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BUSINESS NEWS PPG FOUNDATION DONATES $89,000 TO GREATER PITTSBURGH EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES PPG donated a combined $89,000 to support educational initiatives in the Pittsburgh area, where PPG maintains its global headquarters and several facilities. The grants highlight PPG’s commitment to supporting its local communities and the foundation’s top priority of increasing educational opportunities for youth in the areas of math and technology. The grant recipients and programs were: ❚ ❚ Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania: $50,000 to support the development of Discovery Place, an interactive exhibition and learning space for children to inspire and foster science, technology, engineering and math skills ❚ ❚ ASSET Incorporated: $15,000 to underwrite the costs of professional development programs and courses for under-resourced educators to teach inquiry- centered science, technology, engineering and math subjects. The grant also funds related research-based, hands-on learning materials for their students ❚ ❚ Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: $10,000 to support Super Science, a program that

the Econchate Basin, a collection system that drains into the Econchate Wastewater Treatment Plant. The first phase of the project, also awarded to Aegion, was completed in April 2016 and included the installation of 10,000 feet of Insituform CIPP and iPlus Composite in 48-inch to 54-inch diameter pipelines. This second phase is expected to take 15 months to complete with work likely to begin later this month. Company crews will install Insituform CIPP and iPlus Composite to rehabilitate over 20,000 feet of eight-inch to 48-inch diameter pipelines. The project also involves managing the rehabilitation of 34 manholes and the construction of over two miles of all-weather access road in the wetland area. Frank Firsching, president of Aegion’s Infrastructure Solutions platform, said, “We have over 25 years of experience working for the City of Montgomery. We are pleased to have been prequalified for and awarded this latest project and commend the City of Montgomery for their proactive approach to addressing its collection system in the Econchate Basin.”

provides children with opportunities to engage in hands-on science activities ❚ ❚ Barrels by the Bay: $9,000 for a program inviting students in area schools to use vibrant paints and their imagination to decorate white plastic rain barrels for later use in lessons about water conservation ❚ ❚ National Aviary: $5,000 to support aviary programs that bring bright feathered visitors and related education to patients at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC “We are pleased to support these great educational initiatives in PPG’s hometown,” said Sue Sloan, executive director of the PPG Foundation. “We believe it’s important to prepare today’s youth for the opportunities that will be available to them in advanced manufacturing and also to stimulate their curiosity about the world around them.” AEGION CORPORATION AWARDED AN $8 MILLION MUNICIPAL CONTRACT FROM THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA Aegion Corporation announced the award of an $8 million contract from the City of Montgomery, Alabama for its Infrastructure Solutions platform. This project is the second and final phase of a wastewater pipeline rehabilitation project located in

ED FRIEDRICHS, from page 12

the owner and the tenants, and what will make them more valuable over time as the tenant mix continues to evolve. I spent an entire career working with developers, and my “graduate school” of development was my membership in the Urban Land Institute and participation on a Real Estate Development Council. My colleagues were developers, bankers, leasing agents, building managers and other real estate professionals. I learned a lot, and I’m still learning. I encourage you to go deep with your clients, to engage in continuous learning. It’s up to you to gain the additional education necessary to truly understand the businesses of your clients. Yes, you should get your LEED certification. And yes, you’ll need to take continuing education classes each year to maintain your professional certification. However, to be a true professional in your clients’ eyes, you’ll need to go much further. I did, and I can say I never could have had the career I enjoyed without doing so. It made my work that much more fulfilling and allowed me to develop the deep client relationships I’ve enjoyed throughout my life. ED FRIEDRICHS, FAIA, FIIDA, is a consultant with Zweig Group and the former CEO and president of Gensler. Contact him at efriedrichs@ zweiggroup.com. “It’s up to you to gain the additional education necessary to truly understand the businesses of your clients.”

Sony and Warner Bros. to prepare the due-diligence, budget and relocation strategy. In order to do this assignment, we needed the full trust and confidence of both clients, who were sitting on opposite sides of the deal. That trust and confi- dence came from our deep understanding of what they did. ❚ ❚ Another example of benefiting from an intimate knowledge of a client’s business involved a major U.S. financial institu- tion. When a facilities management firm took over that insti- tution’s bank-owned real estate department, they were tasked with lowering costs and reducing the number of vendors the bank was managing at the time. Originally, the number of architect/interior designers was cut from more than 100 to 16, and then to two. I believe the major reason my firm was one of the last two vendors was the strategic work we had done with the bank over the years. We had developed a graphic icon-driven database management system that allowed us to test reconfiguration scenarios in real-time with the client. Often, we had documentation on both banks’ real estate portfolios. We augmented that service with real estate analysis. When the bank acquired another bank, they often had redundant facilities – operation centers and branches. We helped determine which had better proximity to their employment base, and which were most marketable. I am now a development partner with the $1.2-billion West 2nd District project in Reno, Nevada (west2nddistrict. com). I am expanding my intimate knowledge of the development process – how projects are financed, how they are valued, what makes them easier to manage for both

THE ZWEIG LETTER August 1, 2016, ISSUE 1162

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