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.

The Cosm at Hollywood Park team celebrated topping out the 62,000-SF entertainment venue's structural steel on June 23. The Mayor of Inglewood and representatives from project partners SME Steel, Sasco, Murray Company, Anning-Johnson Company, Cosm, HKS, Wilson Meany, The Kroenke Group, CBRE, TEC, and Southwest Steel of California joined the Webcor team for a celebratory lunch and topping-out ceremony at the Cosm job site. All team members signed the final beam before witnessing its final placement atop the structure's third level.

This milestone achievement was made possible by the early coordination efforts the team implemented in response to a few field-related issues that arose early on, says Assistant Superintendent Dawit Tekeste.

"We organized several meetings, including weekly structural working sessions with the design team and other trades as needed, and field coordination walks that have been critical to project success," he says. "The steel working sessions were especially valuable because they gave us the opportunity to work through the majority of project issues before shop drawings and erection began."

The positive working history shared between Webcor's Cosm team has also been key to the project's success. Several Webcorians who delivered Fairmont Century Plaza and Hollywood Park Retail Phase 1 together have reunited to compose the Cosm team. The high level of trust and collaboration built between team members on both the Fairmont and Hollywood Park projects positioned them for continued success on Cosm right from the start, says Superintendent Ryan Gerber.

"We have a really strong project team of Webcorians who have proven to work well together," he says. "We mesh well with one another and each bring our individual strengths to the table."

Now that they've completed steel welding/bolting and decking, they're roughing in the slab-on metal decks. Their next major milestone-pouring the level three deck so they can work underneath the live deck and begin interior and exterior wall framing, which will involve several more trade partners-is set for the end of the month.

Once complete, Cosm will feature a 60-foot, 12k resolution LED dome designed to immerse guests in the "front row" experience of live events such as games and concerts via Cosm's Shared Reality technology. This unique entertainment venue, conveniently located adjacent to SoFi Stadium in Hollywood Park, will be the first of a hundred that Cosm plans to develop worldwide.

For the last five-plus years, Webcorians have been actively involved with City College of San Francisco's (CCSF) Construction Management (CM) program as guest lecturers and members of the department's advisory board to help influence the curriculum and build a pipeline of local talent for Webcor. Various Webcor leaders have spearheaded Webcor-led site tours, presentations, and more to educate the students through real-world exposure and hands-on learning.

"I strongly believe in the significance of the community college system-four-year universities aren't for everyone," says Webcor Sr. VP Greg Chauhan. "Working directly with CCSF's CM program is an effective way to support our community and get involved. I'd like to see Webcorians routinely partner with CCSF as guest lecturers and project walk leaders to help tie together every aspect of construction for these promising students."

Last year, Webcor re-launched our partnership with CCSF after a two-year hiatus due to COVID. To kick off this year's activities, Webcor project leaders organized a series of project tours and insightful presentations with field leaders at San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Biosolids Digester Facilities Project (SFPUC BDFP) and Mission Rock Parcel F. Each tour began with a detailed presentation from field leaders, who explained the project's scope, background, delivery, challenges, community outreach initiatives, and more. Presenters wrapped up each session with Q&A between themselves and the students before transitioning to the site tour.

The site visits gave students an opportunity to connect the lessons they've learned in the classroom to the activities Webcorians-from project engineers to directors and construction managers-are doing on our projects. The site tours gave the students a chance to ask Webcor's field leaders questions about what they were seeing and learning, which in turn shed light on ways involved Webcorians can help improve CCSF's CM program curriculum.

Biosolids Digester Facilities Project (BDFP)

Superintendents Lili Fang and Juan Ramos kicked off the BDFP presentation with a high-level project overview-including its unique community impact-followed by a detailed discussion of the planning and coordination that go into preparing for project delivery. Topics included trade coordination and those involved (all project stakeholders), incorporation into a P6 construction schedule, and VDC coordination tools and processes-past, current, and future.

"We hope the students left the job site with a better of idea of the software systems/skills required to execute work on a complex construction project like BDFP, all the cool things we get to help build, and our work's influence on the greater San Francisco population at large," says Construction Manager Chase Corcorran, who helped coordinate BDFP's site tour and presentation. "The work we do is challenging, significant to the community, really cool, and pays damn well. A lot of high school and college students dismiss construction as simply a so-so blue-collar industry until they get a real glimpse of it and realize that commercial construction is a thought-provoking, complicated, technologically advanced, and fun/dynamic way to earn a living."

Mission Rock Parcel F

Project Managers Hugh Tan and Prayas Goyal led the final tour of Webcor's spring job walk series at Mission Rock Parcel F, where they kicked off with a tour of a recently poured top deck and a few ongoing activities. As they descended from the tower's 16^th level (the building's top level at the time) to the second, where framing/MEPS was already complete, the students voiced their admiration of the project's progress. It was an exciting opportunity for them to see how high-rises are built up-close, Prayas says.

"They were very thankful for this chance to witness the work they're learning in theory in real life," he continues. "It was great to see such an engaged, diverse group of construction management students."

The tour group consisted of CCSF students ranging from experienced professionals pursuing a more thorough CM education to young adults who hadn't yet established their careers and wanted to absorb as much construction knowledge as they could. Their passion for the industry was palpable, and Hugh and Prayas appreciated the group's genuine curiosity about the skills required to become a project manager and the work involved with delivering a complex residential high-rise such as Parcel F.

"We were surrounded by some great questions asking the specifics of our project and what we do on a daily basis," Hugh says. "We explained how we do things at Webcor and how the construction industry works in the U.S., as several students were new to the country but had an existing AEC background. Knowing we were helping them just by sharing our experiences and shedding light on how the industry works was extremely rewarding."

Hugh adds that he appreciates Webcor continuing to invest its time and resources in these types of local workforce development efforts as a substantial way to support our communities and those living within them.

"The students were so eager to learn and make connections so they could prepare for their next job interview," he says. "When a local GC supports its community members in their quest to achieve their career goals like this, it sends a powerful message."