YSU Students are Prepped and Ready for Friday's Estimating Competition

Eight veterans of the local construction community are ready to put their proteges to the test this week at the annual Builders Association Construction Estimating Competition. For months, these mentors have met with civil engineering and civil and construction engineering technology students from Youngstown State University to mentor the students’ estimating skills.

On Friday, April 12, 22 of those YSU students will divide into three teams and will be given a real-life construction project to analyze and prepare a construction bid just as they would if they were working in the actual industry. The team that most accurately completes the entire bid will be crowned the 2013 champs.

“This annual event is highly anticipated by the students, and our members are always happy to get involved because they see the value in mentoring the next generation of construction professionals for this region,” said Builders Executive Vice-President Kevin Reilly.

Builders members and construction professionals who volunteer as mentors are:

• Howard Agueda, Jack Gibson Construction Company
• Jim Bayer, DeSalvo Construction Co., Inc.
• Dave Wendell, Adolph Johnson & Son Co.
• Ed Stevens, Stevens Masonry Construction, Inc.
• Chris White, Boak and Sons, Inc.
• Kyle Leonard, Imperial Glazing Concepts, Inc.
• Dave Collins, Diamond Steel Construction Co., Inc.
• Dan Terreri, Daniel A. Terreri & Sons, Inc.

Each team is steered by a student captain. This year, two of the three captains were on the 2012 winning team.

• Team #1 is captained by past winner, A.J. Silvers. Members are Pat Circelli, Carson Sharbaugh, Kyle Monceaux, Greg Mezzara, Louis Coppola, and Justin Bliss.
• Team #2 is captained by past winner Jeremy Fox. Members are, Dave Porterfield, Dave Hollabaugh, Mike Squibbs, Kayle Zurcher, Anthony Miaoulis, Nathan Kujawa, and Ray Voelker.
• Team #3 is Brett Cash, Scott Kreefer, Matt Wagner, Matt Totin, Aaron Cessna, George West, and Ricky Root.

The featured project will be an actual job that was awarded to – and built by – a member of The Builders. The competition will be launched, judged, and based in the YSU College of Education’s, Room 2400.

The day’s agenda is:

8:00 a.m. – Distribution of materials
9:00 a.m. – Pre-Bid meeting with all teams in attendance
9:30 a.m. – Individual team bid creation begins (each team goes to a sequestered room)
2:45 p.m. – Bids due
3:30 p.m. – Team interviews with judges
6:00 p.m. – Dinner and winner announced - held at Jones Room in Kilcawley Center

Each team will get a set of plans and specifications, a partially complete bid worksheet, labor costs, and unit costs. Teams must present a written, complete estimate, including take-offs, pricing, quote sheets, etc. Teams will have a 20-minute bid defense discussion with judges (additional Builders members and construction executives). Judging this year’s competition are:

• Dan Terreri, Daniel A. Terreri & Sons, Inc.
• Craig Fauvie, Jack Gibson Construction Company
• Joe DeSalvo, DeSalvo Construction Co., Inc.
• Ken Black, Connell, Inc.
• Ed Van Dusen, Van Dusen Construction Co.

The annual event began in 2009, and is student-driven. Each year, The Builders awards scholarships to YSU students who are studying for a career in construction. At the 2008 award ceremony, scholarship recipients expressed a desire to work on an actual building project, and The Builders created the event in response to the request.

In fact, a number of students participating in this year’s competition are 2012 Builders scholarship winners: Mike Squibbs, Ricky Root, Aaron Cessna, AJ Silvers, and Scott Kreefer. Dave Porterfield won the scholarship in 2011.