In a ceremony at the 2023 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) Annual Conference + Expo in Denver, Colo., CoatingsPro Magazine officially announced the winners of its 2023 Contractor Awards Program! Winners were recognized across seven categories.
On Wednesday, March 22, in AMPP’s Exhibit Hall, Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Chizik co-hosted a special event celebrating the winners of CoatingsPro’s annual awards and AMPP’s inaugural Project of the Year awards. That ceremony can be viewed below in its entirety.
This year’s CoatingsPro Editorial Advisory Group, along with a safety expert, participated in the judging process to determine which contractor submissions exemplified the best high-performance coatings projects. Judging was conducted in two rounds, with each project and crew scored for safety, savings, and process. Additional points were given, as warranted, for going above and beyond.
Industry judges this year were Michael Beamish of DeFelsko; Kyle Hough of Champion Specialty Services; Katie Hunt of Bullard; Eric Nenninger of 62Archer Inspection and Consulting; Emma Schilling of Gaco; and for safety, Jack Fearing of Fearing International Group.
Multiple awards were presented in the Commercial Concrete, Commercial Roof, Industrial Concrete, Industrial Steel, and Specialty Project categories, while one winner was awarded each in the Work It Safe and Contractor/Crew Most Valuable Player (MVP) categories.
“Commercial Concrete” Category
Third place in the Commercial Concrete category went to Amato Painting for the “‘Wood’ Epoxy Floor” project. On this job, a 30-person crew worked to create a wood-like finish with epoxy products from Simiron. They overcame soft concrete with lots of pinholes, weather, and the challenge of getting tools in and out of the jobsite.
Second place was awarded to Decorative Concrete of Virginia for the “Blair Metallic Garage” project. This job featured a three-person crew working on a garage-turned-clubhouse completed in the cooler temps of early spring and on a lake where debris could blow onto the floor. They used three distinct colors of epoxy from Deco-Crete Supply to give the client the desired look.
First place in Commercial Concrete, for a second straight year, went to Hardig Industrial Services. This year, it was for the “Madison Square Food Hall — Element Eatery” project, which featured a four- to five-person crew working with a hand-painted antique stencil on phased flooring. Despite 20 °F (-6.7 °C) weather, a crowded jobsite, and impacts from COVID-19, the crew completed a polished and Sika-coated floor. Kevin Kipp accepted the award on Hardig’s behalf at the official Contractor Awards ceremony.
“Commercial Roof” Category
Two prizes were awarded in this year’s Commercial Roof category. The second-place award went to AC Inc. Roofing for the “Barclay Towers” project, which involved work on a 32-story condo in downtown Denver. Using Castagra products, they were able to offer the client a recoat with cost savings rather than a complete reroof. Despite unusually high winds, this four-person crew prevailed. Nick Bennett accepted the award on behalf of AC Inc. Roofing.
Meanwhile, the first-place award went to a contractor that has now won an award in CoatingsPro’s Contractor Awards Program for seven consecutive years. For 2023’s Commercial Roof category, congratulations go out to Gary Harvey and the Wedge Roofing team for their “Napa Vineyard Winery & Tasting Room” project.
According to the submission, “There was only one challenge: designing a roof system that would meet the client’s needs, including leak-free and aesthetically pleasing with a natural stone-like finish.” Once the system was designed, the process was simple for this six-person crew, which included a coated spray polyurethane foam system from Huntsman.
“Industrial Concrete” Category
Third place for this year’s Industrial Concrete category went to TEC Protective Coatings, Inc. for the “DBU9 Amazon” project. On this job, a 25-person crew worked to put an Amazon building in New York back in service within 30 days. There were poor conditions, mastic on the concrete, cracks and missing areas of concrete, and joint failures. They used General Polymers products to protect the concrete. Zachary Carney and Thomas E. Carney accepted the award on behalf of TEC Protective Coatings.
Second place went to C.A. Reed for the “Wegmans Central Bakery — Sourdough Bread Line” project. For this project, an eight-person crew worked in three phases over 20 days to upgrade one location for a well-known supermarket’s floor. Using C.A. Reed products, they turned an old-fashioned and crushed brick tile floor with failed grouts and low spots into a high-performance seamless system. Robert Park accepted the award on their behalf.
Finally, first place for this year’s Industrial Concrete category went to Western Specialty Contractors — Minneapolis Branch for the “Waterproofing Practice Rowing Tank at University of Minnesota Boathouse” project. This job involved rehabbing a waterproofing system beneath a second-story practice tank that had begun to fail at the cracks and joints, causing the water to leak into the office spaces below. The five-person crew coordinated with the general contractor to apply the Tremco products over the course of four months.
“Industrial Steel” Category
Third place in Industrial Steel went to Alpine Painting & Sandblasting Contractors for the “Meridian Airport Hangar Interior Painting” project. For this job, a 12-person crew had only three weeks to complete the project because full access would be denied afterward due to the shutdown. They worked around sensitive equipment inside the private hangar, including a thermal coupler line that needed to be protected to avoid setting off foam suppression across the building. The crew cleaned, prepped, primed, and painted with a Sherwin-Williams system. Accepting the award on behalf of Alpine was Demetrios Moraitakis.
Second place was presented to Prime Time Coatings Inc. for the “USS Carl Vinson CVN-70” project. This job featured 22 to 25 crew members working to reestablish a non-skid coating to the wire box and Elevator ACE-1 on a nuclear aircraft carrier. The crew worked around five rain days to re-establish an anchor profile before applying systems from International Paint to the carbon steel and aluminum substrates.
First place for the 2023 Industrial Steel category, along with the annual Work It Safe award to recognize a crew following and promoting safe practices in the field, goes to Certified Coatings Company for the “Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge” project. Their work involved 15–30 crew members over the course of three years.
At 400 feet (121.9 m) above the canyon floor, this site is one of the highest arch bridges in California and across the United States, not to mention a two-lane highway with blind curves and speeding cars. That meant the crew had to work around access challenges and the threat of fire from a drought to apply the Sherwin-Williams system. Accepting on behalf of Certified Coatings Company was Steve Howington from Sherwin-Williams.
“Specialty Project” Category
Third place in the Specialty Project category was awarded to Scholar Painting for the “Niantic Baptist Church” project. This job featured a four-person crew working over the course of 8 weeks to replace the peeling paint on tin walls and ceilings. The walls had holes, areas of rot, and rust that were uncovered along the way. They relied on Sponge-Jet products, and they used Sherwin-Williams’ products to repair the church. Vaughn Butler and Jonathan Lupachino accepted this award on behalf of Scholar Painting.
Second place went to BASE Painters for the “Silver Legacy Dome Painting” project. This work scope involved an eight-person crew that had to climb 180 feet (54.9 m) using rope access skills. To coat the fiberglass dome structure housing a casino, hotel, and restaurants underneath, they applied Sherwin-Williams products over the course of three months. The award was accepted in person by Rich Purnell.
First place among Specialty Project entrants was awarded to N.Y. State Industrial Solutions for the “Critical Microbial Remediation Solutions Utilizing Coating Technology” project. On this job, a 10- to 12-person crew worked to repair a deteriorated dairy floor with heaving tiles and water infiltration. They had to overcome air quality concerns, necessary chemical decontamination, and daily testing of jobsite isolation. Using a moisture-tolerant epoxy, the crew offered substantial revenue savings by having the ability to continue food production throughout the entire installation.
“Contractor/Crew MVP” Category
Last, but not least, is our Contractor/Crew MVP. For 2023, the winning submission gave a clear outline of the value that this crew member offers his team: “Since joining our crew in 2015, Manny has always been dedicated to upholding our safety and quality standards to deliver successful projects. Today, Manny is one of A&W’s top, go-to employee-owners who always has a smile on his face and would give anyone the shirt off his back.”
The submission continues: “In the field, Manny is an expert at the entire epoxy application process — from abrasive blasting in surface preparation to working with A&W’s specialized equipment. He is a willing, bilingual participant in training new technicians who have come after him, which has been a great asset in growing A&W as a company. With his laid-back attitude, he is respected by everyone he works with. Manny is a selfless, humble, and hardworking employee-owner, and [he] is a valued member of the A&W family.”
For the second year in a row, the MVP award goes to A&W Maintenance and Coatings, but this year’s award is for the work of Manny Ruiz Reyes for the “Dam Conduit Rehabilitation and Improvement” project. Reyes happily accepted the award at the 2023 ceremony.
2024 Contractor Awards
The 2024 Contractor Awards will be presented at the 2024 AMPP Annual Conference + Expo, which will be held from March 3–7, 2024, in New Orleans, La. More information on the conference is available at ace.ampp.org.
Congratulations go out to all of the winners for this year’s program!
Submissions for the 2024 Contractor Awards cycle can be made starting in the summertime. To enter, visit the CoatingsPro website at www.coatingspromag.com/contractor-awards.