Record breaker  Jeff Daniel learns how Farallon Mining used a parallel development strategy to bring its new mine on stream in record time. Most visitors to Acapulco go there seeking bronze, but for some the sun-drenched Mexican city on the Pacific coast is an access point for a newly productive source of zinc.

Salt cured  Storing nuclear waste is a contentious issue at best, but as Alan Swaby learns, the governmentÔÇÖs solution of burying it in salt mines in the New Mexico desert is probably the countryÔÇÖs best option.  Thanks to CO2 emissions and uncertainty about just how long fossil fuels will continue to power the globe, the pendulum of public opinion is once again swinging back in favor of nuclear-generated electricity. But critics always have the ace of trumps to play.

Building in a fish bowl With an original price tag of nearly $200 million, the new high school in a Boston suburb is one of the most expensive secondary school projects in Massachusetts history. Keith Regan learns how the project management process has helped guide the job along to an expected under-budget completion, even amid intense scrutiny of the work. In some ways the new Newton North High School resembles a university building project more than the kind of high school youÔÇÖd find in a city of 80,000-plus in Eastern Massachusetts.

That other New York island  New Jersey-based Delric Construction Company Inc. won the general contract to help the City and State of New York build a new, modern courthouse on Staten Island. Keith Regan learns from the senior project manager on site how the work resembles a Manhattan building project and how Delric is working with an elite group of contractors to bring the ambitious construction task to fruition on time and on budget.

Dailey news  With an unemployment rate greater than 15 percent, the Detroit metropolitan area is looking to the Dearborn Town Center development project to act as an economic engine for the region, providing hundreds of much-needed jobs and revitalizing the community, Ric Larson discovers.  A new energy for economic revitalization is being felt in the Detroit metropolitan area, as shovels hit the ground in May 2009 for the new 168,000-square-foot Dearborn Town Center development project.

Core competencies CORE Construction is the construction manager at risk for two new residence halls currently being built for the University of Arizona. April Terreri takes notes. Planning construction for educational facilities nowadays is a more inclusive process than ever before. As environmental impact and sustainability issues become interwoven into American daily life, building designers and architects are listening to the demands of todayÔÇÖs college students by designing and constructing buildings with sustainable features.

Buying locally  David Hendricks learns how Eastern Canadians, using the co-operative business model of Co-op Atlantic, are making a positive difference in the lives of their fellow citizens by helping to meet their economic, cultural and social needs, while improving their own lives as well.  The concept of a co-operative, or co-op, goes back centuries and is loosely defined as an association of people who choose to unite to meet common economic, social and cultural needs through a jointly owned, democratically controlled enterprise.

Culture change  April Terreri talks with the vice president of Wabush Mines to learn more about his vision of inclusion among unionized and salaried employees.  Up until about a year ago, going to work at Wabush Mines in Labrador was not a very pleasant experience. The relationship between union and salaried workers had long been tense and distrustful. But all that is changing since Gino Levesque took over as vice president and general manager of Wabush a little over a year ago.

Knowing the earth  Keith Regan learns from the project managers representing the Clark Construction/Balfour Beatty joint venture overseeing construction how getting a sprawling, multi-faceted project done in less than four years has required a new level of teamwork.  The National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) may be one of the least visible of the agencies that help protect national security, but its mission to ÔÇ£know the earth and show the wayÔÇØ makes it a key partner to other intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense.

What goes around For 18 years, Carousel Industries has continued to grow and thrive despite downturns in the economy. One of the reasons for this continued success could be the companyÔÇÖs philosophy of listening carefully to what customers really need. Iris Seymour reports. Like so many other American success stories that started with very humble beginnings, this one began with just two determined young men, one truck and one customer. That was back in 1992, when Jeff Gardner and a partner launched Carousel Industries, Inc. in Exeter, Rhode Island.