Tag: Program Management

HPM Ranks Among Top 30 on ENR’S Program Management Firm List

Posted on August 18, 2021

HPM was named one of the top 30 program management firms in the U.S. by Engineering News-Record (ENR), ranking No. 27 on the annual list. This is the 6th year in a row we have landed among the top 50.

“We have continued to strengthen our capabilities while growing our reach and our team over the past year, enabling us to better serve the clients who entrust us to lead their capital projects,” said Ryan Austin, HPM chief operations officer.

HPM attributes this success to its clients and the recent expansion of staff and service offerings. Our planning services division is led by facilities planning expert Tracy Richter and is focused on providing a comprehensive approach to capital and operational building programs. Joining HPM as vice president of planning services, Richter launched the division in July 2020 to expand HPM’s business lines to better serve clients at every stage of development. This move strengthened client engagements through a variety of new offerings, including demographic analysis, standards and specifications development, GIS services, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, client facilitation, and facility master planning.

This year, HPM bolstered its planning services division with the hiring of Gary Rademacher as director of planning services and Tim Kelleher as GIS analyst. Rademacher is a 30-year veteran of architectural planning and design, with specialized expertise in K-12 education. His deep relationships throughout North and Central Texas also strengthen our Texas footprint, as we continue to strategically grow our presence throughout the south. Kelleher has worked to incorporate the GIS framework into HPM’s planning efforts through geographic data analysis, 3D mapping, and GPS development, helping more of HPM’s clients leverage technology and data to make smarter business decisions.

“This recognition by ENR demonstrates our relentless pursuit of improvement and excellence, despite the challenges our industry has faced throughout the pandemic,” Austin said. “We’re proud to rank among the top program management providers in the country and celebrate the exceptional performance of all of our team members.”

HPM’s Medora Gaddes Promoted to Project Manager

Posted on August 11, 2021

Team members who inspire those around them are vital to the success of any organization. Their positivity encourages others to step up and shine. Medora Gaddes is undeniably one of those people. She is not only passionate about leading our clients to success through project management but also serves as HPM’s Talent Development Coordinator, recruiting the next generation of HPM leaders. For her unwavering enthusiasm and leadership, Medora is being promoted from Assistant Project Manager to Project Manager.

“Medora is being promoted due to her hard work and dedication to all things HPM,” said Brennan Bell, HPM Senior Program Manager. “She was put on the Calhoun Community College Sparkman Building project as an Assistant Project Manager (APM) with all of the responsibilities of a Project Manager. Over the course of the project, she has proven to be capable of managing the project with little oversight and has fully gained the trust and respect of the client. She has also been working on building relationships and seeking opportunities with North Alabama-based clients and architects, all while balancing being a new mom.”

Medora first began showing her value at HPM as a Co-Op from 2014 to 2016, assisting with assignments including Walker County High School, Birmingham Intermodal, and even the high-visibility Auburn Pharmacy and Nursing buildings. After her graduation from Auburn with a degree in civil engineering (and a minor in dance), she joined HPM as a Project Engineer in 2017. She immediately began demonstrating leadership qualities, attending events in Huntsville to integrate herself into the local market, and becoming involved with the Chamber of Commerce and the Southern Automotive Women’s Forum. Her project highlights include Calhoun Community College, Abaco, FedEx, Aerojet Rocketdyne Headquarters and Advanced Manufacturing Facility, and the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater.

In addition to her project management duties, Medora does a tremendous job leading our recruiting efforts for the company. She spends considerable time making sure that the needs for co-ops, interns, and full-time hires are being met. Medora has expanded our recruiting network and can be counted on to put forward qualified candidates who are great fits for HPM.

“Medora is an enthusiastic team player,” said Brooks Ballentine, HPM Director of the East Region. “Not only does she handle her project management duties, she is active in helping with business development, client entertainment, recruiting, and coordinating our Emerging Leaders Program. She goes above and beyond in everything she does.”

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Choosing the Right Program Manager for Your Aviation Project

Posted on April 14, 2021

The right program manager offers many benefits to aerospace companies and projects, including clear timelines, streamlined communication, and, perhaps best of all, peace of mind. With the right program manager in place, you can focus on and achieve overall project success and maintain a strategic approach for your investment without having to dig into the details.

But how do you choose the right program manager for your project? To help you navigate through the noise, here are the top six questions to ask when hiring a firm so you can find that right fit.

Do you understand U.S. and local building codes and regulations for permitting?
Why it’s important: National and local codes and regulations are complex. While they are designed to specify minimum requirements related to health, safety, and the welfare of building occupants, they can be challenging to comprehend fully. An experienced program manager will help you navigate these requirements through careful planning, ultimately allowing you to avoid common pitfalls.

Do you have a thorough understanding of the factors that will drive the budget, such as labor and materials?

Why it’s important: U.S. labor forces remain stretched, forcing the cost of labor to increase. The same is true with materials pricing, as across the board we are seeing a rise in the cost of materials (e.g., steel). An established program manager should know the market trends and local workforce, thereby helping you mitigate the impacts to your budget and realize success.

Do you keep up with U.S. construction industry trends and understand innovations and newly available solutions?

Why it’s important: As we see material and labor costs rising, innovative solutions like AI/machine learning or virtual reality/augmentation can offset the strain on workforce and budget. The best program managers will know that keeping up with emerging trends and tools is important to maximizing your ROI.

Do you have an advocate that can be your boots-on-the-ground resource?

Why it’s important: There is great value in engaging an experienced partner with trained eyes and ears who understands the local design and construction community as well as the aerospace industry. A program manager who already has established relationships can more easily act as a facilitator throughout the project, providing you with the confidence you need to ensure you are safeguarding your investment. By hiring the right program manager, you can maximize your attention to other endeavors and responsibilities and remove any barriers that may come between you and success.

Do you understand the various delivery models?

Why it’s important: An effective program manager will help you consider your options (CM-at-Risk, Design-Build, Integrated Project Delivery, etc.). Choosing the option that is best suited for how you do business is paramount to managing risk and creating a cohesive team approach. Plus, understanding the terms and conditions of your contracts helps ensure the project is delivered without an interruption in expectations.

Do you have the capacity for this project?

Why it’s important: You need to know if the PM team has time to take on a capital project and manage the day-to-day details. This direct question gives firms an opportunity to recognize their potential distractions and request help in adopting a speed-to-market mentality. Through clear communication from the beginning, you can find a program manager who will study the way you work, help you manage decision-making through the chain of command, and put pressure at given points so you can meet your goals and mitigate your risk in the process.

HPM is a nationally ranked program management firm with a track record of success providing value to giants in the aviation industry. Over and over again, we help our clients complete their projects faster and for a lower price.

Learn More About HPM’s Aviation Projects

Working Together to Get the Job Done

Posted on April 8, 2021

As program managers, we serve as the eyes and ears of the owner, ensuring that their best interests are at the heart of every decision. We manage all resources as if they were our own – which includes holding designers, suppliers, contractors, decision makers and ourselves accountable to the commitments made. Sometimes, other project partners involved come from previous experiences where working with a program management firm felt more like an additional layer of red tape.

This was the case for Carmon Construction Inc. (CCI), a construction company based in Albertville, Alabama, which had previously worked with firms that either forbid them from corresponding with the owner or architect or added a fee for doing so. When we partnered with CCI on the City of Albertville’s Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater, they found HPM to be quite different.

“To begin, HPM stayed on top of every problem or change requested by the owner, analyzed how it would affect the schedule and produced an independent cost breakdown with written analysis to the architect and owner,” said Carmon Smith, founder of CCI. “This proved to be very helpful. With this being a large project, site-wise, and with the owner choosing to contract with 10 or more separate contractors, orderly coordination of these was almost impossible. HPM did everything they possibly could to coordinate and get each contractor to do their part at the time it was needed.”

The Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater is a big deal in every sense of the word. The park includes five softball fields with one championship field, four baseball fields with one championship field and five multi-purpose fields, each with all-weather turf. It includes a 100,000 plus square foot recreation center with an indoor eight-lane competition pool, multiple basketball courts and an outdoor water park with a lazy river feature.

The park also features four miles of hiking trails, open grass areas, an RV Park and a 7,000+ seating capacity amphitheater equipped to host national touring acts and regional or community events. The 135-acre sports, leisure, wellness and entertainment venue is expected to create more than 1,200 jobs while generating an economic impact of $120 million annually.

No matter the size or scope of any project, clear communication among the various teams involved is a requisite of success. HPM furnished a complete table of contents for close out of the project in the first third of the project and CCI came to consider us as a partner in building the recreation center and amphitheater. The complex program schedule featured numerous logistical challenges ranging from complications due to the pandemic to one of the rainiest winters in North Alabama history, but our teams worked together to ensure that the program was a success.

“Carmon Construction was driving their work from day one,” said Caleb Camp, HPM project manager. “They had strong field leadership, obviously developed over a long career in the construction industry. Carmon Smith held his company to high standards and represented Albertville with class. The City of Albertville has a reputation and history of providing excellence to its citizens, and Carmon Construction delivered the facilities to continue this tradition.”

We strive to be the perfect partner, helping every group on every project achieve its goals. Together with CCI, we put the owner first and got the job done, delivering a remarkable recreation destination to a region that will enjoy its benefits for many years to come.

A Legacy Lives On: Giving a Storied Residence Hall a New Place to Call Home

Posted on February 8, 2021

Not only do residence halls house college students, they also house fond memories and mark the beginning of lifelong friendships and connections. Some historic residence halls have even housed generations over the years, making living in them a family tradition. When alumni visit these halls, they are reminded of so many memories from their college years and feel emotionally connected to their former homes which will always hold a special place in their hearts.

Tutwiler–one of these historic residence halls is located on the campus of the University of Alabama and is being rebuilt to house even more students and memories.

According to HPM President Mike Lanier, “To my memory, this is the single largest publicly bid project HPM has ever managed in our 22+ year history.”

The HPM preconstruction team and the University’s project teams have collaborated on this project over the last three years.

“The teams started working together on the project from its conception and are dedicated to ensuring the project is on schedule for completion and move-in ready for University students for the fall of 2022,” said Trent Hall, Senior Project Manager.

The five-story replacement to the historic residence hall includes a project budget of more than $140 million. It will exceed 300,000 square-feet and house 1,200+ freshman female students.

“The University and our team worked tirelessly cultivating the market for general contractors and subcontractors to bid the project in this overheated market we are all in, canvassing regionally trying to get qualified firms to pursue the project,” Lanier said. “Through it all they stuck to who we are and what we do at HPM day in and day out: evaluate, analyze, strategize, advise, listen, and counsel, but mostly lead.”

The Tutwiler residence hall will include double-occupancy units and community-style living spaces, and a feature of the residence hall will include keyless entry to the building. Additionally, the residence hall will include a food service venue, a storm shelter, and satellite Housing and Residential Community offices. Furthermore, furnishings are included in the project to fully equip all residence rooms, common areas, peripherals, and offices. Construction of the new residence hall began this fall and is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2022 fall semester.

HPM Rises to Top 25 on ENR’S Program Management Firm List

Posted on July 21, 2020

Unique standard of personal client care and the hiring of top-level talent moves HPM up 20 spots.

HPM made the top 50 on Engineering News Record’s (ENR) program management firms list for the fifth year in a row, but even more exciting is the jump we made in the ranking. HPM rose from number 42 to 22, and while we are certainly proud of this success, we recognize that it was not built overnight.

HPM’s team members located across the U.S. made this happen by building on the strategic efforts of the last five years. We have restructured our organization for success, growth, and versatility — ensuring that the best people are available to each client.

There are several strategic moves we’ve made to build this company on the service and expertise as owners’ advocates and representatives. About six years ago, HPM acquired the audit and contract services firm of Vince Chapman. He and his team provide a comprehensive approach to new and existing clients, serving all aspects of their needs for construction cost auditing and compliance services.

Greg Ellis began building a program development division based on a solid preconstruction team led by Del Buck – who in turn surrounded himself with an army of experts in estimating and scheduling as well as in subspecialties. Greg also has established a team of program development managers who provide the necessary bridge for clients who are considering capital expenditure programs and guiding them on how to define and initiate those programs. HPM moved even further left by hiring facilities planning expert and respected industry veteran Tracy Richter to lead the firm’s new Planning Services division, a move that bolsters and expands our service offerings while extending relationships with clients representing more than a dozen industries.

Last but certainly not least, we have redefined our business development and marketing strategies to be laser-focused while remaining nimble and adept at our pursuits into new industries and markets. We’ve continued to explore new ways to diversify our portfolio of clients and optimize our expanded services.

We are honored by this great recognition as being one of the top program management companies in the U.S.

“We are so appreciative that our clients continue to trust us to represent them by leading their capital building programs,” said HPM President Mike Lanier. “This recognition highlights the outstanding performance and effort of our employees across the country.”

Tag: Program Management

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