March 26, 2010 Construction: GlobalFoundries work comes at the right time for contractors Months into the chip fab project, construction jobs saved and created
The Business Review (Albany) - by Michael DeMasi
Were it not for the work at the GlobalFoundries chip fab, BCI Construction Services Inc. in Albany probably would have had to lay some people off.
The massive project in Malta has helped keep laborers and craftsmen at BCI and other local companies busy at a time when the pace of new construction projects has slowed considerably.
This has helped tremendously, said Bob Fortune, vice president at BCI. If we didnt have this wed be like a lot of other parts of the state or country, just desperately looking for work. Were fortunate to have this.
Some of the other local companies that have won contracts at the chip fab are C.T. Male & Associates in Latham, D&D Power Inc. in Albany, Jersen Construction Group in Waterford, Bonded Concrete in Watervliet and MLB Construction Services LLC in Malta.
MLB spent five months last year pouring 62,000 cubic yards of concrete, a $20 million-plus contract that employed about 100 people at its peak.
The project went very smooth, said MLB President Jim Dawsey, who is also bidding on the interior fit-up at the fab.
BCI has won three contracts thus far from M+W U.S. Inc., the construction manager for the chip fab.
M+W does not release the value of its contracts, and BCI declined to do so, citing a non-disclosure agreement.
Late last summer, BCI built a 30,000-square-foot, single-story temporary office building near the main entrance that serves as the construction headquarters for M+W and GlobalFoundries.
The plain, metal-sided building was on a fast-track schedule. It had to be erected in less than 90 days. BCI met the deadline with some time to spare.
We had a standing joke it had to be ready by the Halloween party, Fortune said.
BCI also built a 9,000-square-foot rigid tent with seating for up to 600 people that serves as a cafeteria run by Mazzone Management Group Ltd.
Most recently, BCI has been building a treatment plant that will process all of the sanitary waste generated by the huge chip fab and central utility building.
Its been a good experience, Nate Hover, BCIs site superintendent, said on a recent day as he stood near a 24-foot-deep pit dug for the wastewater pumps. Wed like to do more work here.
Joe Gomez, owner of Gomez Electrical Contractors Inc. in Albany, said he has a nearly $1 million subcontract with MLB to lay electrical conduit in the concrete slab that is the foundation of the chip fab.
Gomez Electrical was one of the minority- or women-owned firms that was hired by MLB.
Gomez said he hired four additional electricians for the crew of eight at the peak of the job last year.
The work is almost finished, so those four electricians have been let go. Still, Gomez said the chip fab was a shot in the arm for the area.
Without that, a lot of people would have no work today, he said.
United & Taylor Welding Supply Co. Inc. doesnt have a contract at the chip fab, but found a way to get some spinoff business.
The company recently opened a retail store inside a trailer near the construction site stocked with hard hats, safety glasses, work gloves and other essentials for ironworkers and other laborers.
