PROJECT MANAGER EARNS FIRST CEO AWARD
Project Manager Earns First CEO Award for Recovering Costs After a Chilly Denial
A commitment to fairness, exceptional project management expertise and a “never-give-up” attitude have earned John Glosson, project manager at the Houston install branch, the very first CEO award at CoolSys. Thanks to John’s extraordinary efforts, CoolSys was able to recover nearly half a million dollars from our grocery store client HEB — money that was on the verge of being written off as a loss before John stepped in.
Like so many stories these days, this one has its roots in Covid-19. In 2021, CoolSys was contracted to do complete refrigeration replacements in four existing HEB stores in San Antonio, Brownsville and Laredo, Texas. When manufacturers were unable to get some of the necessary equipment and materials into the U.S., the projects ran several months past their scheduled end dates. Per diem charges began to rack up as CoolSys teams waited to finish the work then additional labor charges accrued after the projects restarted.
Up for the Challenge
At the beginning of 2022, the HEB projects were passed on to John to manage. With 29 years of experience in ground-up installation, service and bidding, he was well-equipped to take on the gigantic challenge of finalizing the projects and recuperating per diem and labor costs when HEB initially denied the change orders. But it was no easy task.
“We weren’t asking for something CoolSys didn’t deserve,” John says, explaining his motivation for engaging in a year of back-and-forth communication with HEB in an attempt to recover those costs. After several denials that required John to rewrite explanation letters and provide detailed documentation, he got the news he was waiting for: the additional charges had been approved.
“Change orders in general are difficult to get, even with documentation,” says Kevin Finlay, regional director, installation, and John’s manager. “What makes this extraordinary is the dollar amount recovered, the work John had to do to get HEB to ultimately approve the change orders and John’s tenacity to not take ‘no’ for an answer.”
A Well-Deserved Honor
Kevin accepted the CEO award on John’s behalf at CoolSys headquarters in April then traveled to Houston to present it to him at a meeting with the install crew. In addition to the crystal award, John received a plaque commemorating his Herculean efforts on the HEB project.
“I’m very humbled and very appreciative,” John says, “but I couldn’t have done this without great support and direction from Kevin and others throughout the long process.”