The Hagerman Group

his week, we celebrated the career of longtime employee Richard Sutorius, Accounting Consultant. In his own words, Rich had the following to say: "I started my full-time career with the Hagerman family on July 13, 1981. During my college years, I worked in the field as a laborer or at the Yard. I took a break from 2013 to 2018, and returned in 2019. While away from full-time employment for that brief span, I remained in contact with the Hagerman family and helped out where needed. Before that, my dad started working for Hagerman Construction Corporation as a Carpenter’s Apprentice in 1946. At the time, he made $1.05 per hour. In 1946, I’m guessing that was a fairly decent wage for a kid just out of high school. Dad rose up through the ranks and was eventually Project Superintendent. He works in locations including Waco, TX; Cape Girardeau, MO; Columbia, SC; Dixon, IL, and Medina, OH, among others. As for me, I regularly commuted to the Fishers office, but stayed in Fort Wayne full-time. I remember meeting Jeff Hagerman for the first time when he was probably in middle school. He was playing handball or something with a couple of his friends in what used to be the wide open basement at 510 W. Washington Blvd. I remember sneaking into Mark Hagerman’s office from time to time, and I would slowly raise his chair up over the course of several days, before suddenly dropping it all of the way down. It didn’t take him long to figure out who the culprit was! I remember pulling April Fool’s Day jokes on the office. The best one was a few years after we installed our first network computer system. Systems operated fairly slowly in those early days. About a week before April 1, I started sending a series of emails around the office stating that we finally discovered the problem with the computer cables - they'd become filled with dust. We were going to bring one of the air compressors from the Yard to blow the excess dust out of the cables, and if you didn’t want your office blanketed with dirt, you needed to securely wrap a plastic garbage bag around your terminal and seal it with duct tape. I had a supply of bags and tape in my office at the time. About six people fell for it, and we all had a good laugh about it afterwards. I’ve been here through good times and bad, fun times and sad. I’ve made a lot of very good friends through the years. I’ve lost quite a few of those friends as well, but I know that they are all in better places now. Take care, all of you, and God Bless. Above all, remember this: Do not, under any circumstances, irritate the alligator until AFTER you’ve crossed the river." Happy retirement, Rich! We will miss you. Your dedication to this company will long be remembered! #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider

Yesterday, we welcomed six summer interns at our Fishers office! They'll each have hands-on experience working on our current projects and jobsites. We're thrilled they've joined our team for the summer! Please welcome: • Adam Quinette, Purdue University - Project Engineer Intern • Cristina Hernandez Jimenez, Ball State University - Project Engineer Intern • Jesus Manuel Santos, Purdue University in Indianapolis - Project Engineer Intern • Quinten Sanders, Purdue University - Project Engineer Intern • Rachel Hughey, Purdue University - Project Engineer Intern • Zackery Mitchell, Purdue University - Project Engineer Intern #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider

Four employees were recently promoted. Please join us in congratulating each of them! Melvin Blevins, Fishers - Senior Project Superintendent Todd Elsmore, Fishers - Assistant Project Manager Ted McClintick, Fishers - Senior Project Superintendent Jeremiah Tomlin, Fort Wayne - Senior Project Estimator Thank you for your hard work and dedication to our team, and congratulations on your well-deserved promotions! #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider

We wrap up #ConstructionSafetyWeek with some GREAT news! Carpenter Foreman Jason Doughty (Fort Wayne) and Brick Mason Foreman Adam Russellburg (Fishers) each received an award for their safety-focused efforts. Thank you to the Building Contractors Association of Northeast Indiana and the Coalition for Construction Safety for recognizing these two outstanding employees! Learn more below. #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider

For Day Five, the final day of #ConstructionSafetyWeek, we focus on Jobsite Housekeeping. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, slips, trips, and falls are second only to motor vehicle accidents in the cause of deaths in workplace injuries By maintaining a clean, clutter-free workplace, many of these accidents can be prevented. Safety is paramount. #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider

Please join us in welcoming Project Accountant Debbie Ramey! She has nearly 20 years of experience in a variety of accounting roles in the construction industry. We're excited she's joined our team! Welcome, Debbie! #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider

For Day Four of #ConstructionSafetyWeek, we focus on Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE. PPE consists of any added wearable item designed to protect the health and safety of an employee. At a minimum, every Hagerman employee on a jobsite must wear: • Hard Hat • Safety Glasses with Side Shields • Hi-Vis clothing • Full-length pants and a torso-covering shirt with sleeves • Substantial leather boots Safety is always our priority, and ensuring that everyone is properly protected on site is key! #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider

Construction starts next month on Legacy Park at Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana! The park, designed by Design Collaborative and located adjacent to JA's headquarters in Fort Wayne, IN, will showcase sculptures created by local artists along a 1,200 linear feet paved path. The park also features a 32 foot wide labyrinth made of unique pavers, a pavilion, and a metal word wall. The word wall is dedicated to donors Paul and Dorothy Shaffer, who met as participants in a spelling bee in their youth and therefore have a special connection to words. The pavilion is also named after them. We're excited to see this project take shape! #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider Learn more about Junior Achievement ➡️ northernindiana.ja.org/

For Day Three of #ConstructionSafetyWeek, we're focusing on Fall Protection. As one the leading causes of death in the construction industry and an OSHA ‘Focus Four’ topic, fall protection discussion is important to ensuring worker safety. Fall protection can be defined as either fall prevention or fall restraint/fall arrest. Barriers, such as guardrails, are the preferred method of fall protection as no special equipment or training is needed by individuals for the barriers to be effective. DO • Select and use an anchorage point which will support 5,000 pounds per employee. • Ensure fall restraint/arrest systems are rigged so an employee cannot fall more than 6 feet. • Tie off above your head/ directly behind you to avoid injury caused by swing falls. • Use the shortest lanyard possible to shorten any fall distance. DON'T • Tie knots in lanyards. • Use water pipes, conduit, light fixtures, or guardrails as anchorage points. • Use lanyards without self-locking hooks. • Extend lanyard reach by joining two or more together. • Let multiple workers use a single anchorage point unless an engineer has designed and approved the anchorage for multiple workers. • Unhook from an anchor when exposed to a fall greater than six feet. #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider

For Day Two of #ConstructionSafetyWeek, we're focusing on the ability to Encourage and Welcome New Ideas. We often say, "We're all responsible for safety." If we're going to charge everyone with this, we need to be willing to listen and respond to the concerns and suggestions of those bearing it, whether they're seasoned industry workers or on their first site. We might ask: "Do you see any safety issues that we missed?" "Is there anything we're asking you to do that doesn't make sense, or is unsafe?" "Is there anything we're asking you to do that you've never done before?" "Do you have everything you need to do the work safely?" Including everyone in the discussion and helping them understand the "why" and "how" behind the way we do things leads to better understanding and safer outcomes! #BuildingABetterFuture #AConstructionSolutionsProvider