Mark L. Johnson

At the New York Times Building underway at 620 Eighth Avenue, New York City, Jacobson is beta-testing new software. It’s a state-of-the-art production control system that provides total visibility across every phase of labor, enabling Jacobson’s timekeepers to manage the project from an electronic tablet – automatically, accurately and in real time.

For Derrell Weldy, the past is never far from the present. Take his new home, which overlooks what he calls “the old mountains of Mexico,” where earlier generations of his family once lived. Looking south, he has an unobstructed view.

Scott Koeppen bursts onto the job site. The ninth floor of the old Chicago Playboy Building is being turned into condominiums. There, a drywall finishing crew and foreman have completed their work and await Koeppen's inspection.