Community Spotlight: Cornerstone General Contractors

For the past year, Anchorage residents driving through the U-Med District have watched the massive structure that will be the Alaska Airlines Center on Providence Drive rise from the ground up, peeking over the tops of the tree-lined street. As the colossal building has taken shape, it is hometown favorite, Cornerstone General Contractors Inc., that has coordinated the assembly of the newest addition to the ever-expanding UAA campus. But, what people don't realize is that these general contractors have a long history with the university, helping to literally lay foundations for some of its biggest buildings and providing jobs for the up and coming construction management grads in UAA's burgeoning program.

Founded in 1993, the all Alaskan-owned company employs more than 35 full-time staff year-round, and during the height of a construction project, up to 200 craftsmen are subcontracted for various jobs. Cornerstone's philosophy has always been a collaborative approach to work, fostering close relationships between the company and their clients. Cornerstone's work is evident throughout the state, from the Kenai Peninsula to Kodiak Island and on UAA's campus. The Health Sciences and ConocoPhillips Integrated Science buildings, the UAA/APU Consortium Library, residence halls and now the Alaska Airlines Center will have the Cornerstone stamp.

Since the construction management (CM) program's inception, Cornerstone has been a huge supporter of the university and purposely hires UAA CM students as interns during the summer, throughout the year and eventually pulls them into the fold of the Cornerstone family. For Cornerstone, working with and supporting the university just makes sense. They have taken advantage of UAA's successful program that is churning out Alaska's next generation of construction workers.

"UAA graduates have been well-trained," says Mark Palmatier, an owner who's been with the company for 12 years. "On top of that we invest years of training in our student interns and provide them with real world opportunities. Being an Alaska company supporting an Alaska university goes hand-in-hand with our core values."

UAA's CM program offers its students two education options, either an associates or bachelor's degree, and provides its graduates with a comprehensive course load and hands-on training to deal with the responsibilities of a project site. The program was developed to meet the high demand for construction professionals in the state and received input from industry professionals and organizations to provide students with a broad base of knowledge of construction in Alaska. In both programs, students take rigorous courses on everything from managerial accounting, business law and technical writing to arctic engineering, calculus and ethics.

Mark explains that Cornerstone's close relationship with UAA's CM program is a win-win situation for the company and the university. He feels, like many business owners and managers, that hiring local is just better for business because no one knows how unique Alaska is like Alaskans who have been born and raised in the state.

"UAA graduates understand Alaska and the challenges of our short construction season," says Mark. "Locals are keenly aware of the tightly knit vendor supplier communities they'll be working with." He adds that with many of the UAA projects Cornerstone has worked on for the university, including the Alaska Airlines Center, UAA CM alums have played an integral role, whether they served as project managers or in support staff positions, assisting with daily tasks.

Cornerstone's current green and gold-affiliated employees are construction professionals with a wide range of experiences. Some have worked in the construction industry since they were teens and others gained experience through the CM program and interning at Cornerstone. Brian Van Abel, B.S. CM '08; Jonathon Hornak, B.S. CM '09; Anthony Chen, B.S. CM '12, B.B.A. Finance and Economics '08; Michael Cohen, B.S. CM '11; Shannon Bridwell, B.S. CM '12; and Jacob Mathieson, B.S. CM '13, all work full time for Cornerstone. Chris Rush, Brian Ginder and Wayne Flesch are currently students in the CM program and are interning at the company. The group of nine agrees that their work is unique and each project presents its own set of challenges. They understand their days will be long and the tasks are endless, but, individually and as a team, they are passionate about what they do, reporting to their various job sites day in and day out, rain or shine, eager to dive into their respective projects.

"For me it's dynamic and ever changing, it's not one set thing," says Brian V.A., who has worked for Cornerstone for six years and is currently the project controls manager for the Alaska Airlines Center. "Every project is a little bit different. While there are the same types of problems, they're all different, so you're never facing exactly the same challenges. You've got vendors you're dealing with, you've got weather, materials procurement, shifts in design, there's a lot of things in there that make this work challenging and when you can bring that all together it's really rewarding."

Brian G. adds, "I like to see the progress on a daily basis, I like to see the actual tangible progress of the steel standing up out there. There's a lot of lead-up and leg work, but when you can quantify what's been done in a day, that's what I appreciate."

UAA's CM program is still fairly new and rapidly growing as more students sign up for courses and are often waitlisted. About half of Cornerstone's group were among the first students to go through the program. Many now provide mentorship to current CM students either through their jobs at Cornerstone or the CM Club.

"I was one of the first six graduates out of the program," says Jonathon. He's worked at Cornerstone for five years and is still heavily involved in the CM program, sitting on the CM Advisory Board and serving as an adjunct professor, teaching Cost Estimating each fall semester. "Most of my classes had five people in them," he says. "I was originally going into architecture after I left a pre-med program. But I was talking with a good friend and he started telling me about the CM program at UAA, and I realized that I didn't want to only draw up the building, I also wanted to be involved in the construction."

Anthony, who has been at the company for a year and a half says that he was drawn to the CM program because of Alaska's large construction industry. He's been on "both sides" of the desk and knew that a regular office job just wasn't for him.

"Construction has offered me a high level of involvement and attentiveness that I found missing in the positions I've held in other industries." He adds he felt the CM program was competitive with other reputable programs around the country, with smaller class sizes and  professors who have actual industry experience. "It (UAA's CM program) was modeled by Alaska industry professionals after some of the best CM programs in the country. I was confident with the program and the level of education it provided."

As a group, the nine have not only spent time in the classroom learning about the construction industry, but have also, through their internships at Cornerstone, witnessed first hand their company's involvement in the expansion of the university. They recognize their contributions to UAA and are proud to say they're helping build Alaska and the university.

"I remember being a student while we were doing the Health Sciences Building," says Michael. "I would come into Cornerstone in the morning and work in the building that we were constructing and go to school at night and get the education."

"You can drive down 36th Avenue and say, 'I helped build that building and that building and that building.' I mean Brian (Van Abel) can stand in the middle of campus and do a circle."

Intern Brian G. adds, "It's the ideal combination to be in school and working in the field because taking it just from school and not being able to apply it in the real world-it just doesn't have the same value."

The whole group says they really enjoyed their UAA CM program experience and that it provided them the basic foundation for a career in construction management. These CM program classmates were and still are a tight-knit group, supporting each other as they went through the program, making the transition from student intern to Cornerstone professional easy. Shannon, who joined Cornerstone full time nine months ago is excited to be part of the Cornerstone team working on a project at the Boney Courthouse while being trained by her fellow CM alumni Michael, who was trained and mentored under by CM alum Brian V.A.

"I like the team atmosphere that we have," says Michael. "I like the idea of sitting down and you have this group of individuals, we may divide our responsibilities amongst us. I think it's great to watch everybody work together to get it."

"That's the Cornerstone way," says Mark. "Everyone works collaboratively together, it doesn't matter if you're an intern or a senior project manager. We function as a team every step of the way. We learn from our mistakes as a team and celebrate our successes as a team."

Cornerstone is proud of its UAA relationship and the work that it has done to expand the university for future students, and the company planes to continue its support of the CM program by hiring interns and graduates. As you drive down Providence Drive one can see a timeline of Cornerstone's projects on the university landscape. UAA's CM graduates have been essential to those successes.