Building News And Georgetown News - FTWOODS Construction, Texas.

Creating passion

Why does our organization exist? There are a number of answers to this question: “To build buildings.” “To create value.” Why are we motivated to work? The answers are often similar: “You have to make money!” “Everybody’s gotta work.”

Good leaders create an organization with a purpose that rises above the bottom line; great leaders go a step further, finding ways to leverage the passion of each of us in order to create incentives that surpass financial rewards.

The greatest leaders rely on a simple, timeless idea in order to create passionate, purposeful workplaces: the highest purpose in life is growth. We are not talking about currently popular American notions of growth here -- e.g. growth of your bank account, mortgage payment, or waistline. No, we mean growth in wisdom, in maturity, and in one’s contribution to society.

There is a reason this notion of growth has stood the test of time: human beings naturally seek such growth. It is the reason we read books, take classes, coach our kids, and do volunteer work. For some, it is the reason we go to work.

The first step in creating a workplace that promotes personal growth is to determine your organization’s purpose or reason for existing. This purpose must go beyond financial concerns and speak to the growth-inspiring question of contribution to society. The next step is to create the intrinsic incentives that motivate employees to work towards the organization’s purpose; these incentives are based on passion. Improving this single attitude makes your days fly by. You wake up excited to work. You make the right decisions. You get more done in less time. Improving this attitude affects everyone around you. They believe in you, trust you and want to support you. This one attitude can change your entire life for the better.

Leaders must communicate corporate purpose clearly to all employees, and they must demonstrate the relationship between individual passion and corporate purpose. This requires leaders to interact directly with small groups of employees until they “get it” to screen new employees for cultural fit; and to constantly keep the relevance of purpose and passion clear for all.

Trust ….. Just as you can not dictate passion, you can not impose independence and responsibility; these must come from within each of us, and they can only arise when there is an “all for one and one for all” environment of trust among us all. Extrinsic incentives can promote independence and responsibility, but ultimately, trust begets trust. Most employees, empowered with independence and expected to take responsibility for their actions, will rise to the occasion. Those who do not will typically self-select out of the organization.

Leadership by example ….. Leaders must be passionate, mature, self-aware, and self-confident. They must promote passion, purpose, and growth to the same degree they promote financial objectives. They must not be threatened by the passions and aspirations of others, but instead they must have the integrity to resolve through communication rather than confrontation.

Passion is a self-generated tool. You have the ability to motivate yourself; to concentrate on your purpose; to get yourself excited about what you do. Your attitude sets the mood for everyone around you. They get excited if you are excited. If you are fascinated, so are they. Recommendations you give to others that come from the heart have a greater impact. Everyone can increase their purpose and intensity. When you organize all of your activities toward one focused goal, you not only feel more joy in what you are doing, you get more accomplished. There is nothing stronger than a leader

“ Building Relationships” with a firm direction and passion to make it happen.

FTWOODS Construction has had a busy year and has been blessed to have a number of projects underway. Here is a list of our projects that are currently in progress.

General Contractor

Jarrell ISD

Hewlett Hummer

TXDOT Customer Service Center

Creedmoor Elementary-Del Valle ISD

First Baptist Christian Education Center

Houston and Rodriguez Elementary School-Austin ISD

Copper Oaks Retail Center

DeZavala Elementary School-San Marcos ISD

Concrete and Site Development

Hewlett Hummer Detention Pond

Sam’s Club-Waco

Lowe’s Home Improvement-SW Austin

Skipcha Estates Elementary

Saegert Ranch Elementary

TXDOT Customer Service Center

Capital Metro Renovation

Kensington Trails 3A

Shady Oaks Section 4, Phase 4

The Reserve at Twin Creeks Section 17

East Transmission Main

Del Valle ISD-Creedmoor Elementary

Ranch @ Brushy Creek 2A

Loop 1 Extension

First Baptist Church-Georgetown

Palm Valley Plaza Shopping Center

Brushy Creek Trail East

Roger Beasely Mazda Central

FTWOODS Construction completed the renovation and addition for the Roger Beasley Mazda Central in August 2005. The 32,000 square foot major renovation and addition included new interior finishes, walls, lighting and exterior facade. The team who worked on the project included Project Manager Ross Schneider, Project Engineer Mary Dixon and Superintendent Mark Frost.

Maxwell Nissan

Maxwell Nissan, a 25,000 SF renovations including Nissan’s Retail Environmental Design Initiative for building components and finishes, was recently completed by FTWOODS Construction. FTWOODS Construction changed the showroom and front elevation from radius pre-engineered metal building to a structural steel addition. The interior renovation included creating a larger showroom and retail parts area. The FTWOODS Construction Team who worked on the project includes Project Manager Ross Schneider, Project Engineer Mary Dixon, and Superintendent Sid Smithson. Maxwell Nissan was completed August 2005.

Jarrell High School

FTWOODS Construction was awarded Jarrell High School in July. We are excited to be working with Jarrell ISD and Dr. Jamie Mattison once again. The project is a 98,500 SF high school with two gyms. There will be classrooms for 300 students. The building is designed for expansion capabilities for 700 students. FTWOODS Construction will also build the school’s Career Technology Building. The team that is working with Jarrell ISD consists of Senior Estimator Mike Mason, Project Manager Ross Schneider, and Superintendent Lee Loving. FTWOODS Construction has recently completed the schematic stage and are about to move into Design Development. The high school is set to be complete by Spring 2007.

Chelsie Huntsman , our Georgetown High School student, is attending Brigham Young University this year as a freshman. Chelsie worked closely with Diane Schiller. Chelsie was a very dedicated employee who always had a smile on her face. She has worked at FTWOODS Construction for the past year. Chelsie will be missed but will be back during the holiday break.

Britin Bostick, our intern from Texas A&M University , returns to school after spending the summer with us. Britin worked closely with Ross Schneider and Mary Dixon . Britin is majoring in architecture but felt it was necessary to see the way the construction industry worked. We loved having Britin in the office. She is a hard worker and we look forward to seeing her during the Holiday break.

We wish both ladies good luck during their fall semester.

FTWOODS Construction works with Faith in Action to help Hurricane Relief

FTWOODS Construction helped Faith in Action, an umbrella organization representing 11 churches within the Georgetown area, by placing barrels at all the GISD schools to collect goods for the Hurricane Katrina Relief effort. FTWOODS Construction was in charge of collecting and sorting all the barrels from the schools after everyone made their donations.

FTWOODS Construction also helped Faith in Action on September 10, 2005, by housing evacuees in Georgetown at the Georgetown Hospital Home Healthcare Center . The churches involved in Faith in Action each sponsored a room for the families. FTWOODS Construction volunteered by sponsoring the kitchen area. We helped clean this space so it could be a working, functional kitchen for the families. It was great working with the community to help our neighbors.

Carol Woods received the Outstanding Local Leader Award at the John Ben Shepperd Texas Leadership Forum on Saturday, September 10, 2005. The organization selects the winner based on different criteria: their leadership skills, their work ethic, and their willingness to publicly serve their community. Carol Woods exemplifies all of these qualities. Everyone at the office is extremely proud of Carol’s accomplishments. Now more people know how dedicated Carol is to her community and her company. Keep up the good work, Carol. We are so proud of you.

FTWOODS Construction held its First Company Picnic on August 13, 2005. It was a huge success, and a great time was had by all. The turn out was unbelievable. We are so glad that so many of our employees were able to attend. Thank you everyone for pitching in and for bringing your families. We look forward to next year.