- and part-time workers.
Valley Health, the Winchester, Va.,-based medical provider that had operated War Memorial for two decades, won the OK earlier this year to construct the new facility.
The West Virginia Health Care Cost Review Authority gave the go-ahead after listening to objections from West Virginia University Hospitals-East during an October hearing on the matter.
The hospitals new, 85,000-square-foot facility on Fairview Drive will be about 1.5 miles from the current hospital. It will have 41 beds, the same as in the existing hospital, but Valley Health officials say the new hospital will include a host of upgrades - from the latest technologies and an expanded emergency room to improved accessibility for disabled residents and room for outpatient care, a health department and a senior center.
Based about 45 minutes from Berkeley Springs, Valley Health is a non-profit health system with 5,000 employees and nearly 500 physicians.
Its largest facility is Winchester Medical Center, and it operates three hospitals in Virginia, plus Hampshire Memorial Hospital in Romney.
Howard Shockey & Sons Inc. of Winchester is the company handling construction. It's the same company responsible for the new hospital in Romney that got under way last year.
Valley Health and War Memorial Hospital officials broke ground on a $30 million replacement hospital in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. The new hospital and medical office-building complex will be completed in the spring of 2012, following a 20-month construction schedule. The new 87,000 SF facility will offer 25 acute care/skilled beds and 16 long-term care beds, an expanded emergency department, more space for outpatient services, and upgraded technologies.
The complex will be "more accessible for patients and will incorporate more contemporary elements," said Mark H. Merrill, president and CEO of Valley Health. "It will be more welcoming to patients and their families by using more natural light and openness, and warm colors." The project is designed to achieve LEED silver certification from the US Green Building Council. The replacement hospital is being constructed on an 80.5-acre site along Fairview Drive in Berkeley Springs, approximately 1.5 miles from the current facility.
Valley Health began managing War Memorial for Morgan County in 1989, and in 2010 acquired the hospital. "The partnership among the Morgan County Commission, Valley Health, and the citizens of Morgan County can serve as a model for rural hospitals," said Chris Strovel, Eastern Panhandle field representative (on behalf of U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito.)
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc, of Winchester, VA is the Construction Manager. Perkins + Wills is the project architect.
" The team has worked together on many projects, but the new War Memorial Hospital is particularly exciting. Our employees and their families will directly benefit from these beautifully-designed facilities, " says Jeff Boehm, Vice President at Howard Shockey.
By Diane Nadler
The groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the new Clarke County high school is set for July 24, and site work begins July 26. Many people are still holding their breath. Those who have endured a decade of trial and error leading up to the construction hesitate to believe the school will be built without further bureaucratic snags. But if the reputation of the project's recently announced general contractor, Howard Shockey and Sons, is any hint - they can rest assured it will meet its 18-month deadline at the seemingly bargain-bid price of $23.3 million.
The 114-year-old company, located at 1057 Martinsburg Pike, is known for building schools on time and within budget. The company has worked on nearly every public school in the area over the past 50 years. That includes the construction of 11 schools for Frederick County - the newest of which is Greenwood Mill Elementary School. The company also built Frederick Douglass Elementary School for Winchester Schools, and did renovation work on three of the district's other facilities - including the $72 million renovation of Handley High School.
"They're definitely the heavyweight around here," said Kevin McKew, executive director of Winchester Schools. Shockey's history has helped the company build good relationships with subcontractors who they repeatedly work with, McKew said - which translates into projects that are completed on schedule and with few unexpected costs.
"You're with a company that knows how to solve problems," he said.
Shockey's work on Greenwood Mill, which finished last summer, is expected to come in under the guaranteed maximum price of $17.7 million, according to Steve Edwards, Frederick County's coordinator of policy, records management, and communications. The total cost for the project will become final within the next few months.
The new Clarke facility - a 161,000-square-foot structure to be built on 44 acres of a 58-acre parcel west of Battlefield Estates - will mark the third high school the company has built for the county. Not bad for a small district where few new schools are built.
"We've always gotten along well with the people over there," said Ralph Shockey, the 90-year-old son of the founder and chairman emeritus of the company's board. "And I think they've been satisfied with our work." The company built a high school for the county in 1954 which eventually became Johnson-Williams Middle School, as well as the current high school in 1987. The biggest compliment a business can receive is repeat customers, Shockey said. For Shockey, that is a common occurrence, "Because we treat them right and do the job properly," he added.
Howard Shockey and Sons, with a work force of 145 employees, reported $201 million in revenue in 2009. About half of the company's projects are for public entities. "We found we like the people that are involved with school systems and with the government," said Jeff Boehm, the company's vice president. "They're trying to fill a public need, and we find we like to help them fulfill that need."
The company's projects pepper all of the mid-Atlantic states, but Boehm said its broad range of influence has not pulled the business away from local work.
Company administrators have been eager to bid on the Clarke County project since the school division first started raising money for a new facility 10 years ago. They continued to have interest even after the previous School Board spent $3 million on architectural, engineering, and other fees associated with the once-preferred 71-acre "Salvation Army site" on Westwood Road - before it was abandoned. And even after the current School Board spent another $2.4 million to buy the Battlefield Estates parcel from Ketoctin Land Co.
"We've always wanted the project," Boehm said. "It's nice to work nearby because management can be more deeply involved in a project. And, of course, there's hometown pride, so it rolls together to make it an enjoyable project," he said.
Source: The Winchester Star
'Incredible' Bid Thrills School Chief
By Alex Bridges
BERRYVILLE - A weak construction market means big savings for Clarke County when it begins to build its new high school. The apparent low bid of $23.3 million was submitted by Winchester's Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc.
"The school community is elated," Clarke County Public Schools Superintendent Mike Murphy said by phone Friday. "We're looking forward to working with Shockey & Sons to bring this project to fruition."
The project calls for a 162,500-square-foot facility, according to the architect Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates Architects of Pennsylvania. The new school will have a capacity of 884 students and will replace the existing, overcrowded building built in 1987 for 450 students.
The new school is scheduled to open in time for the fall 2012, Murphy said. The project is on an 18-month construction window, he noted. The facility will be built on land adjacent to Business Va. 7 and the Battlefield Estates Subdivision.
As for a groundbreaking, Murphy said he had not finalized a date with Shockey. The School Board's community relations committee meets Tuesday to discuss the event that he said likely would happen at 10 a.m. on a Saturday in the near future.
"It's going to be a unique situation for a unique place," Murphy said. "We're actually going to invite every resident of Clarke County, and any surrounding counties as well, who has a shovel and can dig to come help us and we're going to have a community groundbreaking."
"We hope to have a thousand people there with their shovels to celebrate this long-awaited event," Murphy added.
Source: Northern Virginia Daily
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. appears to be the likely builder of Clarke County's new high school.
"Shockey is thrilled to have the opportunity to build another one of Virginia's public high schools - especially right here in our own backyard. We will give our very best effort to the school board," said Shockey Vice President, Jeff Boehm.
Shockey's positive local reputation and years of experience makes the slated July 9th contract award a near certainty for the Winchester builder. Bid amounts ranged between Shockey's $23.3M low to a high of nearly $25.9M. Before making a formal award Clarke County staff will evaluate all of the bids for compliance with the request for proposal specifications and for vendor qualifications. Approximately $29M of funding has been earmarked for the new facility.
School Board member, Janet Alger said that she was very pleased with the bid amounts. " It's exciting to have this come in within the budget for the new building," Alger said. "This is a tremendous step forward." Board of Supervisor Chairman Michael Hobert was also present for the bid response opening. " The bid amounts are very competitive and look very good for our community," Hobert said.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is one of Virginia's largest general contracting and construction management companies. The family-owned business provides construction services throughout the mid-Atlantic region and was founded in Winchester, Virginia in 1896. The firm is one of the oldest continuously operating building contractors in Virginia.
Source: Clark Daily News
By Kate Elizabeth Queram
When rising sophomore Paul Smith graduates from high school in 2013, his letterman jacket will sport three varsity letters - a blue-and-white "S" for Spotswood, and a black-and-red "ER" for East Rockingham. It will be an eclectic look, but for Smith, one of approximately 610 students who will attend the brand-new ERHS in the fall, that's kind of the point. "I think it'll look cool. I'm excited," he said.
Excitement was a prevalent emotion Sunday as Smith, along with about 20 other parents and students, toured their new $52.1 million academic home with Eric Baylor, the school's principal.
Familiar Layout
The 212,000-square-foot facility just outside Elkton is slated to be completed by July 1. It was built to relieve overcrowding at Spotswood, the county's oldest high school, according to school administrators.
Construction on the site, which ERHS shares with River Bend Elementary, began in the spring of 2008, according to Steve Reid, director of maintenance for county schools. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. of Winchester, Virginia is the general contractor.
And though the brand-new building boasts multiple upgrades - it has 76 classrooms, two gyms, three Mac and two PC labs and seven athletic fields, among other features - its layout should be familiar to most Rockingham County students. "We used a variation of the same plan for TA, Spotswood and Broadway," Baylor said. "They're all really similar, but they have made some modifications." For example, the bus and parent drop-off zones in front of the school are separate, which will help traffic flow and should minimize danger to pedestrians, Baylor said. "If you're dropping students off the bus, they don't ever have to intersect the students that are getting dropped off by their parents. As far as traffic flow goes, it's awesome," he said. "At the other schools, you let your students off and they have to walk in front of the buses."
The building also has a host of minor modifications, designed to enhance students' learning experience. For example, the technology classrooms are outfitted with power cords that dangle from the ceiling, allowing students to use tools and laptops in every part of the room, Baylor said.
In the auditorium, the lighting system is controlled with a touch-screen panel rather than switches. Backstage, there's a small garage door, so props and sets can be brought in from outside.
And the in-school suspension room now has its own restroom, so students won't wander the halls during a suspension term, Baylor said.
Eagle Pride
And the building's color scheme incorporates the school colors - red and black - and its eagle mascot whenever possible. Red-and-black tiles dot the walls and floor; red lockers line the hallways. Red-and-black acoustic padding hangs on the walls of the auditorium, choir and band rooms. The school pride extends to the state-of-the-art weight room, which boasts a black rubber floor with red flecks. The words "EAGLES STRENGTH" are cut into the top of the metal weight racks, and an ERHS logo decorates each weight bench. So far, according to athletic department staff, school spirit doesn't seem to be a problem for incoming students.
"People are really hyped up," said Dale Shifflett, a special education teacher who will help coach football and basketball at ERHS. "We've had kids touring, and I think after looking at the school, they're really excited about it." And while area students and parents are excited about the building and its upgrades, most say they're not interested in using the new school to trump Spotswood.
"This is not about one-upmanship," said Lisa Gooden, whose sons Joseph and Joshua will attend East Rockingham in the fall. "We have friends at Spotswood and we will continue to have friends there. It's not a 'we/they thing.'"
Gooden said the thing that excites her most about East Rockingham is its smaller size - and, of course, its proximity to their home in Elkton. "It's a better student-to-teacher ratio," she said. "With the total school population being under 1,000 - that's a good thing. ... We're just so excited to have something in our community."
Source: The Daily News Record
By Alex Bridges
The city's neediest people once stood in line waiting for food stamps and other help at the Winchester Department of Social Services. No longer, said the agency's director, Carla Taylor. Clients will receive services in a new facility that the department shares with the Child Advocacy Center and the Winchester-Frederick County Health Department in the former Snapp Foundry building at 411 N. Cameron St.
Howard Shockey and Sons, Inc. was the general contractor for the adaptive use project. The building, which was originally constructed in 1890, was renovated to U.S. Green Building Council LEED Silver standards, according to Eric Wishneff, of Brian Wishneff & Associates. The facility features a solar-powered water heater and recycled flooring material.
Our Health Inc. celebrated the building's restoration Wednesday with representatives of the tenant agencies, and local and state officials. "Oh, it's wonderful," Taylor said. "It's so comfortable. Our clients have the room and the dignity to be in a nice building. They say they feel respected when they come here."
Phase II added 34,000 square feet to Our Health's existing campus. "It's neat when you're in my position because you get to see the quiet agony on the front side of lots of projects and then you get to show up at the end for the celebration, and I think this is in fact a long-awaited celebration," state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Upperville, told the crowd. "I think that this is proof -- living proof -- that innovation and cooperation are alive and well in Winchester and our community."
Vogel lauded the project also as a sign of redevelopment in the downtown. "A building opening marks an important event, often, whether it's a school, club or church, whatever, but it's the services I think that counts here and what a better place to have the service-end than this -- a campus, the one-stop shopping convenience for our customers," said William Hazel, secretary of Virginia's Department of Health and Human Services. "But these are the folks who are an important part of our community, who have the needs that sometimes we can't manage in easy ways."
With the second phase of the Our Health Inc.'s expansion complete, the nonprofit group plans to enter the third phase by showing off its campus-style approach around Virginia, said Robert "Bob" Kendall, president emeritus of Our Health. Phase I included the buildings to the south of Baker Street, which house other nonprofit agencies under the Our Health umbrella. The Department of Social Services moved into the facility in January, followed by the Health Department and the Child Advocacy Center.
Enterprise Community Investments provided $10 million in New Markets tax credits for the project, according to information provided by Our Health.
Source: Northern Virginia Daily
By Rebecca Layne of the Winchester Star
Officials gathered Wednesday to celebrate the expansion of a local nonprofit health agency. The dedication at 24 Baker St. recognized the completion of the restoration of the Snapp Foundry, which expanded the campus of Our Health Inc. - a coalition of public and private health-care agencies.
With the restoration, 12 agencies are now located on one campus along Baker and Cameron streets. The expansion increased the number of people the agencies can serve from 5,000 to 15,000 annually, and provides clients easier access to a broad range of services.
"The campus gives an agency the ability to connect with others," said Bob Kendall, board chairman of Our Health, adding that it provides one-stop shopping for clients who need services from multiple agencies.
The restoration concluded Our Health's Community Campus Phase II Expansion project, which began in 2007. Phase II included the move of health and human services agencies into the newly renovated Snapp Foundry assembly facilities at 10 and 24 Baker and the foundry's former office building at 411 N. Cameron.
The Phase II construction, renovation, and relocation of the agencies cost about $10 million and covers about 34,000 square feet in building area. The property was financed by the sale of historic tax credits and through the New Market Tax Credit and Lending Program.
The project created about three dozen temporary construction jobs and will create an additional 89 permanent professional jobs.
The renovation of the building, completed in 2009, included a new ventilation system, plumbing, roof, and brick facade. The building has several green / environmentally friendly fixtures - a solar water heater on the roof, recycled flooring, a permeable concrete parking lot, and dual-flush toilets.
North Cameron Properties LLC and Our Health Community Enterprises Inc., a for-profit affiliate of Our Health, are the owners of the foundry building, which was built in 1890. Its assessed value is $3.1 million.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. was the general contractor for the Phase II portion. Phase I of the project was the construction of the $4.2 million facilities at 301-329 N. Cameron - completed in 2003. Phase III will include Our Health officials advocating a one-stop shopping health-care model across the state and throughout the nation. The total Our Health campus contains 60,000 square feet of space.
" This is living proof that innovation and cooperation are alive and well in Winchester," said state Sen. Jill Vogel, R-Upperville, who spoke at the dedication. This will improve the ease of access of services and the venue. Other dignitaries present at the dedication were Dr. William Hazel, Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Services; Mayor Elizabeth Minor; and City Manager Jim O'Connor. Our Health Inc. serves residents in Winchester and Frederick and Clarke counties.
ENR's Top 100 Design-Build Firms list, published annually by McGraw Hill, ranks the 100 largest U.S. design-build firms, both publicly and privately held, based on revenue derived from projects delivered using the design-build project delivery system.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is currently ranked #78 among the nation's largest design-build contractors, and is the second largest design-build company among the four firms listed from Virginia.
Shockey builds on a solid foundation of more than 114 years of construction experience. Founded in 1896, Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. - general contractor, design-builder, construction manager and public private partnerships - is part of a diversified construction organization offering quality general building construction, concrete materials supply and precast concrete building systems services to clients in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Engineering News-Record (ENR) is the industry standard for news on construction projects, activities, and trends across the United States.
By Tricia Lynn Strader
The new War Memorial Hospital will be state-of-the-art and eco-friendly, officials said at its groundbreaking ceremony Friday. It will be a more pleasant environment for patients, officials said, and the two-story building will be within easy steps of the level parking lot. There will be more handicapped parking, and added bicycle parking. Patient drop-off or outpatient services won't use the same entrance as ambulances, and departments that are used the most, like radiology, lab or medical records, will be a couple steps from the front door.
"We are trying to make it more accessible for patients and to incorporate more contemporary elements," said Mark H. Merrill, president and CEO of Valley Health. "We want to make it less sterile, using natural light and openness, and natural colors. There will be more private rooms, especially for long-term-care residents. We'll start out with similar size, but enhance diagnostics and have a larger emergency department."
The new hospital will have 25 beds for acute illness and rehab, and 16 beds for nursing and long-term care. Those are the same numbers as at the current hospital; but the new facility will be in a much more pleasant environment for the patients and staff, officials said. War Memorial President Neil McLaughlin said, "All rooms in the acute and rehab section will be private except two. There will be two private, and seven semi-private rooms in nursing and long-term care. The ER will have six dedicated single-patient exam rooms and two observation areas. The space will basically double. That will cut down on wait time."
Merrill continued, "And it will be a more conducive environment for our staff with technological changes. With the current building being built in 1950, there have been many changes, especially with the need to accommodate heat generating equipment like computers and diagnostic equipment. We need to make sure there's adequate ventilation."
Various departments will have state-of-the art equipment. Everything is digital now, but diagnostics departments will have updated equipment like newer X-ray machines and digital mammography. Currently, there is a mobile MRI unit. Merrill said if the demand is there, and it is fiscally responsible, a permanent MRI may be in the hospital's future. Also, the CT scanners will be newer. The current CT scanner is a "four slice," meaning it takes four pictures every half-second (versus an X-ray that takes one picture at a time). The new 32-slice CT scanner will take 32 pictures every half-second, allowing for more data in less time.
"We have designed systems for today's environment of electronics instead of trying to implement them in an older facility. Rather than taking a piece of paper from your doctor to us, they will be able to contact us and we'll be waiting for you to walk in the door. Reports can be sent back and forth electronically from us to your doctor or Winchester Medical Center, or City Hospital, for example."
McLaughlin said that in addition, the building project will be eco-friendly. He said it is designed to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. This means the facility meets stringent standards for the environmental sensitivity of site planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance. For example, water runoff will be reclaimed in a pond for use by fire hydrants. Using natural light as much as possible will lower electric bills. Eco-friendly parking spots are designated for hybrid or other alternative-fuel vehicles.
Architects for the project are Perkins & Wills. The engineers are Valley Engineering Surveying Planning. Project management is by Hammes Co., and construction is managed by Howard Shockey & Sons.
Source: The Martinsburg Journal
By Shawna Morrison, The Roanoke Times
When Lt. Roscoe Musselwhite began teaching Roanoke Police Academy classes in 1969, all he had was a room in the old WDBJ building on Kirk Avenue in downtown Roanoke. A federal grant allowed him to buy tables, chairs and one TV.
"We had a good police academy, just our space was cramped," Musselwhite, who retired in 1976, said Sunday as he stood in the new Roanoke Police Academy building on Barns Avenue. "It wasn't anything like this." Musselwhite said the academy he started out with could fit in one room of the 28,000-square-foot, $7.2 million facility, where an open house was held Sunday afternoon.
Officers guided visitors on tours of the building, including offices, an aquatic training center and a weight room. As he led a tour, investigator C.R. Dillon said all the lights in the building, including in the bathrooms, are activated by motion detectors. "Makes you feel like you've got some kind of superpower," he said.
Lt. Rick Morrison, the academy's director, said the academy began moving into the building last month. It will be used not only to train Roanoke officers but to host in-service training for other law enforcement agencies and seminars for businesses "to help us become more self-sufficient and generate cash flow."
It will also benefit other agencies, where tight budgets have made it difficult to find training opportunities, he said. One room that stands nearly empty will soon house a firearms simulator and a driving simulator, Dillon said. The polygraph room is soundproof to prevent interference from firearms training down the hall.
The firearms training room was Callie and Cameron Clary's favorite room in the building. "It's cool how they do that," said 9-year-old Cameron, whose dad, retired Roanoke police Detective Alexander "Smitty" Clary, now teaches criminal justice at ITT Technical Institute. "It was amazing," said Callie Clary, 14. "All the technology they have and all the things they can do here in the building."
Musselwhite said that after he taught academy classes at the WDBJ building, he taught them at the city water department and the Grand Piano and Furniture Co. building. Classes were most recently taught in a rented space at Jefferson Center. "We were very happy with what we had, considering we had nothing to start with," he said. "But this, this is amazing."
The Roanoke Police Academy was procured using the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act (PPEA) and was built by Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. of Winchester, Virginia.
Source: The Roanoke Times
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. announces that it has again been included on the Top 400 Contractors list by Engineering News-Record (ENR), the leading U.S. trade publication for the engineering and construction industry.
Ranked #284 on this year's list, Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is a 114-year old general contracting and construction management firm based in Winchester, Virginia. The firm provides construction services throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is one of the oldest continuously operating building contractors in Virginia. Shockey is a demonstrated leader in the delivery of public/private partnership and design-build projects; specialty areas include the medical, educational, commercial and industrial sectors. It is a member of The Shockey Companies, a privately held consortium of construction firms.
When Sharon Shaffer, an administrative assistant, has flu symptoms or a nagging cold, free medical care is a short walk down the hall in the office building of The Shockey Cos. She said employees like having the new wellness center in the company headquarters.
Now they can obtain the same type of routine checkups and care that their primary doctor's office provides without the wait, the co-pays, or out-of-pocket expenses. "It's nice because it is right here, and you don't have to cut too much into your workday," Shaffer said. After facing large medical claims in recent years, The Shockey Cos., a commercial construction firm, decided to establish a wellness center at its headquarters in Winchester and at its Fredericksburg office.
Staffed with a physician assistant in Winchester and a nurse practitioner in Fredericksburg, the centers offer certain types of primary care to employees. They can be examined and treated for mild illnesses such as flu viruses, ear infections, insomnia, and allergies, and even some minor injuries and cuts requiring simple sutures. The centers also offer preventive care services - such as monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol, and detecting diseases, such as diabetes, and cancer.
A significant investment And that's where company officials hope to see a return on their investment, said Scott Landis, director of human resources. "We're not looking to supplant people's primary-care physicians," he said. "We want to coordinate with them. So this is an extra set of eyes and ears to spot problems before they become big ones." Landis declined to reveal the amount the company paid to set up the two wellness centers. It was a significant investment, he said. We feel that if we can save on one large claim every three years, it's worth it. Some claims had been running as high as $250,000, Landis said, and most were for conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and heart problems that had reached advanced stages because initial symptoms had gone undetected. "We found about 30 percent of our workforce didn't go to the doctor on a regular basis," he said.
To encourage employees to use the wellness centers, Shockey is making it as convenient for them as possible. They don't have to make appointments, but can visit the centers on a walk-in basis while still on the clock. The firm also covers all expenses, including lab work for employees and their spouses and dependents over age 12. In contrast, employees with health insurance through The Shockey Cos. usually have to pay a $20 co-payment per visit to their primary doctor, in addition to meeting a $300 to $500 deductible - and then pay 10 percent of their bill while the company covers the rest, Landis said.
By not having to deal with health insurance forms, Rachel A. Carlson, one of three part-time physician assistants who alternate shifts at the Winchester office's wellness center, is able to concentrate more on the patients. "You can spend time with patients," she said. " We're purposely booking 30-minute appointments so we can cover all of their issues." Employees can also receive immediate care for symptoms and illnesses, instead of waiting days or weeks to see their primary physician.
Landis said all of Shockey's 500 employees will meet with the physician assistants to make them more comfortable with visiting the wellness center if a medical need arises. "This is all one-on-one time that's going to take place over the next few months, " he said. Employees can also e-mail the physician assistants with medical questions.
The wellness centers will also allow The Shockey Cos. to initiate company-wide health programs, said Lowell Henderson, chief executive officer of Premier Health Resources, the consulting firm that helped to establish the firm's wellness centers.
So far, employees seem to be receptive to the wellness center, according to Shaffer. " I don"t think I've heard one negative thing about it," she said. " All of the buzz I heard has been very positive. " Lee Ann Shenk, a human resources assistant at Shockey, said she likes the fact that services at the wellness center are free. But she said the bigger incentive to using the wellness center is the convenience of having it nearby.
"I think it's a great idea," Shenk said, "especially for people who just can't get away for doctor's appointments but can swing in here real quick. "
By Lorraine Halsted, The Winchester Star
Dozens of school children, parents and teachers in Montgomery County celebrated the ground breaking of a new school on Friday, April 30th. The future site of the Prices Fork Elementary School is located on the south end of Prices Fork Road, near the current school.
The new school is expected to be open for students in the Fall of 2011.
The project involves construction of a new elementary school on a 20-acre site, including associated play areas, access roads and utilities.
Teachers, parents and students offered input on the design of the 110,000-square-foot elementary school. The architect is Spectrum Design of Roanoke. The contractor is Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. of Winchester.
When the going gets tough, the tough expand and diversify. Such is the case with the Free Lance-Star Publishing Co., owner of the Free-Lance Star, a daily newspaper based in Fredericksburg. At a time when many other publications are facing declining revenue, the privately owned company recently launched a division called Print Innovators, which will operate a 92,000-square-foot printing plant.
The new plant, built by Winchester-based construction firm Howard Shockey & Sons Inc., replaces the Free Lance-Star's longtime production facility in downtown Fredericksburg.
In addition to handling printing for the Free Lance-Star, Print Innovators will also offer high-speed printing services to a niche market that includes other publications and commercial customers within a 600-mile radius of Fredericksburg. Its first outside customer is the Washington Examiner, a six-day-a-week newspaper in the Washington, D.C., area.
John Jenkins, operations director of Print Innovators, says that the new plant is among the fastest and most automated printing presses in North America, with the ability to produce 90,000 pages every hour. "Literally, based on the amount of pages that we can print and the amount of color that we can do at one time, there are maybe two other presses that I know of that are comparable," he says.
The printing division also will produce glossy brochures and other promotional products for customers, including the Free Lance-Star, which previously had to outsource its high-end advertising inserts to other printers.
RICHMOND, VA - Hundreds of people gathered on Wednesday evening, April 21, as the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate (GRACRE) announced the area's brightest real estate stars at Real Estate Stars 2010, The Ninth Annual Real Estate Awards Gala. The signature event, which was held at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, has become the preeminent event honoring outstanding real estate projects in the Greater Metropolitan Richmond region. The project winners were selected by an independent panel of judges. In 2010, GRACRE presented awards in 12 categories.
Howard Shockey is pleased to announce that the award for BEST R&D, FLEX, OR INDUSTRIAL PROJECT went to the GRTC Transit System Corporate Headquarters and Administration Facility, in Richmond, Virginia. Shockey is the general contractor on the facility; the architect is Gannett Fleming.
The new facility serves a fleet of approximately 188 buses (standard 40-foot buses as well as future articulated and over-the-road buses), paratransit vehicles, and vans, all of which serve the greater Richmond area. The new buildings house almost 500 employees working in operations, maintenance, and administration. The 12-acre site accommodate outdoor bus storage, a 16,700 SF administration facility (which will house all of GRTC operations), and a 107,900 SF maintenance facility. The maintenance facility includes fueling lanes; automatic bus washers; maintenance bays for inspections, trouble work, and light and heavy maintenance; and a body shop with a downdraft paint booth to accommodate articulated buses.
About the GRACRE Real Estate Awards
The award program was established in 2000 to recognize a single Metro Richmond area project - Renovated or Historic Rehabilitation, Multi-family, Institutional, Office Building, Recreational or Entertainment, Interior, Commercial or Retail - as the best in the Greater Richmond area. Beginning in 2007, the awards have grown to recognize myriad projects in individual real estate categories. GRACRE is the only organization in Richmond whose primary mission is to be an advocate for commercial property owners, developers, and related professionals.
Source: GRACRE
Spring Arbor of Winchester is an 80-unit, $10 million assisted living complex under construction on Northwestern Pike, just west of Winchester in Frederick County. The 73,000-square-foot facility is being built on a nine-acre site purchased for $3.78 million by Blacksburg-based real estate development company HHHunt. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is the general contractor.
Spring Arbor will have 60 assisted-living apartments available in eight sizes. They range from a 358-square-foot, one-bedroom studio to a 917-square-foot, two-bedroom deluxe. In addition to assisted living, Spring Arbor will offer dementia care with up to 20 specialized dementia units housed in a secure "cottage" area with a fenced courtyard.
At an assisted-living facility, residents are largely independent but may require help with bathing or dressing. Once fully occupied, Spring Arbor will have a staff of 40 to 45.
Developer HHHunt has more than 20 assisted-living facilities in locations throughout the Southeast.
Source: "Spring Arbor of Winchester, slated to open in September," by Cynthia Cather Burton, The Winchester Star
The latest installment of Mid-Atlantic Construction's annual Top Contractors ranking highlights 75 firms that collectively reported more than $18 billion in regional revenue. Even among top contractors, many with big backlogs, the effects of the recession began to take hold in 2009.
Top contractors are listed by state. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. ranks as the twelfth largest contractor in Virginia.
Source: Mid Atlantic Construction Magazine, McGraw Hill
Renovation work at Sunshine's Pride Dairy's cheese factory in Winchester is right on schedule. Norberto Bernabeu, who will manage the Quesos La Ricura Ltd. plant at 801 N. Kent St., says that it is still too early to set an exact opening date. However, he said the renovation project is on target for a mid- to late-June opening. "When you renovate a building," he said, " there is so much you don't know. "
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is the contractor for the renovation work at the 33,054-square-foot building, a project estimated to cost $9.5 million. Bernabeu said the work is going well. "We're very pleased with the general contractor, Shockey. They are very professional. "
Quesos La Ricura produces an array of cheeses and is based in Hicksville, N.Y. Bernabeu said the full line of the company's cheeses should be produced in the new facility. We're an offshoot factory to provide faster service and delivery to wholesalers, he said. The cheeses made in the local plant will be distributed throughout the country, according to Bernabeu. Bernabeu expects the company to begin work with 60 to 80 employees and gradually increase its workforce.
Source: Vic Bradshaw | The Winchester Star
For the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. recently constructed a new 92,000 sq. ft. newspaper and commercial printing facility. The plant features the First Goss Flexible Printing System (FPS) press in the United States, and is capable of newsprint as well as commercial printing, providing high quality color on every page at speeds up to 90,000 copies per hour.
John Jenkins, the plant's Operations Director, says "The Howard Shockey team has been incredible. It's been a very good relationship - the delivery of the building itself, the way Shockey has worked with us and coordinated with the out of town architect, it's been a very positive experience." The project was completed on time and under budget.
The state-of-the-art plant was designed with LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) objectives, although the project did not apply for certification. Green highlights of the project include:
- Plumbing and fixtures designed for more than 40% reduction in water use, compared to a similar printing facility
- White EnergyStar-compliant roof to reduce ambient temperature and avoid heat island effect
- Daylight harvesting system in production spaces, utilizing high performance skylights and dimmable light fixtures on daylight sensors, providing impressive energy savings as well as providing daylight for employees
- Material selections based on recycled content, local and regional manufacture, and low interior pollutant emission
- The site was designed to preserve existing wetlands, with maximized permeable areas and utilized surface filtration in swales to minimize the size of the detention required for stormwater.
The five-year, nearly $72 million renovation of the 1920s-era Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia will wind down in the coming months. The renovated school offers a modern, expanded learning environment that doesn't compromise the historic integrity of the landmark building.
Howard Shockey & Sons served as the construction manager for this project, comprised of 272,000 SF of historic renovation and a 40,000 SF addition. The largest construction challenge was the school district's mandate to keep the school operational at all times during the five year construction schedule. The phased renovation involved a complex sequencing puzzle, involving 1,200 students (plus faculty and staff) and 50+ contractor teams on site.
Outdoor landscaping and hardscaping will be the last major components left to complete. This spring, work began on the Handley project's fourth and final phase, which includes:
- Construction of a roughly 24,000-square-foot courtyard between the gymnasium and original school building.
- Landscaping on the hill behind the school.
VMDO of Charlottesville, VA is the project architect.
Source: Cynthia Cather Burton | The Winchester Star
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., based in Winchester Virginia, is pleased to announce that the company has moved up the rankings and now holds the #24 position among Top Contractors in the Mid-Atlantic region. Rankings are based on construction in place revenues.
Source: Mid-Atlantic Construction, Spring 2010 issue
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. promotes safety training and safety awareness on all projects, and is pleased to announce that Steven Utterback, Donnie Werdebaugh, Anthony Albright, J. P. Bousquet and Jack Rohrbaugh have completed the requirements for national certification as a Safety Trained Supervisor (STS.) This is the second class of certified STS accredited professionals; seven others were certified in 2009.
The Council on Certification of Health, Environmental and Safety Technologists awards the certification to individuals who meet rigorous experience and education requirements, including passing a comprehensive written exam. The written exam covers the body of knowledge supervisors must have to carry out their safety-related supervisory responsibilities and includes subjects such as hazard recognition and analysis, personal protective equipment, regulatory compliance and incident investigation.
Those who earn the STS certification are recognized as having met the demanding, peer-established competency requirements in supervision. "The STS certification provides a means for our clients to further verify our project managers' safety knowledge and out company's commitment to job-site safety," says Jeff Boehm, Vice President.
Howard Shockey & Sons has twice marked the safety milestone of one million safe hours. This achievement means that no employees missed work time due to injuries suffered on the job. Shockey demonstrates a commitment to safety excellence even before construction begins, with an emphasis on safety from the top down every day, with training and certification for workers and supervisors, and recognition for safe work.
"We've always spent a lot of time and energy on providing education for our employees, but in particular for our supervisors," says Chas Capitano, Environmental, Health and Safety Director for The Shockey Companies.
About Howard Shockey & Sons
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is one of the oldest continuously operating building contractors in Virginia. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is a demonstrated leader in the delivery of public/private partnership and design-build projects; specialty areas include the medical, educational, commercial and industrial sectors. It is a member of The Shockey Companies, a privately held consortium of construction firms.
Four local enterprises - a business, a hospital, and two schools - are in the Top 10 rankings of Virginia Business magazine's 2010 List of Leaders. Howard Shockey & Sons made the list compiled for contractors, placing 10th, based on the construction cost of projects completed in 2009.
For several years, Howard Shockey & Sons, a division of the Shockey Cos., has been branching out by taking on construction projects in other parts of the state. "About six years ago, we spread our wings a little and looked beyond the Shenandoah Valley," said Jeff Boehm, vice president of Howard Shockey & Sons. In 2009, the company completed projects with a cumulative construction cost of about $195 million. Even though Howard Shockey & Sons is working on projects throughout Virginia, Boehm said the company still does a significant amount of work in Winchester and the Shenandoah Valley. While the firm handles commercial projects of all kinds, Boehm said it specializes in hospitals, schools, parking garages, prisons, and industrial buildings.
The magazine also ranked three other regional enterprises among the top in their respective categories. Of note, each of the three are clients of Howard Shockey & Sons.
1. Shenandoah University was named to the List of Leaders for private colleges. The university ranked fourth on the list, with a full-time enrollment of 2,432 in fall 2008. David Anthony, dean of admissions for SU, said the school had been adding about 100 more students per year until 2008. Including part-time and non-degree students, the school's enrollment is now up to 3,500 students.
2. Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown was the eighth-largest community college in the state, with 6,644 full-time and part-time students in fall 2008. Enrollment at the college rose to 6,804 in fall 2009, according to information provided by LFCC.
3. Winchester Medical Center, ranked 6th among hospitals, had net revenues of $431.8 million.
Excerpted from article by Lorraine Halsted, The Winchester Star
Business Roundup: Howard Shockey & Sons Ranks Among Virginia's Largest
Winchester-based Howard Shockey & Sons Inc. has been ranked as one of Virginia's largest general contractors, with $195.0 million of work put in place in Virginia in 2008. Shockey also is nationally ranked on the annual Top 400 Contractors list by Engineering News-Record, the leading U.S. trade publication for the engineering and construction industry.
One of the key initiatives for Shockey has been to invest in public-private partnership projects, which are needed now more than ever, as they can bring private sector financing to public sector projects. More information about Shockey's recent project successes is available at www.howardshockey.com.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. Ranks Among Virginia's Top 10 General Contractors
Each year in March, Virginia Business Magazine publishes the Virginia Business List of Leaders, representing the largest companies across 20 industries. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is pleased to report that the company remains one of Virginia's largest general contractors, with $195.0 million of work put in place in Virginia in 2008.
In this time of economic uncertainty, it is nice to think about how some contractors have been weathering storms successfully for more than 100 years. Since it was founded in 1896, Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. has survived The Great Depression, two World Wars and significant recessions. "Our continued success is a testament to our employees who work hard every day to deliver outstanding customer service," said Jeff Boehm, Vice President.
The family owned company is well positioned for continued growth. Shockey is a demonstrated leader in the delivery of public/private partnership and design-build projects; specialty areas include the medical, educational, commercial and industrial sectors.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is also nationally ranked on the annual Top 400 Contractors list by Engineering News-Record (ENR), the leading U.S. trade publication for the engineering and construction industry.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is a 114-year old general contracting and construction management firm based in Winchester, Virginia. The firm provides construction services throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.
Roanoke's finest have a new place to train. The city police department celebrated its new 28,000 square foot building at a ribbon cutting Wednesday afternoon. Constructed by Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., the Roanoke Police Academy was designed and built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards.
The $6.9 million facility serves as a training academy for current and future officers. "We hope that we find some opportunities to share with the community, share with the kids and it gives some place to do the training that we actually need," said Roanoke Police Chief, Joe Gaskins.
One of the highlights in the new academy is a pool where trainees will be required to jump in fully clothed with their bulletproof vest and gun belt to learn how to swim with all the extra weight.
The Roanoke Police Academy was procured using the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act (PPEA), which enables the public and private sector to work together as partners.
Source: WDBJ7.com
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Benjamin Forgey, former architecture critic for The Washington Post, offers his thoughts on parking structure design in the Washington DC area. He shared his insights in his regular column "Perspectives" for the February 19 issue of OnSite Magazine, published by the Washington Business Journal.
"At their best, parking garages can embody the civic spirit and can be innovative public buildings," says Forgey in his column.
Howard Shockey is pleased that its 530-space George Washington Autopark (in Winchester, Virginia) received mention as a "praiseworthy attempt to fit a new garage into historic context."
The garage's exterior appearance echoes the architectural aesthetic of Winchester's historic district. Here is what the project team had to say about the design of the Winchester parking garage:
"Preserving and extending the integrity of the historic downtown district had been a goal since day one," says Jeff Boehm, Vice President of Howard Shockey & Sons.
"Winchester's new garage does something significant, states structural engineer Ned Cleland. "It doesn't look like a conventional parking structure filled with horizontal beams and vertical columns. Instead, this parking deck was designed to look like an old industrial building, with walls and punched openings for windows. "
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is pleased to announce that George Stickman, Project Manager, has been nominated for a 2010 Subby Award for Outstanding Project Management by the D.C. Metropolitan Subcontractors Association for his work on the Manassas Park Community Center. The award is presented annually to the project manager "...who, over the year, has proven superior in managing the project effectively through processing change orders expeditiously, paying in a timely manner and showing overall fair treatment of the subcontractor on the project."
Stickman joined Howard Shockey in August 2001 as a senior project manager. Since joining Shockey, Stickman has managed projects including prisons, schools, churches and nursing home complexes. Prior to working at Shockey, Stickman served as a combat squad leader in Vietnam, a carpenter and a superintendent. He has managed projects at the Smithsonian Institution and Arlington National Cemetery. Stickman is married and has two children and 10 grandchildren.
Founded in 1964, the D.C. Metropolitan Subcontractors Association (DCMSA) is a not-for-profit trade association representing subcontractors and specialty contractors in the construction industry.
When The Free Lance-Star opens its new production facility this month, the event will herald a sizable set of firsts for the family-owned newspaper. Not only will the paper begin operating the first Goss International FPS press in North America, it will also be the first daily to use specially formulated hybrid ink from Flint Group, the first to use a plant-wide management app engineered by Goss, the first to employ an automated roll-handling system co-authored by Goss and Westfalia Technologies and the first to use a specially tailored plate loading system architected by Nela in concert with Kodak and the press vendor.
Incorporating the slate of new technologies is part of a carefully drafted strategy plotted by Operations Director John Jenkins and Publisher Josiah P. Rowe III. "The technology with the new press doesn't scare me," Rowe said. "What we're doing is visionary."
To that end, The Free Lance-Star's 92,000-square-foot plant is equipped with systems designed to satisfy a single objective: "To complete a printed product in one pass," said Jenkins. "Automation and integration are key, and we have designed a printing infrastructure in which we can get a newsprint roll delivered, a finished product printed, and have that done with only a single touch. We believe that efficiency will make the difference for us."
The 92,000-square-foot building was constructed by Winchester-based general contractor Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. The plant, on 23 acres in south Fredericksburg, will replace The Free Lance-Star's longtime downtown production facility.
The facility adds a new revenue stream to The Free Lance Star Companies, a local, family-owned business which also holds a newspaper, on-line media and four radio stations in Fredericksburg. The Washington Examiner is the first commercial printing client.
Source: News and Tech.com
WVU-East Hospital Expansion is Right on Budget
By Erienne Greene, Journal Staff Writer
MARTINSBURG - West Virginia University Hospitals-East officials said Tuesday that City Hospital's $28 million expansion project is both "on schedule and on budget."
The plan for expansion is comprised of three individual projects at the hospital, including the construction of a new 11,840-square-foot cardiac catheterization laboratory, a 120,000-square-foot intensive care/coronary care unit and a 17,000-square-foot addition to the emergency department. A new parking lot also will be built to better accommodate the new services that will be offered following the completion of the expansion.
Tony Zelenka, vice president and administrator at City Hospital, said the total project started with - and still has - a price tag of $27,863,000. "The price has remained consistent from the beginning of this," he said. "The money is in the bank and designated solely for the project - and (it's) ready to go."
The new additions to the facility and the overall scope of the project will allow for higher patient capacity levels, with the facility being able to see 60,000 patients a year. He added that through the past 10 years, the number of visits to the hospital's emergency department has increased by nearly 13,000 each year.
The construction manager of the expansion projects is Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. of Winchester, while Panhandle Builders and Excavating is performing site work, he said. "We've awarded 22 contracts to a multitude of contractors," Zelenka said. "Both site development and foundation work are 90 percent complete, with the complete structural steel setting now at 50 percent complete. We're starting on the northwest corner of the building and doing the cath lab and ICU first."
He also said the entire project's timeline is on track. "As we progress for the next three or four months, all the interior finishing will begin. We'll plan what these rooms will looks like, what furniture we need to get in there, what fabrics and colors. ... Signage is also being completed right now, too," he said. "All the interior work is what we're operating in parallel to the construction." He said the bottom line is that the hospital project is still on schedule for opening up the cath lab in September, and the ICU in December. The new ER will most likely open in January 2011. Zelenka said the project in entirety is going "exceptionally well."
"The methodology has worked very well for us so far, with very little or no change in orders," he said. "Putting the new facility in place, though, is only one-third of what's required as part of the project. The other two-thirds is that we're working on a customer service program that teaches all of our employees how to treat each other and patients in a very good manner. The remaining third, and last component of the project, is economic development."
He said the volume of patients that the hospital will be able to accommodate once the projects are complete will be dependent upon officials adding staff at the appropriate time to take care of the patients.
Since November, an expansion project also has been in the works at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Ranson, and site work on the facility's emergency department has begun recently, according to Teresa McCabe, vice president of marketing and development at WVUH-E. She said the 6,000-square-foot expansion to JMH's existing emergency department, taking it from eight to 19 beds, will include a new fast track area, it will renovate the existing waiting room, provide additional parking, and add a decontamination room, as well as a link to a newly designed radiology suite.
JMH Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Tina Coad said in a recent statement, "We are currently averaging 22,000 patient visits per year and our existing space was not designed for these volumes." "This new design will allow for growth in (emergency department) patient visits until our new hospital is built," she added. Coad emphasized the "very aggressive" deadline by saying that people can expect the emergency department project to be completed by July.
"It's been a long time in coming, and things started coming together in late fall. The hospital family and the community are very excited about it, and it's been a pretty amazing undertaking," she said. "We're doing everything we need to do to make the building beautiful and complement the excellent service that we strive to provide."
The rehabilitation of the existing Rich Products Corporation's food processing plant at 801 N. Kent St. is underway. The 33,054-square-foot plant is being renovated into Sunshine's Pride Dairy. Quesos La Ricura says it will invest $9.5 million in the building. Winchester's Howard Shockey & Sons is the general contractor working to prepare the plant for production.
Jim Deskins, Winchester's director of economic redevelopment, said he has been told the project is progressing well. He said the company had expected a spring or summer opening. Deskins said the region will welcome the jobs the plant will create - company officials have said they expect to hire about 100 people - and the city will gain significant revenue from property and equipment taxes. But the message it sends about the city also is important. "A less tangible benefit is the psychological and market impact it has for us to be able to say somebody is opening a new facility in Winchester during this time when most places seem to be losing jobs," Deskins said. "This is a positive statement about doing business in the City of Winchester. "
The dairy is owned by Quesos La Ricura, Ltd. The company is headquartered in Hicksville, NY, and is a manufacturer of a wide variety of cheeses. Quesos La Ricura also distributes products from Mexico and elsewhere in Central America.
Excerpts of this press release taken from "Factory will say Cheese in Five Months" by Vic Bradshaw, The Winchester Star
Shockey anticipates sharing substantial savings with city
On January 8th, 2010, city officials will hold a dedication ceremony to announce the near completion of the new community center. The project features almost 80,000 square feet of facility space for multi-generational recreation and leisure activities. Facility highlights include: an NCAA short course competition certified indoor pool, two state-of-the-art gymnasiums, an event hall that can comfortably accommodate 250 banquet-style seats, (with a pre-function area for gathering and socializing), 11 multi-purpose rooms for programs, performances and meetings, a fitness center that includes an oak-wood floor dance studio, and a dedicated Teen Center.
Why is this project unique? In a word: partnership. Significantly, the community center is the first project to be completed in Manassas Park using a public-private agreement (authorized by PPEA legislation) according to Catherine Morretta, Manassas Parks' Parks and Recreation Director. "We quickly realized that a public-private partnership was the fastest way to get this much needed project built. The public-private partnership arrangement allowed for creative financing and an expedited process," says Morretta.
In May of 2008, Winchester-based Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. entered into a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) contract with the City of Manassas Park. This meant that if the project ended up costing more than anticipated, Shockey would be responsible for remaining expenses. To encourage the contractor to further reduce construction costs, the contract had a shared savings clause. Savings will be shared with 30% to Shockey and 70% to the City of Manassas Park.
With the project nearing completion, but its final accounting not yet complete, Shockey anticipates sharing substantial savings with the City of Manassas Park. " I firmly believe that the savings will be considered significant by all ," says Jeff Boehm, VP at Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., "and they are a testament to the power of teamwork. "
When reflecting on the innovative partnership approach, Morretta indicates the City was well served, " OWPR and Shockey utilized creative site engineering to minimize the impact of an 80,000 sq. ft. community located in the middle of a neighborhood. They've stayed ahead of schedule and under budget - who could ask for more than that? It's beautiful and should serve the community ably for many decades. "
The project was designed and built in just 19 months. The project team includes Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. of Winchester as contractor and OWPR, Inc. of Blacksburg as architect.
GRTC Transit System moved into a new $38 million headquarters in South Richmond after more than 100 years in makeshift quarters near the Fan District. Built for safety, as well as energy and operational efficiencies, the new facility on East Belt Boulevard represents a leap as dramatic as Richmond's evolution from electric trolleys to talking buses equipped with GPS capabilities.
The new administrative and operations center will allow GRTC to make full use of technology, from how bus operators are trained with computer simulators to how the fleet is mobilized during an emergency, said John M. Lewis Jr., GRTC's chief executive officer.
GRTC officials have been talking about building a new headquarters for at least 15 years, but the project didn't get traction until the 12-acre site on Belt Boulevard was purchased in early 2006. Construction started in February 2008, and it is about 1½ months ahead of schedule and about $1.9 million under its $40 million budget, Lewis said.
The project was designed to meet Silver standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program of the U.S. Green Building Council, and with separate entrances for buses and employee vehicles.
The new headquarters is tucked behind a series of buildings along the commercial strip. To ensure safety, buses are expected to flow through the site in an orderly, counterclockwise fashion, as they empty their fare boxes, get refueled and washed, and are finally parked for maintenance.
The architect is Gannett Fleming and the general contractor is Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc.
Source: Will Jones | Richmond Times Dispatch
By Will Jones, Richmond Times Dispatch
RICHMOND, Va. -- GRTC Transit System is poised to move into a new $38 million headquarters in South Richmond after more than 100 years in makeshift quarters near the Fan District. Built for safety, as well as energy and operational efficiencies, the new facility on East Belt Boulevard represents a leap as dramatic as Richmond's evolution from electric trolleys to talking buses equipped with GPS capabilities.
The new administrative and operations center will allow GRTC to make full use of technology, from how bus operators are trained with computer simulators to how the fleet is mobilized during an emergency, said John M. Lewis Jr., GRTC's chief executive officer. It also will allow Lewis to store the plastic bucket that catches water that drips from his office ceiling when it rains. "Now, we finally have a chance to design something that meets our specific needs," he said.
GRTC officials have been talking about building a new headquarters for at least 15 years, but the project didn't get traction until the 12-acre site on Belt Boulevard was purchased in early 2006. Construction started in February 2008, and it is about 1½ months ahead of schedule and about $1.9 million under its $40 million budget, Lewis said.
Mayor Dwight C. Jones, a representative for Sen. Jim Webb, and other city and state leaders have been invited to tour the facility this morning. GRTC plans to move its administrative offices by mid-December and expects to be fully settled south of the James River by the end of January.
The shift will free up the GRTC's longtime home at 101 S. Davis Ave. near the Fan. City officials have expressed interest in acquiring the property for eventual private development, but Lewis said GRTC's board of directors has made no decision. "The quicker we can bring that to a close, the better it'll be from a cost standpoint," he said.
The project has been designed to meet Silver standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program of the U.S. Green Building Council, and with separate entrances for buses and employee vehicles.
To ensure safety, buses are expected to flow through the site in an orderly, counterclockwise fashion, as they empty their fare boxes, get refueled and washed, and are finally parked for maintenance. Lewis called the constant motion at GRTC's current, 6.8-acre headquarters "just a nightmare from a safety standpoint." The new headquarters is tucked behind a series of buildings along the commercial strip. Dwight Barrett, a manager of Standard Furniture, sees GRTC's headquarters as an improvement for the area and isn't missing the abandoned lumberyard that had been on the site.
"Honestly, I think it'll be a boost for the area businesses with that many people working there and the traffic it'll bring," he said.
Cost: $38 million, funded with state and federal grants
Details: About 126,000 square feet in an administrative wing, as well as a maintenance and operations area. The site includes a 21-bay bus-maintenance facility, a 2,400-square-foot lounge for bus operators and a rooftop patio over the vehicle-wash bays.
Design: Built to LEED Silver energy-efficiency standards, with an internal lighting system that adjusts automatically based on natural light levels, and vehicle-wash bays that use recycled water.
General contractor: Howard Shockey & Sons | Architect: Gannett Fleming
NBC 25, by Jamie Burke
MARTINSBURG, WV - With the growing need for health care in the area, City Hospital in Martinsburg is working to expand to help fulfill that need. Construction is underway with the expansion totaling 28 million dollars.
A new cath lab will open in August 2010, a new 20 bed ICU is slated to open in December 2010, and a 40 bed emergency department is expected to open in October 2010 that can accommodate up to 60,000 patients a year.
"We hope by completing all three of these projects, which do total about 28 million dollars, that by the end of next year we will have all three areas open and have patients moving through there," says Teresa McCabe with WVU Hospital East.
The emergency department at City Hospital currently sees about 40,000 patients a year.
Howard Shockey & Sons, a general contractor based in Winchester, Virginia will lead the construction team. Howard Shockey is one of the oldest and largest building contractors in Virginia. Specialty areas include the medical, educational, commercial and industrial sectors. It is a member of The Shockey Companies, a privately held consortium of construction firms.
Virginia Association of Counties | County Connections
In this time of economic uncertainty, it is nice to know that some companies have been weathering storms successfully for more than 100 years. Howard Shockey & Sons is such a company. Founded in 1896, the Winchester-based company is well positioned for continued growth throughout the Commonwealth. Part of the company's success can be attributed to its forward-looking business strategy. In fact, today Shockey is one of just a handful of companies in Virginia with a real depth of public-private partnership (PPP) experience.
What is a Public-Private Partnership? A public-private partnership can often be an ideal model for local governments to develop and finance projects that might otherwise not get built. The advantages of the public-private partnership arrangement over traditional procurement methods are: " Increased financing flexibility " Project costs may be lower " Projects may be faster to implement
In 2002 Virginia formally enacted the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act (PPEA), which enabled the public and private sector to work together as partners for needed projects. While any locality can take advantage of this relatively new procurement option, there are a few ground rules. For example, the public reviewing agency must adopt local policy guidelines. The public entity must determine that there is a demonstrated need for the project and ensure the public-private partnership offers an effective way to put the project in place.
Most types of public ventures can qualify, but a clear, two-step process must be observed. Local governments are increasingly turning to PPPs because the savings in time can translate to significant cost savings. Shockey has been involved in a total of 10 PPP projects in Virginia, including prisons, work-release center, police training facilities, parking structures, schools and public safety facilities.
While much has changed for Shockey over the last 113 years, there are a few things that haven't. Good business relationships, quality construction, long-term employees, and a service-oriented attitude all share credit for the company's success and expansion. Jeff Boehm, Vice President of Howard Shockey, expands on this saying, "As a family owned business, we place a significant emphasis on good communication and trust. It's served us well for over a century."
By Jason Kane | The Winchester Star
Willie Nelson played to a sold-out crowd at the newly renovated Handley High School. And all it took to get the city's top brass to give a solid "whoop" and a standing ovation was a little song called Crazy. Thursday nights dedication of the Patsy Cline Theatre at Handley found one country music legend paying homage to a friend and fellow country music legend in the best way he knows how: an hour and a half of music.
With little more than a giant Texas flag, a few musicians, and a bare microphone on the stage, Nelson tore through his hits. Whiskey River. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. Mamas, Dont Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys. Crazy, which Nelson wrote and Cline recorded two years before dying in a plane crash in 1963, was No. 3 on the playlist. And 21 more followed.
Those old songs still held as much sway for Thursday night's crowd as the day Nelson first jotted them down. A few traveled from Fairfax County, from Maryland, and even from Canada to see Nelson at Handley, but the vast majority of the audience came straight from the northern Shenandoah Valley - as intended.
It was a milestone in the history of the recently renovated high school, and Nelson could feel it. The mayor just gave me the key to the city, folks, he said after sauntering onto the stage. So everything's cool.
Trying out the name Patsy Cline Theatre for the first time, Nelson said the fallen country star was one of the best friends I ever had - and there's another, he said, pointing to Charlie Dick, Cline's husband. Dick traveled to Winchester from Nashville for the performance and said he can still remember the first time he met Nelson at a bar near Nashville's Grand Ole Opry.
After shaking hands with the young man, Dick decided to take home his album and play it for Cline. I played it half the night, I guess, and Patsy didn't like it because it kept her up. She said, 'I never want to hear him again,' he said. Cline was equally determined not to embrace the song Crazy. But we all convinced her it was a good song. I guess she figured we all couldn't be wrong, Dick said. When it became one of her biggest hits, she came to love it.
Nelson continued to write songs that others made famous before he became a music icon in the 1970s. He has released more than 70 albums and had more than 20 No. 1 country hits.
All proceeds from Thursday's show will benefit the Winchester Education Foundation. Five minutes after Nelson's last song, the band was on the road again.
The Handley Auditorium, where performed, is the largest entertainment facility in Winchester. The newly renovated space is located inside John Handley High School, which just completed a five-year, $63.9 million renovation and expansion project. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. served as the Construction Manager on the project.
Case study: Winchester's new parking garage
The 530-space George Washington Autopark is a fully automated parking deck located in the newly revitalized Kent corridor area. It is the city's fourth parking garage, and its first to be built using the PPEA process. The Winchester Parking Authority recently completed this seven-story parking structure through a public private partnership or PPEA agreement with Shockey-WPA, LLC (whose member company is Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. one of the state's oldest and largest general contractors.)
George Washington Autopark project team
The City of Winchester's Parking Authority partnered with Shockey-WPA, LLC, whose member company is Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., one of Virginia's largest and oldest building contractors. Shockey specializes in construction management, preconstruction services, design build, public-private partnerships, and general contracting. Other team members included Shockey Precast, Design Concepts, Inc. and Blue Ridge Design.
By Rob Snyder | The Winchester Star
The newest assisted-living center to be built by real estate development company HHHunt Corp., Spring Arbor of Winchester is scheduled to open at this time next year, Richard H. Williams Jr., vice president of senior living for the company, said Thursday. It will be built at Northwestern Pike (U.S. 50) and Echo Lane, near the Courtyard Marriott hotel just west of the city.
The 40-year-old company owns and operates 20 assisted-living centers throughout the Southeast, with others set to open over the next four years in Fredericksburg, Greensboro, N.C., and Annapolis, Md., as well as in Leesburg, where one is on schedule to open next month.
HHHunt has been operating assisted-living centers since the early 1990s, after getting its start about 20 years earlier, developing student housing for Virginia Tech. The company directs various types of real estate projects, including multi-family and single-family developments.
Betty Learned Friant, a senior investment adviser with Sperry Van Ness, which assisted the company in researching the area and selecting the site, said HHHunt is a natural fit for the region, bringing a reputation as a good neighbor and an active member in the community.
"We were impressed with them, because some other developers want to get in and get out, but as we were working with them and listening to the questions they were asking, it was obvious when they come, they come to stay," she said. The nine-acre site, purchased with the assistance of financing from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, cost $3.78 million.
The projected 73,000-square-foot building, to be built by the Shockey Corp., is priced at about $10 million. It will house around 60 residents, including 20 who will live in a specialized wing devoted to patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, said Williams. That provides us with a continuum of care, if things change [with the residents], he said. Part of the success of the company rests with its approach to care, said Sylvia Maddox, the regional director for the company's senior living division. Residents entering the center are assessed on their interests, which enables the staff to develop a program to meet their individual needs, she said. We want to keep the residents active and focused on wellness, Maddox said. This approach brings enrichment to their lives so they're not just having cookie-cutter activities.
At an assisted-living center, residents are largely independent, relying on staff members to assist with the activities of their daily lives, such as bathing, dressing, and housekeeping. "This is not a nursing facility, he said. We want our residents to maintain their independence. We don't employ physicians or therapists. We encourage residents to maintain their primary physicians.
The center will employ about 60 people, relying on certified nursing assistants to provide the extent of its medical care, Williams said. Each of the 400-square-foot units at the center will be designed with a senior citizen in mind, and will feature wider doors, lower counters, a call system, and handicapped access. The units will cost about $4,000 a month to lease, not including a $4,000 admission fee, Williams said. The company also reaches into the community, drawing expertise from volunteers in schools and churches, said Leigh-Anne Osborne, a registered nurse and the executive director of the Oaks of Lynchburg. We are totally dependent on the community, she said. They bring so many different dynamics into our programs. That's all part of the center's priority to be a good neighbor, said Williams. Because we're owners and operators, we want to be a part of the communities we're in, he said.
Willie Nelson Coming to Winchester | WHSV, TV Channel 3
The auditorium inside John Handley High School was named to honor a former student and country music icon. The auditorium has been named the Patsy Cline Theatre. A dedication ceremony will be held October 29 with a special concert by Willie Nelson.
Winchester Superintendent Rick Leonard and school Principal Doug Joyner said they are happy to have recognition for the Handley family in a theatre rich in history. Money raised from the concert will benefit the Winchester Education Foundation, which raises money for various school programs. Damon Dearment, with the Winchester Education Foundation, says, "We feel this event will bring credibility and awareness to the mission of the Winchester Education Foundation, which is to provide funding for academic programs, scholarships, teacher and student enrichment, athletic equipment and uniforms, and other projects to enhance the education of all the students in the Winchester school system."
The Handley Auditorium, where Nelson will perform, is the largest entertainment facility in Winchester. The newly renovated space is located inside John Handley High School, which just completed a five-year, $63.9 million renovation and expansion project. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. served as the Construction Manager on the project.
Joint Custody: Western Virginia Agencies Join Forces to Boost Capacity, Convenience and Efficiency with $122 Million Roanoke Regional Jail By Lisa Kopochinski | Correctional News Magazine
Situated on a 42-acre site in Salem, Va., the new $122 million Western Virginia Regional Jail, which opened in April, stands as a concrete testament to interjurisdictional communication, cooperation, and coordination in tackling the pressures, challenges and constraints facing corrections agencies and elected officials at the local level.
The 605-bed facility, which was developed to provide updated facilities, deliver operational efficiencies and address jail overcrowding and inmate population projections, represents the raison d'etre of the Western Virginia Regional Jail Authority. The counties of Franklin, Montgomery and Roanoke and the City of Salem established the WVRJ to manage planning, financing and construction of the new jail under a 2005 regional partnership agreement. The procurement of project design and construction was conducted under Virginias Public-Private Education and Infrastructure Act partnership, which is designed to bring private sector expertise to bear on public projects, encourage innovative approaches to construction and financing, and ultimately save time and money through public-private partnership.
"PPEA allows for faster procurement than afforded under the old design-bid-build model," says Jeff Boehm, vice president at Howard Shockey & Sons, the project's general contractor. "Construction starts sooner and occupancy occurs earlier. "
Commencing work in April 2007, the Winchester, Va.-based firm, which has delivered a number of justice and corrections projects throughout the mid-Atlantic region, completed the project in 24 months.
Excerpt from the article, please click on the link for full text.
Site Work at New Frederick School Finished By Garren Shipley | NVDaily.com
Winchester - Frederick County's newest elementary school is coming along nicely, both on time and within budget.
That was the central item in report to Frederick County School Board members at their meeting on Tuesday. Assistant Superintendent for Administration Al Orndorff told members that the project is on track to open in August and should be ready for pupils. Site work on the $23.2 million school is complete, and system employees have been in the building since the beginning of July working to get the school ready for children.
Located on Channing Drive, Greenwood Mill will replace Senseny Road Elementary. Pupils from Senseny Road will be joined by some children from Evendale and Redbud Run. Board members approved the change in March as a cost-cutting measure.
In other business, members were told that enrollment in the school system was relatively stable over the course of the year. "There's not anything really surprising on the report," Orndorff said. Total enrollment in the system was relatively stable through the year. When classes ended last month, some 12,719 pupils were attending classes in Frederick County. "That's 35 students more than we were a year ago," said Orndorff. Officials expect 13,092 pupils to enroll in classes this fall.
Collectively, the school system finished out the year at 91 percent of its program capacity. But two facilities did have more pupils than they were designed to handle. Sherando High School finished with 80 more students than its 1,400-student capacity. Evendale Elementary also finished 80 pupils over capacity of 644.
Part of that elementary school load will be lifted when the new Greenwood Mill comes on line this fall. Board members also voted to change the old school's name to Senseny Road School to better reflect its future as the home of the Northwest Regional Education Program as well as the county's Head Start program. Students have done their part in preparing for the change, approving a new mascot and school colors. The votes were counted in June, and the newly minted Greenwood Gators will sport green, blue and white.
Leesburg Today "New High Schools Take Shape" By Alex Bahr
In Leesburg, construction is proceeding on Tuscarora High School on the northern edge of town near Ida Lee Park. The school will be the first 1,800-student facility to be built in Loudoun, with the additional 200 seats added with the intent of the school housing an academy program.
The contract for the construction of Tuscarora was awarded to Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., for the amount of $56,071,040.
The company has been nominated for an Environmental Preservation Award by the Loudoun County Department of Building and Development for its environmental impact mitigation work, much of which is focused on Tusacrora Creek, which cuts across the site.
(Excerpt) Please click on the link for full text.
Public-Private Partnerships: Virginia's Alternative Procurement Tool - How Winchester Saved Time and Money on a New Parking Garage
Across Virginia, local governments are being challenged to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively. It is increasingly clear that given the right qualifying project and an experienced, committed partner - the PPP process can yield compelling results.
The City of Winchester's Parking Authority partnered with Shockey-WPA, LLC, whose member company is Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., one of Virginia's largest and oldest building contractors.
The 530-space George Washington Garage is a fully automated parking deck located in Winchester's newly revitalized Kent corridor area.
This article was first published in the June 2009 issue of Town and City Magazine. Read the full article by downloading the link below.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. announces that it has been included on the annual Top 400 Contractors list by Engineering News-Record (ENR), the leading U.S. trade publication for the engineering and construction industry.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is a 113-year old general contracting and construction management firm based in Winchester, Virginia. The firm provides construction services throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.
"Howard Shockey's placement on this year's ENR Top 400 Contractors list is a testament to our employees who work hard every day to deliver outstanding customer service," said Jeff Boehm, Vice President at Howard Shockey.
Howard Shockey also recently announced a one million hour work-hour safety milestone, which means its employees have worked 1,000,000 employee hours without a lost-time injury.
About ENR
Engineering News-Record (ENR) is the industry standard for current news on construction projects, activities, and trends across the United States. The annual ENR Top 400 Contractors' list is based on construction revenue. The full list can be found online at http://enr.construction.com/toplists/Contractors/001-100.asp
About Howard Shockey & Sons
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is one of the oldest continuously operating building contractors in Virginia. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is a demonstrated leader in the delivery of public/private partnership and design-build projects; specialty areas include the medical, educational, commercial and industrial sectors. It is a member of The Shockey Companies, a privately held consortium of construction firms.
By Jessica J. Burchard, The Winchester Star
Diagnostic medicine has changed considerably during the past 28 years, and at Winchester Medical Center it's also become much more convenient.
When Brenda Matthews came to WMC in 1981, she and others working in diagnostic medicine would have to travel across the hospital campus for most of the services they needed. The radiology department was isolated in the geographic center of the hospital (an area with no windows) while other diagnostic services were spread out across the campus. But now all of those services are in a single building, the Winchester Medical Center Diagnostic Center, which officially opens Monday at 1840 Amherst St.
"This will help people be able to come in and get what they need in one place," Matthews, site manager for the center, said Friday after giving a tour of the facility to hospital employees. The 70,000-square-foot facility, expected to treat about 400 patients each day, houses departments for: X-rays Fluoroscopy Ultrasound Digital mammography Stereotactic breast biopsy DEXA (bone densitometry) CT (computed tomography) MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) Nuclear medicine PET scan (positron emission tomography) Special procedures (imaging-guided minor procedures) Clinical lab testing And EKG (electrocardiography) The building also includes a wing for women's services.
"This building has lots of stuff that we're really excited about, said Heather Snyder, clinical coordinator, who has worked at WMC for 20 years. I never in my wildest dreams thought we'd have a building like this. "
Construction on the facility, which had been planned for years, started in September 2007. It was estimated to cost $30 million for construction and equipment, but the eventual figure was substantially lower. The construction by Howard Shockey and Sons Inc. cost $19 million and the equipment from GE Healthcare, Philips Medical, and other firms cost $6 million.
Snyder is pleased with the upgrades. Most of the technology here is new. Everything here is completely digital. The few older devices include several mammography machines purchased in 2006; they now have updated software. Digital records can be transferred to physicians outside the Diagnostic Center much faster than the older films (which required at least one day to process and get to the doctor's office.) This helps to speed up diagnoses and possible treatment options for patients.
The new facility has a patient focus, Snyder said. For instance: All of these areas have bathrooms connecting to the patient rooms. Also, since patients often need several tests at once, the placement of all diagnostic departments in one building likely will make their experience faster and more convenient. I think the patient flow is going to be more efficient, said Amanda Frizzel, diagnostic sonographer at the center. I think we'll be able to get their tests done quickly and get them out. Frizzel has worked at WMC since 1998, and in the ultrasound department for eight years. In the Diagnostic Center, the ultrasound department has five examination rooms and one empty room that may be converted into another exam room.
Matthews said the center should benefit the 50 employees who will rotate through it daily as much as the patients. "I'm expecting to see employee satisfaction go way up, she said with a smile. Now we have open windows. We have lots of light. "
Howard Shockey & Sons of Winchester, Va., hired Jerry Ennis as president. Ennis has 31 years of experience in construction supervision and management. He was most recently with Boldt Construction, where he served as president of its southern operations division. Ennis is perhaps best known for his role in stabilizing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building after it was bombed in 1995.
By Eric Beidel, The Winchester Star
The new George Washington Autopark is officially open, and parking is free through this weekend. Contractor Howard Shockey and Sons Inc. built the garage for $7.68 million, about $14,222 per parking space. The garage is between Kent and Cameron streets, flanked by the Frederick County Government Complex and The George Washington Hotel.
The garage's proximity to the hotel, restaurants, banks, and other businesses will provide a great benefit to anyone visiting downtown Winchester, said Mayor Elizabeth A. Minor before cutting a ribbon Friday afternoon at the Cameron Street entrance of the garage. The Rev. Clyde Nelson of Market Street United Methodist Church led dozens of community leaders in a prayer during the ceremony. He asked that "the glory and beauty of Winchester be upon all who park here."
The mayor and Winchester Parking Authority Chairman Bill Bayliss took the first car into the garage - a Ford Cobra replica that Bayliss borrowed from a friend. He recognized members of the City Council, past and present members of the Parking Authority, Frederick County officials, architects, designers, and the builder during his remarks. Even if you're on the right track, Bayliss said, quoting Mark Twain, you'll get run over if you just sit there. Winchester has been on the right track, he said.
Almost 45 years ago to the day, the city government created the Parking Authority. The body was created in 1964, thanks to enabling legislation written by Sen. Harry F. Byrd Jr. The parking authority previously helped to build three parking decks in the city. The new parking garage features 530 spaces: 70 on the ground floor, 380 covered, and another 80 on the roof. At least 90 spaces are reserved for county government employees, who will be able to walk across a bridge from the fourth level of the parking deck to the county government facility. At least 19 spaces are reserved for The George Washington Hotel.
The garage will be Winchester's first fully automated parking deck, with a walk-up kiosk that will accept cash or a credit card, or an in-lane pay station at the Kent Street exit where payment can be made by cash or credit. The garage also includes office space for three city employees - the Parking Authority's secretary, the director of the Old Town Development Board, and the director of economic redevelopment.
It took Shockey just short of a year to complete the new parking deck. The company did the work on time and within budget. Each of the garage's seven levels bears the name of someone who has contributed to Winchester's life and history - Patsy Cline, George Washington, Judge John Handley, Col. James Wood, Gen. Daniel Morgan, Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson, and Adm. Richard E. Byrd.
About 500 pieces of concrete, weighing 25 million pounds or 12,500 tons, went into the facility.
The city's first autopark on Braddock Street cost $1.7 million to build in 1972. The second autopark at Cameron, Boscawen, and Kent streets cost $2.4 million to construct in 1982. Winchester's third parking facility at Loudoun Street and Fairfax Lane cost $2.3 million to build in 1992. The three autoparks total 1,789 spaces. With the new fourth garage, the number of parking spaces now totals 2,329.
The free parking will be over come Monday. In the words of the Parking Authority Director Gary Longerbeam, that is when we'll get down to business.
The Richmond Times Dispatch selected Jerry Ennis, the new President of Howard Shockey & Sons, as a featured profile in Virginia / Metro Business.
New position: President, Howard Shockey & Sons Inc.
Previous position: Group president, Boldt Construction, Oklahoma City
Birthplace: Sayre, Pa.
Education: bachelor of science, Albright College, Reading, Pa.
Career: "I've been in the construction business since graduation, starting on the ground-floor level as a clerk, then field engineering, project engineer, project management and moving into the executive ranks about 15 years ago."
Career goals: "Leading great people to build significant buildings."
The best advice ever received: "My mom always told me, 'Where there's a will, there's a way.'"
The most difficult situation faced on the job: "Reducing the size of a workforce is never easy."
Career tip for students: "Take advantage of as many hands-on, real-life industry working situations you possibly can. Internships are your best way into most industries."
What motivates him? "Putting together a passionate team to build important structures more successfully than anyone expected."
Role model: "This one is too easy -- my dad."
Family: wife, Cindy
Pastimes: golf, traveling to some place to play golf, reliving my most recent round of golf
The most memorable movie: "The Greatest Game Ever Played"
Favorite restaurant: "I'm still becoming familiar with Virginia restaurants. However, so far I really like the Capital Grille in McLean and the Blue Ridge Grill in Leesburg."
Ideal vacation: "You can probably imagine by now. It doesn't matter where, just so it's warm, sunny and there are wonderful golf courses to play."
The Winchester Star, By Lorraine Halsted
During his 24 years with The Boldt Co., a commercial construction firm in Oklahoma, Jerry Ennis grew his division beyond the state's borders. Now he's putting the same growth plan in place as president of Howard Shockey and Sons Inc. "The strategy going forward would be to expand outside the boundaries in which Shockey has worked in the past," said Ennis, who is about four months into his new leadership position. That means venturing outside Virginia to neighboring states such as Maryland, West Virginia, and North Carolina to begin establishing a regional presence.
It was only several years ago that Howard Shockey and Sons expanded outside the Winchester market, taking on larger projects all over the state. The company, in 2005, was as big as it could get in this area, said Don Cooper who left Ennis' position to became chief executive officer of The Shockey Cos., the parent company of Howard Shockey and Sons. There's only so much work here, he added. At that time, Cooper said, the company only took on jobs no larger than about $20 million and within 60 miles of Winchester.
Growth came as regular projects started rolling in from other parts of the state, with much larger price tags. We expanded all the way to Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Roanoke, Cooper said. Our project size increased up to $80 million. Howard Shockey and Sons eventually established job-site offices in those cities. Some of its 215 employees either move to the area or stay there during the week and come back to their families in Winchester on weekends. In three years, Howard Shockey and Sons has doubled its annual revenues from $125 million to $250 million.
When it was time to recruit a new president, Cooper said, Ennis fit the bill because he knew how to grow a commercial construction firm from a local to a regional operation, having done so as president of Boldts U.S. Southern Operations. We wanted someone to come on board that fit into our culture and to continue the progress and growth that we've made, Cooper said. Ennis said his new post feels familiar because of its similarities with Boldt.
Both companies are family-owned businesses and are more than 100 years old, he said. They also handle many of the same types of projects, such as medical facilities, government complexes, university buildings, and schools. Just prior to my leaving Boldt, we just finished four high schools, Ennis said. And just as he came on board at Howard Shockey and Sons, the firm was breaking ground on a $56 million high school project in Leesburg. Ennis, who has been in the commercial construction industry for 31 years, spent the majority of it with Boldt, which is based in Oklahoma City.
One of his most memorable times with the company, he said, occurred when Boldt employees rushed to the scene after a bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, claiming 168 lives. While the firemen were recovering bodies, we had to shore the building up, he said, noting that Boldt's office was just a few miles from the site. It was three weeks around the clock working to keep it up.
Ennis worked his way up through the ranks at Boldt, starting as a field clerk and holding five other positions before becoming president of U.S. Southern Operations.
As he leads Howard Shockey and Sons to work on more projects in neighboring states, Ennis said he hopes to double the size of the company within the next five years, but realizes that the recession may hinder that goal to some degree. Even so, he said having a presence in markets outside Winchester has given the firm a chance to bid on more projects. When we go through tough economic times, you can't just look in your area for projects, he said. You have to look outside your area.
But he's hopeful that the federal stimulus package will loosen cash and credit and that potential clients will resume some of their projects. Ennis is also encouraged with the number of projects that Howard Shockey and Sons has on the calendar in the months to come. It's definitely slowed down some, he said. But we have a nice backlog in place for 2009, and we're putting a backlog together for 2010.
While pushing ahead to reach more regional markets, Ennis said Winchester (where Howard Shockey, a carpenter, founded the company in 1896) will continue to be a focal point. We are absolutely looking for local projects.
In addition to Howard Shockey and Sons, its sister company The Shockey Precast Group is also part of The Shockey Cos. Combined, the firms have 500 employees and annual sales of $350 million.
Chas Capitano, Environmental, Health & Safety Director for The Shockey Companies recently announced that the employees of Howard Shockey & Sons became members of the 1,000,000 Hour Club - meaning that they have worked 1,000,000 employee hours without a lost-time injury. "For more than three years, each employee has come to work each day and gone home safely at night," said Capitano. Shockey's safety performance is a rare occurrence, especially in construction.
According to information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and The National Safety Council, the average lost workday injury costs nearly $28,000, and a 100-employee firm can expect about two lost time injuries per year. Shockey's exemplary performance (achieved with nearly twice the number of employees noted) is a rare feat, and is a direct result of employee pride and attention to safety.
Shockey has always valued the health and wellbeing of its employees. Safety is not just a corporate goal, it is a requirement. It means, to Shockey, that safety must be considered when planning any job and before performing any task.
"We're extremely proud of our past and current accomplishments in safety. Our employees have shown that they really take safety issues seriously," said Capitano. This is the second time that Howard Shockey & Sons has reached the 1,000,000 hour milestone. It was previously accomplished from 2000-2003.
"Many clubs will let you pay an entry fee and become a member, but not the 1,000,000 Hour Club. You earn the right to be in this club by working carefully, and by watching out for your fellow workers," said Don Shockey, Chairman of The Shockey Companies.
Howard Shockey & Sons has always prided itself on providing safe projects for its employees as well as the subcontractors that work on them. This is in large part because of its supervisors that oversee these projects. "We've always spent a lot of time and energy on providing education for our employees, but in particular for our supervisors," says Chas Capitano, Environmental, Health & Safety Director for The Shockey Companies. "Our goal this year was to take that to the next level, and I'm extremely proud of how our first class responded. "
The Council on Certification of Health, Environmental and Safety Technologists (CCHEST) recently announced that Chas Capitano, Mike Corbin, Randy Cole, Bobby Parsons, Tony Ashby, Ron Poe and Shannon Jays have completed the requirements for national certification as a Safety Trained Supervisor (STS). CCHEST awards this certification to individuals who meet CCHEST's rigorous experience and education requirements, including passing a comprehensive written exam. The written exam covers the body of knowledge supervisors must have to carry out their safety-related supervisory responsibilities and includes subjects such as hazard recognition and analysis, personal protective equipment, regulatory compliance and incident investigation.
The STS certification is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies and the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards. Those who earn the STS certification are recognized as having met the demanding, peer-established competency requirements in supervision. Currently, candidates for the STS certification may earn the certification in general industry, construction and petrochemical industries. "Our next group of supervisors will begin preparing for the STS exam later this year," said Capitano. "We feel this program is an excellent way to provide additional training to our supervisors, and recognize them for their achievements. "
Howard Shockey Delivers Virginia's First LEED / Environmentally Friendly Jail
Roanoke, VA, March 3, 2009 - Howard Shockey & Sons has been building jails for a long time, but the Roanoke facility marks a new milestone for the company. The Western Virginia Regional Jail will be Virginia's first LEED accredited local jail. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which is the universal standard green building rating system endorsed by the US Green Building Council.) Superintendent Charlie Poff, Jr. affirms, "The Western Virginia Regional Jail will be the first LEED local detention facility in Virginia."
With a construction cost of $78 million*, the new jail is both high-tech and environmentally friendly. The facility recycles much of the water it uses and captures rain from the roof for some operations. The Energy Star-labeled white roofing system is designed to reflect heat away from the building. Sophisticated energy handling systems address lighting and air handling. Interestingly, some of the features that help the jail achieve LEED green building certification also help to heighten security and inmate control, such as better day-lighting and access to views.
Located in Roanoke County near Dixie Caverns, the Western Virginia Regional Jail is a product of a regional partnership between the Counties of Franklin, Montgomery and Roanoke and the City of Salem. The facility is approximately 264,000 square feet and provides a rated capacity for 605 inmates with another 200 beds double-bunked (for a total of 805 inmates) upon opening. This facility will help ease the current overcrowded and potentially unsafe conditions at the local jail facilities of the four partnering jurisdictions.
The project was procured under Virginia's PPEA statute, a project delivery system known for encouraging partnership between all members of the construction team. According to Jeff Boehm, Vice President at Howard Shockey & Sons, "PPEA allows for faster procurement than afforded under the old "design-bid-build" model. Construction starts sooner and occupancy occurs earlier." Approximately 150 construction workers have been working on the job site daily. The contractor is Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. of Winchester; the architect is HSMM of Roanoke.
To celebrate its upcoming completion, the Western Virginia Regional Jail will be hosting an open house on Friday, March 6th from 1-4 pm. Members of the construction team will be on hand to answer questions.
* This amount represents just the building cost. The total jail price is $122 million.
Excerpt: Virginia Business Magazine, by Jessica Sabbath
Virginia Business tracks 19 industries in its annual List of Leaders. The lists show how companies and industries are doing as a whole and helps provide insight into new trends and the state's current economic health.
General Contractors (Based on value of work put in place in Virginia in 2008) 1. W.M. Jordan Company, 443.9 million 2. Balfour Beatty Construction, 435.9 million 3. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., 355 million 4. Hensel Phelps Construction, 322 million 5. HITT Contracting Inc., 296.5 million 6. KBS Inc., 277.9 million 7. Gilbane Building Co., 276 million 8. Armada Hoffler, 271.3 million 9. L.F. Jennings, 251 million *10. Howard Shockey & Sons, 249 million* 11. Shirley Contracting, 200 million 12. DPR Construction, 181.6 million 13. Nielsen Builders, 175 million 14. MEB General Contractors, 157 million 15. S.B. Ballard Construction, 147 million 16. Branch & Associates, 138 million 17. Dietze Construction Group, 135 million 18. English Construction, 131.5 million 19. Barton Malow, 115 million 20. VIRTEXCO Corp., 112 million 21. Kenbridge Construction Company, 111 million 22. Skanska USA Civil Southeast, 106 million 23. E.V. Williams, 89 million 24. Branch Highways,86 million 25. EDC, 68 million 26. R.W. Murray Co., 66 million 27. American Bridge, 54 million 28. Henderson Inc., 55 million 29. Martin Bros. Contractors, 52 million 30. Martin Horn, 50 million 31. ENSCO, 44 million 32. Structure Tone Inc., 7 million
Jerry Ennis will lead the 112-year company into the future
Winchester, VA, February 12, 2009 - Since it was founded in 1896, Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. has survived The Great Depression, two World Wars and significant recessions. The company is now listed as one of Virginia's largest general contractors by Virginia Business magazine. Following a national search, company leaders tapped Jerry Ennis to guide the company into the future; Mr. Ennis assumed the role of President on January 5, 2009.
Mr. Ennis has 31 years of experience in construction supervision and management, and joins Shockey after spending the majority of his career with Boldt Construction, one of the top-ranked general contractors in the nation. "Jerry's leadership was critical in developing Boldt's presence in the southeast construction market. His operational expertise is clearly outstanding, but it is really his familiarity with our geographic and product markets combined with his longstanding reputation for integrity, that makes him such a great fit," says Jeff Boehm, Vice President.
- Prior to his appointment as President of Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., Mr. Ennis served as President of Boldt Construction's Southern Operations Division, based in Greenville, SC. At Boldt, Mr. Ennis was responsible for a variety of the company's most important projects and expanded the company into the public and commercial sectors.
- Mr. Ennis is perhaps best known for his role in stabilizing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, immediately after it was bombed in one of the nation's worst domestic terrorism acts, known as the "Oklahoma City Bombing." That year, Ennis was named one of the "Top 25 Newsmakers of the Year" by Engineering News Record magazine.
- Ennis has been a member of the Oklahoma Governor's Business Roundtable and the Community Advisory Board of the Junior League. He is a past Board Member with the Association of General Contractors (AGC) of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Ennis holds a Bachelor of Science from Albright College, Reading, PA.
The appointment of Mr. Ennis also underscores Shockey's continued commitment to sustainability. Shockey is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, and is currently working on projects targeted at the LEED Silver and Platinum levels. "Jerry has worked on numerous green projects across the country, including the construction of his own headquarters' office at Boldt," adds Boehm.
Don Cooper Transitions to CEO of The Shockey Companies
Also in January, Don Cooper (past President of Howard Shockey & Sons) transitioned into the role of CEO for The Shockey Companies.
About Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is a 112-year old general contracting and construction management firm based in Winchester, Virginia. The firm provides construction services throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is a demonstrated leader in the delivery of public/private partnership and design-build projects; specialty areas include the medical, educational, commercial and industrial sectors.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is one of the oldest continuously operating building contractors in Virginia. It is a member of The Shockey Companies, a privately held consortium of construction firms. More information is available at www.howardshockey.com
The city of Winchester, VA, is constructing a parking structure that will incorporate some unique design and precast technology. The project began at the end of May 2008 and is on target to be completed by mid-April 2009. The $7.68-million project plans to use approximately 25 million pounds of concrete. Upon completion, this new parking structure will have some 540 parking spaces spanning five levels.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is the general contractor and its sister company, The Shockey Precast Group, is responsible for the engineering, manufacturing and erection of the precast on the project.
The design and construction of the Winchester parking garage is preserving the integrity of the historic area on Winchester's Kent Street corridor by following a design that will meld into the intended architectural look. Yet beneath its aesthetics it will employ modern construction techniques using state-of-the-art precast construction with an embedded façade. This has been an architectural challenge in the revitalized historic district in Winchester. It challenged architects to integrate infill projects that complement each other, while incorporating a style that reflects both old and new. This has been part of a careful shaping that ensures that new buildings will be a contextual fit architecturally and also will meet local design review standards.
"The exterior appearance and architectural aesthetic of the structure will greatly enhance the Kent Street corridor, furthering the improvements that began with the OakCrest Company headquarters and numerous other projects within the neighborhood. The combination of adaptive reuse of existing structures and thoughtful new construction works beautifully," says Jeff Boehm, a vice president with Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc.
The OakCrest Company headquarters is another Howard Shockey project located just down the street from the Winchester parking garage project. It was one of the first projects along this urban corridor and was converted from a partially condemned historic knitting mill that was turned into a corporate headquarters. This particular project catalyzed the revitalization of Kent Street in this section of Winchester.
"As far as our design goal, we were trying to blend in with the historic fabric of downtown," says Tim Machado, AIA, of Design Concepts, the architect for the project. "The challenge was, 'How can we provide a good-looking parking structure in the historic district?' The way we achieved that was to look at the common architectural features of nearby buildings. We worked closely with Howard Shockey & Sons and The Shockey Precast Group to formulate panels that could replicate those common elements in terms of texture, color and thickness."
Machado says that his firm worked closely with Howard Shockey & Sons on the precast thin-set process of producing the precast concrete, which was intended to improve on the delivery schedule over the traditional hand-applied masonry method. "The stamped concrete base, which switches to a thin-set brick, combines to replicate common details seen in a historic district which was built on a limestone foundation," adds Machado.
The project followed standard phases of construction. The project began with site work, followed by installation of caissons. After footers had been constructed, precast erection began. The final stages of the project will include elevator construction and installation followed by installation of control equipment and signage.
"First came the site work the site used to be a county parking lot," says Gary Ball, project manager with Howard Shockey & Sons. "All site waste was taken to another building site by the site contractor and used as fill. Then 82 caissons were drilled down into solid rock. Now we are in the precast erection phase."
Erecting the precast can be a daunting task, according to Ball. "Some of the individual pieces weigh 30 tons," he says. "On average, approximately 12 pieces are moved into place daily. There is a 300 Demag crane on site set up with a 100-foot boom and a 120-foot jib providing 220 feet of stick in the crane."
The precast members employ some unique technology, says Ball. "The precast includes carbon fiber (C-grid) reinforced double tees that help make the structure lighter and stronger," he explains. "Stainless steel fasteners are being used on the project. Both the carbon fiber and the stainless steel are non-corrosive, thus eliminating what is often a parking garage owner's biggest maintenance headache problems relating to corrosion."
The cladding for the project will be installed as the precast is erected. "The first two levels are clad with stone-faced masonry with thin-set brick above," says Ball. "Both the stone-faced masonry and the thin-set brick are cast in the beds."
Ball explains that this is advantageous in at least two ways. It reduces the construction schedule, as there is no hand cladding after precast is up since both are done concurrently. It also reduces safety risks because it eliminates the need for workers to apply cladding at higher levels.
Ball mentions that the project has its challenges. The parking garage is located between the Frederick County Office Building and the recently rehabilitated historic George Washington Hotel, and historic preservation standards were an issue. One corner of the parking structure is in the historic district and had to go through a Board of Architectural Review.
"The design and the cladding respect the scale, materials and history of the old town district," he explains. "The uses of brick arches complement the structure's neighbors and the historic district as a whole."
But Ball feels that the greatest challenges thus far were getting the 82 caissons drilled and in place. "You never know what you are going to hit when you start drilling," he says. Because the areas were characterized by limestone formations, there were karsts or irregularities where erosion has produced sinkholes and underground cavities. "In this area with its limestone karst formations, it can get a bit tricky."
Otherwise the project has been going smoothly; however, the constraint of historic preservation is ongoing. "We also have the challenge of construction in a historic district with tight site constraints," he says. "We are building property line to property line, moving east to west and eventually it will get tighter and tighter to work. This is not necessarily too unusual, but it is a challenge."
With a design that integrates into the charming and historic city of Winchester, the new parking garage scheduled to be ready for use in the spring of 2009 will add to the city's current 1,789 parking spaces, presenting an architecturally fitting design while employing contemporary construction technology to produce it.
By Jim Romeo -- Construction Magazine, 1/12/2009
Towering crane will place prefabricated pieces of $7.68 million garage on Cameron St.
By Eric Beidel The Winchester Star
Winchester - Recently, it's been a visible part of the modest city skyline from just about anywhere in town.
The towering crane arrived Friday and will stay for a few months on Cameron Street, where Howard Shockey and Sons Inc. has started building a new parking garage.
The crane can lift more than 300 tons and stretch more than 200 feet into the sky when fully extended.
Shockey is using it to place prefabricated pieces of the $7.68 million parking deck.
Located between the George Washington Hotel and the Frederick County Office Complex on Cameron Street, the parking garage will be the city's fourth autopark. The others are at Boscawen, Braddock, and Loudoun streets.
When completed, the Cameron Street garage will offer a total of 540 spaces on five main levels, a partial lower level, and on the roof.
The George Washington Hotel will have use of outside parking spaces at the site, as well as 100 spaces inside the garage.
The city's three existing garages provide a total of 1,789 spaces.
Shockey hopes to complete the new autopark by the end of March, and the garage should open for business on the first of April, said Gary Ball, project executive for Shockey.
City officials had hoped to have the new autopark finished by November, but they discovered they didn't own a small piece of land where the facility will stand.
When city leaders acquired the autopark site from the George Washington Hotel for the project, they found out that years ago, a sliver of land needed for the garage had been deeded to a church.
As a result, the city had to buy the 111/2-by-110-foot piece of land from Grace Lutheran Church, 16 North Braddock Street. Church members were unaware that the church owned the land.
The city also had to get approval from Winchester's Board of Architectural Review, because a small portion of the garage - the extreme northwest corner, closest to the hotel along Cameron Street - is within the boundaries of the Historic District.
"It's kind of like an erector set," Ball said Monday while watching work crews place a 60-foot concrete beam into place.
The first few pieces of the garage arrived at the work site Monday on the beds of massive trailers.
Shockey has created almost 500 pieces offsite that, over the next few weeks, will be brought to Cameron Street and erected into place.
Project superintendent Brad Moser said crews hope to erect 15 pieces of the garage each day.
Right now, everything's running smooth, Moser said.
Between 12 and 15 trucks each day will pull in and out of the work site on Cameron Street.
The right lane of Cameron will be closed off during the day for some time to allow trucks to deliver sections of the garage. The blocked lane will re-open each evening.
The road shouldn't be affected on Fridays, when the construction crews take a day off. That could change if work gets interrupted by bad weather and crews have to put in make-up days, Moser said.
The towering crane will stay put for a while, lifting concrete pieces of more than 30 tons into place.
It's definitely attracting some onlookers, Moser said.
People coming in and out of the county government offices next door have paused to stare at the monstrous piece of equipment through the construction fence.
The main portion of the structure should be up by Christmas, Ball said.
After that, some interior work will continue into the spring, including the installation of elevators.
Shockey has considerable experience with building parking structures. The firm built a 500-space multi-deck garage on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg and a five-story, 1,642-space garage at the Winchester Medical Center.
Shockey also built a pair of parking garages for WorldCom in Loudoun County and three multi-deck garages at the Charles Town Races and Slots entertainment facility in Charles Town, W.Va.
Article from the Winchester Star
Winchester, VA - Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., is pleased to announce that Tom Aldstadt has completed all requirements for certification as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP). This highly respected certification is awarded to individuals who meet academic standards, satisfy professional safety experience requirements, and have passed two rigorous examinations. The examinations cover engineering and the management aspects of safety, applied sciences, legal and regulatory matters, professional affairs, ethics, and other safety-related topics.
Certified Safety Professionals specialize in protecting workers, the public, property, and the environment by identifying, evaluating, and controlling hazards. The CSP manages programs aimed at compliance with safety principles, federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
The Shockey Companies are a consortium of construction companies providing general contracting, design/build, construction management, tilt-up and precast concrete to the mid-Atlantic region. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., a 112-year old general contracting and construction management firm provides construction services in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland with a focus on healthcare, commercial, industrial and public/private partnership opportunities.
Winchester, VA -Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. (Shockey) has been recognized with the following recent awards:
Shockey was recently commended by NARA (National Archives & Records Administration) for its "outstanding support" during the build out of a continuity facility in Rocket Center, WV. NARA cites Shockey's "attention to detail and ability to meet schedule deadlines" as being critical to the agency's capability to support regional national emergency situations.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. also received a STEP Platinum award from Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC) for its commitment to employee safety. Established in 1989 by the ABC National Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) Committee, the Safety Training and Evaluation Process (STEP) program was developed and written by contractors, for contractors. "Shockey has always been committed to the safety of its employees as well as the safety of all of its subcontractors on site," states Chas Capitano, EHS Director for The Shockey Companies. "The evaluation process is a great tool to assess your EHS program and identify areas that need improvement."
The Shockey Companies are a consortium of construction companies providing general contracting, design/build, construction management, tilt-up and precast concrete to the mid-Atlantic region. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., a 112-year old general contracting and construction management firm provides construction services in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland with a focus on healthcare, commercial, industrial and public/private partnership opportunities.
---------- For more information, contact Karen Butler (Marketing Coordinator), Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., at 540.723.4119 or kbutler@howardshockey.com.
Winchester, VA - Shockey, LLC has been selected by the Frederick County (Virginia) School Board to provide development and construction services for the Board's twelfth elementary school.
The single-story, 100,000 square foot facility - located in the center of residential neighborhoods will allow 750 students to learn in a cutting-edge environment. In many cases, these students will also be able to walk to school.
Designed by Blacksburg-based OWPR Architects and Engineers, the school includes K-5 classrooms, multi-purpose space, activities rooms, lab space and a 400-seat gymnasium. Frederick County's Park and Recreation Department will utilize space within the school, which sits on a 15.8 acre site.
Frederick County selected Shockey through the PPEA process. Shockey's proposal was selected "because it offered the best value in consideration of the evaluation criteria".
Shockey, LLC pursues Public-Private Partnerships throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.
For more information, contact Karen Butler (Marketing Coordinator), Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., at 540.723.4119 or kbutler@howardshockey.com.
View construction progress here.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. announces changes in its Business Development staffing:
Evrard Neil will be handling business development in the southern Virginia market. Evrard will be located in Richmond, VA, where he lives and works.
Mike Ferro will be responsible for the northern Virginia markets. Mike's focus will be upon the acquisition of work across market sectors in core Shenandoah Valley markets as well as in urban northern Virginia markets. Mike will be based in Winchester.
Jerry Baker will develop and build projects on hospital campuses throughout Virginia, West Virginia and beyond. Jerry will be based in Winchester.
These changes will allow Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. to continue its effort to be the Partner of Choice® to school districts, governments, hospitals, developers and institutes of higher learning.
The Shockey Companies are a consortium of construction companies providing general contracting, design/build, construction management, tilt-up, precast concrete and ready-mixed concrete to the mid-Atlantic region. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., a 112-year old general contracting and construction management firm provides construction services in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland with a focus on healthcare, commercial, industrial and public/private partnership opportunities.
Don Cooper, President of Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. (HSS), is pleased to announce the following promotions:
Justin Choi, Vernon Crites, Terry Grim, Roger Kirby, Brad Moser and Bobby Parsons were each promoted from Foreman to Project Superintendent.
Shawn Triplett was promoted to Project Manager.
The Shockey Companies are a consortium of construction companies providing general contracting, design/build, construction management, tilt-up, precast concrete and ready-mixed concrete to the mid-Atlantic region. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., a 112-year old general contracting and construction management firm provides construction services in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland with a focus on healthcare, commercial, industrial and public/private partnership opportunities.
From "The Winchester Star": Winchester, VA The city's Parking Authority has narrowed the field to its partner of choice to build a $9 million parking structure.
But the veil of secrecy regarding the process could be a month away from being lifted.
After a unanimous vote at the conclusion of a closed meeting on Monday, the authority issued a statement on Tuesday morning, declaring it will now begin "confidential negotiations" with Shockey LLC of Winchester.
The only other firm invited to submit a bid for the structure, to be constructed adjacent to the historic George Washington Hotel, was Cleveland-based Donley Inc.
"The authority in its sole discretion has determined that the Shockey proposal is clearly more highly qualified than other proposals submitted," an authority press release stated.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is currently building a number of substantial industrial tilt-wall projects, including a new 95,000 square foot production facility for the Free Lance Star in Fredericksburg, VA, an 81,000 square foot manufacturing expansion for Ariake USA in Harrisonburg, VA, a 51,000 square foot addition for Navy Federal Credit Union in Winchester, VA and a 40,000 square foot addition for a long-time client, Kingsdown, in Winchester. Tilt-wall construction is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States with more than 10,000 buildings constructed annually.
The Shockey Companies are a consortium of construction companies providing general contracting, design/build, construction management, tilt-up, precast concrete and ready-mixed concrete to the mid-Atlantic region. Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. provides construction services in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland with a focus on healthcare, commercial, industrial and public/private partnership opportunities.
The new Howard Shockey & Sons Website was designed to serve you better, faster, and with more of the kind of information you need.
We partnered with Studio 105, the area's leading Website developer, to bring you the most up-to-the minute information about what's happening at our company, why we do what we do, and our rapidly-growing project list.
Of special interest on our new Website is a completely revamped Sample Projects section, where visitors can browse a vast variety of projects, and even download a detailed data sheet on each one.
We hope all our current customers will take advantage of our customized Project Tracker system, which provides private access to photos and progress reports on your current project.
If you have any suggestions about how we can further improve our Website, please use the email link (bottom of every page) to let us know.
Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. has been selected for the construction of three major LEED projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia: Culpeper County High School (Culpeper), Western Virginia Regional Jail (Roanoke) and the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum (Winchester).
LEED is a certification obtained through the U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a national nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. The USGBC certifies design professionals who have been trained in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) sustainable design and who have passed professional testing. The council promotes buildings that are environmentally responsible and healthy places to work.
USGBCs LEED Green Building Rating System has become the national standard for measuring and evaluating "green" design. Based on a point system, the USGBC offers four levels of certification (from lowest to highest): LEED certified, Silver Level, Gold Level and Platinum Level.
The Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum's design has been rated "Platinum" by the USGBC - the highest rating offered by the council.
For more information, contact Karen Butler (Marketing Coordinator), Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., at 540.723.4119 or kbutler@howardshockey.com.
Several Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. employees attended the recent Tilt-Up Concrete Association Seminar in Virginia Beach and passed examinations for the following certifications from the American Concrete Institute (ACI).
- Ron Shockey: ACI - Tilt-Up Supervisor
- Bill Hartman: ACI - Tilt-Up Supervisor
- James Thomas: ACI - Tilt-up Supervisor
- Frank Kemp: ACI - Tilt-Up Supervisor
- George Stickman: ACI - Tilt-Up Technician
- Steve Utterback: ACI - Tilt-Up Technician
A Tilt-Up Supervisor is a person who has demonstrated proficiency in and an understanding of overall on-site administrative and technical management for producing tilt-up projects by passing the ACI written examination and meeting work experience requirements.
A Tilt-Up Technician is a person who has an understanding of overall on-site administrative and technical management for producing tilt-up projects by passing the ACI written examination, but who lacks sufficient work experience to qualify as a tilt-up supervisor.
For more information, contact Karen Butler (Marketing Coordinator), Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., at 540.723.4119 or kbutler@howardshockey.com.
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