The American Solar Energy Society is once again hosting a National Solar Tour on Saturday, October 4, 2003. This tour focuses on homes and businesses that utilize solar energy in their design and operation.

I'm pleased that one of the homes Northfield Construction Company built is going to be featured on this solar energy tour. The Northfield home is the Bob and Suzannah Ciernia residence at 41 Fareway Drive.

Their home has photovoltaic cells incorporated into the roof system. The photocells generate electricity which is metered and sold back to Xcel Energy.

Residential clients that are willing to incorporate new technology into their homes is one of the best proving grounds for new products. Not everyone is in a position to work with new products, such as the photovoltaic roof membrane, but we all gain from the information gathered from these systems.

Posted by Ray Cox at 9:16 AM | Link

 

Jeff Musehl has been working with Northfield Construction Company for about the past three years, but many of us have known him for much longer. Jeff is married and has a baby girl.

Jeff graduated from Faribault High School and attended the Albert Lea Vo-tech (now Riverland Community College). He then went to work for Naber Electric for several years. During that time he discoverd he liked carpentry work more than he liked electrical work. As an electrical apprentice with Naber Electric Jeff worked on many Northfield Construction Company projects. When he decided to make a career change he came to Northfield Construciton Company....and we are glad he did.

Jeff is someone that pays attention to how projects are put together and only needs to be told something one time. He understands the importance of coordinating and scheduling work and enjoys taking a leadership position.

This summer Jeff was in charge of the Northfield Arts Guild Theater remodeling on Third Street.

While not a huge project, it involved many sub-trades including fire sprinklers, water service, specialized doors with electronic hardware, etc. He did a great job for the Arts Guild and has now moved on to building a new home for Doug and Kathy Schuurman.

Everyone at Northfield Construction Company is pleased to have Jeff on our team...and happy that he deciced to work as a carpenter rather than an electrician!

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:30 AM | Link

 
I posted a message earlier about the Northfield Rotary Club bike tour held on September 6th. As I said, it was a great event with nearly 1,000 riders participating.


I liked this photograph of the bikers at an aid station. This was station #4 and was the split off point between riders doing the 60 mile ride and 100 mile ride. I staffed this aid station and can tell you these bikers were consuming vast quantities of water, energy drink, bagels, bananas, and all sorts of carbohydrates. It was great to visit with the participants and I look forward to working on the event again next year.

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:30 AM | Link

 
The Northfield Community Action Center is working on a campaign to support the housing programs in Northfield. One part of the campaign is a program to build some permanent supportive housing in Northfield. This will consist of a triplex and a fourplex in the Maple Hills area, just east of the new Middle School.

Earlier this month I attended a luncheon and ground breaking ceremony for the triplex....what a wonderful event. There was a big crowd of people at the lunch and many traveled over to the site for the groundbreaking ceremony.


Northfield Construction Company is donating a large share of the labor for the triplex. We plan to install the exterior siding materials on the home. It is important for all of us at Northfield Construction Company to give back support to this community. The community has supported Northfield Construction Company over the past 30 years and we are proud to step forward and help out the Community Action Center with this effort.

I'll try to take photos of the work as it moves forward and post them.

Posted by Ray Cox at 1:48 PM | Link

 
At our safety meetings twice a month, eye protection is talked about quite a bit. I maintain a full array of safety glasses as many are needed to suit the comfort of individual employees. I learned a long time ago that if you want employees to use safety equipment, it needs to be readily available and it has to be comfortable. That goes for safety glasses, hearing protection, fall protection, etc.

Over the weekend I was at my cabin doing some fall chores that involved sealing up gaps and cracks in siding. I used our professional model foam injector. When finished with the tool I cleaned it out with the pressurized solvent cleaner. However, I made one big mistake...I neglected to release the nozzle pressure when I removed the canister of solvent from the injector apparatus. This resulted in a "blow back" of cleaning solvent into my face and eyes.

I knew that I needed to flush my eyes with water immediately and did that for several minutes.

They still burned so Ellen and I made a trip into town. The eye doctor had just left his office, but his staff called him on his cell phone and he returned. He determined that I did not do any damage to my corneas and prescribed an anti-inflamation prescription drug.

After all this I really felt warn down and shaken....but really, really dumb. Like many work-related accidents, this one could have been prevented. I knew better than to release the solvent under pressure. And I should have been wearing the safety goggles in the tool case that would have given me full eye protection.

I'm thankful there was no permanent eye damage. I am also thankful for the attention of the medical community and having a drug store in the little town by our cabin.

This whole event remids me how important it is to use safety equipment....and also to think through all steps of construction operations, keeping mentally alert for gaps in safety procedures. My workers do this every day.....the "boss" needs to do it, too.

Posted by Ray Cox at 3:44 AM | Link

 
As fall weather starts to arrive those of us in the construction industry start to think about heating our projects. We use a variety of heating equipment to maintain required temperatures during winter construction. As you might suspect, heating a project can be a real challenge. Our Site Superintendents and workers have to pay a lot of attention to closing up openings, equipment operation, fuel supply and safety.

Last winter we started to use a non-adjustable thermostat made by Jackson Systems. It is really slick. It looks like a large wire nut but actually has a small pre-set thermostat inside the coating.

This device allows installation of insulation, polyethylene sheeting, drywall, paint, etc. without removing a standard thermostat. A regular thermostat always has to be re-set level and is vulnerable to dust and damage. These Jackson single temperature thermostats work well for our construction needs.

It is great to continually see new products and devices being developed for the construction industry. Northfield Construction Company staff attend seminars, trade shows and association meetings to share information and learn about new products. This helps us provide cost effective services to our clients, and do it in a proper, safe manner.

Posted by Ray Cox at 5:06 AM | Link

 
As several of you may know, Northfield Construction Company has been active energy conserving measures for new construction for many, many years. We build some of the first solar homes in the area in the mid-1970's, including homes with active solar water heating systems. We continue to stay abreast of energy issues.

This afternoon I met with a potential client that plans to construct a new home....but the home will not be connected to the main electric energy grid. This will be an exciting project! We will be erecting a 70' wind tower with a 1.5 KW generator. There will be a large battery array in an outbuilding for power storage. Some power will be converted to alternating current for general use, and some power will be used in the generated direct current form. There will also be a system of photovoltaic cells to provide additional power. The final power source will be a gas driven generator to charge the batteries if they should drop below a specified level and the wind or sun systems can't provide enough charge....a rare condition.

As you might guess, there will be sigificant costs to these systems. We will build the home using state of the art insulation technology which will also carry some additional costs. However, this client is committed to doing some research and investing in some alternative products to see if he can create and live in a modern functioning home that is off the grid.

I'll keep readers posted on the progress of this home as moves along. We are just doing the planning work now, so it will be about a year until occupancy.

Posted by Ray Cox at 2:03 PM | Link

 
Last night I attended the Joseph Lee Heywood Award Banquet to honor Will Brosz.

Will received the Joseph Lee Heywood Distinguised Service Award from the Defeat of Jesse James committee. This award is given to someone from the Northfield area that has given service to the community for many years. Past recipients include Gov. Al Quie, Dan Freeman, Gov. Karl Rolvag, Mary Lou Street, and other people integral to Northfield's volunteer community. Northfield Construction Company, along with many other local businesses, has supported the Defeat of Jesse James Days activities for many years

It was wonderful to share an evening of good visiting with so many folks. About 400 people attended the dinner at the American Legion. There was live music entertainment during the dinner. All 3 of Will's sons were able to attend and spoke about their father. Will, long time president of Norwest bank in Northfield, has been a real worker for civic activities. His list of volunteer groups includes United Way, Rotary, Jaycees, St. John's Lutheran church, Northfield Foundation, library board, Northfield planning commission, Three Links Care Center board, and on and on. It was truly an honor to be there and recognize Will for his unselfish service to Northfield.

The evening ended with the traditional auction of Defeat of Jesse James Days buttons numbers 1 through 5. These are always held back and sold for a fundraiser for the committee. Kevin Dahle, a teacher at Northfield high school, performed the auctioneer duties and did a great job....I know he worked several more hundred dollars out of the crowd with his comments, all for a great cause. Kevin worked me enough to purchase button #2. It can sit along side the Jesse James Days #2 bobble head doll from last year!

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:15 AM | Link

 
I'm a member of the Northfield Rotary Club. I enjoy the weekly lunch meetings and look forward to whatever presentation is planned for the meeting. We have about 125 active members of the club and get good attendance.

Last Thursday we honored Nalongue Bomane Cogan, wife of member Charlie Cogan, with a Paul Harris Fellowship (PHF) award. A PHF is given when one makes a significant financial and social contribution to a Rotary sponsored program. The financial contribution can be from someone else. Nalongue's work was to create a serology lab in Togo.

Nalongue works at the Northfield Care Center. Nalongue's youngest brother, Raphael Bilimpo Bomane died in 1996 from hepatitis B. It was a death that could have been avoided with a good blood lab. With that in mind, Nalongue worked to see that a serology lab was created in Togo.

Arsene Tindame of the Dapaong Rotary Club in Dapaong, Togo handled things on the Togo end. Rotary Clubs in Northfield, Farmington, Faribault and Evanston, Illinois all contributed funds to make this vital labratory a reality. Working together Rotary International was able to provide a much needed labratory and hopefully prevent some un-necessary illness.

Congratulations to Nalongue and Charlie Cogan for their great work on this project.

Posted by Ray Cox at 1:24 PM | Link

 
It is not an easy job running a small business. The government generally defines small businesses as an independent business with fewer than 500 employees. When you operate a business with 30 employees you "wear many hats" as you work to keep things running on a smooth and even keel.

I ran across an article in a publication that presented some interesting facts about small businesses in the United States:

* 99.7% of all employers own small businesses.
* Small businesses employ more than half of all private sector employees.
*Small businesses generate 60-80% of net new jobs annually.
*Small businesses created three-quarters of the new jobs in the US between 1999-2000.
* Small businesses pay 44.5% of the total US private payroll.
*Small businessed employ 39% of high-tech workers such as scientists, engineers, etc.

In 2002 it is estimated that there are 22.9 million small businesses in the United States. I'm pleased to be operating a small businesses, and think I have the greatest workers available working with me. One of my goals as a business person is to always treat my workers in the best manner I can. That has served me well as I am able to retain good, quality people. Running a small business can really have its ups and downs, but overall I find it a rewarding experience. Northfield Construction Company works hard to produce reasonably priced, quality projects and in turn the Northfield area community recognizes that effort and supports the company.

It is especially rewarding to be asked again and again by customers to perform work for them. We are just getting ready to start a project for a long time client. This project will be the seventh construction proejct we have worked on for this customer. As I tell my employees time and time again....that kind of loyalty cannot be purchased through advertising.....it can only be earned by quality hard work and honesty....and that is what we deliver to our clients.

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:23 AM | Link