Cogence accepted submissions in the following categories: Project Award (Small), Project Award (Mid-size), Project Award (Large), Project Award (Extreme), Individual Award, and Emerging Leader | Rising Star. Submissions were evaluated by an independent, national jury.

The awards were presented Friday, September 13, 2024 at the Cogence Town Hall in Columbus, Ohio.

The Drive Awards were re-named this year in honor of Cogence Founder and Board member, Walter Jones, who passed away in December 2023.  Walter was the driving force in developing the Cogence Drive Awards program.

The Walter Jones Drive Awards honor the best in project collaboration, while showing our community how their contributions are improving project outcomes in the industry.  The awards highlight the critical role and immense value that collaboration and innovation bring to building projects. The awards also demonstrate to the A/E/C community how their contributions are improving project outcomes.

 

2024 Walter Jones Drive Awards were presented in the following categories:

 

SMALL PROJECT:  UP TO $15 MILLION

Cleveland Metroparks Zoological Society Administration Addition and Renovation

This was a three-phase project that took place within an active Zoo. Phase 1 & 2 consisted of a remodel of the existing Zoo Administrative building while keeping the building open to the staff and public the entire time. Phase 3 was an auditorium addition attached to the existing Zoo Administrative building.

Submitted by: Turner Construction

Delivery Method: CMR

Cost: Initial $3,070,322 vs. Final $3,431,102

Timeframe: December 2021 – March 2023

Collaboration Highlights:

• Weekly budget updates, meetings, site walks by Team
• Monthly schedule updates included distribution to Trades
• Utilized Procore software for immediate access to drawings, RFI’s, documents in the field and to generate reports direct to Owner

 

MID-SIZE PROJECT: $15 – $50 MILLION

Dayton Public Schools Welcome Stadium Renovation

Dayton Public Schools hired Shook Construction and MSA Sport to revive Welcome Stadium, reestablishing the landmark as a point of pride for the community.

Submitted by: Shook Construction

Delivery Method: Design-Build

Cost: Initial $28,000,000 vs. Actual $27,821,598

Timeframe: December 2022 – August 2023

Diversity: Met 20% diversity and inclusion goal

Collaboration Highlights:

• Significant collaboration between the owner, MSA Sport, and the design-build team.
• Interactive design process to ensure minimal disruption to existing operations.
• Daily detailed pull planning sessions to maintain tight 8.5-month schedule and allow open communication with Trades.

 

LARGE PROJECT:  $50 – $350 MILLION

Ashtabula Regional Medical Center Patient Tower

The ARMC Patient Care Tower is the culmination of years of detailed programming and planning aimed at replacing and expanding essential hospital departments. Following an extensive analysis to support community needs, ARMC reimagined the ED, Surgery, ICU, and Patient Care depts. The project focuses on creating a ‘respite’ environment, offering calming spaces for patients and families during their stay.

Submitted by: Karpinski Engineering

Delivery Method: CMR w/Design-Assist

Cost: Initial $86,500,000 vs. Actual $89,500,000 ($3M Owner Changes)

Timeframe: May 2022 – June 2024

Collaboration Highlights:

• Familiarity with each other and open communication ensured the proper flow of information, building confidence in early-stage deliverables.
• The team worked to provide a DD set descriptive enough to commit to early purchases to lock in prices and mitigate the impact of price hikes due to supply disruptions.

 

EXTREME PROJECT:  OVER $350 MILLION

MetroHealth Glick Center

As the foundation to the new campus transformation, MetroHealth built a ten-story hospital tower on its main campus in Cleveland, Ohio.  The building project included a multi-level connector building which attaches to the existing Critical Care Pavilion (CCP). The Glick Center includes 386 beds and is located adjacent to a new Central Utility Plant and loading dock, which was completed in unison with the Glick Center.

Submitted by: Turner Construction

Delivery Method: CMR

Cost: Initial $542,607,133 vs. Actual $539,333,868

Timeframe: February 2018 – July 2022

Collaboration Highlights:

• A collaborative project culture that leveraged each team member’s strengths.
  • Big Room and DA Subs
• Reduced risks and improved outcomes.
  • Open book DA subs
• Financially responsible and enjoyable projects.
  • Early teaming coaching sponsored by Owner
• Development of new lines of thought to move the A/E/C industry forward.
  • Process Neutral

 

EMERGING LEADER/RISING STAR AWARD: 

Stephanie Drenten Ferro, Heapy Engineering

Stephanie holds the dual position of Sr. Project Manager and Principal at Heapy where she plays a pivotal role in both project execution and company leadership.  In her PM role, she fosters an environment where diverse voices are heard, valued, and elevated while continuing to advocate for the owner’s interest.

She takes time to understand the unique expertise each team member brings to the table, engaging in meaningful dialogue with each stakeholder to understand the reasoning behind their needs, allowing her to more effectively communicate the requirement and ensure they are properly implemented in the design.

 

INDIVIDUAL AWARD: 

Brett Connolly, Shook Construction

As Director of Operations, it is Brett’s role to support and develop the operations teams on current projects. From preconstruction through closeout, he collaborates with team members to ensure deadlines and responsibilities are met and/or exceeded.

His collaborative nature comes from the vast experience in and around the construction industry on a variety of project types. Brett’s degree in Civil Engineering enables him to see things from other perspectives on his projects. This allows him to empathize when issues arise and collaborate to solve them quickly and effectively.

While working collaboratively with his team is a foundation of who he is, Brett’s real excitement comes from his ability to improve the communities that the projects serve.

 

Congratulations to all the Walter Jones Drive Award Winners!

Matt Morgan (Karpinski), Katie Lee (Karpinski), Jaron Devilbiss (Shook), Jan Jones, Taurean Spratt (Turner), Stephanie Drenten Ferro (Heapy), and Joanne Brown (CWRU -Stephanie’s mentor) enjoy the recognition for their hard work. Brett was unable to attend due to work obligations but, his team quickly took him the award and sent us a picture!

 

Brett Connolly (Shook).

 

Additional Awards Available for Order.

Team members on any of the winning projects can order an award for their company by contacting Jodie at “The Glass Asylum” info@theglassasylum.com. Project awards are “Purple on top”.

 

Cogence Alliance is pleased to announce the Directors of its 2024 National and three regional Chapter Boards of Directors. Directors were nominated for open positions by the Cogence partnership and approved by the National Board of Directors at its November 2023 meeting.

Board members play an essential role in developing strategy, setting policy, steering the direction of the organization, guiding the integration of new chapters, advocating for industry change, and the creation of resources that will improve outcomes throughout the industry.

Serving on the 2024 National Board of Directors:

President: Scott Wagner, Regency Construction

Vice President: Joanne Brown, Case Western

Treasurer: Armando Francisco, Lake Erie Electric

Immediate Past President: Pam Neckar, Impact PD

Secretary: Kevin Thompson, Cogence Alliance

Chair, Programs: Sean McDermott, Cleveland MetroParks

Chair, Diversity: Brad Berkowitz, Whiting-Turner

At-Large: Pat Klanac, PTA Engineering

At-Large: Jeff Appelbaum, Thompson-Hine, LLP

At-Large: Brendan Shea, Signet Real Estate

At-Large: Jerry Klanac, PMA Consultants/Univ. of Dayton

NEO Chapter President: Bob Hager, Brennen, Manna & Diamond

COH Chapter President: Jennifer Son, DesignGroup

SWO Chapter President: Alex Jonovski, Demain

Northeast Ohio Chapter Board of Directors:

President: Bob Hager, Brennan Manna Diamond

Vice President: Carter Edman, Marous Brothers

Vice President: Jeff Loyall, Turner Construction

Secretary/Treasurer: Cynthia Leitson, Tri-C

Co-Chairs, Advocacy: Ross Mitchell, TH Martin/Charlie Izzo, Infinity Const.

Chair, Programs: Aaron Lobas, Osborn Engineering

Chair, Emerging Leaders: Open

Chair, DEI National: Brad Berkowitz, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.

At-Large: Bryan Wahl, Bostwick Design Partnership

At-Large: Dean Vaughn, University Hospitals / Sodexo Healthcare

Central Ohio Chapter Board of Directors:

President: Jennifer Son, DesignGroup

Vice President: Kelly Greene, DIRTT

Secretary: Stephen Metz, SMBH, Inc.

Treasurer: Kevin Thompson, Cogence

Program Chair(s): David Scott, Brennen, Manna, Diamond; Jennifer Son

Partnership Chair: Jonathan Wilch, MA Design

Emerging Leaders: Doug Smith, IMEG

At-Large: Jeff Ortman, HAWA Engineers

Serving on the inaugural Southwest Ohio Chapter Board of Directors:

President: Alex Jonovski, Demain

Vice President: Nick Rittenger, HAWA Engineers

Partnership Chair: Steve Lawson, Shook Construction

Program Chair: Jerry Klanac, PMA Consultants

Secretary: Krutarth Jain, Champlin Architecture

Treasurer: Kevin Thompson, Cogence

At-Large: Joe Ferdelman, Heapy Engineering

Cogence and its partners welcome our new board members and thank all directors for their leadership and service!

 

For updates from Cogence Alliance on LinkedIn, please follow the public page.

Cogence Alliance | LinkedIn

January 18, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cogence Alliance Announces Addition of Kevin Thompson as Executive Director

Cogence Alliance is pleased to announce the hiring of new Executive Director, Kevin Thompson.   Thompson has a wealth of more than 25 years’ experience in association management.  In previous roles he served as Executive Director for statewide trade associations, including the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation, Ohio Lawncare Association, and Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association.  Most recently, Thompson served as Industry Relations Director at The American Ceramic Society, a large international scientific society.

Kevin Thompson is an accomplished non-profit, professional association executive with a proven track-record of implementing strategies to grow membership and creating membership value in support of the organization’s mission.  He began his role at Cogence Alliance on January 3 and will manage the day-to-day operations, while helping to lead the expansion of new chapters in the region.  Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, existing Cogence chapters include Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio, and Southwest Ohio.

“Ohio is “the heart of it all,” The Design and Construction industry is on the forefront of shaping the growing economic future for Ohio and beyond.  Projects are growing in complexity increasing the need for collaboration.” according to Cogence President, Pam Neckar, Bostwick Design Partnership, Cleveland, OH.  “As an industry, we need each other to execute a successful project and Kevin will be focused on bringing us together with the Cogence mission at the forefront every day.  He will lead us to making Ohio the most effective and efficient place to design and build.”

“This is a great opportunity for me to join an innovative, growing organization that serves a vital industry”, said Thompson.  “Its mission of collaboration and teamwork to improve construction project delivery is very motivating.  I am fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of this fine organization and look forward to helping expand into new markets”, he continued.

“Cogence” comes from a Latin word meaning “drive together” or “thinking that is well organized”. Cogence Alliance brings together owners, architects, engineers, construction trades, and affiliated parties, giving each an equal voice. Its goal is to transform the design and construction industry by improving project delivery and outcomes. The Cogence Alliance believes team-based project delivery methods create opportunities for all to succeed.

For more information, please contact:

Pam Neckar, President, Cogence Alliance

president@cogence.org

216-621-7900

Cogence Alliance announces the winners of the 2022 Cogence Drive Awards.

Cogence created the Drive Awards to honor the best in project collaboration. The awards highlight the critical role and immense value that collaboration and innovation bring to building projects. The awards also demonstrate to the A/E/C community how their contributions are improving project outcomes.

Cogence accepted submissions in the following categories: Project Award (Extreme), Project Award (Large), Project Award (Mid-Size), Project Award (Small), Individual Award, and Emerging Leader | Rising Star. Submissions were evaluated by an independent, national jury.

The awards were presented Wednesday, September 28, at the Cogence Town Hall in Columbus, Ohio.

Drive Award, Small Project: Welsh Academy | St. Ignatius High School

Collaboration Highlights: The Owner brought the design and construction team on at the onset of the project. The collaboration and scope development accomplished in the design phase allowed for only Owner generated change orders during construction.

Project qualified for: Ohio’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit.

Highlights from the project:

• The project consisted of the adaptive reuse and conversion of an abandoned 8,000 sf, two-story historic church building constructed in 1863 into a three-story 11,430 sf academy for sixth through eighth grade young men. The entirety of the interior was excavated down 1.5” for a slab on grade, then two elevated levels of structural steel and slab-on-metal deck were constructed inside of the existing building. A three-story addition composed of CMU and structural steel, brick veneer, glass curtainwall and elevator were built onto the existing building.

Drive Award, Mid-Size Project: Cleveland Clinic H Building Infrastructure Upgrades

Collaboration Highlights: Design and construction teams were onboard from the beginning. They collaborated to develop the design and plan construction. Live cost estimating allowed them to provide estimates that matched the design and installation. Even more remarkable, most construction work successfully took place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Highlights from the project:

• How do you replace a hospital  building’s entire power system while keeping the building online? That’s what Cleveland Clinic needed to do with the H building, located on the main campus. H building is an active patient care facility, with services ranging from radiology to neurology to urology. Its operations impact the entire campus, as its electrical systems support the main cafeteria, the AGV robot systems, the pharmacy, and more. As a legacy building with aging and antiquated electrical systems, H building needed major system upgrades to avoid the risk of equipment or system failures.
• 

Drive Award, Extreme Project: CWRU & Cleveland Clinic Health Education Campus

Collaboration Highlights: This project had two Owners, Architects, Engineers, and Construction Managers. The project embraced a culture of Continuous Improvement and the Last Planner System.

Accreditation: LEED Gold

Highlights from the project:

• The four-story 485,000 sf building houses CWRU’s School of Medicine and Nursing, and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. The building houses dental, nursing, and medical classrooms, labs, simulation, dental operations including oral surgery, medical and nursing clinical skills and simulation labs, faculty offices, student study and learning communities, library, virtual anatomy lab, full-scale helicopter simulation, administrative offices, as well as ancillary services.

Drive Award, Emerging Leader | Rising Star: Rebecca (Becca) Tomlinson, Bostwick Design Partnership

 

Becca Tomlinson approaches project teams with a level of camaraderie that bolsters levels of communication…

Becca, an associate at Bostwick Design Partnership (BDP), is an integral team member on complex healthcare projects. She emphasizes innovative, collaborative cultures and confidence in delivering successful outcomes. She has become a mentor and provided technical leadership on several collaborative projects. Most recently, she was the interior healthcare planner and designer for Cleveland Clinic’s Mentor Hospital, which had a tri-party agreement.

In addition to being technically savvy, Becca exemplifies the Cogence Mission. She embodies a collaborative spirit and thoughtful approach on projects, transforming how teams deliver reliable results. Through intentional actions, behaviors, and effective collaboration skills, Becca creates an inclusive culture that enhances her teammates’ strengths. She earns respect and trust through her honest leadership skills and working side by side with all levels of each team. This provides insight to leverage everyone’s strengths, helping each team member reach their full potential.

The recommendation letters accompanying Tomlinson’s nomination emphasized her authenticity and engagement, as well as her desire to keep learning and growing.

 

 

Additional Awards Available for Order

 

Join us January 22 for this special event on leadership in the 4-generation workplace. In partnership with SMPS NEO.

The Leadership Dilemma

Change, Complexity & Distraction in the Chaotic 4-Generation Workplace

January 22, 2019 • 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. • City Club of Cleveland

Today’s workplace is radically different than it was even 20 years ago, and the impact of technology is not always for the better. There are now four generations of employees in the workplace, mashed together in a cauldron of constant change, distractions, and complexity.

In this interactive workshop, author, speaker and business coach Kelly Riggs presents the most pressing leadership issues and offers specific approaches to dealing with the challenges of the new, technology-infected workplace.

Register Now

Cogence is sponsoring this event in place of the Northeast Ohio January Roundtable. Feel free to forward the invitation! Attendees do not need to be Cogence Partners or SMPS members to attend.

Cogence Alliance announces the winners of the 2018 Cogence Drive Awards.

Cogence created the Drive Awards to honor the best in project collaboration. The awards highlight the critical role and immense value that collaboration and innovation bring to building projects. The awards also demonstrate to the A/E/C community how their contributions are improving project outcomes.

Cogence accepted submissions for three categories: the Project Award (Large), Project Award (Small), and the Individual Award. Submissions were evaluated by an independent, national jury.

The awards were presented Wednesday, September 12, at the Cogence Town Hall in Cleveland, Ohio.

Drive Award, Small Project: University Hospitals UCRC II Data Center Upgrades

This complex and sensitive data center upgrade project was ultimately successful because each team member supported a collaborative culture.

University Hospitals (UH) completed a $4.07 million data center upgrade to eliminate single points of failure and to upgrade existing infrastructure. UH was a tenant in the building, and their goal was to install new redundant data center cooling and emergency power, isolated from the landlord’s systems.

Highlights from the project:

• The consultants and CM all advocated for a more collaborative approach to improve project delivery. The design team advocated for CMR, given the complexity of the project and need for full-team collaboration. The CM took it a step further, recommending design-assist.
• Despite delays that negatively impacted the schedule, the team delivered the project six weeks early. They collaborated to rework construction activities and phasing.
• The project had one change order: a deduct returning $21,000 of the remaining contingency to UH.

Drive Award, Large Project: Cleveland Clinic Lakewood Family Health Center

This project was Cleveland Clinic’s first Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) project. Their investment in collaboration realized an actual savings of approximately $1.2 million.

Cleveland Clinic’s new Lakewood Family Health Center is focused on community health and wellness. It replaces dated facilities with a new, $24.3 million (construction) building offering a 24-hour emergency department, imaging services, and multi-specialty and family medicine.

Highlights from the project:

• Cleveland Clinic used an IPD contract, using a Tri-Party Agreement with joining agreements. The 13 signatories put 100% of their profit margin at risk, meaning they would need to perform at a certain level to earn their profit.
• The team used Lean tools (such as Last Planner, A3s, collocation, and component team design) for collaboration, decision-making, and waste reduction.
• Fostering and monitoring the team culture was an important part of the project. Among other things, Cleveland Clinic used team surveys throughout the project to evaluate the level of trust on the team.
• The mechanical team tried something radical: Working in the same model. Instead of having a separate “design model” and “construction model,” the mechanical contractors worked in the mechanical engineers’ model. Their goals were to reduce known waste, increase the level of detail in the design model, and eliminate the separate creation of a construction model.
• During construction, batching led to productivity gains and a high level of quality craftsmanship.

Drive Award, Individual: Bryan Wahl, AIA, Bostwick Design Partnership

Bryan Wahl, AIA, brings his passion for collaboration to both his projects and his firm.

Wahl, a Senior Associate at Bostwick Design Partnership (BDP), leads projects from design through construction, focusing on healthcare, higher education, library, and corporate design. He emphasizes continuous innovation and improvement in design.

Wahl has provided leadership on five different collaborative projects. Most recently, he was the project manager for Cleveland Clinic’s Lakewood Family Health Center, which had the first Tri-Party agreement signed in the greater Cleveland region.

Within BDP, he has become a leader in Lean design practices and processes. He brought his passion for collaborative process back to his office, organizing internal presentations to introduce his colleagues to the project tools that made Lakewood Family Health Center so successful.

Wahl has also presented at professional conferences regionally and nationally, educating owners on collaborative delivery.

The recommendation letters accompanying Wahl’s nomination emphasized his authenticity and engagement, as well as his desire to keep learning and growing.

On May 3, 2018, Don Dreier of Donley’s Inc. and Gary Hribar of Osborn Engineering will present “A Five-Step Process to a Successful Guaranteed Maximum Price” at CMAA Ohio.

The goals of the Cogence GMP Process:

• Fair
• Transparent
• Effective
• Reliable
• Accountable
• Increase Sophistication
• Measurable Improvement to Projects Outcomes
• Educate Participants

Learn more and register.

How can teaming and collaboration improve project delivery in a heathcare setting? Find out April 12 at the Northern Ohio Hospital, Outpatient Facilities & Medical Office Buildings Summit.

Cogence President Pam Neckar will lead a presentation and discussion on “Driving the Design and Construction Industry Together – The Future of Healthcare Depends on Us.”

Learn more and register.