You can’t think of the Biosolids Digester Facilities Project (BDFP) without thinking of community—from its people-centered purpose to its ambitious local hire goals, the massive infrastructure project’s commitment to championing its neighborhood is truly unmatched.

• In August, the MWH/Webcor JV delivering BDFP jumped at the chance to support a different type of community: the local community of construction finance professionals led by Vice President, Finance Mark Lambert.

As president of the Construction Financial Management Association’s (CFMA) San Francisco Chapter, Mark and the SF Chapter Board were tasked with organizing this year’s President’s Tour for current and prospective members. Each year, participants tour a high-profile Bay Area project site under the guidance of the project’s seasoned construction experts.

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“The President’s Tour is a great way to engage members, particularly those in the contractor community,” Mark says. “As construction finance professionals, it’s extremely valuable for us to see different projects and learn about their risks and how they’re managed and built. Many of our members are accountants or professionals working for financial service providers, so they don’t get to participate in job walks regularly.”

• Mark was excited to organize the tour—it would be his first time planning it, as he’d just become CFMA-SF’s newest president. It would be the chapter’s first tour in two years.
• With its fascinating complexity and substantial community impact in mind, Mark knew BDFP would be the perfect project to re-launch the President’s Tour.
• After the tour, the participants met at SPARK Social SF for a networking event.

Why it Matters: The tour was a unique opportunity for BDFP’s field leaders to show off the project’s progress and achievements while giving CFMA-SF’s participants a meaningful sense of the impact of their work in construction financial management.

• “We were happy to share Webcor’s exceptional performance on such a complex infrastructure project that will treat 80 percent of San Francisco’s wastewater,” says Construction Manager Colin Azevedo. “We also shared our project’s neighborhood and local business hiring model, which exemplifies our commitment to building communities—not just buildings.”

Touring BDFP: Sr. Construction Manager Ryan Fischer and MWH CFO/Project Executive Mark Crouser kicked off the President’s Tour with a high-level presentation on BDFP, including a general overview, construction progress highlights, and its community impact. As someone on both the project and finance side, Mark Crouser was able to give attendees a particularly unique and relevant perspective.

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Attendees then broke out into two groups for the site tour—one led by Colin and one led by Sr. Superintendent Lili Fang.

“It was great to see the tanks in person and gain insights directly from Colin and Lili on how the whole process works,” Mark says. “The project is near its peak in terms of manpower, so the group was able to observe some particularly interesting construction activities.”

• Overall, the tour was a great success and garnered plenty of positive feedback from attendees. “It definitely kept everyone engaged, and I connected with many chapter members I hadn’t met before,” Mark says.
• “Special thanks to Project Manager, Project Controls Shiv Khanagavi; Project Director Rowena Domingo; Safety Manager III Kevin Kwit; Safety Manager III Kendall Cantave; and Kassandra Fernandez for all their help organizing the event!
  • I also want to thank the SF Chapter Board of Directors for their help in the planning. The SF Chapter Board of Directors include John Lettieri of Alliant Insurance Services Group, David Heier of Moss Adams, Matt Anacker and Brendan Keeney of Woodruff & Sawyer, Kevin Re of Arthur Gallagher & Co, Luis Espinosa of CNA Surety, and Dominic Ashley of AON."

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BDFP’s team appreciated the attendees’ enthusiastic participation and thoughtful questions throughout the tour, which was a mutually rewarding learning opportunity.

• “CFMA-SF members shared valuable perspectives that we hope to incorporate in future initiatives,” Colin says. “Overall, we hope attendees left with an appreciation for all the hard work that goes into building the projects they’re involved in.”

What’s Next: Looking ahead to next year’s President’s Tour, Mark says he’s considering UCSF Health Helen Diller Hospital as the 2025 host project. “We’re not limited to Webcor projects, but it makes sense to look here first since ours are so interesting and complex (and of course I work here)!”