Achen-Gardner was happy to be a sponsor at the annual Litchfield Park and Glendale Touch-A-Truck events on November 19th. Our employee-owners had a blast passing out fun swag, and candy, and showing off some of our equipment. This free family event gave kids of all ages the opportunity to see and touch the equipment and learn all about construction. Thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors who helped make these events a huge success.
Aric Smith, Achen-Gardner’s Safety Manager, was recently featured on the Dirt Talk Podcast. He was interviewed by Aaron Witt, CEO of BuildWitt, a services, media, and software business focused on the infrastructure and mining industries.
Aaron and Aric dig into Aric’s background cutting his teeth on farm equipment on his grandparents’ hobby farm before jumping into a career in the dirt world. He recounts stories of past road work projects, his affinity for strong unions, and the frustration that comes when people don’t respect construction zones on the highway.
We are excited to share that our parent company, Emery Sapp, has welcomed Rummel Construction, Inc. (Rummel) into our family! This partnership brings together a group of premier civil construction firms whose values, goals, and entrepreneurial spirit align exceptionally well.
Rummel has substantial earthwork and mass grading expertise, as well as a massive fleet of equipment. With more than 675 dedicated team members and a reputation as a top-notch contractor in the region, they will greatly expand our resources and expertise across the Southwest. With Rummel’s addition, Emery Sapp now has two brands operating in the Southwest — the other being ourselves, Achen-Gardner Construction. While both brands share a common territory, we largely perform different kinds of work. Outside of unique partnering opportunities, each brand will continue to operate independently of one another.
Robert Gillis, Emery Sapp Co-CEO shared, “Rummel is a great organization and has a top-notch leadership team. We always talk about ‘owning’ what you do. I can tell you, their team ‘owns it.’ This opportunity aligns well with our strategic plan and with us culturally. Most importantly, Rummel adds value to our ESOP, increases our capacity, and provides opportunities for all employee-owners.”
GET TO KNOW RUMMEL
Name: Rummel Construction, Inc. (Rummel)
Office Location: Rummel is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and maintains a satellite office in Tucson, Arizona
Core Services: earthwork and mass grading
GET TO KNOW ESS
Name: Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS)
Headquarters: Columbia, MO
Core Services: excavation, grading, underground utilities, bridge construction, asphalt and concrete paving, and pavement preservation
Our Achen-Gardner heroes had a great time talking with everyone at the “Everyday Superhero” themed Arizona Conference on Roads & Streets on September 28-30th at the Hilton El Conquistador Tucson. We showcased Roadway and Wet Utility projects and handed out fun and useful giveaways including our new comic book!
Check out our Achen-Gardner comic book to see how our everyday superheroes build award wining projects.
Our Achen-Gardner team had a great time seeing all our friends and partners at the AZ APWA Statewide Conference on August 3-5 at the Hilton El Conquistador Tucson. We showcased recent projects, handed out fun and useful giveaways, and had a lot of fun playing football toss at our booth!
In addition to the excitement in the exhibit hall, we were honored to accept the Project of the Year Award for the Environmental Category - Less Than $5 Million for our work on Arrowhead Ranch Water Reclamation Facility WAS Line Rehab CMAR. We also gave a technical presentation on that project titled Maximizing the Value of Alternative Delivery and Trenchless Technology: City of Glendale WAS Line Rehabilitation. Presentation speakers included Curt King (Water Facilities Supervisor for the City of Glendale), Dan Broderick (Project Manager with Achen-Gardner Construction), and Frederick Tack (Project Manager with GHD)
We have been big supporters of APWA for many years and it was so nice to be an Exhibitor, Platinum Sponsor, Public Agency Sponsor, and Prize Drawing Sponsor at the first in-person conference since 2019. Thank you to everyone who attended the conference and visited our booth and we look forward to seeing you all at the next conference!
It was great seeing all of our friends and partners at the AZ Water Association 93rd Annual Conference and Exhibition on April 12-14th at the Phoenix Convention Center. We showcased recent projects, and handed out fun and useful giveaways.
In addition to the fun in the exhibit hall, we participated in technical presentations about several of our recent projects:
So You Want to Assess the Pipe Full of Water: 67th Avenue Pipeline Assessment, Underground Infrastructure JOC (City of Glendale)
Wastewater Collection: Maximize the Value of Your Input to Improve the Ease of Operations: Arrowhead Ranch Water Reclamation Facility WAS Line Rehabilitation CMAR (City of Glendale)
Maximizing the Value of Alternative Delivery and Trenchless Technology: Arrowhead Ranch Water Reclamation Facility WAS Line Rehabilitation CMAR (City of Glendale)
Minimizing Risk for SmartBall Leak Detection Inspections: Zone 1 - Transmission Main Assessment and Rehabilitation CMAR (Town of Gilbert)
Achen-Gardner sponsored and volunteered at the Sky Kids Fly Day Event For Special Kids held at Goodyear Municipal Airport on March 26th. Sky Kids provides children with special needs an opportunity to fly in a general aviation aircraft with an expert pilot along with a parent or friend to experience the wonders and enjoyment of flight. Highlights included:
73 flights for 63 Sky Kids and 184 family and volunteers
Fire and police department displays
Cheerleaders
Craft activities
Star Wars characters
Helper dogs
A fantastic barbecue lunch
Thank you to all of the volunteers and sponsors who made this event possible! Visit the Sky Kids website at skykidsaz.org for more information about the organization and future events.
Achen-Gardner’s Caterpillar 613 motor scraper was recently rebuilt as part of the Cat® Certified Rebuild Program and now looks and runs like a new machine. Watch the video below for more details.
Achen-Gardner Construction is honored to have won four Build Arizona Awards from the Arizona Chapter Associated General Contractors of America. Members of the project teams accepted the awards at the Annual Dinner and Build Arizona Awards on Friday, January 28th. Following are the award-winning projects:
Roadway Improvements to Lincoln, Mockingbird, and Indian Bend CMAR (Town of Paradise Valley) won in the category of Public Reconstruction, $10M-$50M
Luke 303 North Sewer Trunk Main DBB (EPCOR) won in the category of Private New Construction: Maricopa County, Over $10M
Arrowhead Ranch Water Reclamation Facility WAS Line Rehabilitation CMAR (City of Glendale) won in the category of Public Utilities Reconstruction, Under $5M
Twin Peaks-Blue Bonnet Gravity Sewer CMAR (Pima County) won in the category of Public New Construction: Pima County, Under $10M
Congratulations to everyone involved with these projects!
Representatives of the project teams at the Annual Dinner and Build Arizona Awards on Friday, January 28th.
Achen-Gardner raised almost $700 by hosting a “Pie in the Face” challenge. All funds went to Save the Family to provide holiday gifts for families in need.
Four employee-owners each had a bag in the office with their name on it. Anyone could place cash in the bags to give them points, and on December 8th we saw the person with the most points receive a pie in the face. That day there was a raffle to determine who would get to throw the pie. Dan Spitza (President) and Mike Gewecke (Field Operations Manager) also joined in the fun and agreed to be pied in the face to raise additional funds.
In total three faces were pied: Dan Spitza (President), Mike Gewecke (Field Operations Manager), and Mark Snyder (Equipment Manager). Watch the video below.
