August 17, 2023
Culture + Employee

Webcor Dedicates Intern Service Day 2023 to Supporting Local Students & Fighting Food Insecurity

Webcor's 2023 summer interns reunited in San Francisco and LA for Intern Service Day, a beloved Webcor tradition focused on engaging interns with their surrounding communities.

Webcor's 2023 summer interns reunited in San Francisco and Los Angeles for Intern Service Day, a beloved Webcor tradition focused on engaging interns with their surrounding communities in a way that supports and empowers local residents. Originally pitched by a former Webcor intern who avidly supported our Community core value, Intern Service Day has been a core component of Webcor's intern program curriculum for the last several years.

This year, Webcor's intern team took the service day as an opportunity to reinvigorate our partnerships with two community-driven organizations committed to serving vulnerable residents: America SCORES Bay Area and LA Regional Food Bank.

NorCal Intern Service Day � America SCORES Bay Area

After a successful first year partnering with the America SCORES Bay Area chapter for Intern Service Day last summer, former Assistant Project Manager Hamza Shallwani suggested reaching back out to their SCORES contacts about organizing another volunteer day together. SCORES aims to inspire youth to lead healthy lives, engage in their education, and build the confidence and character to effect community-wide change through the power of soccer, poetry, and service-learning projects.

"We wanted to give the interns an opportunity to guide and support our local youth and learn about the important work America SCORES is doing," says Project Engineer Sandra Padilla, who organized NorCal's Intern Service Day just one year after experiencing the day as an intern herself with support from Superintendent Zach Pollard and Sr. Project Engineer, Concrete Robert Lim. "Our NorCal interns all came together to create a unique field day experience for the SCORES students at ER Taylor, an elementary school in San Francisco's Portola neighborhood that was hosting a SCORES youth summer camp that week."

NorCal interns and SCORES students spent the day immersing themselves in the creative and challenging worlds of sports and art, spending half the day playing soccer and basketball and the other half crafting a structure related to Mario World, the summer camp's theme, as a team. Although it took some time for the interns and students to grow comfortable with one another, genuine connections quickly emerged from the day's team-oriented, creativity-fueled activities as they embraced both challenges together.

"As someone who thoroughly enjoys playing sports, it was a delight to play games like soccer, four square, and basketball with such wonderful kids," says PE Intern Ninad Doke. "Witnessing their enthusiasm and joy as we played together brought an unparalleled sense of fulfillment.

"I also had the privilege of joining the students in craft-related activities, during which we embarked on an imaginative journey to design and build our very own Bowser's Castle using cardboard. Collaborating with these young minds and seeing their boundless creativity were truly remarkable experiences. Together, we brought the castle to life, and their excitement throughout the process was contagious."

As someone who spent her childhood summers learning from mentors at youth camps just like SCORES, PE Intern Giselle Martinez says the entire day felt like a full-circle experience. She knew firsthand just how valuable these mission-driven community programs were for participating students and understood their role in fueling their confidence while challenging their developing minds.

"I really appreciated the opportunity to help give the kids the same amazing summer camp experience I had when I was their age," Giselle says. "My favorite part was playing basketball with them�it's been my favorite sport since high school, so sharing that experience and teaching the kids how to play was really fulfilling. Basketball is such a great way to learn and practice teamwork."

Ninad was just as excited to join his fellow interns in giving back to the community and positively impacting the lives of local students, an opportunity that he felt reflected Webcor's exceptional company culture.

"It was heartening to see how much joy and happiness our involvement brought the students," he says. "Webcor's commitment to organizing events like this demonstrates a deep sense of social responsibility and genuine dedication to making a positive difference in our communities. Actively engaging in service-oriented activities fosters a culture of compassion, teamwork, and altruism among employees. It really proves that the company values not only its business endeavors, but its contributions to the greater good."

SoCal Intern Service Day � Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

A few hundred miles south in Los Angeles, SoCal interns dedicated their service day to packaging meals at LA Regional Food Bank, a nonprofit with which Webcor's partnered for the last five years. Since 1973, the food bank has served nearly 2 billion pounds of food to LA-area children, seniors, families, and other residents battling food insecurity.

Putting Webcor's community core value into action, SoCal interns worked tirelessly and efficiently to package nearly 1,160 food boxes for LA families in need after just a few hours.

"We really felt like we were contributing to the reduction of food insecurity in LA County," says Project Director Aaron Case, one of SoCal's intern team leaders. "It was also great to see the size of the new facility�we were told it was about four times larger than their last one. It's reassuring to know that food bank donations are funding the infrastructure improvements needed to support larger community outreach efforts."

The jam-packed service day successfully connected interns not only with the community in which their assigned projects were being built, but with one another, says PE Intern Natalie Rodriguez.

"Meeting and connecting with other LA interns while volunteering for such an important cause was the best part of the experience," she says. "The service day spoke volumes about Webcor's culture and proved that their mission truly spans beyond just building."


August 17, 2023
Project Updates

Isle House Tops Out 23rd Level of Residential High-Rise on Treasure Island

Webcor Concrete recently celebrated topping out the 23rd level of Isle House, Treasure Island's new waterfront residential high-rise.

Dozens of Webcorians, trade partners, and representatives from partner companies flocked to San Francisco's Treasure Island last month to celebrate Webcor Concrete topping out the 23rd level of Isle House, a waterfront residential high-rise offering stunning views of the city skyline.

Attendees included representatives from Wilson Meany (client/owner), David BakerArchitects (architect), Stockbridge and Ulilico (Wilson Meany's partners), DCI Engineers (structural engineer), Treasure Island Development Agency, andTreasure Island Development Group. Everyone enjoyed freshly made sides and grilled brisket from Interstate Concrete Pumping's BBQ crew and Webcor ConcreteSr. Construction Manager Dennis Heimer while listening to several team leaders share thoughtful speeches about the project's progress and impact:

· Linsey Perlov and Alex Monaghan, Wilson Meany project managers, gave a brief overview of Treasure Island's history and thanked the team for the immense amount of work that's been invested in Isle House's progress within such a brief timeframe. They also stressed how fortunate we are to work in an industry that allows us to point directly to the final product of our work in our own neighborhoods, noting that we're"contributing to the legacy of San Francisco."

· Pedram Farashbandi, principal at David Baker Architects, spoke about the unique shapes and designs that will be seen throughout the residential building.

¬∑ In addition to discussing Treasure Island's development history/progress and Webcor's years-long involvement, Vice President John Wilson congratulated the team on building Treasure Island's first-ever high-rise and emphasized his appreciation for our trade partners�"the ones getting everything done and delivering the hard physical work day after day."

· Webcor Concrete Superintendent Kelly Martz thanked the crews, unions, and operators for the tireless work they put into the project and congratulated them on successfully executing a 5-day cycle.

The Webcor BBQ and thank-you raffle for our trade partners was a gratifying celebration following a long year brimming with exceptionally difficult, unprecedented challenges. From weather-related issues fueled by California's unusually long and intense winter to the logistics-related issues that came with working around four surrounding projects and consistently changing street closures, the project team has faced an onslaught of hurdles over the last year that were not for the weary, Kelly shares.

"Despite these challenges, we finished the year with a great safety record and delivered a quality product on time and on budget," he says.

About Isle House

Isle House is a residential development on Parcel C2.4, situated in the San Francisco Bay on the western shores of Treasure Island. The project consists ofa 22-story (approximately 220-foot-tall) residential building of Type 1-A construction without basement, a 7-story portion facing the West (including a living accessible roof), and a 4-story portion facing the East. The complex will include up to 250 studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom residential units available to rent, as well as parking accommodating up to 127 vehicles via car stackers. The ground floor and second floor include a 1,200-SF cafe space, entry lobby, residents' amenities, live/work units, bike room, building services such as trash room, mechanical rooms and electrical rooms, leasing offices, and fitness amenities. Levels 3-22 will include residential units, a3,400-SF courtyard over the parking garage, as well as fitness amenity spaces on Level 7 and a resident lounge that opens to a common roof deck. The 22-story residential tower and podium wings was constructed of cast-in-place concrete framing with flat-plate post-tensioned concrete slabs and columns performed by Webcor Concrete.


August 3, 2023
Culture + Employee

Webcor Sr. Director, BD Brooke Walbuck Leads SCI-Arc Workshop

Webcor Sr. Director, BD Brooke Walbuck led a lively two-day workshop at SCI-Arc that introduced graduate students to the business side of design.

Last year, Webcor Sr. Director, Business Development Brooke Walbuck was invited to return to the renowned Southern California Institute ofArchitecture (SCI-Arc) for the third time�this time to introduce graduate students to the business side of design. Brooke and Webcor Vice President Tom Soohoo partnered with three highly respected industry leaders known for their successful pursuit strategies to lead a lively, impactful two-day workshop for the students. The weekend concluded with student presentations of win strategies developed for a (fictional) competitive design-build pursuit.

Background on SCI-Arc Partnership

After finishing her second speaking engagement at SCI-Arc last year, Brooke was asked to return to the prestigious Los Angeles-based design school to lead and develop workshop content for a just-launched elective called Start Up, created by SCI-Arc professor Herwig Baumgartner. Unlike most college seminars, Start Up was designed to deeply engage graduate students in hands-on, thought-provoking workshops organized by leaders within various creative industries over the course of four 2-day sessions. As the then-vice president/director of business development at an architecture firm, Brooke had already centered her workshop content on the pursuit process and everything that goes into winning work for an architecture firm when she accepted Webcor's offer.

"After moving over to Webcor, I reached out to my contact atSCI-Arc and explained that I wouldn't be able to lead the Start Up workshop sinceI no longer represented an architect," Brooke says. "I asked if he'd prefer Ibow out so they could offer the opportunity to someone on the architect side, and he immediately said, 'Absolutely not. You still have the same valuable experience from architectural pursuits to share.' Herwig said they'd tremendously value the new perspective of a commercial builder, especially considering design-build's increasing prominence throughout our industry."

After excitedly accepting, Brooke proceeded to rework the workshop's content and dig into her network to gather her panel of industry experts representing all sides of a pursuit: Tom Soohoo (representing Webcor/general contractor); David Malmuth, owner of David Malmuth Development(developer/owner); Edgar Khalatian, partner at Mayer Brown (land use); andMathew Chaney, partner at EYRC Architects. Joining forces to educate the next generation of top design leaders gave David, Edgar, and Mathew an opportunity to collaborate with Webcor in a way they hadn't engaged with a general contractor in the past.

"SCI-Arc is an elite, premiere architectural design-focused institution that is highly respected in the design world," Brooke says. "Webcor's reputation of excellence in delivering, high-design projects aligns closely with the type of work SCI-Arc students aspire to design after graduating. The buildings we deliver are innovative and bold�reflective of our core values."

'THE PURSUIT: Everything But Design'

Over the course of the two-day workshop, titled "THE PURSUIT:Everything But Design," Brooke and her panel of experts covered the key players in the pursuit process, the factors influencing pursuit outcomes, how a firm can position itself competitively, and everything else that goes into a pursuit beyond design. Each expert prepared an engaging presentation on their current role and company, how they influence the pursuit process, and shared memorable win and loss stories and experiences to give students a window into what lies ahead in their careers. .

"It was fantastic to have Tom join the workshop and represent the general contractor side on Webcor's behalf," Brooke says. "He discussed the career path he took to his current role as vice president of Webcor's Marketing department and what led him to where he is today, then dove into teaching them about design-build and how a general contractor pursues design-build work. He was truly incredible with the students."

The experience was just as gratifying for Tom, who says he appreciated the opportunity to connect with such driven students while working alongside�and learning from�his fellow industry experts.

"It was a great way to give back to the community and support the development of AEC students by sharing our insights and lessons learned over the course of our careers�insights and lessons they might not have learned in a traditional academic environment," Tom says. "It's important to share our experiences and ensure students that we'll champion their success as they enter our business. It was great to engage with them and see them work together on their weekend project."

The weekend project was no small feat. Students were tasked with reading and analyzing a mock Request for Proposal (RFP)�a critical early step of the pursuit process�and shape a win strategy based on everything they'd learned from the workshop presenters. Brooke's team had decided to center the mock RFP on something simple but familiar to all the students: the surface parking lot at SCI-Arc.

"Once they began brainstorming, it was amazing to see their minds working and the ideas that came out of their working sessions," Brooke says. "Watching them rise to the challenge and engage with one another to present their win strategies after just two days was extremely rewarding."

Last month, Brooke enthusiastically accepted the opportunity to return to SCI-Arc next year as a guest lecturer sharing her industry expertise with the students. She's excited to plan her class materials in preparation for her fourth SCI-Arc visit and to continue making a name for Webcor in the design world.


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