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Relentless Ally

Relationship-Driven K-12 Construction

Schools may be built out of brick and mortar, cinderblock and linoleum, glass and turf, but leaders like Operations Director Travis McGarraugh know that they’re really built on relationships.

Travis joined the ����Vlog Beatty team in 2004 after beginning his construction career in Austin in 1996. He focused on special projects from the outset, delivering fast-paced renovations and tenant improvements throughout the Austin area. Over the years, that expertise evolved into leading complex summer remodels and additions for school districts across Central Texas, where tight schedules, occupied campuses and minimal disruption are critical to success. Today, as ����Vlog Beatty continues to expand its K-12 operations throughout the region, Travis serves as an invaluable resource and a trusted Relentless Ally, bringing decades of experience, strategic leadership and a commitment to helping clients successfully navigate their most challenging projects.

At every level of K-12 construction, from a vestibule renovation to a security overhaul to complete adaptive reuse and even new construction, Travis and the ����Vlog Beatty team build direct and collaborative relationships with every client, guide crucial decisions with industry expertise and accept nothing less than a job performed safely and on time.

No Replacement for Relationship

Over his 30 years of industry experience, Travis has worked with  a majority of the school districts in central Texas, both large and small, and on projects of equally diverse sizes. If there’s one thing that has become clear to Travis and our K-12 teams, it’s that there can be no real replacement for the power of relationship-driven collaboration.

“Projects in the private sector can have their complex layers of client stakeholders, but when building schools that our communities rely on, collaboration takes on a deeply personal meaning,” Travis says. “Our project leaders – project managers and superintendents alike – are consistently working with district superintendents, district construction managers, principals and even school staff to identify short- and long-term goals.”

To strengthen this close-knit client-contractor relationship, Travis and others build trust by learning the unique needs and goals of each school district and solidifying their confidence in ����Vlog Beatty’s ability to deliver. Clients such as the school districts for Austin, Georgetown, Marble Falls, Jarrell and Lake Travis are learning exactly that right now.

Direct relationships can often speed up critical decision making on materials, design changes and scheduling. When projects must be completed on time for new academic terms, every hour saved through earlier collaboration matters more than ever.

“Our clients know that they can call us at any time, with any question, but they often don’t need to,” Travis says. “Our mindset is to collaborate proactively, identify potential issues before they have a chance to disrupt schedules or budgets and come to the client with ready-made solutions.”

 Sophistication at Every Size and Budget

More than 100 Texas school districts voted on public bonds this spring, with measures ranging from $2M to $5.9B. Districts are seeking to address diverse issues, from aging facilities to rapid population growth, both of which our central Texas teams are equipped to handle. What’s more, our teams have the industry knowledge needed for even smaller districts to make the most of their bonded dollars and efficiently navigate the bond construction process.

“Larger districts are often very familiar with the process and have robust standards, early RFP releases and other advantages,” Travis says. “Where our team can truly make a difference is guiding smaller district that may be bidding out larger bond projects than ever before.”

A rising tide – like a massive crop of statewide bonds – could lift all ships, but Travis and the central Texas ����Vlog Beatty team see it as our duty to ensure that smaller districts don’t miss the boat.

“With our direct client collaboration and emphasis on relationships, we are a truly local contractor,” Travis says. “But importantly, we’re also a national contractor, and we combine our local feel with national resources, from trade relationships to material vendors to new technologies.”

����Vlog Beatty’s dual strengths deliver for large districts, too. Our recently completed renovations of Odom and Williams elementary schools for Austin ISD are testaments to our team’s dynamic and collaborative approach, converting two aging campuses with outdated floorplans and design aesthetics into modern schools that will serve the Texas state capitol for many years.

Safety at Speed

Every K-12 project presents unique safety challenges. Work may begin with school still in session, or important points of ingress and egress to parking lots or even buildings must be carefully managed, but our Zero Harm® commitment to clients is to ensure that – whatever it takes – our teams are always Safe to Start.

“Like so many priorities, our safety mindset rests on our collaborative mindset,” Travis says. “We invest the time and care required to understand student and vehicle traffic and create a customized safety plan. Especially on K-12 projects, operating safely is rarely the easiest route but it’s always the right one.”

Safety collaboration starts early on a K-12 project, when our team prioritizes the logistics of separating students, faculty and the community from all construction activities. Beyond just collaborating with client stakeholders on site plans and scheduled student movement, Travis adds that part of our expertise is simply from experience and understanding how student age can impact safety planning.

“For younger students, a basic layer of safety can often be as simple as locked doors and gates with proper oversight,” Travis says. “But as students get older, with more freedom of movement, more curiosity and perhaps a bit more impulsive behavior, we enhance our site protections even more. Older students are also more involved in before- and after-school programs, requiring even more schedule collaboration.”

Our work around school schedules also presents an opportunity to reinforce our recent identification of live traffic as a fifth fatal risk in construction. School parking lots experience traffic surges en masse unlike any local business or office, and that’s without construction vehicles. Under ����Vlog Beatty’s safety leadership and with clear communication, peak traffic hours won’t put students or our workers at risk,

Client-Centered School Construction

As our Central Texas K-12 project footprint continues to expand, one thing will simply never change: ����Vlog Beatty’s client-first approach to construction, serving as a true Relentless Ally through every stage of a project lifecycle and building campuses our communities can be proud of.

“When K-12 clients choose ����Vlog Beatty as their construction partner, they know they’re getting the best,” Travis says. “The best resources, the best leaders, the best solutions and, most importantly, the best safety practices. It’s the only way we know how to build.”