James Nolan Moves Office

James Nolan Construction has moved its St. Helena headquarters office to the Napa office of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hearn Construction.

The office is located at 851 Napa Valley Corporate Way, Suite E, Napa 94558.
Nolan's office will retain its same phone number - 707-963-3222 - and fax number - 707-963-3828.

"The new location not only allows us to better serve our clients, but also is more centrally located so we can attract a broader group of subcontractors and employees," said Fred Hearn, CEO of Napa Pacific Inc., the wholly-owned subsidiary of James Nolan Construction and Hearn Construction.

Spanish-Language Web Site Launched

National Gypsum, a top manufacturer of gypsum wallboard and related products, said it has launched a Spanish version of its web site. Hispanic construction professionals can now find information about the company's products and resources, including Material Safety Data Sheets, submittals, guide specifications and product literature.

The web site can be accessed at www.nationalgypsum.com/espanol or by clicking the link Espanol on the web site www.nationalgypsum.com.

National Gypsum is the first company in the gypsum industry to offer its users all of its online resources in Spanish. In 1995, National Gypsum was also the first gypsum company to debut a website that introduced its products and resources on the Internet.

The company enlisted the help of Enventys Latino Market Solutions, a fully integrated product and business development firm, and Vialogix, developers and designers of National Gypsum's award-winning website.

The Hispanic portion of the U.S. labor force has increased rapidly over the last decade, said National Gypsum, particularly in construction, which has a larger share of Hispanic workers than any industry, except agriculture. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 24.2 percent of construction workers are Hispanic. The number of Hispanic construction workers quadrupled in the last two decades.

HarleyEllis Corp., Fields Devereaux Tie the Knot

HarleyEllis Corp. of Southfield, Mich., one of the country's oldest design and engineering firms, and Los Angeles-based Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers, one of the 25 largest architecture firms in California, merged on Jan. 1.

Peter Devereaux

The merger expands the firm to 500 staff members in offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Riverside, San Diego, Cincinnati and Bakersfield. The firms' expertise now includes practices in health care; science and research; higher education; civic and cultural; K-12; and industrial and automotive facilities. Projected revenue for 2006 is $70 million.

The company offers a full range of planning, architecture, engineering, interior design, landscape architecture and design-build services as well as a series of specialty services through its partner companies: Spectrum Strategies, GreenWorks Studio, iQ, Crime Lab Design and HED Build.

Dennis M. King, FAIA, FESD, of Detroit is chairman and chief executive officer of Harley Ellis Devereaux. J. Peter Devereaux, AIA, of Los Angeles is the president of the new organization.

"With a combined heritage dating back to 1908 and the talent and experience of our cohesive firm, we will be able to offer more services to more clients in more locations than either of us on our own," King said.

Dennis King

Added Devereaux, "We have the caliber of talent, knowledge and project diversity to take our services to the top national level."

The firms announced their intent to merge in August 2005. King said "a feeling of ownership" of the merger by employees was encouraged throughout the merger process-in addition to open and frequent communications as to merger developments, the bulk of the work of combining both firms was handled in-house by teams of staff members assigned to review and evaluate existing work processes and identify necessary changes. The company's new identity was also conceptualized and created entirely in-house by a team of designers and marketers.

Notable projects for Harley Ellis Devereaux include: William Beaumont South Tower Addition in Royal Oak, Mich.; Disney's El Capitan Theater and Office Building in Hollywood; Lake View Terrace Branch Library (LEED-platinum certified) in Lake View; University of Cincinnati's Medical Sciences Building; Salvation Army Red Shield Center, Chicago; and the Los Angeles Unified School District's Cahuenga Elementary School.

Firm recognitions for HarleyEllis include "Firm of the Year" (2000) by the American Institute of Architects' Michigan chapter; the "101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in Metropolitan Detroit" (2001-05) by the National Association for Business Resources; and "Chicago's 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work for" (2005).

Established in 1963, Fields Devereaux was ranked 21st among the largest architecture firms in the April 2005 issue of California Construction. The firm's total revenue in 2004 was $21.7 million. It received a Best of California award in 2002 from California Construction for its Oaks Christian High School project in Westlake Village.

HDR Acquires Roseville Consultant

Michael Brown, senior vice president of BVR/HDR, left, with George Little, president of HDR.

Omaha-based HDR, an architecture, engineering and consulting firm, has acquired Brown, Vence and Associates Inc., an engineering and management consulting firm based in Roseville. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Brown, Vence, now called HDR/BVA, specializes in solid-waste management planning and energy management consulting. It employs 26 people in Ontario, Roseville, San Diego and San Francisco.

"BVA has gained international recognition for their expertise in solid waste planning and energy management, and we look forward to them becoming part of the HDR team," said George Little, president of HDR Engineering Inc.

Under the new corporate structure, former BVA President Michael Brown and Principal Timothy Raibley will be senior vice president and vice president, respectively, of HDR/BVA.

S.D. Deacon, J.R. Roberts Merge

Two of Sacramento's largest general contractors-S.D. Deacon Corp. and J.R. Roberts Corp.-have merged to form J.R. Roberts/Deacon Inc.

The firms' history dates back 25 years when Steve Deacon and J.R. Robert's principals-Jim Reilly, Bob Olsen and Bob Hall-founded S.D. Deacon in Portland. S.D. Deacon President Richard Smith initially worked at S.D. Deacon's Portland office, but moved to Sacramento 21 years ago to manage the Sacramento office.

The new company will be a division of S.D. Deacon Corp., which also owns S.D. Deacon Corp. of California.

S.D. Deacon also has offices in Seattle and Newport Beach.

In 2004, S.D. Deacon had revenues of $278 million while J.R. Roberts had $120 million.

The new entity will begin operations this spring.

Michael Vinks and Don Cruzon of J.R. Roberts will be officers in the new company, which will continue to pursue multifamily and commercial projects.

J.R. Roberts nearly merged with Tempe, Ariz.-based Sundt Construction last May after signing a letter of intent. The deal collapsed, however, during the due diligence period when both sides cited incompatible differences in organizational approach.

S.D. Deacon's recent California projects include a 31-acre, $26-million shopping center in Clovis, while J.R. Roberts is currently engaged in a $27-million juvenile court project in Sacramento and the University Village residential project in Albany.

Both companies had been sharing the same office building in Citrus Heights for several years.

RBF Relocates Ontario Office

Irvine-based RBF Consulting has moved its Ontario office to 3300 East Guasti Road, Suite 100.

Ron Craig

The office consists of nearly 60 employees, providing subdivision and public works engineering, land surveying, land planning, environmental analysis, traffic engineering, transportation planning, structural design and water resources engineering to public agency and private sector clients.

Ron Craig, an RBF vice president, serves as the Ontario office manager.

RBF's work in the Inland Empire includes Chino Basin Desalter projects (insuring a reliable water supply for tens of thousands of Inland Empire residents); and residential and commercial land development projects in the cities of Beaumont, Chino Hills, Corona, Fontana, Norco, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, San Bernardino, Upland and Yucaipa.

The firm has a staff of 950 employees and maintains 14 offices, including 11 in California.

WHA Opens in Corona, Relocates Northern California Office

Santa Ana-based William Hezmalhalch Architects Inc., a provider of land planning and design services, opened a Corona office in January.

The firm also has moved its San Ramon office to the Bishop Ranch complex.

Established in 1981, WHA also maintains offices in Redding.

WHA specializes in planning for new residential communities in urban and suburban areas in California.