Building Community Excellence, One Structure at a Time

mmcrebuildstg on November 2, 2022

Miles McClellan is involved in a number of community events and projects
At Miles-McClellan, we recently celebrated Construction Inclusion Week, an annual event that harnesses the collective power of general contractors, specialty contractors, subcontractors and suppliers to build awareness and improve diversity and inclusion in the construction industry across the nation.

The celebration which took place between October 17–21 centered around five daily themes, including commitment & accountability, belonging, supplier diversity, workplace culture and community engagement. As we participated in these daily themes, we were reminded of why we do what we do.

We are not only Building Excellence in our structures, but we are building excellent communities — inclusive communities in which our team is proud to live, work, participate and give back.

We Build Communities We Are Proud To Live In

What makes someone proud to live in their community? Though the answer is not particularly clear and is not the same for every community, three factors stand out — safety, security and access to health care. Miles-McClellan has built safter communities through projects like the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and the Mooresville Fire Station 6 in North Carolina

It is our commitment to not only make it easier to protect communities, but also to be a part of the construction of facilities that make it easier for our community heroes to do their jobs and take care of themselves by offering gyms, kitchens, rest areas and recreation.

We have improved access to great healthcare for everyone in Columbus by being a part of projects at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, OhioHealth and Whitehall Heart of Ohio Family Health Center.

Some other important factors in community pride are arts, culture and beauty. We couldn’t be prouder of the work we have done to enhance these community assets, including projects with Franklin Park Conservatory and the Pizzuti Collection Art Gallery in Columbus, Ohio, and the Chatham County Agriculture & Civic Center in Pittsboro, NC.

We Build Communities We Are Proud To Work In

Connection, collaboration, accessibility are assets of great working communities. By building structures that make it easier to commute, park and build strong partnerships, Miles-McClellan is building community pride.

Community pride requires a thriving workforce with access to education and training. Miles-McClellan has led construction projects for all levels of education, from Isaac Dickson Elementary in Asheville, North Carolina to Marietta College’s Harrison Hall in Ohio. And we build offices and facilities anyone would be proud to work in, like the Honda Aircraft Co. World Headquarters and Research Development facility in Greensboro, North Carolina, projects for Scotts Miracle-Gro in Ohio and Proctor & Gamble production facilities in both North and South Carolina. 

We Build Communities We Are Proud To Give Back To

We have witnessed how communities have been strengthened through infrastructure, but it is our goal to strengthen them even further through corporate giving, volunteerism and meaningful partnerships.

As a company we support 58 non-profit organizations, provide paid internships and donate to causes important to our employees and clients.

Over the years, we have built a variety schools, hospitals, health centers, libraries, fire and police stations, churches, museums, restaurants, hotels and more. With each project, we have left more than a building; we have left a legacy for every hand, head and heart who helped build these structures and every man, women and child who use them.

Making an IMMPact in the communities we serve is at the core of all our projects, and our commitment to our people, our clients and our communities is unwavering. Contact Miles-McClellan for more information about our projects, our team or our community support.

Miles-McClellan Construction Builds New Heart Of Ohio Family Health Facility, Enhancing and Expanding Access to Quality Health Care for All

mmcrebuildstg on September 22, 2022

Heart of Ohio Family Health center

Heart of Ohio Family Health (HOFH) has been working in communities throughout central Ohio since 2003 ensuring that all residents, regardless of their education, age, race, ethnicity or income, have access to affordable, reliable health care. In 2017, the City of Whitehall donated three acres of land to HOFH with a mission to help transform Whitehall by building a one-stop health care shop for the entire community.

In 2019, Miles-McClellan Construction joined the mission when it broke ground on the new James B. Feibel Health Center which replaced HOFH’s previous Whitehall location and doubled its capacity.

The new 21,500 SF center, HOFH’s fifth facility in central Ohio, not only allows Heart of Ohio Family Health to serve more patients but also to offer new services with a laboratory, a community room, and enhanced prenatal services, as well as an in-house pharmacy, dentistry and more.

HOFH Chief Operations Officer, Yammah Morgan, said it was a pleasure working with Miles-McClellan Construction. “Their proactive engagement with our administration assured efficient planning and execution of the onsite, project development and engineering aspects and helped the project stay on schedule during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and through a difficult winter.”

The medical office building incudes nine obstetrical and prenatal rooms, 16 medical and behavioral health exam rooms, and patient care rooms allowing HOFH to provide much-needed health services to the community including family practice, pediatrics, women’s health, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, dietetics and nutrition.

“This inviting and state-of-the-art center serves as the realization of our mission to provide high-quality, holistic and compassionate care to meet the health care needs of everyone in our diverse community, one heart at a time,” said Morgan.

The center is named after James B. Feibel, a founding board member of Heart of Ohio Family Health who passed away in 2018. He was known for being an outstanding community leader and an advocate for the underserved.

MMC receiving award

HOFH recognized Miles-McClellan Construction with a 2022 Giving Hearts Award at this year’s Giving Hearts Celebration. “We were honored to recognize Miles-McClellan Construction for enhancing the access to quality healthcare for generations to come,” said HOFH CEO Dr. Buhari Mohammed, “and to acknowledge their comprehension of our aspirations and their dedication to make it become a reality.”

Miles-McClellan is proud to help this remarkable organization serve more patients and enhance the local community with affordable, reliable healthcare.

It takes a village to build a healthy community, and at Miles-McClellan, we take great pride in being part of the villages we serve. Contact us to enhance your community. We build success by Building Excellence!

Q2 2022 Economic Indicators

mmcrebuildstg on August 23, 2022

In continuing our theme from our 1st Quarter 2022 EI Report, inflation is every owner’s primary concern. As we continue to study trends, we came across an excellent report published by CBRE titled, 2022 US Construction Cost Trends. The newsletter offered several interesting observations and predictions:

  • The CBRE new Construction Cost Index predicts a 14.1% year-over-year increase in construction costs by year-end 2022 as labor and material continue to rise in cost.
  • Inflation in materials is expected to start to cool toward the end of 2022 and normalize between 2-4% during 2023-24. However, specific supply chain issues and other geo-political risks will continue to cause spikes in some products.
  • Labor will continue to be a challenge as we have four significant trends colliding: a dramatically smaller talent pool resulting from the great recession, an aging industry workforce with 20% of our workers being 55+, the lowest national labor force participation rate ever experienced in the US, and a rise in competition for people from other growing industries such as logistics.

This information shared by CBRE fits precisely with what Miles-McClellan is experiencing as we continue bid projects. Below are three specific examples supporting the above analysis, where we bid either an entire project or a particular product 2 separate times in a short timeframe:

  • During the first quarter of 2022, we had the opportunity to bid on a school HVAC renovation project twice. The owner experienced a 9% increase in total project cost over that short 90-day period.
  • Between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022, we bid on an office building renovation/addition project two times, experiencing a 6% increase in total construction costs over 7 months.
  • Lastly, we bid on an operable wall package twice during a 5-month window between December 2021 and April 2022. This owner experienced a 90% spike in price without any change to the scope or material of work.

Our goal is to inform you, our clients, of current construction trends. We will continue to monitor information being predicted industrywide and share specific cost data that Miles-McClellan experiences as we navigate our changing economy.

 

The IMMPortance of Having an IMMPact Team

mmcrebuildstg on August 1, 2022

Having an IMMPact

For over four decades, Miles-McClellan Construction has been setting the bar high for client relationships and earning client trust. We believe the people and processes of a company matter in delivering great results and that there is great IMMportance to being flexible and responsive to the needs of our customers. Every Miles-McClellan project benefits from our IMMPact Team’s passion for construction and the pride we have for our trade.

An IMMPact Team is a cross-functional team of experienced, industry-specific construction professionals formed with one IMMpressive mission — to collectively hold each other accountable for delivering building excellence and client satisfaction for each project. IMMPact Teams consist of highly qualified, intuitive problem solvers with insights and expertise based on hands-on experience and training.

The Meaning Behind Our IMMPact Teams

IMM stands for integrated management methodology and is our united management approach. The typical construction approach is departmentalized. There are many departments handling different aspects of the project like selling, estimating, project management and accounting. This approach can lead to miscommunications or mistakes that delay or negatively impact the project.

With our cohesive IMMPact approach, you will have a dedicated team, including one of our project executives, working together with you throughout the entire process — from preconstruction to ribbon-cutting — allowing us to be more flexible and responsive to your IMMediate needs.

Pact, of course stands for an agreement. It is the promise we make to each other and to our clients. That’s the Miles-McClellan IMMPact!

We strive for clear and consistent client communication throughout the life of a project. We work to hold each other accountable by having discussions centered around project goals, expectations, budgets and how to reduce risks and achieve the client’s satisfaction by keeping the same team members involved and maintaining excellence.

When both of our founders, Terry McClellan and Lonnie Miles, left a large, international construction company, it was because they IMMagined there had to be a better way to do business — one that put customer service at the center. That’s why our promise is so IMMportant and that is why our team assembles to ensure we can meet a client’s needs by discussing strategy, building trust and ensuring we develop confidence in our ability to perform through purpose-filled collaboration.

We strive to build a legacy through relationships and structures, whether it be with our incredible team members or clients. Contact Miles-McClellan Construction to learn how our teams can help you make a lasting IMMPact.

Q1 2022 Economic Indicators

mmcrebuildstg on June 20, 2022

Q1 2022 Economic Indicators In our last issue of the Economic Indicator Report, I cited several issues that will dramatically impact the economy in 2022. Specifically, 4 issues were noted by Anirban Basu, Chief Economist for the Associated Builders and Contractors Association:

  1. less growth in federal spending,
  2. ongoing global supply chain disruptions,
  3. rampant worker shortages, and
  4. an increasing cost of capital.

Implied but missing from the list above is inflation. Because our clients will face inflation challenges, we plan to present specific job cost data throughout 2022 and 2023. Every chance we get to reprice a project, we will share our findings.

This quarter’s case study today is a hotel – the same hotel brand; basically, the same building – built between March 2019 and March 2020 and then repriced in May 2022 (2 years apart). The costs exclude all site work costs to keep the percentage increases as close to apples-to-apples as possible. Over those two years, we experienced and shared with our repeat client a 38% increase in total project cost

Here are few key components of that increase:

I started by looking at structural elements:

  • Concrete +95%
  • Masonry +74%
  • Structural steel +49%
  • Carpentry and Framing +117%

Then I immediately jumped to the MEP trades:

  • Fire Protection +140%
  • Plumbing +19%
  • Electrical +4% (we eliminated the structured cabling)
  • Mechanical +75%

We have achieved an overall increase of 38% by finding other ways to reduce scope and find additional efficiencies. It is important to note that this is the same hotel brand; however, design changes were made with the final budget in mind. I am afraid that a true building to building comparison would have resulted in some factor much greater than 38%.

In preparation for our next EI issue, we will rebid a set of drawings for a project that we bid and built 1 year ago. I look forward to learning and sharing these results.

Miles-McClellan Construction Helps Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Advance City’s Sustainability Goals with New LEED-Certified Station

mmcrebuildstg on April 12, 2022

CMPD University City Division facility

When the city of Charlotte, NC set out to replace its leased University City Division Police Department building with a permanent facility, they did so with a goal to enhance the quality of life for Charlotte residents and department employees and to meet the city’s ambitious sustainability goals.

Reducing environmental stress and improving employee safety and wellbeing were priorities for CMPD. The CMPD University City Division relied on the experts at Miles-McClellan Construction to deliver sustainable solutions that would help them earn LEED certification at their new space.

LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability, achievement and leadership, and LEED-certified buildings save money, improve efficiency, lower carbon emissions and create healthier places for people. To achieve LEED certification, a project earns points by adhering to prerequisites and credits that address carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation, materials, health and indoor environmental quality.

Miles-McClellan got to work building the 16,000-square-foot, two-story police station implementing green construction processes and sustainable features including UV solar panels, underground rainwater management, high efficiency geothermal heating and cooling systems, advanced thermal and moisture protection on the building envelope, construction waste diversion from landfills and the use of recycled materials for construction.

In addition, the new police station encourages green initiatives with access to transit, bicycle facilities, green vehicle parking, electric vehicle charging stations, a green cleaning and integrated pest management policy, an optimized mechanical system for energy performance, low emitting materials, interior lighting controls and low-flow water fixtures.

The health and safety of CMPD employees was crucial in the design of the police station as well. Not only does the building provide enhanced indoor air quality and access to health and fitness, but reinforced concrete walls, insulating concrete forms, structural steel, steel joists and metal deck roof framing offer a solid, efficient and safe structure for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. “The place is literally bulletproof,” said Steve Parsons, Miles-McClellan’s director of field operations.

The project received LEED Gold certification and is projected to have total energy cost savings that will be greater than 59%, resulting in an economic benefit to the city and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions — and the Miles-McClellan Construction project came in on budget with zero safety violations.

“Our newly certified LEED facilities will accommodate the current and future needs of CMPD and further advance the city’s sustainability goals,” said Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles. “These achievements mean we truly are setting the example for a low-carbon and resilient future while increasing the quality of life for all Charlotte residents.”

Miles-McClellan is proud of our work leading this environmentally friendly initiative. With every project, we are on a mission to improve communities and the lives of the residents that reside in them.

CMPD University City Division facility interior

“It’s critical for CMPD to be on the cutting edge when it comes to our facilities. Employee wellness is a CORE 4 strategic priority for the department. Our state-of-the-art LEED-certified facilities feature healthy and cost-saving green technology to make sure we’re providing the best possible workplaces for our employees.”

– CMPD Police Chief Johnny Jennings

How can we help you protect the environment and the residents in your community? Contact Miles-McClellan Construction to learn more about LEED-approved design features and let’s work together to build excellence on your next project!

We build success by Building Excellence!