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Dr. Francis Barnes
Superintendent, Palisades School District
"Jon Thomas and I had the opportunity to work together on a project
when I was with the Huntington Area (PA) School District, and his
project management approach amazed me — his capacity for
interactions with people as well as his ability to communicate clearly
and effectively. In addition, he did a great deal to delimit the
architectural garnishing that can quickly accumulate and drive up
project costs. Furthermore, Jon upheld such high standards — you
just don't forget someone like that."
"When I arrived at Palisades, the board had conducted background
research with staff, parents, and community members and accepted the
fact that the high school — which, excluding a new science wing,
hadn't been touched since 1953 — required renovation. They were
about to hire an architect."
"I had already learned that hiring a construction manager after an
architect can prevent the construction manager from really
demonstrating their full value. A construction manager can provide
cost savings by influencing the design phase and governing the bidding
process."
"Our board really liked the concept of construction management,
because we certainly don't have the skills to refute whatever an
architect proposes. When Jon arrived at his interview, he was very
prepared and had done his homework on our project so he could
specifically explain the skills and vision that he could provide for
us."
"At our elementary school project, our first bid came in $800,000 over
our projected costs. Jon worked with the architect to rebid the
project and the new bids returned within $85,000 of our budgeted
projection. In essence, a good construction management firm will pay
its salary five-fold due to the savings realized."
"The staff at Thomas & Williamson is very organized, and they utilize
technology and software to maximize the accuracy of their estimates,
closely monitor project costs, and record effects of their
decisions. In many instances, the architect will have errors that
ultimately require a change order, and we, as lay people, not equipped
to identify those issues before work begins. But the Thomas &
Williamson staff is skilled at uncovering these problems. They build
quality assurance measures into their projects, rather than trying to
integrate them into the project, afterwards."
"We have an obligation to provide a cost-effective educational program
for our students and our goal was to bring our antiquated facilities
up to the 21st century standards — without breaking the backs of
the taxpayers. The expertise of Thomas & Williamson was instrumental
in that process."
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