Our industry needs many new skilled trades workers in the next few years. But ATTRACTING workers doesn’t matter if we don’t RETAIN them. That starts with how workers are treated on the job. 

This anonymous survey, developed by Construction Forum with the help of over 200 industry professionals, is designed to capture a picture of the current construction workplace culture in St. Louis. Your contribution to this survey will always remain anonymous. We will combine all the responses to provide input and direction for companies and organizations seeking to improve retention and workplace culture.

With your help, it will capture both successes and challenges.

Please take a few minutes to complete it. The survey is designed to give us a starting point, as well as processes that show success.

Click here to participate.

From St. Louis Business Journal: An innovation district that’s the centerpiece of a $1.2 billion project on the riverfront south of downtown will hold a modular housing design competition for universities in what is intended to be a global showcase for sustainable and innovation design.

The Gateway South Innovation District – planned for the Chouteau’s Landing neighborhood just south of the Gateway Arch – will host the international event, named the Gateway Decathlon, in October 2025, project developer Good Developments Group, said in a news release.

Read more.

Clayco has announced the relocation and expansion of its St. Louis offices and operations center.

The company, which currently has multiple offices in Overland and Clayton, will move 580 St. Louis-based team members to a renovated facility located at 8640 Evans Avenue in Berkeley, MO next year. The 230,000-square-foot office in NorthPark Development will accommodate space for over 1,000 employees as the company expects to add at least 400 additional team members in the next few years.

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PEOPLE of Construction

Wednesday, November 15

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

Delmar DivINe

5501 Delmar Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63112

PEOPLE meetings are focused networking events where minority- and women-owned firms mix it up with majority firms, owners, city, county, and industry professionals and simply get to know each other. There is no agenda, no preaching, no PowerPoint – just interacting with others in the industry.

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From St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune: 

Jose Gomez, Laborers Local 110 vice president and business agent, has received numerous accolades in recent months, including a resolution from the St. Louis Board of Alderman recognizing his advocacy for Hispanic and Latino workers – and all workers in the St. Louis region.

Read more.

This week, Construction Forum Drone Photographer Louis Kelly, owner of Drone Eagle, LLC, updated progress on CRG’s Riverpointe project on the Missouri River riverfront in St. Charles.

Riverpointe is a $350 million development that has been more than a decade in the making. Over the next five years its developers hope to revitalize 120 acres along the Missouri River at Interstate 70 and Main Street, building on the success of the neighboring 27-acre mixed-use development that opened in 2012, The Streets of St. Charles.

Read more.

S. M. Wilson & Co., a St. Louis-based construction management and contracting firm, recently expanded its number of project managers on its operations team with the promotion of Kim von der Heyde, LEED AP BD+C, to Project Manager.

Von der Heyde has been with the company for 4 ½ years. During her time with S. M. Wilson, she has worked on many successful projects including the Pattonville School District 2018 Capital Development program, Fox Sports St. Louis, Loy-Lange Box Company and Francis Howell North High School.

Read more.

Laborers Local 110 is holding a diaper and feminine hygiene product collection drive to show solidarity with the striking auto workers (UAW).

If you want to help, collect items and drop them off at 4532 S. Lindbergh on Saturday, November 11.

Read more.

by Dr. John Gaal

Editor’s Note: Each week, Dr. John Gaal, director of worker wellness for the Missouri Works Initiative, a non-profit workforce formed by the Missouri AFL-CIO, collects and comments on news and trends in workforce wellness and life balance. Construction Forum will be carrying the Worker Wellness & Well-Being Blog as a regular feature.

This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog consists of topics concerning how the change from Daylight Savings Time physically and mentally influences your life; to about how marijuana may do more harm than good when it comes to anxiety; to how ride-share companies have been called out for issues related to wage theft.

Today, I wish to shed some light on the topic of understaffing pharmacies across our communities.

Read more.

Midwest based Russell, a commercial construction and real estate development firm, is excited to announce it has been awarded the prestigious contract for the construction of the $48 MM St. Louis Community College (STLCC) Forest Park Transportation Center project.

This flagship project, a cornerstone in educational and workforce development for the St. Louis metro area, is a key component of the STLCC Transformed Initiative – centered around modernizing facilities and programming to meet the job training and retaining demands of Missouri.

Read more.

S. M. Wilson & Co. is now working with Northwest R-I School District as its Construction Manager at Risk (CMaR) to manage the projects approved through Proposition S. Last spring, the voters approved Northwest School District’s zero-tax increase bond issue for $28 Million to fund district-wide improvements. Paragon Architecture provides professional architectural services.

Read more.

From St. Louis Business Journal: A St. Louis County judge on Monday granted a temporary restraining order against the city of Maryland Heights, ordering the government not to violate the terms of its lease with the operator of a youth sports complex.

A hearing on a preliminary injunction is set for Nov. 20 before Judge Ellen Ribaudo.

Read more.

From The St. Louis American: The “Boosting Black Business Brunch” at the Mixery Room in University City on Oct. 28, 2023, was an inspirational celebration of Black entrepreneurs and those working to increase Black business-ownership in the region.

Sponsored by Kwame Construction and Millstone Weber, Anika Porter, Lifespiration marketing firm CEO, hosted the event which “boosted” 15 Black-owned businesses, vendors, and entrepreneurs.

Read more.

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From St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune:  

Raine McDevitt worked in the restaurant industry as a hostess, server and bartender and then COVID 19 hit. She was tired of never knowing how much she would make in tips, not having benefits and having a job that dealt directly with the public.

Following the restaurant stint, she did an internship for a web development company, but wasn’t happy with sitting in an office all day. Then she ran across Missouri Women in Trades on Facebook (MOWIT), and everything changed.

Read more.

From The Telegraph: Ground has been broken on the first of four phases of a sizable expansion of Father McGivney Catholic High School.

The coed Catholic college preparatory high school held a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion Wednesday afternoon. According to a press release from FMCHS, the new addition will be a 3,550-square-foot facility dubbed the “Commons Building.”

Read more.

From Commercial Observer: The American dream of owning a home is becoming increasingly elusive for many.

In the United States, the cost of housing has reached staggering levels, posing a significant challenge for individuals and families striving to secure a place to call home. As of the second quarter of 2023, the median price for an existing single-family home stood at a daunting $416,100, as reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. 

Read more.

On November 2nd the Associated General Contractors of Missouri (AGCMO) announced the winners of the 2023 Keystone construction industry awards at its Construction Awards gala at the River City Casino Hotel. Tom Ackerman, KMOX Radio sports director, served as emcee for the program that showcased the achievements and talents of Missouri’s construction industry. AGCMO also celebrated First Place Specialty Contractors in 12 disciplines and named a Specialty Contractor of the Year.

Read more.

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From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Near the base of the Grand Avenue Water Tower, Otis “Pat” Woodard pointed to the step from the sidewalk that once led to his childhood home.

His father, civil rights activist and neighborhood philanthropist Otis Woodard, owned the house that once stood at the corner of Strodtman Place and Bissell Avenue. He took on the adjoining properties, too, using them to store and distribute canned goods and clothes to his neighbors in the struggling College Hill neighborhood of North St. Louis.

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From ENR: The Kings Bay Dry Dock Recapitalization was the U.S. Navy facility’s first major overhaul in its three-decade history. The project is expected to support fleet operations 50 years into the future as even larger, Columbia Class submarines are phased into service.

The Alberici-Mortenson joint venture completed the project on time in September 2022 and on budget, at a cost of $625 million.

Read more.

From Yield Pro: High Street Residential, the residential subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, launched leasing at The James, a five-story multifamily community in Kirkwood, Missouri.

“The reception to the leasing launch at The James has been exceptional, with a considerable number of apartments being leased in just the first week we were live,” said Mary Boehmler of HSR.

Read more.

From Call Newspapers: Tensions were high at the Oct. 10 Sunset Hills Board of Aldermen meeting as a petition for a text amendment to amend the text of the Sunset Hills Unified Development Ordinance to create a new multi-family zoning district was discussed.

Before the board first was Rob Golterman, the attorney representing the applicant, Steve Maurer. He explained that Maurer owns two lots along Gravois Road that are zoned as R-1, which “has clearly become an outdated and inappropriate zoning designation for these parcels.”

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The Making an IMPACT Foundation, a charitable foundation established by IMPACT Strategies of Fairview Heights, IL, held its second annual Sporting Clay Classic earlier this fall.

The event was held at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, IL. All proceeds were donated to Hoyleton Youth & Family Services for their Home for Healing Capital Campaign. Attendees enjoyed a luncheon and several competitive sporting clay events, followed by a happy hour and awards ceremony honoring the winners.

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From St. Louis Public Radio: Downtown St. Louis’ identity of being where many of the region’s highest-profile companies rent high-visibility offices appears to be fading, and fostering a new one in the post-pandemic era could prove essential for the region’s future.

The Central Business District boasts nearly 11 million square feet of rentable office space, according to real estate services company CBRE. The district stretches from the eastern edge of the city’s Midtown neighborhood to the riverfront.

Read more.