Bri Snellgrove: All right. Mr. Fears, the first thing I'm going to ask you to do is to state your name, the company that you represent, and your role at your organization.

Eric Fears: All right. I'm Eric Fears. I'm with Pensacola Christian College, and I'm the Director of Planning and Development there.

Bri Snellgrove: Perfect. Okay. And as the Planning and Development Director, what is your role there with PCC?

Eric Fears: My role is to oversee the assessment of our physical assets and strategically plan for physical plant growth and renovations.

Bri Snellgrove: Perfect. I've heard you've done quite a few there.

Eric Fears: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Bri Snellgrove: And so if you could give me a synopsis of the service that PCC provides as an organization here for Pensacola, and maybe talk a little bit about their mission in a very discreet manner.

Eric Fears: Sure. Pensacola Christian College is a private Christian higher education institution. We've been in Pensacola since 1974, and we serve undergrad and postgrad studies across about 50 foreign countries and all 50 states.

Bri Snellgrove: Beautiful! Beautiful, beautiful. Okay. And could you tell me a little bit more about PCC's maybe primary mission and values as it needs to work [inaudible 00:02:12]?

Eric Fears: Sure. We are distinctively Christian, and we prepare young people who want to go out and serve the Lord in faith-based ministry, but also, we're a liberal arts college. So we prepare young Christian people for their ministry in the secular work world.

Bri Snellgrove: Perfect. All right. And at what point did you realize, as the director of operations, that you guys were in need of new construction services or even able to talk about the first project that you worked with Morette? What was the need for the construction?

Eric Fears: We were introduced to Morette Company around 2014. We had a need a residence hall renovation. This is a high-rise tower, nine stories tall, and it was due for a renovation as PCC has aged through the years, being 45 plus years old. We have come to generational thresholds in a lot of our facilities, and we were looking for a trustworthy contractor that could come in and hold our hand through the process. It had been years since we had given some attention. We were coming out of the recession that began in 2008 and needed a lot of attention to be given to some of our facilities. So in 2014, we reached out, and Morette joined with us to address Dixon Tower as a renovation project.

Bri Snellgrove: Okay. Great answer. You're a natural; this is going to be a breeze. Okay. How did you connect with Morette Company? What was the initial conversation? And once you connected, what was your first impression?

Eric Fears: I do not know the answer to that question. She said I'm doing great. And then she asked me a question I don't know.

Bri Snellgrove: Maybe, what was your [crosstalk 00:04:10].

Mike Morette: What about your first interaction that you and I had with [inaudible 00:04:13] -was really, very end of Rice, but really more Griffith.

Eric Fears: Let me think about how to spin that.

Bri Snellgrove: So maybe, because you were saying your roles kind of changed, right? So moved into a position where maybe you were in charge of something that-

Eric Fears: It started as I was Mr. Moye's boss, and then they split, not long after Dixon. They split Planning and Development out so that I didn't have to worry about that. When did we first start working together? Actually, I was involved in the contract negotiation for Rice.

Mike Morette: Rice, I was about to say-

Eric Fears: Tom Mahoney and I were... Okay. All right.

Mike Morette: The very beginning again.

Eric Fears: So let's see. Not long after Dixon Tower had been renovated, we were very pleased with the work, and we faced a project that we hadn't faced in over a decade. We needed to build a new facility ground up, and we were looking for a partner that was very knowledgeable in large facilities, 175,000 square feet, and someone we could count on. And obviously Morette was first in our thoughts, so we partnered with Morette on Rice Tower at Pensacola Christian in 2017.

Bri Snellgrove: Okay. And as you partnered with Morette with Rice Tower in 2017, can you talk a little bit about the initial challenges that you faced with the construction of that building?

Eric Fears: Yes. First of all, many of us that were now carrying the burden of facility development and management had not been through a new build, and we needed someone that could hold our hand through the process and join with us shoulder to shoulder and address challenges that we had not been through before. It was a seamless transition into a relationship with Morette where they were able to not just perform a job for us but educate us and help us in the entire process.

Bri Snellgrove: Beautiful. Okay. And then, what was the outcome of that project?

Eric Fears: As a Planning and Development Director, I measure everything under the auspices of three things: scope, schedule, and budget. I'm happy to say that, not just with Rice Tower, but in all of the projects we've partnered with Morette, they have more than handedly delivered their projects within scope, within the schedule, within budget, and they deliver an impeccable scope of work.

Bri Snellgrove: Perfect. I think the next question in this is that... There's a train. The "give more, get more, be more." So they were able to give more and exceed your expectations, which allowed you to get more as a client and also, in turn, allowed you to be more as an organization...
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Bri Snellgrove: Yeah. If there's a specific instance or moment you can think of where they gave more, which was really simmering you.

Eric Fears: Well, I could talk about the pilings fiasco that you helped us through.

Mike Morette: I mean, there's an interesting one that no one had ever seen and never could really figure out, but we just kept rolling with it. Yeah. The other one that I think of is the structural challenges.
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Eric Fears: Yeah. Drop beams?

Mike Morette: Drop beams, and changing the structural design as we're putting the structure up.

Eric Fears: Wasn't some of that a result of the initial-

Mike Morette: Mr. Oglesby initially created it that way-

Eric Fears: But it was not. Okay.

Mike Morette: We had to do the grading around the piles of the tie, everything at the man [crosstalk 00:11:20] but all the decks, no, that was "I'm not comfortable. We need to do this."

Eric Fears: Sure.

Mike Morette: And if you recall, it resulted in a significant change in cost. Added 30 days and schedule, but we did it. I joked it was like changing the tire on a car moving 60.

Eric Fears: Right.

Mike Morette: I mean, Yeah.

Eric Fears: We had plans.

Mike Morette: I spent nights on the phone at 10 o'clock going, "Alright, are you comfortable releasing $75,000 worth of rebar for the next day?" Even though that was the design. Yeah. Because if we got to change it a little bit, we'll have enough, we can do it. And that's that partnership. We're in this, we know it's scheduled critical. We know we can't slide. Things aren't how we want it to be, but we're going to make it work.
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Eric Fears: Okay. It was not very long into the Rice Tower project at all before we put the relationship to the test and came out with absolutely no regrets that we had chosen Morette Company. We had early on a foundation challenge to the project, and Mike Morette and Steve Pernanich held our hands through. It helped us in our relationship with the subcontractors and those that were responsible for the issue. And we came out of that with hardly any impact on the overall project that we couldn't live with. And they did a great job in fixing a problem we could not have fixed on our own.

Bri Snellgrove: Beautiful. Okay. So I think when we move into this, we're really focused a lot on Rice Tower, and there's several projects that you guys have worked on together. But I think that when we were talking earlier, there was a lot of conversation about integrity and trust. I think we should go back to that. So when you're thinking about integrity and trust in the right company, in that partnership.

Eric Fears: Integrity and transparency is the one that- So we value our partnerships, especially our local partnerships here in Pensacola, and we don't take them lightly. And when we're seeking for partners in different sectors, we look for a couple of key features, character traits, if you will, in our partnerships. And something that we immediately recognized with Morette Company is transparency and integrity. Transparency being they're never afraid to share, and it's impossible to share too much information when you're in the middle, in the throes of a project. We've never felt that we have to drag information or answers out of the management team. When we're in a project, they're always ready with answers. And they're very transparent, even if it's good news or bad news, they're ready to share, and they are ready to provide solutions for problems we may run into.
And going in hand with that is integrity, which is very important to us. And I know that word is thrown around a lot, but if I could offer that integrity is when your thoughts and what you do and what you say are all the exact same thing. And I can easily say that when Morette Company says they're going to perform a service or do a certain thing, they deliver on it, they do it. And I've never had to question if there's an ulterior motive. So I know that their thoughts align with that as well, their thoughts align with our thoughts, and it aligns with our mission and our purpose. And it makes it a very comfortable and easy, and trusting relationship.

Bri Snellgrove: Dynamite, dynamite. And so if I can get back to- because everything you've given is great. I don't even know that we'll have to do a ton of editing for this, but the 'give more, get more, be more' okay. If we're thinking of an organic way to explain that and how if you're thinking about how Morette gives more, you get more, so you can be more, how would you apply that to Morette Company?

Eric Fears: Yeah. Okay. I feel like there's a sequence there. Right. And get more is at the end. I don't know if you guys have figured that out yet, or if you're still working if it's a working thing or not, but explain it to me how you did a while ago, where Morette is- so they have a, a tagline if you will. Be more, say it again?

Bri Snellgrove: Be more, give more, get more.

Eric Fears: Yeah. When I first heard that, I was thinking be more, give more as Morette, get more as the client.

Mike Morette: And that is exactly what we have thought. Be more, get more.

Eric Fears: Be more, give more.

Mike Morette: Be more, give more were internal and get more was the client. But as we were talking this morning, it naturally came out that by us being more and giving more to our clients, they not only were getting more, but they were able to be more as well and help them elevate and move to the next level and grow. And it's just that circular community partnership. And we're all in this together. I'm going to commit myself fully, and you're going to grow. And then you growing, I'm going to get to grow with you. And that's like if do it right; it just keeps giving.

Eric Fears: Well, I can fashion it to us personally and what it has meant to us. And it goes back to our unique demands. I say they're unique. I'm sure all customers want low disruption and tight timeframes, but we demand it. Right. Okay. Let me think through that.

Bri Snellgrove: And I think even to the original sequence of the, be more, give more, get more is still in sequence, but then in the final resort or the final result in the outcome, the client also gets to be more. It's a pass-down effect.

Mike Morette: It comes full circle. They can be more, which allows them to give more.
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Eric Fears: Okay. Okay. Morette Company has consistently demonstrated that they can give us more than what we actually asked for. Many times we may enter a project and think that we're asking for a lot. And I know sometimes we are. As an educational institution, we put some demands on our contractors for low disruption and to deliver things in sometimes what may be considered an unreasonable schedule, but Morette has consistently shown us that they can deliver those expectations and go beyond them. Case in point, right now, we are in the middle of an 84-day project to replace brick on one of our ten-story residence halls. And thus far, Morette has just performed swimmingly. And the demolition phase is complete. The bricks are going back on, and it is looking as if we will be ahead of schedule throughout the project. And it's hard to explain how much that puts a client at ease. When we entered the thing wondering is this even possible, Morette has shown us that it's not only possible, but they're going to beat our expectations.

Bri Snellgrove: That was great.
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Bri Snellgrove: Perfect. Yes. Okay. Okay. So let me make sure I didn't miss anything. Oh, let's see. So I think maybe the only other thing that we didn't really talk about directly, but we have mentioned several times, is flexibility. So if we want to talk a little bit about the flexibility of Morette maybe and how they can really take the project you were just talking about, [crosstalk 00:24:00]
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Eric Fears: Another invaluable trait in our relationship with Morette Company is their flexibility. Sometimes when we enter a project, we, the client, do not have all the answers, and decisions have to be made on the fly mid-projects, through change orders, field directives. And a lot of times, we think we're asking a lot. Morette is always quick to reply in a manner that shows us they are very flexible to meet our needs. Even when we don't know what those needs might be, they're ready and willing to consult, pivot, adapt, and execute something that we didn't even think they would be able to do.

Bri Snellgrove: That was a good one. Super great. Okay. Love that. And then there was one I was thinking of while you were talking about a [inaudible 00:26:05].
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Eric Fears: There are certain aspects of the project that a client shouldn't have to concern themselves with. We hire contractors to take care of the scope of work and make sure things are done on time. One of those factors is safety. I don't want to walk by a job site and see something that concerns me. And I don't have that worry with Morette. Actually, I've walked by job sites and seen them having their tailgate talks and safety meetings, where they're assuring that their people, subcontractors, and all on the job site are meeting and exceeding the expectations of safety for the project.

Bri Snellgrove: Wow. That was great.

Mike Morette: How about our concern for safety beyond the fence of our project, faculty, staff, students, and then the other one I was just thinking about is, case in point, my guys shutting down the landscape.

Eric Fears: No, let's not dig up bad memories,

Mike Morette: Just with Morette on our jobs, as you've seen it doesn't matter who it is. If it's in our world, inside the fence, outside the fence, if we have some ripple effect to it, it's paramount. And we'll shut everything down from the top.

Eric Fears: How can I relate that? I could go the route of- no.

Bri Snellgrove: And there's no wrong answer either. I mean, in some of this, too, is we can use bits and pieces of bites of this or something specific to the safety page. So if you're talking about a story specific to safety, and I think too, when we interviewed you, Mike, there is going to be some conversations that are more along the lines of how paramount it is to you. Other things, the steps that you take.

Mike Morette: The no-compromise attitude. Hm

Eric Fears: Pensacola Christian College is a small campus. It's a busy campus with 4,000 plus students walking around in between classes. A lot of our projects take place in the proximity of that student traffic, but I've never been afraid for our college community. When Morette is operating a project, safety is paramount, and they have always come through and made sure that the job site is safe. If anything needs addressed, be it within their team or even with us as the client, they are not hesitant to address it and make sure everyone is compliant with the safety guidelines.

Bri Snellgrove: Perfect.

Mike Morette: Perfect.

Bri Snellgrove: Love that. I'm going to go back to my original questions here. Okay. So this should be a very easy one for you to answer. During your experience with Morette Company, what did you enjoy or benefit from the most?

Eric Fears: The most is the trick.
It has to be the relationship. I was at first thinking of some specific project or some building that delivered the most use for our institution. But the common thread through all of that is the relationship which gives Pensacola Christian the confidence to know that whatever project lies ahead in the future, there may be a challenge, a build challenge, a renovation challenge that we don't know quite how we're going to navigate. Probably the invaluable piece is the relationship we have to Morette, with Morette to help us make those stewardship decisions.

Mike Morette: And that's your definition for 'be more'. Perfect. Okay. And then let's see, we have a couple left here. I think we talked about this earlier, and I really liked some of the responses you had. So if you've worked with other contractors, what differentiates Morette Company from other contractors in a short version. If you could start with repeating the sentence, what differentiates Morette Company from other contractors.

Eric Fears: What differentiates Morette Company from other contractors we have worked with is clear and consistent communication. I mentioned transparency, very important. I mentioned integrity, but they're quick to educate as well. A lot of clients sometimes do not know what we're asking for, and Morette is always there to educate us on a process that we might not be familiar with. And we don't always get that from someone who is just turning in a bid and hoping that they land the job.

Mike Morette: So great. Doing an awesome job. Okay. What would you say to an organization that was interested in contracting Morette Company?

Eric Fears: You're not going to be disappointed with the result. You're not going to be disappointed even during the bid process, as they put forth their best effort to calculate precisely what they can give you in the amount of time allowed and the budget given.

Mike Morette: Okay, perfect. I'm going to have you do that one more time. Can you start with 'if a company' or maybe 'if someone is looking to hire a contractor'? 'If someone is interested in hiring Morette Company, I would say that...'

Eric Fears: Sure.
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Eric Fears: If an institution is preparing a project and they're getting ready to start the bid process, I would highly recommend that they include Morette Company. They are not going to regret what they glean from Morette in that process. They will be thorough, they will have integrity in their dealings, and they will deliver.
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Mike Morette: What is the difference in how we manage and handle a product from Rice Tower to a loading dock, from one end of the spectrum to the other? Is there a difference in how we build over?

Eric Fears: No.

Mike Morette: How do we get that into it?

Bri Snellgrove: Okay. Yeah. So I'll take the reins here. So you have worked with Morette on several projects across PCC's campus, and those have been big and small. And so what I would like to know is, as you've worked with Morette Company from small project to big project, explain to me what that process is like and the quality is like, based on the scale of how large or small that project is.

Eric Fears: I would say they're scalable, and they're nimble. Morette's leadership team, their management team, to their field supervision, to the subs they manage. They scale the job above- Morette's leadership team, supervisory team, field supervision, down to their subcontractors. They scale their projects effectively, and they are able to deliver above expectations because of that.