Tower rings arrive at wind site

After months of waiting, two steel rings that came from Denmark, then went to Michigan to be retrofitted, finally arrived at the wind farm site on Nov. 10.

Mike Ammendolia, foreman for Methuen Construction, the firm hired to install the rings, said each tower ring weighs 10 tons and a crane lifted each ring and placed them on the two foundations that had been prepared at the wind site. Each foundation will hold a 230-foot monopole tower with a turbine and blades. To read the article click here.

L to R: Project Manager Jay Spooner, Project Engineer Irina Nemchenok, President of Wright-Pierce Bill Brown & Somersworth DPW Director John Jackman, P.E.

Methuen Construction earned top-honors again in the Associated Builders and Contractors Excellence in Construction Awards competition. This year’s winning project was a $7M upgrade to the Somersworth New Hampshire water treatment facility. The project was delivered three months ahead of schedule and under budget despite a major flood that severely damaged the construction site and new equipment.

The judges for the competition said, "Methuen Construction’s skillful $7 million upgrade of this Somersworth, NH Water Treatment Plant included the assembly and installation of new tanks, pumps, control room and a relocation of the chemical treatment room. Methuen, which self-performed 45 percent of the work, used a mix of new technologies and old-fashioned leadership and know-how to modernize an historic 110-year-old facility and deliver a finished product that the City of Somersworth awarded 99 out of 100 points in its official score.""

This year’s award is the fifth ABC Excellence in Construction Eagle Award won by Methuen Construction since 2002. .

Tour city treatment facility Oct. 2

The City of Attleboro will host an open house and tour of their award-winning upgrade to the city’s wastewater treatment facility. Methuen Construction was responsible for building the $23 million project that included replacing more than 95 percent of the process equipment and systems. As Attleboro Mayor Kevin Dumas noted the “project went extremely smoothly” and job was finished ahead of schedule and under budget. To read the article click here.

Methuen Construction Awards 2008 College Scholarship

Rachel Herbert was awarded the Methuen Construction Scholarship for 2008 during our July 30 company meeting. She will attend Worcester State College and study to become an occupational therapist. The $2000 scholarship is awarded annually to a deserving student entering their first year of college and is in remembrance of our deceased teammates. Rachel (L) is joined above by her mom, Janet, a contract administrator with the company. Congratulations Rachel, well earned.

Jul 20, 2008

STUDENTS GET A FOOT IN THE DOOR

By: JOHN WHITSON New Hampshire Union Leader New Hampshire Union Leader, 7/20/08

THE FIRST CLASS of students in Lakes Region Community College's energy services and technology program has yet to graduate, but they already have plenty of connections in the business world. Wesley Golomb, the teacher who established the program in Laconia last year, has worked on energy-efficiency issues since the 1970s. Contacts from that time, which included a stint at the Public Utilities Commission, are helping ensure a seamless transition from classroom to job.

"I have come to have some incredible relationships with local and not-so local businesses," said Golomb.
Academia is often criticized for being removed from the real world.

But at the community-college level, the overriding goal is to craft curricula that proves practical when the job hunt begins.

Energy-services students at Lakes Region are being exposed to a variety of options for their future. New Hampshire is trying to get baseline numbers on how energy-efficient -- or inefficient -- all state-owned buildings are, and Golomb is angling for internships to help with that work.

Pro Controls of Bow, a company that manufactures monitors to make businesses and vehicles more efficient, has sent employees to campus to demonstrate their work. Employees of GDS Associates of Manchester, an energy-services consulting firm, have talked to the class about commercial and residential energy audits.

Osram Sylvania has checked in with advice on energy-efficient lighting. "All the utilities have helped me," said Golomb. "I don't know enough to do this myself." Community college officials at several campuses throughout the state say aligning coursework with existing jobs is especially critical in emerging, technology-rich fields.

"All our technology programs have advisory boards," said Diane Chin, vice president of academic affairs at Great Bay Community College. "The advisory boards are made up of contacts from business and industry."
Great Bay has a biotech program that produces lab technicians and quality-control managers.
Taking advantage of its location on the Seacoast, the college has cultivated relationships with businesses at Pease Tradeport. Chin said Great Bay has a 14-year connection to Lonza, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical and health-care industry suppliers. Already the Tradeport's largest employer, Lonza is expanding this year and expects to soon count more than 1,000 employees.

Nearly 100 Great Bay graduates work there, and since 2004 the relationship has been reciprocal. Great Bay students can enroll in Lonza's apprenticeship program in pharmaceutical production and quality control, and the campus provides training programs for Lonza workers, said Chin. Great Bay has a longtime relationship with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Andover, Mass., and Chin said the college is looking throughout New Hampshire for similar opportunities.

Construction equipment companies aren't hiring handymen. Land-moving vehicles and tractor-trailers have engines and hydraulic systems that grow more sophisticated every year.
White Mountains Community College has developed a mobile equipment technology program that partners with Milton Cat of Hopkinton and McDevitt Trucks of Manchester to produce graduates ready to go to work on the behemoth vehicles.
"It's not just turning wrenches," said Frank Clulow, vice president of academic affairs at the Berlin campus. "There's a lot of physics involved."

The companies sit on the program's advisory board, have established scholarship funds and train students directly through co-op programs. Testing equipment and engines for student lab work is donated each year.
"The school itself couldn't afford to own a bulldozer that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Clulow, "so companies bring in equipment in need of repair or cycle through new equipment."
It's a mutually beneficial relationship. "It's their way of having a steady stream of students they can rely on," he said.

The program was born about nine years ago when a truck-driving instructor at the college kept hearing companies complain about a lack of skilled technicians. The advisory board was formed, a relevant curriculum was compiled and the need was met. Now Milton Cat even sends people into area high schools to spark interest. "So we also have a personal recruiter for the program," said Clulow.

Jack Paige coordinates the welding program at Manchester Community College and has been a teacher there for 27 years.
"We've had pretty much 100 percent placement for as long as I've been there," said Paige.

A graduate or two each year enrolls in one of the nation's few welding engineering bachelor degree programs, but most become inspectors and quality control experts.

"We have a lot of students who stay in New Hampshire and start their own businesses," said Paige, "and they come back and hire our students. One of our graduates has a business in Londonderry with about 50 employees."
There are many different types of welds, said Paige, and the work is often performed with computer-controlled equipment, lasers and robotics.

"There are some very good jobs throughout the area," said Paige, noting that starting pay ranges from $15 to $25 per hour.
Students get work in construction, aerospace and biomedical, he said. Portsmouth Shipyard's metallurgy department has long been a pipeline for his graduates.

Bill Drescher recently graduated from the two-year welding technology program and took a job with Methuen Construction in Salem.

Drescher, 39, earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts in 1992, but after kicking around at a number of office jobs, realized he wanted to see tangible evidence of his work at day's end. "I spent years after I graduated with a humanities degree trying to figure out what to do," he said. "You can build anything with welding, and I like to put stuff together."

Drescher, who has three children, said the idea of returning to school at his age was intimidating. The reality, he said, wasn't. He took classes early each day and found work at New Hampshire Hydraulics in Merrimack.

"They taught me stuff in the morning, and by that afternoon I was doing it at my job," said Drescher. "I was able to get a pretty good cross-section of welding processes while I was going to school."

Getting a job, he said, may have been the easiest part about his return to school.

"They went right to the campus, came out and recruited us," said Drescher. "I intend to retire from Methuen Construction."
Suzanne Rose, human resources manager at Methuen, said the company dips into MCC's pool because it's full of motivated workers.

Methuen starts welders at $18 per hour with a comprehensive benefits package and opportunities to move up.
"(Students) have made a commitment to their careers," she said. "Just in the last year we've hired seven from MCC. We find them extremely skilled technically."

Methuen requires all its welders to pass a test showing competence in 14 different procedures, said Rose.
"The guys out of MCC pass them pretty quickly," she said, "so they've been a great resource for us."

Emerging technology means constant change for schools claiming to be on the forefront of any industry.
Cathy Heffernan, associate vice president of academic affairs at MCC, said every campus program has a business and industry advisory board, and members have a direct impact on campus life.

"They tell us about trends and give us ideas," said Heffernan. "They look at our curriculum so we can make sure we are up to date." MCC has a new degree program in the works -- production technology -- which involves designing, manufacturing and assembling machinery.

Heffernan said the school has already sent course descriptions to a variety of area businesses: Fireye of Derry, BAE Systems of Nashua, Maine Oxy of Hooksett, Citronics of Wilton. The companies provide expert advice on things like what kind of equipment to buy and how courses should logically progress.

"We meet monthly," said Heffernan. "They've given us so much time. There's so many decisions to make when you're trying to get a degree off the ground."

May 27, 2008

METHUEN CONSTRUCTION EARNS 6TH CONSECUTIVE ABC STEP SAFETY AWARD

Methuen Construction earned yet another ABC STEP Safety Award and was honored alongside 48 fellow merit shop contractors at the ABC Gould Construction Institute’s annual Safety & Education Night.

The event drew over 325 guests to the Montvale Plaza in Stoneham last Thursday where MC picked up a Platinum Level STEP Award, our 5th consecutive, which is top honors in the association. Accepting the award on behalf of MC was Safety Engineer Pat Sullivan (center) alongside GCI Chairman Vic Pelletier (r) and 2007 ABC Chairman Doug Hunter (l).

The STEP Award is a testament to every teammate’s commitment to working safe each and every day. This recognition is well-earned and it demonstrates that we are doing everything we can to execute a comprehensive safety program that is tops in our industry.

May 10, 2008

John Huff/Staff photographer City officials, New Hampshire DES officials, and construction representatives cut the ribbon on the new addition to the Somersworth Water Treatment facility off Rocky Hill Road Thursday afternoon. From left are Marty Pepin, Allen Breton, Ian Rohrbacher, Jay Spooner, Rene Pelletier, Bob Mann, John Jackman, Bob Bellmore, Sarah Pillsbury, Andrew Begin and Arvid "Jim" Wiggin.

SOMERSWORTH — Looking around the newly upgraded water treatment facility today, it's impossible to tell it was flooded by nearly 10 feet of water this time last year.

The successful transformation was mentioned during many accolades given to those involved in the construction and upgrades to the facility, city officials and water treatment facility staff Thursday at a ribbon-cutting event.

For more: Click Here

January 16, 2008

Methuen Construction Project Manager Jay Spooner stands alongside (r) NH DES Commissioner Thomas S. Burack as he cuts the ribbon during a ceremony for the new centrifuge and related upgrades at the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility

Jay Spooner, the project manager for Methuen Construction, which performed the upgrade work, explained that the new dewatering system increases capacity, improves efficiency and uses a better method to extract the solid waste from the sewage stream, making for cleaner and safer water.

Spooner explained that the biggest hurdle his team had to overcome during the past 16 months was to keep the plant running properly while the new system was being constructed.

For more: Click Here

Project on time, under budget

BY GEORGE W. RHODES SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Friday, December 21, 2007 1:12 AM EST

ATTLEBORO - A $30 million, three-year reconstruction of the city's wastewater treatment plant has been completed on time and under budget.

The city's building commission designated the project "substantially complete" this week, meaning that 99 percent of the work is done, and all new equipment and machinery are operating as intended.

For more:

www.thesunchronicle.com

ABC Excellence Awards

November 13, 2007

Jamey Pedro and Matt Munzing celebrate Methuen Construction’s ABC Excellence in Construction Award win for the Attleboro Wastewater Treatment Plant. The ABC Eagle Award is the top prize in the annual competition of Massachusetts’ best merit shop contractors and Methuen Construction was one of only three companies to earn the honor this year. This year’s event marked ABC’s 15th anniversary of the competition and was held for the first time during Build Boston at the Seaport Hotel. Congratulations to every teammate that contributed to our success in Attleboro!