In May of this year, Paul Scharmer made a major move. Not only did he leave New Orleans, where he had lived since 1983, but he left the company he had been with for 18 years and two children in grade school. At Johnson Brothers Corporation, a heavy highway and civil construction company, Paul had started as a surveyor, and was vice president of the southeastern region when he decided to join FCI North as operations manager.
At Johnson Brothers, Paul worked on numerous interesting projects. One of his favorites was serving as superintendent on the construction of a railroad bridge over the Red River in Louisiana. It entailed constructing two large cofferdams, erecting the new bridge on barges off site, and floating in the new bridge to replace the old one in 24 hours. Another interesting project involved constructing approaches to a new bridge over the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans.
Paul is excited about his new life in California's Bay Area. Yes, it's a big change from New Orleans, but he is excited about the opportunity, as he puts it, "to work in an area with some of the most fabulous bridges in the world." It's also a great place for his children to visit and experience another part of the country. As FCI North's operations manager, Paul oversees the operations of all FCI's northern projects except those that are joint ventures. That puts him in charge of six ongoing jobs and the new one at the interchange of Routes 85 and 87 in San Jose.
Paul sees the relative newness of FCI North as an advantage. "People don't have old, ingrained habits that are hard to change," he explains. His goal is to avoid making a "big splash," preferring to get to know the projects and people gradually. Once he's done that, he has ideas about ways to make the company more efficient and profitable. Fine tuning current methods of operation, and establishing some new ones are on his agenda.
