One of Bill Palmer’s latest blog posts (More than Money) discusses the triple bottom line. While the bottom line for any construction company is to make money, he says, there are two other bottom lines that also matter: people and the planet. It’s about serving the community in which you live and work.
A sterling example is the ASCC/DCC-sponsored Community Project that took place on Chicago’s South Side in August at the Roseland “Good News” Day Care Center. Local volunteers and others from around the country installed a beautiful decorative concrete floor for “Ms. Pearl” Willis, who offers free daycare to inner-city children so their mothers can work and the kids have a stable environment. The design is a seascape complete with clams, starfish, a turtle, and an octopus—the kids will love it!
The project was not without its challenges. The octopus, for instance, was difficult to stencil and stain because the slab was bowed and consisted of harder concrete than the rest of the floor. The slab was not from the same mix batch as the rest of the concrete, and it was not power-troweled. This is because a union supporter allegedly trespassed after the crew left the jobsite, and buried a rat in the concrete slab to protest a nonunion contractor who provided the concrete. The unknown person finished the slab so nobody would notice, at least, not until after it cured and the dead animal smell permeated the building. By then, the only solution was for the concrete contractor to donate even more time to tear up the slab and replace it.
For more on this project, see Concrete Surfaces’ Showcase Feature.
