Balancing actBeing a construction project manager means juggling a routine with shifting priorities, Matt Irwin explains to Gary Toushek. Matt Irwin has just come from the job site of the project heÔÇÖs working on at the moment, adjacent towers of residential housingÔÇöa 12-story, 136-unit, design-build, low-income family building (designed by architects Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz) and an 11-story, 107-unit seniors building (designed by KMD Associates, local architecture firm Kodama Diseno)ÔÇöin downtown San Francisco.

A place to stay ÔÇö for 50 yearsPhilippe Gadbois of Atlific Hotels & Resorts tells Ruari McCallion about new ideas after the firmÔÇÖs 50 years in the hotel business in Canada. ItÔÇÖs just coming up to half a century since Holiday Inn awarded its first franchises in Canada. One of the two companies selected was Atlific Hotels & Resorts, founded in 1959 and based in Montreal.

Partnering for successA joint venture to widen Interstate 75 in southwest Florida posed a host of design and permitting challenges to Anderson Columbia Company, but itÔÇÖs on track to be completed ahead of schedule, thanks to a strong partnership approach, Keith Regan reports. Transportations officials in Florida have long recognized the need to increase the capacity of Interstate 75 to carry traffic through Collier and Lee counties in the fast-growing southwestern part of the state.

Thomas R. Cutler makes the case for reusable containers, from a financial and environmental point of view. The EarthWorks Group estimates that thirty percent of landfill waste is created by plastic and paper packaging. The use of cardboard and other one-time-use packaging products contribute significantly to this waste. David Madden, President of ContainerExchanger.com noted, ÔÇ£The initial investment in returnable packaging may cost more that one-time use packaging.

Change management and learningAfter developing a succinct vision, and designing an organizational structure that supports the vision and enables the implementation of the strategy, CEOs must prepare their organizations for the planned change and lead the transformation. Part three of a series on managing and leading people by Jon Minerich, Principal, Oliver Wight Americas, Inc.┬á As Mark Twain quipped many years ago, ÔÇ£You know, IÔÇÖm all for progress. ItÔÇÖs change I object to.ÔÇØ This applies only too well in business.

Oregon┬á Health┬á &┬á Science┬á UniversityOregon Health & Science University hired its first manager of sustainable operations in 2007 but, as Keith Regan learns, that was just the beginning of a larger effort to be on the forefront of the green movement. When Oregon Health & Science University in Portland set out to design its Center for Health & Healing more than two years ago, the institution wanted to treat the project as more than just another building on its multi-site campus.

Construction Consultants CollaborativeIn rescuing the Esplanade project, C3 president Rowland Hand has taken on his most interesting challenge yet, Jenn Monroe reports. Rowland Hand is anything but typical in his approach to planning and problem solving. As the president of the Fort Myers, FloridaÔÇôbased Construction Consultants Collaborative (C3), Hand has developed innovative processes and tools to ensure a project is successful from planning to completion.

 Dutch brewer Heineken NV increased first-half profits by 35 percent after raising prices and acquiring FosterÔÇÖs lager and Strongbow cider in the partial consolidation of Scottish & Newcastle. Heineken, the worldÔÇÖs fourth largest brewer by volume, said the rise took place against the ÔÇ£background of weaker economies and increased input costs.ÔÇØ ┬á Net profit for Heineken during the first six months was up to $596 million from $441 million last year.

Half-year profits at mining giant Rio Tinto soar based on strong demand and high commodity prices.

With the Pentagon expected to release the final bid request this week for the second round of bidding on a $40 billion contract to supply the US Air Force with refueling tankers, Boeing has threatened to withdraw from the contest unless the Department of Defense grants a six month extension to the bid process, so it can work on the design of a larger aircraft.  ┬á The contract to build 179 refueling tankers over 15 years was awarded on February 29 to Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman and its partner, EADS North America, a subsidiary of European Aeronautic Defence and Sp