When you understand your life’s purpose, you begin to live life more intentionally. In other words, you are more aware of the tools that are needed for the task ahead. This purpose-driven mindset can be found within certain men and women living within our community, however, what makes this force even more powerful is when those people meet other like-minded individuals, or groups, who share the same purpose. At this point, partnerships can be formed and lives are positively impacted. One thing that our journey has taught us is that the right partnerships can change the course of one’s history, forever.

This clearly illustrates what took place on September 4, 2019 at Sligh Middle School. Leaders and businesses, who have identified that it is their purpose to help build a stronger community, came together to connect with Thaddeus Bullard, also known as WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil and founder of the Bullard Family Foundation, to learn how they can partner with his vision to help engage, build and empower the families of East Tampa. Thaddeus looks to accomplish this impact by building the “Sligh Avenue Community Center”. This modernized-urban-style arts center, designed by Beck Architecture, will be the birthplace for inspiring and cultivating new futures for the youth who live in this area. 

Thaddeus says it like this;

“Exposure changes people. Let’s expose East Tampa to something they’ve never seen before.” 

Thaddeus M. Bullard is an accomplished athlete, philanthropist and entertainer as WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil, who has a heart for youth and the community.  He is a fixture with the WWE regularly appearing on “Monday Night RAW”, “Smackdown,” “Wrestlemania” and other marquis events around the world. Out of the ring he is known for his commitment to philanthropic activities. He has helped to raise millions for various charities, secure scholarships for student-athletes and regularly mentors at-risk youth. His annual Joy of Giving holiday event in Tampa gives 10,000 underprivileged children gifts, and services to families in need. 

Care: The Purest Agent of Change

It’s amazing to witness what’s possible when people make the decision to come together; not because they can, but because they care.

In this industry, tactical-logistical planning and coordination is a factor that cannot be overlooked and most importantly; rushed. 

However… In the time of need, an intangible attribute kicks in, and simply bypasses the laws of principles and produces something extraordinary. This attribute is called care. 

“People who do things because they care, will always go over and above what is required; which exceeds the expectation.”

That was exactly what took place when Beck Envision got the call that a portion of McLane Elementary School, located in Brandon Florida, caught on fire under an act of God; a lightning strike three weeks before school started.

This was the activation that called the great people within our community, who know how to build great things, to ignore everything around them and come together to submit themselves to serve the need.

People like;

Adelmarie Bones, with Air Analytics, helped us obtain all testing approvals within a few days to make sure the building was safe to demolish.

Ben Moore, with HCPS, expedited the entire process. He, along with the maintenance and facilities staff, assisted with disconnecting systems and utilities, which was critical in order to get us started.  

Chris McLaughlin, with HCPS,  helped us plan each shut down for chilled water and startup of the system.

Corries Culpepper, with HCPS, Corries helped us develop a safety plan to ensure work could continue with staff and student safety in mind.

Allen Greene, Sr., Co-Founder of Envision-CS, and Olukayode Badmus, Superintendent with Envision-CS, provided us manpower and supplemented staff to keep things on schedule. Their crews helped with all types of miscellaneous work, clean up and hand graded over 14,000 square feet for sod and sidewalks.

Brian Bishop, with Ervin Bishop Construction, arranged crews on short notice. His crew did an excellent job working together to complete the job as planned.

Don French, Jr., French’s Air Conditioning, and his team were instrumental in helping us to plan and complete multiple chilled water shutdowns.  Even with very poor conditions, things were kept safe and French’s Air continued until they were complete and lines filled.

Chuck Gray, with Kimmins Contracting Corp,  helped expedite approvals from the county.  His crew went above and beyond; they worked over two weekends to keep us on schedule. They also delivered 17 truckloads of fill after demolition and rough graded before demobilizing.

Principal Langston, with McLane Middle School, coordinated with staff to avoid our work areas so that we could continue without interruption.

Scott Anderson, with HCPS, expedited the demo permit, helped with inspections and repair planning for safety and sidewalks.

We asked Shea Hughes, with Sunrise Landscape, if he could find 11,600 square feet of sod and install it in two days or less. He did not let us down. His crew worked all day Friday and Saturday to get it done.

Harley Anauo, Superintendent with The Beck Group, worked three weekends in a row, while also working long hours during the week. He did not let the weather impact the schedule. He handled anything that had to be done, big or small, to keep things moving.

The future of our community will always be strong, simply because we have people who care.

#StrongerTogether

During today’s BeckEnvision Partnership Program (BEPP) Class for Tampa, Phillip Green, General Counsel at The Beck Group; Philip Russell, Attorney at Ogletree Deakins; & Tim Hunt, Attorney at Hill Ward Henderson, guided our program partners through the third class where they covered the following topics:

Owner Contracts

Subcontractor Agreements

OSHA

As these legal professionals poured their years of expertise into the group, their content created much conversation. Kicking us off was Phillip Green and Tim Hunt. They teamed up to go over contract language, Florida statutes, merger clauses and so much more. Being exposed to this type of information, provided our group with the insight needed to help them make better decisions in their business transactions.

Closing us out was Phillip Russell as he talked about OSHA along with employee and employer relationships. After hearing his points, he created the unanimous understanding that employee safety and care cannot be important because of a legal compliance decision, but must be a valued attribute ingrained within a company’s culture.

As always, the impact of our partnership stems from connecting with the resources that live within our community. The Associated Builders & Contractors Florida Gulf Coast Chapter (ABC) is a perfect example of this. By opening their doors to host our third class so that the attorneys can impart into our Community Partners, this stands as proof that more will always be accomplished; together.

#StrongerTogether

Class two for the Beck Envision Partnership Program (BEPP), Tampa was a time of soaking up a host of great and invaluable information for each of our Tampa Partners in attendance.

The topics for this class included:

Bonding

Insurance

Business Financing & Bookkeeping

Cash flow Management

Pay applications

Beck Pre-qualification Process

Before the launch of the Tampa program, our BEPP team had the pleasure of hand-selecting each of the program resources who would be presenting on the varying topics of the program. This was done both strategically and intentionally to ensure that our program partners would be receiving viable information that could be applied to their businesses, as well as have the opportunity to connect with external resources who would be available to help with the growth of the many areas of their businesses, even beyond the program’s completion.

The resources who presented during this particular class included Brad Owens and Bill Burnham of Small Business Development Center at USF, presenting on both Cash Flow Management and Business Financing; Evan-Christina Williams and Alicia Graham of Pro Player Insurance Group, both presenting on insurance coverage information that was specifically advantageous to each business in attendance; Devin Phillips of Neilson Hoover Group, teaching on the topic of Bonding; and Michelle Natt and Karen Green of The Beck Group.

And, of course, we can’t forget about the delicious meals that were catered for the program for both breakfast and lunch, catered by Livy O’s Catering.

Winning work doesn’t happen by accident. You MUST be intentional!

Jeff Landefeld, Director of PreConstruction at Beck Atlanta, Jacques Duval of Envision & Robert McNair, Founder of Business Brand Guys,  shares with the group the returns gained from being intentional.

During the fourth Class of our partnership program in Atlanta held at the Beck office; we shared with the partners the mindset needed in order to help win work.

These were the topics discussed:

Robert McNair began laying the foundation by voicing the importance of brand awareness, brand consistency, and brand user experience. Technology has changed the way people do business along with how they interact with your business. Having a strong online presence can greatly impact the profitability of your company. From SEO insights, to brand awareness and community advocacy, being intentional with what you have online will begin to shift how people perceive you and your identity within the marketplace thus causing you to stand out amongst the rest.

From this, Jacques Duval began to showcase, first hand, how Roberts talking points has directly impacted Envision from where we were to where we are today. By conveying to the group, in detail, the journey Envision has gone through in first identifying what our brand represents, then, establishing that brand awareness within the infrastructure; working its way down to the core. Then lastly, communicating that message internally and externally; inline (text) and online.

At the conclusion of Jacques’s portion, Jeff Landefeld followed up with confirming how he uses what he finds online to provide the additional confidence needed to move forward with a bid from a new company he has not heard of before. Especially if that sub does not come with any references. Jeff then continued to share how laying out your proposals within a certain format, connecting relationally, understanding the scope in detail; will all help “add drops to the bucket” that ultimately leads to you winning work.