The following are the individuals and companies receiving recognition for their achievements in the past year. Many of the following individuals and companies were honored at our Awards Recognition Evening on October 13, 2021.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - Raymond "Butch" Ames
Raymond “Butch” Ames is Chairman of the Board at Ames Construction. A Minnesota native, he and his siblings were raised on a farm where they learned the values of honesty, hard work and persistence, and the responsibility to be a good steward of the land. Characteristically humble, he has carried these values into his professional life where they have served him well in every aspect of his career.
After working in construction with a local contractor, Butch joined his brother, Richard in his startup excavating company in August of 1962. Together they formed Ames Construction, Inc., a family-owned, privately held construction company headquartered in Burnsville, Minnesota. Butch has built a lifetime of experience managing the overall direction of the family-owned enterprise, and under his leadership, the company broadened its capabilities and successfully delivered many diverse, complex and highly visible projects. Today, Ames Construction is one of the premier full-service, heavy civil and industrial general contractors in North America.
Butch has always admired and respected people who work with their hands and is an active supporter of the working families who contribute to the company’s success, and the communities in which they live and work. He takes tremendous pride in being part of an industry that strengthens our country and enhances the quality of life for millions of people both today and for generations to come.
SKILL-RESPONSIBILITY-INTEGRITY (SRI) AWARD - Doug swenson
Doug Swenson has spent his entire 43-year career working to improve the safety and quality of the Minnesota construction industry through industry-leading safety education and training. He began his career working in vocational education within the public school system and moved on to work for Frattalone Companies, the Minnesota Construction Teamsters Apprenticeship and Journeyman Training Fund, Mortenson Construction, Truck Crane Service, and two stints as Director of Safety and Field Training for AGC of Minnesota. Over his distinguished career, Doug’s many accomplishments have moved the industry forward, including the hundreds of safety training programs he has written for all manner of contractors, the state legislation on mobile crane safety that he worked to enact, and certainly not least, the Construction Health And Safety Excellence (CHASE) Partnership Program with MNOSHA that he doggedly spearheaded.
Doug has trained and educated tens of thousands of construction industry professionals. A quiet and unassuming leader, he has educated countless field and craft professionals by creating curriculum and delivering safety and professional development educational training classes. There simply is no other safety expert in the industry who has accomplished more or done as much to embody the AGC creed of Skill, Responsibility, and Integrity.
JEFF JENSEN MEMORIAL CONSTRUCTION SAFETY EXCELLENCE AWARDS
This AGC safety award began in 2003 as a tribute to Jeff Jensen, former owner of J.R. Jensen Construction Company (Superior, WI), and a strong advocate for field safety training, having served on the Duluth Safety Day committee for several years. The award is determined by the number of hours invested annually on safety training for each craft, supervisor/manager and subcontractor employee, as well as the company’s experience modification rate, total recordable incident rate, number of lost workday cases, and number of medical only cases. Recipients for 2020:
Category I (0 – 149,999 work hours) – Four Star Construction, Inc.
Category II (150,000 – 299,999 work hours) – Meyer Contracting, Inc.
Category III (300,000 and above work hours) – Bolander
CHASE (CONSTRUCTION HEALTH AND SAFETY EXCELLENCE) PARTNERSHIP RECOGNITION AWARDS
Now in its 18th year, the CHASE Program (the longest running partnership with Minnesota OSHA) recognizes companies that implement comprehensive safety and health programs and training. Recognized this year for their current participation:
Adolfson & Peterson Construction | Ames Construction | Atlas Foundation | Belair Sitework Services |
Benike Construction | Bituminous Roadways, Inc. | Bolander | The Boldt Company | C.S. McCrossan, Inc.| Danny’s Construction Company, LLC |Donlar Construction | ECSI, Inc. | Frattalone Companies, Inc. | Harris | Hunt Electric Corporation | JE Dunn Construction | Kelleher Construction, Inc. | Kraemer North America | Kraus-Anderson Construction Company | Lakehead Constructors, Inc. | Lametti & Sons, Inc. |LS Black Constructors, Inc. | The Mathiowetz Construction Company | McNamara Contracting, Inc, |
M.G. McGrath, Inc., Glass & Glazing | M.G. McGrath, Inc., Surfaces | Meyer Contracting, Inc. |
Minger Construction Company | Minnesota Paving & Materials | Mortenson |
Northland Concrete & Masonry Co., LLC | Park Construction Co. | Parsons Electric |
PCL Construction Services, Inc. | Q3 Contracting, Inc. | Rachel Contracting, Inc. | Ramsey Companies, Inc. | Rice Lake Construction Group | RJM Construction, LLC | Ryan Companies US, Inc. | Sellin Brothers, Inc. | Shaw-Lundquist Associates, Inc. | Sowles Co./Northwest Tower Cranes | Veit | Vic’s Crane & Heavy Haul, Inc. Weis Builders, Inc.
AGC/MNDOT BRIDGE AWARDS (2020 COMPLETION)
These annual awards recognize and showcase craftsmanship, technical skills, innovation, and dedication to quality in the bridge construction market. Each nominee is field reviewed and evaluated by a panel of MnDOT and industry representatives.
Robert R Schroeder Construction, Inc. (Glenwood, MN)
Low Cost Structure (less than $1.5 M) | County Road 83 over in Lyon County
Kraemer North America (Burnsville, MN)
Medium Cost Structure (between $1.5 and $5 M) | TH 494/694 over I94 in Maplewood
Lunda Construction Co. (Rosemount, MN)
High Cost Structure (over $5 M) | Bridge over Rainy River in Baudette
SUPERVISORY TRAINING PROGRAM (STP) 2020/21 GRADUATES
Designed by AGC of America and intended for field staff, this six-unit construction specific training curriculum is developed, updated and field tested by and for contractors. It is taught at the AGC of Minnesota office using local instructors. The following Minnesota personnel completed the training during the 2020/21 program year. In order of graduation:
Jonathan Gabrelcik, Adolfson & Peterson Construction
Jason Morris, Adolfson & Peterson Construction
Adam Steen, Adolfson & Peterson Construction
Zach Ryan, Veit & Company
Ryan Jensen, Veit & Company
Mike Stoterau, Donlar Construction
Eric Richter, Donlar Construction
James Conn, McGough Construction
