Greenup Industries Continues to Excel in USACE Myrtle Grove Levee and Drainage Canal and Hurricane Protection Project

Greenup Industries partnered with Cajun Industries, LLC on a construction contract to build hurricane protection structures and move levees and drainage canals in the New Orleans area. Greenup presented the lowest bid of four for the "New Orleans to Venice 1st lift levee and drainage canal relocation project, La Reussite to Myrtle Grove, Plaquemines Parish". The project consists of clearing, grubbing, excavating new drainage canals, placing culverts and drainage structures, building new T-walls and levee ramp crossings, placing levee embankments, geotextile work, turf establishment, and surfacing. The estimated cost of the project recently increased 6% from $ 102,452,461.00 to $108,783,413. The project has an expected completion date of Summer, 2026.

Continuing to excel in terms of production and quality, Greenup has been making great progress in several areas. Those include: clearing the levee footprint, reaching completion of 81 percent of the entire project, excavating another 1500 cubic yards (cy) of drainage canal and a total of 12,500 linear feet (LF) of 48" culvert pipes have been installed to facilitate proper drainage of rainwater. "This project continues to progress ahead of schedule with a completion date currently in the Summer of 2026. Several change orders are being finalized, which will have little effect on the schedule but will provide a much better level of risk reduction for the people of Plaquemines Parish," says Rodney Greenup, President of Greenup Industries.

Greenup Industries provides a full range of onboarding solutions, maintenance and design services, and specialty construction services to our diverse set of clients. "We offer effective onboarding, reduced costs, accountability, and consistent vetting of vendors," Greenup said. Greenup Industries has clocked over 500,000 safe work man-hours and is the recipient of several awards for safety, including the Gold Medal Award, presented by Shell/Norco, the Contractor Safety Award, presented by CAST, and the Safety Excellence Award, presented by Gulf South Safety Council.

About Rodney Greenup
Rodney Greenup, a New Orleans native, began his career as a mechanical engineer and project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. With over 25 years of experience in providing project management and technical solutions to large-scale construction and maintenance projects. Greenup Industries, a trusted solutions provider, is also the recipient of several awards, including the Gold Medal Award presented by Shell/Norco, the Contractor Safety Award, presented by CAST, Supplier of the presented by Tier III, Emerging Growth Company Award, presented by ACG and many more.

About Greenup Industries
Greenup Industries provides a full range of onboarding solutions, maintenance, and staffing services, as well as specialty construction services to its diverse client base. Greenup strives to continually improve its performance and provide added value. To learn more about Rodney Greenup and Greenup Industries, please call (225) 283-4843 or visit https://greenupind.com/

Rodney Greenup
Greenup Industries
+1 504-598-3677
info@greenupind.com
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Greenup Industries - Our Relationships Fuel Our Success

The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion Efforts in the Construction Industry

Diversity, equity, and inclusion drive a workforce because everyone is encouraged and empowered to be their best authentic selves. To ensure that a culture of diversity is continually developed in the construction industry, we enjoy opening the dialogue on why workforce diversity is a chief asset. Since Greenup strives to reflect the rich diversity in the communities where the labor force lives, works, and builds, we thought we'd highlight why minority inclusion is a business priority. 

Diversity in Construction is Lacking

Women make up just 9% of the construction workforce in the United States. In 2017, women held just 7% of construction-management jobs in the United States, though it's nearly twice that in the United Kingdom. The construction industry has made significant progress to be more inclusive over the last few years, yet LGBTQ+ employees are still largely underrepresented. Of 24,000 staff surveyed by The Construction Leadership Council, just 1% identified as bisexual, 0.8% as gay, and 0.2% as lesbian. The most common ethnicity of construction workers is White (52.9%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (27.7%), Black or African American (11.1%), and Unknown (4.0%).

Potential solutions to improve diversity in the workforce include policies that affirmatively promote the use of companies owned by minorities, women, and other underrepresented groups and bystander intervention. Changing how minority-owned businesses are viewed in the construction industry is another. Greenup addresses this concern in our workforce through intentionally inclusive recruiting and hiring efforts, safe spaces for learning discussions, and industry forums to address systemic racism. 

Lack of D&I Sinks Productivity

Despite being one of the largest sectors in the global economy, the $10 trillion construction industry needs to catch up in productivity growth, which slowed to 1% last year. The result? Poor performance, project management, and execution, as well as cost and time overruns. The problem can only worsen in the United States, where construction's contribution to the economy has hit a seven-year high point.

At the same time, companies complain about a shortage of skilled workers. For these reasons and more, recruiting talent from underrepresented groups is a business imperative. 

EDI Action Plans Can Shift the Industry Culture

Construction companies have committed to initiatives designed to foster D&I, often packaged in EDI action plans. These programs include focus groups, coaching, training, mentoring, networking, and career development. Competitive advantage may go to companies whose workforces look more like the communities where they work.

D&I infuses organizations with new ideas, fresh perspectives, and a willingness to consider alternatives. With a more diverse workforce better at problem-solving and decision-making, construction companies can outperform their peers financially and fairly—with inclusion and respect.

About Greenup Industries

Based in Kenner, Greenup Industries offers contracting and specialized construction services for industrial, commercial, and municipal clients. The company's proprietary software, the Greenup Tracker, can connect third-party vendors with facilities that need painters, plumbers, groundskeepers, carpenters, etc.

If you would like more information on our diversity efforts, please contact Greenup Industries at 225.283.4843 or info@greenupind.com.

Greenup Industries Celebrates Its Tenth Year In Business By Expanding Its Thriving Construction Division

Certified as a minority-owned business by the National Supplier Diversity Council, Greenup Industries has been committed to expanding and diversifying its employee base since its founding in 2012. Now in its tenth year, the Louisiana-based company is proud of its track record, with 64 percent of its non-seasonal employees identifying as Black or African American and many of those in leadership roles. Furthermore, CEO Rodney Greenup, a strong proponent of women working in construction, is always seeking to grow the number of women in his firm. “At Greenup, we believe in hiring more women as they enhance our diversity and contribute fresh perspectives,” he said. Presently, women compromise 26 percent of Greenup’s employees.

With operations in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama, Greenup Industries continues its expansion throughout the Southeastern Region of the United States. When asked what contributed to his company's success, Greenup said there were two factors, "the diversity of our workforce and our innovative project management software, Greenup Tracker."

According to construction industry research, the most common ethnicity of construction workers is White (58.7 percent), followed by Hispanic or Latino (24.5 percent) and Black or African American (10.7 percent). Women only comprise 6.2 percent of construction workers, while men comprise 93.8 percent. Through intentional actions, Greenup Industries' goal was to help create a unified construction industry that attracts and retains the best talent. "We want our company to increase diversity at all levels, and by doing so, improve the work environment for women and minorities. We believe a diversified construction industry will help employers build the workforces they need to sustain future growth."

As the company continued to expand, Greenup Tracker was designed to help its clients and vendors connect with other minority-owned businesses.

The Greenup Tracker allows project managers to take their work efficiency to the next level. With the platform, contractors can easily access qualified vendors and manage everything from onboarding to invoicing, tracking project timelines, and more. And vendors can register their companies to perform work in dozens of client sites across the country.

To learn more about Rodney Greenup and his company’s efforts in diversification, visit www.greenupind.com.

Rodney Greenup
Greenup Industries
+1 225-383-4843

Updates on Two of Our Projects with USACE

Despite some setbacks from weather, our work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Project (WSLPP) has seen significant progress in the past few months. Greenup's primary role has been excavating, processing, and stockpiling clay in two piles within the Bonnet Carre Spillway. By the end of the project, an estimated 1.5 million cubic yard of clay will be removed from the Spillway.

Construction manager Steven Keen provided these updates on the two stockpile sites:

"Stockpile 2 - PROJECT IS COMPLETE! Final testing of materials, coring samples of the stockpile, and as-builts are all that remain on this project. This is a major milestone as it was Greenup's first Corps of Engineers project of what is now three in total.

Stockpile 1 - This project is continuing to ramp up production, but stockpiling of clay is being hampered by rain. We are continuing to haul clay when the weather permits. We are also working on days we can't haul by excavating clay from the borrow pit in the Spillway and processing the material (allowing it to air dry). We are also improving the haul roads in the spillway and at the stockpile location in LaPlace. This project should be complete in mid-late spring of 2023."  

Keen also reported progress on the La Reussite to Myrtle Grove Levee Plaquemines Parish project, a joint venture with Cajun Industries alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project is a fixed-price construction contract to build hurricane protection structures and move levees and drainage canals in the New Orleans area. 

"This large (4 mile long) project, over $100M, is moving out very quickly," Keen said, "We have already built, or improved, 8,000 LF of access roads so that equipment can safely access the project site, cleared vegetation from over half of the project footprint, excavated 100,000 CY of material for the drainage canal, and built over 100 LF of concrete pipe culverts to facilitate drainage. This project is ahead of the required completion date of June 2025."

Greenup Industries provides a full range of onboarding solutions, maintenance, design, and specialty construction services to our diverse clients. We offer effective onboarding, reduced costs, accountability, and consistent vetting of vendors. Greenup Industries has clocked over 500,000 plus safe work man-hours and is the recipient of several awards for safety, including the Gold Medal Award, presented by Shell/Norco, the Contractor Safety Award, presented by CAST, and the Safety Excellence Award, presented by Gulf South Safety Council. To learn more about the benefits of having Greenup Industries work for you, please contact us today by calling (225) 283-4843 or visiting us online at www.greenupind.com.

First Update of 2022 - WSLPP Project

Our work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Project, awarded in January 2020, has seen significant progress in the past few months. Greenup’s primary role in the project has been excavating, processing, and stockpiling clay into two stockpiles inside the Bonnet Carre Spillway. The clay will be used to construct 17.5 miles of a levee system that offers a 100-year level risk reduction to the area between the Bonnet Carre spillway and Garyville. Greenup will have removed 1.5 million cubic yards of clay from the Spillway by the end of the project.

The access road off Airline Highway in LaPlace that extends through the marsh to the prospective levee construction site has been completed, which means the Corps of Engineers can start awarding levee construction contracts. We are also excavating clay from the Bonnet Carre Spillway for future levee construction and hauling it in dump trucks to the assigned area, Stockpile 1, located near Airline Highway. Although weather conditions could always be better, we have successfully stockpiled nearly 40,000 cubic yards of clay out of the 1,000,000 expected. We predict productivity will increase considerably as the weather grows warmer. Completion of operations at Stockpile 1 is expected in the Spring/Summer of 2023.

In addition, we continue to excavate clay material for future levee projects from the borrow pit in the Spillway and transport it to designated area "Stockpile 2." We have successfully stockpiled over half of the 500,000 cubic yards of clay required. We also expect activity to increase here as the weather improves. Completion of operations at Stockpile 2 is expected in the summer of 2022.

About Greenup Industries

Based in Kenner, Greenup Industries offers contracting and specialized construction services for industrial, commercial, and municipal clients. The company’s proprietary software, the Greenup Tracker, can connect third-party vendors with facilities that need painters, plumbers, groundskeepers, carpenters, etc.

If you would like more information on this project, please get in touch with Greenup Industries at 225.283.4843 or info@greenupind.com.

Greenup celebrates Women In Construction Week and Naiika Bass' promotion to Industrial Division Manager

According to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor, women comprise only 10.3 percent of construction workers. Even less is the percentage of women on the front lines of a construction job site, approximately one for every 100 employees. Greenup, a provider of construction, maintenance, and third-party procurement services, recognizes Women In Construction week by celebrating the advancement of women in the industry and the promotion of Naiika Bass as its Industrial Division Manager.

Naiika Bass, Industrial Division Manager

Bass was introduced to the construction industry in 2007 by her Mom, who worked as a certified pipefitter. After graduating from South University with an Associate of Science degree in Criminal Justice, she pursued her Occupational Safety & Health degree from Columbia Southern University and her NCCER certification in Construction Site Safety Technician (CSST), Construction Site Safety Supervisor (CSSS), Field Safety, OSHA 30, and First Aid/C.P.R. For the next six years, she worked in the oil and gas industry as a safety professional. It was her responsibility to ensure each location was in compliance with safety rules and regulations. "When I first began working as a safety professional, it was evident that there was a lack of trust between the field workers and management. I embraced the challenge to change this culture. After developing relationships with the field workers, they soon realized I was looking after their best interests and that my main goal was to make sure they got home safely to their families," she said. In 2017, Bass joined Greenup as its Health and Safety Manager.

Greenup's CEO, Rodney Greenup, believes Bass provides a great example of how women can successfully advance to leadership positions within the construction field. "Naiika has shown her ability and initiative to address the challenges in her work. Because of her attention to detail and her tenacity in regards to following up and following through, we have earned numerous safety awards. We welcome the opportunity to promote her and trust that her career will continue to grow with us," he said.

For all the obstacles that women face in the construction field, from lack of training to gender bias, nearly one-third of companies promoted a woman to a senior position in 2018. In Bass' new role as Industrial Division Manager, her responsibility is to manage all of the Oil and Gas Industrial 3rd party vendors. "I am so grateful that Greenup gave me an opportunity to expand my career into other areas of the construction industry. I wear many hats with Greenup and I enjoy wearing all of them. I enjoy the work I do, and I especially enjoy the culture here at Greenup," she said.

As construction anticipates a rebound from the slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, hiring more women and providing them with opportunities for advancement is an optimal way for a company to expand. A recent report found that construction firms with more women in executive roles experienced higher than above-average financial performance compared to those companies that did not. When 30 percent or more of executive-level positions were filled by women, those companies experienced a 48 percent likelihood of outperforming their less-diverse competitors.

"At Greenup, we believe in hiring more women as they enhance our diversity and contribute fresh perspectives," said Steve Keen, Construction Manager. "Naiika brings a 'can do' attitude to her work and it is an inspiration to those who have the pleasure of working with her. Two of her many strong points are her enthusiasm and dedication. Greenup is fortunate to have her on our team."

If Onboarding is a headache for your company, read this!

Did you know that only 12 percent of employees believe their organizations are doing a good job onboarding new employees? 

That means the majority believe there is room for improvement. 

Without effective onboarding, it takes longer for workers to become profit centers for your business. 

And if you don’t have the right process for onboarding, you will have:

·      Slower third party turnaround time, which impacts revenue opportunities

·      Improper third party vetting, leading to increased legal compliance risk

·      Compliance wastes time and resources, and cannot focus on higher

At Greenup Industries we are committed to providing the leadership and resources to help you achieve your project goals. 

Our unmatched expertise and solutions oriented workforce ensure that your project no matter how big will be handled efficiently through ease of process.

At Greenup Industries we have a proven track record of ensuring that large scale projects are simplified through ease of process. 

Want to know more about our innovative solutions and efficient on boarding process, call us today at (225) 283-4843. 

Construction Safety - Post Covid 19

Rodney Greenup, President, Greenup Industries

There is no way to predict the full impact of COVID-19 and how it will affect businesses across the U.S. However, it is safe to assume there will be substantial delays and cost implications. Many contractors may not be feeling the effects yet because they were considered “essential” during government work restrictions. But it is possible and likely that every business will be affected in some way eventually. As we navigate this uncharted territory, keeping these five points in mind may help you keep yourself, your employees and your company safe.

Safety first

The first step is to ensure your business takes proper precautions to protect employees and their families. Although most construction work cannot be done remotely or correctly performed with social distancing, steps can be taken to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

Provide your teams with the proper PPE and training to support better hygiene and reduce the possibility of future virus transmissions from asymptomatic employees or unknown carriers.

Consider staggering shifts and sequencing work areas to avoid unnecessary groupings of workers. Utilize video teleconferences for your toolbox talks and safety meetings. Most importantly, work diligently to ensure that, despite the change in structure, safety measures remain robust, including proper supervision, safety inspections and accountability.

Prevention

Hygiene, situational awareness and due diligence are operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They should be embedded in all your processes, encouraged and rewarded. Lead from the top down, empowering your teams to do what’s right and supporting proper habits on the ground.

Call a meeting of minds

Bring your staff together virtually to share their best thoughts, ideas and practices regarding hygiene and safety. Focus on prevention and what is working. If you allow your teams to report on unsafe practices without fear of repercussions, you will surely prevent more injuries, illnesses and disruptions to your workflow.

Touchless

Provide safer jobsites for your workers by implementing touchless registration, virtual orientations, virtual training and automated health checklists.

This moment in history should be a catalyst for our industry; it’s the beginning of  a long-term shift in the way we work. Companies that evolve their processes instead of merely adjusting and implementing minor changes will emerge as the leaders of our industry. Embrace change, analyze your processes, find areas for improvement and then search for the best possible solutions. Safety and good hygiene are not to be negotiated; they should instead lay the foundation of our future success.    

For more information, visit www.greenupind.com or call (225) 283-4843.