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."

When the time came for Project Engineer (PE) Intern Warren Cook to declare his major at Purdue University, he knew he wanted to choose one that would not only open opportunities to contribute his talents and skillsets to future employers but also continuously challenge him to set new professional goals, seek and absorb new knowledge, and evolve into the best version of himself.

Today, he's a rising sophomore majoring in Construction Management, a rewarding pathway to a fulfilling, long-lasting career in construction-an industry that offers no shortage of such challenges thanks to its daily onslaught of demands, hurdles, and puzzles to solve with team members, clients, trade partners, and architects.

"The day-to-day aspects of the construction industry really intrigue me," he says. "Right when you think everything is going to plan, an unexpected issue can arise that challenges everyone to adapt and rework processes to find a plausible solution. Being on a team and contributing to the solution is very satisfying."

Now that he's a PE intern at the Genesis Marina TI, Warren's excited to get to work and experience that hard-earned sense of satisfaction on the job site for the first time. In addition to contributing to his team however he can, he looks forward to gaining a better understanding of construction's various career paths, as he's still considering which track to pursue professionally. So far, he's had the opportunity to work on layouts, QC, submittals, RFIs, and several miscellaneous tasks with which his internship manager has entrusted him.

"I really enjoy being part of the whole inter-connected system of construction," Warren says. "It's such a people-oriented world-from skilled trade professionals in the field to project managers in the office, everyone depends on one another and is essential to project delivery. Throughout my career, I'll strive to be a leader who uplifts my co-workers through my actions and words and make a positive difference in whatever way possible."

As a Bay Area native, Warren's grateful to get his start in the construction industry with Webcor - a general contractor that's spent the last five decades building everything from airport terminals at SFO International Airport to student housing at UC Berkeley. The company's reputation as a respected Bay Area builder powered by an exemplary employee culture quickly distinguished it amongst a sea of competitors in Warren's search for large Bay Area-based general contractors, Warren says.

"I've really enjoyed Webcor's focus on community, both within and outside the company," he continues. "Connecting with my fellow Bay Area-based PE interns over a game of softball is just one example of the community-building experiences we've been offered so far. That game has become one of my favorite Webcor memories!

"The entire intern experience has been such a rewarding experience already. Every morning, I wake up looking forward to the work day ahead-something exciting comes up literally every hour on this job!"

In his free time, Warren enjoys hiking anywhere with a great view, visiting unique hidden gems throughout the Bay Area, spending time with his family, and woodworking-currently, he's working on a canoe paddle composed of recycled scrap wood!