THURSDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

Everyone goes home a winner from an AGC convention, but only a few get special recognition.

At the Willis Towers Watson Safety Awards breakfast, David Walls, president and CEO, Austin Industries, Inc., delivered a passionate presentation on the importance of a zero-accident mentality in construction and how commitment, vision and leadership play a key role in that.

Following Walls' insightful speech, AGC and Willis Towers Watson honored those construction companies that have demonstrated excellence in safety and health performance. From the 52 finalists, Sundt was named the Grand Award winner, or "best of the best" of the 2016 Construction Safety Excellence Awards.

The Alliant Build America Awards took place at lunch and bestowed awards to projects that have excelled in state-of-the-art achievement, excellence in project management, innovation, superior client service, and more. Sitka’s Blue Lake Expansion Project was the most impressive construction project of 2015. As a result, the project’s contractor, Barnard Construction Company was the Alliant Build America Grand Award winner and best Federal and Heavy Renovation project. This project was one of 23 winners to receive an award and one of nine to receive a Merit Award.

Winners were honored again in the evening at the Celebrate Construction gala, sponsored by Willis Towers Watson and Alliant, where there was live music, lots of dancing, and plenty of Tex-Mex. With a send-off like this, everyone goes home a winner from the 97th Annual AGC Convention.