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BUSINESS NEWS RPS KLOTZ ASSOCIATES ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY WINS 2017 ACEC TEXAS HONORS RPS Klotz Associates , a Houston-based civil engineering firm, has garnered a Silver Medal in the American Council of Engineering Companies 2017 Texas Engineering Excellence Awards for its environmental report as part of the Gulf Coast Community Protection and Recovery District’s monumental Storm Surge Suppression Study. The GCCPRD initiated its Storm Surge Suppression Study in the fall of 2014 to investigate the feasibility of reducing the vulnerability of the upper Texas coast to storm surge and flood damages. RPS Klotz Associates was engaged to analyze the environmental constraints of the region as a key part of the study. The environmental report entailed a data- and technology- intensive process to produce more than 40 maps illustrating environmental constraints over 4,300 square miles abundant with environmental impacts such as: ❚ ❚ Wetlands ❚ ❚ Threatened and endangered species ❚ ❚ Floodplains ❚ ❚ Coastal barriers ❚ ❚ Essential fish habitat ❚ ❚ Historic sites ❚ ❚ Wildlife refuges and state parks

and people of the six-county area, while ensuring sustainability for Galveston Bay. Once constructed, storm surge protection will include a structure only found in one other location worldwide. FLUOR FINISHES CONSTRUCTION OF DOW CHEMICAL’S ETHYLENE PRODUCTION FACILITY ON SCHEDULE Fluor Corporation announced that it has safely finished the mechanical construction of the Dow Chemical Company’s new ethylene production facility in Freeport, Texas on schedule. Fluor provided engineering, procurement, and construction services on the 1.5-million-ton- per-year light-hydrocarbon cracker, which can use both ethane and propane as feedstock. The ethylene produced by the facility will be used as a building block for many of Dow’s industry-leading performance plastics products. After receiving the contract award in 2013, construction began in 2014, with more than 3,000 Fluor craft employees and subcontractors onsite at peak to deliver the project on schedule. The project also achieved more than 5 million consecutive work hours without a lost-time incident. In support of craft workforce development, Fluor partnered with area community colleges and high schools to encourage pursuit of construction careers and performed more than 2,300 craft performance assessments and evaluations throughout the project. “This project was successful because of the strong partnership and collaboration between Dow and Fluor,” said Mark Fields, president of Fluor’s energy and chemicals business in the Americas. “The joint team focused on

continuous improvement throughout the project achieving world-class productivity and welding quality. The project was completed safely and on schedule. We are proud to complete this important project with Dow to enable them to take advantage of the area’s shale gas resources and grow their key downstream businesses.” OXEA CORPORATION AWARDS JACOBS CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CONTRACT Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has been awarded a construction management contract from Oxea Corporation for a Propanol Expansion project at its manufacturing site at Bay City, Texas. Jacobs is delivering pre-construction planning and construction management services to help deliver the new Propanol 2 unit, that will add a capacity of 100,000 metric ton per year of propanol and 40,000 metric ton per year of propionaldehyde. The unit is scheduled to come on line in 2018. “This project reflects our long-term selective growth strategy,” said Oxea Executive Vice President Global Sales and Oxo-Intermediates Purnendu Rai. “It helps us reinforce our strong position as the largest producer of propanol worldwide. Propanol 2 will provide Oxea with opportunities for further expansion into profitable growth areas.” “We are delighted to work with Oxea on this strategically important project,” said Jacobs Senior Vice President Downstream Mark Bello. “Our experience and lessons learned while executing similar U.S. Gulf Coast construction projects will contribute to the success of this important expansion.”

❚ ❚ Hazardous materials ❚ ❚ Water quality/tidal flow

The massive environmental evaluation played an essential role in formulating a cutting-edge solution that will help protect the infrastructure

CONFERENCE CALL, from page 7

is to grow organically. Many of our full-time hires have been co-ops with us for three or four terms, which gives them a chance to get to know our culture, and us an opportunity to gauge their fit within that culture. TZL: What’s the greatest challenge presented by growth? MH: Ensuring that we are enhancing our culture. We can’t just maintain our culture, otherwise it will begin to erode. As we grow and add more people, we need to remain focused on how we realize the benefits of our great culture though our company is different than it used to be. TZL: What’s your prediction for 2017 and for the next five years? MH: We are anticipating 2017 to be another great year for our company and industry because the first quarter has been a record one for Choice One. We are planning for con- tinued growth through the next five years and are excited to see how our company will change in the process, as we con- tinue to extend the Choice One culture to more clients and employees.

MH: Employees who have been with us for three years have the opportunity to buy ownership in the company. We set our profit sharing plan up to encourage employees to make the investment. “We can’t just maintain our culture, otherwise it will begin to erode. As we grow and add more people, we need to remain focused on how we realize the benefits of our great culture though our company is different than it used to be.” TZL: What’s your preferred strategy for growth, M&A or organic? Give us a synopsis of how your firm effected growth in the recent past. MH: We prefer organic growth. Culture is extremely impor- tant to us, and we feel the best way to control that culture

THE ZWEIG LETTER May 22, 2017, ISSUE 1201

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