AZ APWA Conference 2023

It was great seeing all our friends and partners at the AZ APWA Statewide Conference last week at the Hilton El Conquistador Tucson. Thank you to all of the attendees who visited our booth, spun our prize wheel, and won some of our fun swag.

In addition to the excitement in the exhibit hall, we also won three APWA Project of the Year Awards:

Environment Less Than $5M
Zone 1 - Transmission Main Assessment and Rehabilitation CMAR
Town of Gilbert

Environment $5-25M
Chandler Heights Utility Relocations CMAR
City of Chandler

Environment $25-75M
Waterline Replacement - Clark, University, and Daley Park Neighborhoods CMAR
City of Tempe

Greetings from CONEXPO-CON

Our new 2023 Kenworth T880 Simple 16 Dump Truck was recently featured at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 14th-18th. Attendees saw our new dump truck featuring photos of paving on our Raintree Drive Extension CMAR project and underground utility work on our Zone 3D and 4A Improvements CMAR project.

CONEXPO-CON is the largest construction show in North America and had a record-breaking year with more than 139,000 registered attendees and more than 3 million net square feet of exhibits.

Celebrating Build Arizona Award

Achen-Gardner Construction is honored to have won a Build Arizona Award from the Arizona Chapter Associated General Contractors of America for our Town of Gilbert Zone 1 Transmission Main Assessment and Rehabilitation CMAR project. Members of the project team accepted the award at the Annual Dinner and Build Arizona Awards Banquet on Friday, January 27th.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this project!

Representatives of the project team at the Annual Dinner and Build Arizona Awards on Friday, January 27th.

Chandler 100

Achen-Gardner is honored to be recognized as one of the top 100 businesses in Chandler, AZ, by Chandler Chamber. The Chandler 100 honors and celebrates these top businesses that help make Chandler a prosperous and community-oriented city. Achen-Gardner has been recognized as number 45 on the list this year.

Christmas in the Park

Achen-Gardner employee-owners had a great time spreading holiday cheer in the City of Litchfield Park’s Christmas Parade on December 10th. We walked along our holiday-decorated float while handing out swag and candy to the parade attendees.

Litchfield Park hosts an annual Christmas in the Park event on the second Saturday in December each year. Christmas in the Park is a family-focused event that is free and open to the public. It traditionally includes a hometown parade, arts & crafts vendors, local stage acts, and a number of children’s activities.

Save the Family Fundraiser

Achen-Gardner had a great time hosting an “Ice/Glitter Bucket Challenge” to raise money for the Save the Family Foundation. All funds went to Save the Family to provide holiday gifts and meals for families in need.

Three employee-owners each had a bag in the office with their name on it. Anyone could place cash in the bags to give them points, and the person with the most points would be able to escape getting the bucket of ice water and glitter dumped on their head. On December 7th, we saw the person with the most points (in this case, a three-way tie) receive a chilling bucket of ice water and glitter on their head.

Our three employee-owners who received a chilling bucket of ice water and glitter: Jamie McCollister (Controller), Bryan Mueller (Project Executive), and Tyler Cork (IT Manager). Watch the video below to see how it went.

2022 Touch-A-Truck

Achen-Gardner was happy to be a sponsor at the annual Litchfield Park and Glendale Touch-A-Truck events on November 19th. Our employee-owners had a blast passing out fun swag, and candy, and showing off some of our equipment. This free family event gave kids of all ages the opportunity to see and touch the equipment and learn all about construction. Thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors who helped make these events a huge success.

Dirt Talk Podcast

Aric Smith, Achen-Gardner’s Safety Manager, was recently featured on the Dirt Talk Podcast. He was interviewed by Aaron Witt, CEO of BuildWitt, a services, media, and software business focused on the infrastructure and mining industries.

Aaron and Aric dig into Aric’s background cutting his teeth on farm equipment on his grandparents’ hobby farm before jumping into a career in the dirt world. He recounts stories of past road work projects, his affinity for strong unions, and the frustration that comes when people don’t respect construction zones on the highway.