AllianceTexas Economic Impact Hits $23.2 Billion

The event honors projects in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and the architect, engineering and construction teams that build them.

Topping Out 2005 Brings Industry Players Together

Topping Out 2005, the second annual dinner and awards event, will take place at the University of Texas at Arlington on May 3. All proceeds will go to the UTA School of Architecture and The Arc of Dallas. The event is open to all members of the architectural, engineering and construction industries.

The event features the most successful projects in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and the teams that bring them to fruition. Awards will be given to projects completed between 2002 and 2004 (or that topped out in 2004) judged on their unique qualities including creativity, innovation, collaboration, coordination, team success and positive impact to the community. During the evening, a unique design project from the University of Texas at Arlington School of Architecture will be revealed.

"There is no other event for the complete A/E/C industry that brings Dallas and Fort Worth together like Topping Out," said Bob Morris, committee co-chair and managing principal, Corgan Associates. "The event recognizes and provides an opportunity for owners, developers, architects, contractors and other related consultants and subcontractors from Dallas and Fort Worth to come together not only to network but to celebrate the full range of their accomplishments as industry teams."

The event's co-chairs include Tom Kader, SEDALCO Construction Services; Bob Morris, Corgan Associates; Chuck Nixon, Carter & Burgess; and Mike Scott, Austin Commercial. Last year's chairs were John Avila, Thos. S. Byrne; Peter Beck, The Beck Group; and Ralph Hawkins, president and CEO of HKS Inc.

For more information log on to toppingout.org

ENglobal and EPIC Group Form EPIC ENglobal LLC

ENGlobal Systems Inc., a subsidiary of ENGlobal Corp., headquartered in Houston, and EPIC Technical Services Inc, a subsidiary of EPIC Group Inc., headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., recently announced the formation of a new company, EPIC ENGlobal LLC, which will offer turnkey integrated engineering, automation and construction services.

EPIC ENGlobal plans to be a single-source provider of construction and engineering services in both domestic and international markets. Proposed services include preliminary and detailed engineering, process control, power systems, instrumentation, system integration, control panel and component fabrication, and construction and maintenance.

EPIC ENGlobal, jointly owned by EPIC and ESI, expects to focus on both the upstream and downstream energy sectors, as well as the chemical, petrochemical, food and beverage, power, and pharmaceutical industries. EPIC ENGlobal intends to provide ESI with an immediate presence in the upstream engineering, construction and fabrication marketplace. Equally, EPIC Technical Services anticipates that it will be able to use ESI's engineering, analytical, distributive control and systems integration and packaging capabilities. Each company brings complementary expertise with the ultimate goal of attaining a broader reach across the target markets.

AERT Facility Fire Claim Enters Litigation

Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc., a composite-building-materials technology firm based in Springdale, Ark., recently announced that the company has been sued by certain underwriters at Lloyd's, London, in connection with a pending final settlement of AERT's fire claim on its Junction facility.

Lloyd's filed suit in January in the Circuit Court of Washington County, Arkansas seeking a declaratory judgment that they are not liable to reimburse AERT for certain costs of rebuilding the AERT Junction facility. Lloyd's alleges that AERT did not rebuild the facility exactly as it had existed prior to the March 2003 fire and that AERT committed fraud in seeking reimbursement for alleged improvements made to the facility. Lloyd's also seeks to retroactively cancel its portion of the insurance policy.

AERT said the filing was unexpected because it has cooperated fully with the claims underwriting process and negotiations toward a final settlement of the claim were progressing.

AERT filed a counterclaim denying all of Lloyd's allegations and seeking immediate and full reimbursement for rebuilding of the Junction plant. AERT seeks to recover actual damages in the amount of at least $1.8 million plus attorney and court fees and punitive damages for acts of bad faith committed by Lloyd's.

Turner Industries Announces Name Change

Turner Industries Holding Company L.L.C. recently announced a change in its name to Turner Industries Group LLC. Turner Industries Group LLC will be led by the same management team.

Easy Drive Opens Third Facility

Easy Drive recently announced the opening of its third location in San Antonio at 1019 E. Nakoma. The new facility, the company's second in San Antonio, provides a larger showroom with 7,500 sq. ft., more than 10,000 products and an instrument training facility. The instruments and field supplier also has an Austin location.