Employee Spotlight
Barbara Oulds, CCM, CQM, LEED Green Associate
Congratulations on 10 years with AFG! How did you come to work with us?
My first interview was with Mike [O’Connor, President] in August of 2011 and we were quite comfortable with one another, but the DCAS jobs he had me in mind for had not started yet. I then interviewed with Lew [Ayers, Project Director] in September and we also clicked, especially when we realized that we went to the same college – The City College of New York. Finally, Mike called me to start on December 9, 2011 to cover for Lew at Midtown Community Court for two weeks as he was going on vacation and after that, I started at Queens Borough Hall as the CM/PM on January 5, 2012.
What has been your favorite project?
\My favorite project was the NYC Department of Design and Construction (NYC DDC) Forum at Queens Borough Hall. I was valued and trusted to the point that DCAS let me run the entire project almost without any oversight, I bonded with the Project Architect so solving design issues was seamless, I worked very closely with the stakeholders who regularly sought my counsel, I was communicative the agencies affected by the work and worked with them on issues caused by the construction and my team was very good at their position – Superintendent and Office Engineer and we worked together well.
What has been the most challenging project that you successfully managed?
The District Attorney of New York (DANY). It was challenging because it was a fast-paced interior gut renovation of 11,000 square feet that had to be completed by the contract completion date PERIOD. It was a WICKS Law project where all the trades were prime contractors and there were 4 – GC, HVAC, Electrical, and Plumbing which meant AFG had to manage 4 separate contractors who produced 4 times the paperwork. Security and access were a major concern, so AFG had provided and tracked who received access to the site and when; solving the many issues that arose without impacting the completion date which was met.
Outside of your work, where can we find you?
At home working on DIY projects.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out in AFG?
Yes, DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS! You will find that people want to share knowledge and remember that no one knows everything – that is how you learn and grow in our business.
