Category: News And Awards

Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. and Northwestern Mutual, through its Foundation, recently announced a major capital revitalization project for the Northwestern Mutual Children’s Theater & Playzone, which has been in place at Henry Maier Festival Park since 2006.

JCP Construction is proud to serve as the Construction Manager for the new Northwestern Mutual Community Park construction project.

A premiere destination for families within the region, the new park will continue to be a featured area at Summerfest, as well as cultural and ethnic festivals. In addition, the park will be available to the public during non-event days, encouraging the broader community to access this new amenity throughout the summer.

A guiding priority of the design is to offer inclusive play for children who may experience a variety of challenges. The Northwestern Mutual Community Park aims to be one of the most accessible playgrounds in the entire state of Wisconsin.

Plans include a flexible stage area for community-based, family-focused programming, in addition to an exhibit area, which will be used for interactive children’s activities.  The new Northwestern Mutual Community Park will feature all new accessible playground equipment suited for children ages 6 months to 12 years, along with new permanent family restrooms. The project also integrates environmentally conscious design, and intentionally embraces the beautiful lakeside setting, including shaded areas for parents.

Planned features for the park:

• Enhanced Play Equipment: All new age-appropriate playground equipment will serve toddlers, preschool-age through school age-children. Interactive musical play will also be incorporated throughout the playground.  The play area will include soft surface flooring for safer play, shaded seating area for parents, and be defined by a perimeter fence.
• Flexible Stage: Area will feature a new, permanent stage structure with accessible seating, and a viewing area for over 500 patrons. The performance stage will be elevated, covered, and wheelchair accessible.
• Family Services Building: Addressing the specific needs of families, a new 1,800 square foot, air- conditioned family services building will be fully accessible, and feature the following:
  • Permanent Family Restrooms: Accessible restrooms will be equipped with changing tables for babies, children, and adults requiring an assistant.
  • Nursing Mothers Stations: Mothers seeking a quiet space to nurse will have dedicated space for that purpose.
  • Sensory Rooms: There will be three individual and wheelchair accessible, air-conditioned quiet rooms, creating a calm environment for children that may be overstimulated by the noise, environment, or experience.
• Accessibility: A guiding priority of the design is to offer inclusive play for children who may experience a variety of challenges.
• Toddler Play Area: The former stage will be converted to a covered play area for toddlers, including shade, and age appropriate activities and equipment.
• Flexible Programming Space: Over 4,000 square feet will be devoted to flexible programming spaces, which will allow local organizations and non-profit partners to provide interactive programming, on a rotational basis.
• Community Engagement: The entertainment presented, as well as the interactive exhibits, will feature various programming produced by Milwaukee-based organizations, representing multiple perspectives.
• Environmentally Conscious Design: The project actively integrates environmentally conscious design, including storm water management; recycled content on playground surface and equipment, and steel structures; LED lighting, and low-energy consumption fixtures; low-flow Zurn bathroom fixtures, and locally sourced products and materials.

For more information and to view renderings, visit https://www.summerfest.com/northwestern-mutual-community-park/.

JCP Construction was recently featured in Milwaukee Commerce – a quarterly magazine produced by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC). MMAC’s magazine provides in-depth coverage of the top issues facing the metro Milwaukee business community.

JCP’s Clifton and James Phelps sat down with Milwaukee Commerce and discussed the barriers that diverse business owners face in Milwaukee. The article can be found online here: https://issuu.com/carriegossett4/docs/2020_summer_commerce/s/11032043

You can also find the PDF scans of the article here.

The ladies of JCP Construction took part in the #shebuilds virtual event on September 17. This event taught our staff how to build steampunk lamps, while encouraging the empowerment of women throughout the Midwest. Only 9.1% of the construction industry is female so it is important to recognize their importance and to encourage others to get involved with the construction industry. Find out more about this event: http://shebuildschicago.com/

All proceeds from the event benefited youth programs supporting the construction industry in Illinois and Wisconsin. The #shebuilds event allows for money to be raised for tradeswomen so that they can complete apprenticeship as well as pay for tools, coursework and more.

We would like to give a special thanks to Victoria Navarro, Catherine Tojaga, Jenny Han, and Jessica Sherwood for inviting us to participate in the fun event.

Our final participant in our Five Employees, Five Questions blog series is Darrell Mercer. Let’s see what interesting stuff he had to say!

How long have you been with JCP?  I have been with JCP for 3 and a half years.

How long have you been a project manager and what is the best part of it? I have been in construction management for over 25 years with the last 15 or so as a project manager. The job is stressful at times, but the best part is solving the daily problems and dealing with the myriad of different personalities and people (clients, owners, designers, subcontractors and more).

What is the most enjoyable project you’ve worked on? I have been involved in many interesting projects throughout the U.S., Canada and South America, but here at JCP Construction it was the Bader Philanthropies Headquarters. We basically transformed a 100 year old building into a modern, state-of-the-art facility that is a diamond in the rough in the Milwaukee inner city. The owner, designers and JCP had one goal and it was creating a gem!

What do you think future project managers need to know to be the best they can be? Keep learning. Be observant. Techniques and technology are constantly changing.

Tell us something about you that not many people know? I have a signature smile. 😊

We are highlighting five of our employees over several weeks by asking them five different questions. Darryl Dixon is our fourth employee to participate! Let’s see what he has to say.

How long have you been with JCP Construction? I have been a driver with JCP Construction for six years.

How long have you been a driver and what is the best part of that position? I have been a driver for 23 years, working for various companies. This includes a supply warehouse construction company that did rough-in construction. I really enjoy making sure all my craftsmen are stocked up and prepared to do the job that they need to do.

What is the most enjoyable project you have been a part of? Seen built in Milwaukee? There are two projects that I have had the opportunity to be involved with and were incredibly satisfying to be a part of. Those two best projects would be the Northwestern Tower project and the Fiserv Forum project because they both impacted the skyline of downtown Milwaukee.

What do you think those who want to work in the construction field need to know? It is rewarding to see the finished project, but to do that, it takes hard work and dedication.

Tell us something about you that not many people know? I really enjoy cooking. One of my favorite things to cook is soul food and Italian food. I also enjoy baking cakes.

JCP Construction was recently approved as a HUBZone-certified company. HUBZone-certified companies are able to bid on designated  federal government work. The program fuels small business growth in historically underutilized business zones with a goal of awarding at least three percent of federal contract dollars to HUBZone-certified companies each year. Find out more about the HUBZone program on the SBA’s website.

We are excited to add this certification to our business!

On the Level: Protests, Pandemic and Prospects

At helm of JCP, Phelps brothers reflect on recent months and look to future

Although the past few months have not been easy for anyone, they have especially been hard for the leadership team at JCP Construction.

The coronavirus outbreak has brought at least one big disappointment to the three brothers who run the Milwaukee-based contractor – James Phelps, company president; Jalin Phelps, vice president of field operations; and Clifton Phelps, vice president of business development. Their company has been enlisted to help convert the Fiserv Forum, home to the Milwaukee Bucks, into the main venue for the Democratic National Convention. But with big questions now looming about how many people will actually attend the event, the Phelps brothers have had to come to terms with the likelihood that they will have a much smaller role to play.

Meanwhile, the death last month of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer has hit home at the minority-owned JCP Construction, where about 80 percent of the office employees are black. With their commitment to having a diverse workforce, the Phelps brothers are well aware of the artificial barriers that often prevent people of color from getting on job sites.

That dedication extends beyond hiring. JCP Construction’s main office is near the corner of North Reservoir Avenue and North Martin Luther King Drive in Milwaukee. That puts it in the center not only of a historically black neighborhood, but also many of the recent protests against police brutality organized in response to Floyd’s death.

This week they sat down with The Daily Reporter to talk about their recent experiences and hopes for the industry.

Download the PDF of the article to read the full article.

We are highlighting five of our employees over the next few weeks by asking them five different questions. Takeyla Tyson is our third employee to participate! See what she has to say.

How long have you been with JCP Construction ? I have been with JCP for six years. I started as a part-time Office Manager, but I now work as the Job Cost Accountant.

What does an average day for you as a Job Cost Accountant look like? An average day for me comprises of financial meetings, assisting project managers to control job costs, managing the AP/AR and data analysis. I also spend time throughout the week assisting the CFO with other “big picture” financial components. There is a lot of coffee consumed!

What is the most enjoyable project you’ve worked on? My favorite project was the Fiserv Forum. I liked that project because I was able to drive or walk past and look at the work we were doing. It was also the first project where I was more closely involved in the project. I was able to learn more about how JVs work and what it takes to pull off a project of that size.

What is your favorite part of working for JCP Construction? My favorite part is seeing a project being completed as planned (or as close as possible). A lot of hard work goes into the management of the project and when I can be a part of that success, it makes all the long hours worth it.

Tell us something about you that not too many people know? I love Hello Kitty and video games (I have six different game consoles/devices). Hello Kitty speaks to the kid in me and I find that video games help with stress.