Beacon News

John Richmond joined Beacon eight years ago and is currently based in Beacon's Medford, MA office. John has extensive experience providing a wide range of services to Beacon's clients, including cost-to-complete assessments, review of payment requisitions, review of change orders, analysis of schedule delay claims, construction defects assessments, and managing/monitoring operations on construction sites.

John is an engineering graduate of The University of Massachusetts (Lowell, MA). John also took Electrical Engineering courses at University of New Hampshire. In recent years, John has served as a key member of Beacon's project team working on a number of high-profile construction consulting and completion projects for Surety companies and other clients. Some examples of projects (and sectors) that John has worked on include:

• Government. John was a key team member providing construction consulting services for a critical demolition and abatement project in Albany, NY (for a New York State government agency). Following the default of the General Contractor on the project, Beacon was retained by a leading Surety company to assist with procurement of a completion contractor, ratify sub-contractors, facilitate compliance with government contractual requirements for resuming work, and provide construction management and oversight to the Surety on the remaining work. The project involved building demolition and full abatement of contaminated material, including asbestos and lead. John received his Asbestos Supervisors license to help move the project forward. He ran a shift of up to 60 people and acted as site superintendent during the abatement phase of the project.
  
  
• Education. John played a key role in helping to complete a new school construction project in Ohio. Beacon was selected by a leading Surety to provide construction consulting services related to the completion of a large (144,000-sf) new high school and elementary school in Cincinnati, Ohio. The construction project was valued at $34 million. The new school included classrooms, faculty and maintenance spaces, 2 cafeterias, performance spaces, 2 gymnasiums, and a pool. John was a key member of Beacon's team, working on site for many months to help bring the project to completion. Previously, John also helped on another major education-related project, consulting on the construction of an $81-million Chemistry & Chemical Biology Building at Rutgers University in NJ.
  
  
• Federal Government / Military. John played a key role for Beacon on a project at the Army Natick Soldier Systems Center (NSSC), known locally as "Natick Labs." The facility is located in Natick, MA, 18 miles west of Boston. The project involved construction consulting related to the completion of a structurally independent addition to a research building for the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM). According to John, the Natick project was particularly interesting (and challenging) because the project was finishing just as the Covid pandemic hit. , and some members of the USACE were reassigned to develop MASH units in response to the epidemic. John has also been involved with risk assessment for projects across the mainland U.S. and Hawaii (including 26 separate construction consulting projects at government/military facilities). This was a major undertaking because, at the time of Beacon's assessment, there was approximately $103-million in remaining construction work at the sites.
  

• Transportation. $23-million MBTA Railway Extension project in Massachusetts
  State Government.

We caught up with John recently to learn more about him:

Question: You have now been part of Beacon’s Construction Consulting Team for 8+ years. During that time, what types of projects have you found the most interesting to work on?

John: Each project has its own challenges. I like the challenge, but I like the feeling of satisfaction that comes with getting the job completed even more. So, as much as I enjoy working on the abatement phase, I prefer seeing a project to the finish. Having worked on both private and public projects, and the public projects have been at the municipal, state and federal levels, I think I like really big Federal projects. The reason is mostly to see the development process transform an area from nothing to something on a massive scale like a Hanger or Research building.

Question: Do you have any advice for young project engineers who are just starting out in the construction consulting / surety claims consulting area?

John: Be willing to learn new things about construction, but put what you know (if you have a specialty) to good use. Get out in the field as much as possible, develop relationships with the people on the project who have the respect of their teams, and bring an attitude of “I’m here to resolve problems and get the job done.”

Question: We know that you like to take on DIY / Home Improvement projects. Any recent projects that have been fun or interesting to work on?

John: I’m at the beginning stages of a Kitchen/Bath renovation, but first I have to update the HVAC. Lots to navigate through the process. Ultimately I’d like to get to "net zero" with solar panels.

Question: Any other news / recent hobbies to report on?

John: Not new, but I enjoy playing piano and other keyboards (synthesizers)in my free time. Also, I just finished serving on a Grand Jury for 3 months here in Massachusetts. That was an interesting experience! However, like "Fight Club," I’m not allowed to talk about it!

Question: What are some of the things you like about working at Beacon.

John: There are a lot of things, but I especially like:

Teamwork – "I like how the people at Beacon can pull together to solve problems. Our team has a huge amount of combined experience and knowledge accumulated over many years from managing thousands of construction consulting assignments."

Managing & turning around bad situations – "I like how Beacon can greatly improve the job site conditions by bringing experienced management to resolve complex problems, coordinate activities and schedules, and ultimately satisfy our client, the end-users, and the project owner."

Learning – "I learn something new everyday. I love the challenge of managing people, projects and problems through completion and resolution."