JFC Construction Inc. in the News
US DEVELOPERS JOURNAL SPRING 2009
Always Ready for What's Next
Produced by James Tingley
& Written by Shannon O'Neill
David Muth is the Operations Manager of JFC construction, an independent general contracting firm with over 20 years of commercial experience. The company specializes in the telecommunications sector, and has completed more than 1,000 projects in Northern California, their home base. JFC is known for their timely completion of projects and their versatility. The company has the capacity to assess a site and complete a tower from the ground up, and can also provide necessary maintenance as required. In addition to telecommunications work, JFC also completes building projects and site work. JFC currently employs a team of 37, and maintains a main office and production facility in Martinez, California. This means that the company's reach easily extends from Ukiah in the north to Monterey in the south, since they are located in the center of the Bay Area, giving JFC easy access to San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, Sonoma and Napa counties. The wide variety of landscapes is something unique to this area, and makes every project site unique. It keeps the job interesting for JFC: from neighborhoods to high rises to remote mountaintops, the company has done work in all kinds of locales, in all sorts of conditions. Tower construction is the mainstay of JFC's business.
From site selection and grounding to building tower foundations, tower erection and modifications, setting cabinets, wiring cabinets, and getting a new site on air, JFC has the capacity to handle most of a project's requirements in house. "We try not to sub anything out — some specialized duties, fireproofing, for example, we will go elsewhere for, but mostly we complete projects from the ground-up. We don't have to wait to line up subs," David notes, and that makes the company more efficient. When they do go outside the company, JFC tends to "use the same guys over and over in order to create a relationship with vendors. That way you can rely on someone."
One partnership JFC relies heavily on is with Steel Guard Fence with whom they have worked for about 10 years. From large commercial cell site projects to smaller jobs, JFC turns to Steel Guard Fence for chain link, ornamental iron, or any other kind of fence. JFC also partners closely with Glen-Crete Products, Inc., as this company is able to coordinate, provide critical-path planning and analyze project specification requirements before execution. Having worked together for many years, much of what Glen-Crete offers is tight scheduling services coupled with providing complex metal fabrication for the wireless communication industry. For electrical work and cell antenna requirements, JFC works with Total Environmental & Power Systems, Inc. (TEPS), which specializes in installation, repair, and maintenance of air conditioning and AC and DC power systems. Partnering with JFC for a variety of projects, TEPS has completed work on community parks and numerous cell sites.
As a member of the trade organization NATE, The National Association of Tower Erectors, JFC keeps current on the latest safety regulations, an aspect of the job that David says is always most important, no matter what the project. The company conducts regular safety 'tailgate' meetings and finds that NATE is helpful in providing safety training materials and introducing effective regulations. The fact that JFC has very little turnover also helps keep things running smoothly and safely: "we tend to pick individuals and stay with them, train then in house and hold on to them. We keep steady with what we have, and promote from within," David says. He adds, "Safety has got to be number one. The larger you get, the more you need to focus on it. On site, we go through site-by-site safety requirements — every site is different, and anything can happen at a moments notice. My first goal is always to make sure everyone can go home at night and hug their family."
In addition to the versatility that the geography of Northern California demands, each carrier that JFC works for also has their own separate specifications that require attention to detail and flexibility on the part of the work crew. After decades in the business, David is familiar with what Verizon wants versus AT&T—"getting on board with what each company needs helps you streamline your operations. We can better cater to the customer and clients, knowing exactly what they need," he notes with a chuckle. "Sometimes they just want to get on air to create revenue, but we know what they need," and JFC can deliver it in a timely, safe, and cost-effective manner. To help with efficiency, JFC has a thorough checklist they implement in each project to stay on top of individual tasks and to make sure each step is seen through to completion. The company has established a strong reputation for word of mouth, so David notes that marketing is not yet a huge focus for the company. Instead, they are focused on keeping their crew busy. June to December tends to be the busiest time of year for JFC, and the spring months are times for wrapping up projects from the previous year and initiating new work. A recent source of work for JFC involved creating public works projects. One example is the $4.6 million City of Pleasanton Historical Park — a beautiful six — acre, multi-use park located in the San Ramon Valley. The current economic climate presents challenges, especially in California. David approaches the tough times with the attitude to 'keep moving on.' He's been in the industry for 30 years, and with JFC for 13, so he's ready to sit tight and weather the storm. Right now he says that the company is focusing on performance, on "keeping tight knit, keeping our employees happy and educated and wanting to come to work, so they can perform in a safe manner with a positive attitude." He sees the next six months as a struggle, but feels confident that a turn for the better will mean an uptick in business for which JFC will be ready.
From the Pleasanton Weekly, News - Friday, June 8, 2007
City OKs $5.3 million for New Adobe Park
Historic site once home to Indians, Spanish, Dairy Farm
by Jeb Bing
The City Council Tuesday approved a proposed $5.3-million construction and restoration project that will create a 6-acre Alviso Adobe Community Park, to be located across from the Laguna Oaks community at 3461 Old Foothill Road.
The project, first discussed in 1995 and then detailed in the city's draft Master Plan report in May 2000, has seen continued delays both because of funding requirements and also planning changes. When completed late next year, the new park and historical site will offer a unique opportunity to learn more about the heritage of the city of Pleasanton.
"This community park would provide residents of Pleasanton a new millennium opportunity to learn first-hand about the Ohlone Native Americans, the Spanish-Mexicans and the 19th century dairy industry--legacies of the past," wrote Lydiksen Elementary School teacher David Hartman in a Pleasanton Weekly article in 2000.
Hartman, along with the Museum on Main and Jim Wolfe, director of Parks and Community Services, campaigned vigorously to save and restore the adobe, which is now a deteriorating building barely visible on a hillside overlooking Foothill Drive.
In its action Tuesday, the council awarded the restoration and construction project to JFC Construction of Martinez in the amount of $4,393,855. With other funds needed, the total will be $5,344,536.
JFC will be responsible for building the historically-themed 6-acre community park, including restoration of the adobe structure, reconstruction of the historic milking barn and fabrications and installation of the museum-style historic interpretive program that could be run by the Museum on Main.
Construction of the park's parking lot, entrance roadway and related features at the project's southern end will be completed by the developer of an eight-home subdivision on adjacent acreage with the associated costs to be paid by the city.
The site now consists of undeveloped parkland and the adobe, officially named the Francisco Alviso Adobe in the California Register of Historical Resources. It was one of the first adobes built in California. Part of the original Mission San Jose in the 18th century, the site was included in a land grant to 8,680 acres to Alviso.
Plans for the hillside park include replicating the early 20th century Meadowlark Dairy barn, a bunkhouse and an adobe brick-making area.
The new community park "will be a walk through three periods of our history," Wolfe said. "It will provide visitors with a look at the Indian, Early California and the dairy periods."
Actually, archaeological digs show that the site has been in use at least since the fourth millennium B.C., with the influx and occupation of the land by the predecessors of the Ohlone Indians.
Construction of the new and restored facilities is expected to get under way in July.
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