The University of Wyoming in Laramie had long wanted a modern hotel convenient to campus. They were able to get a hotel developer to commit to the university’s new UW Plaza project – the catch was the developer required a conference center facility right next door to help increase people’s desire to come to Laramie for events.

Enter the University of Wyoming Foundation and its president, Ben Blalock. The foundation was able to provide fundraising and financing for a new conference center, and in the project design process, Ben met Dan Tweeton.

From Ben’s perspective, Dan’s role was that of project manager for the construction company. He oversaw the project from a cost standpoint, and, according to Ben, was detailed and exceptional in his follow through. Dan was able to use his expertise in communication to keep the three owners of the complex project – Ben, the owner of the hotel, and the owner of the restaurant and retail site that was also part of the UW Plaza – informed and on track, and he was able to balance the interests of all three.

Dan helped the owners with the scope, the quality, and the timeline of the project, and he was frequently at the table at meetings to collect and provide information. He also helped Ben determine the location and position for the conference center at the Plaza site for the best accessibility and visibility. When spiraling costs and delays threatened the viability of the conference center project, Dan helped manage demands and revise the design to meet the budget without sacrificing quality.

Dan’s greatest value to Ben was his ability to manage costs and keep the project moving forward. It was a complex project, and without Dan pushing the owners and keeping everyone on track and on the same page, Ben wasn’t sure they would have made it into the construction phase. But they did it successfully, with the help of Dan Tweeton.

Ron Wilson leads Hotel Investment Services, Inc., a company that owns, develops, and operates hotels, conference centers, and other lodging properties around the country. The company’s latest project is the University of Wyoming Plaza in Laramie, which includes a 135-room Hilton Garden inn, a conference center, and retail and restaurant space.

While the University of Wyoming Foundation owns the conference center, Ron’s company owns the hotel, and is heading up the development of the entire project. A stipulation by one of the donors to the conference center required a Wyoming contractor, and the one chosen came complete with Dan Tweeton.

Dan served as the estimator and pre-construction project manager for the construction company. While large-scale construction projects are never easy, Dan provided Ron and his team with honest, straight-forward answers, even when the news wasn’t good. Ron felt Dan was as concerned about helping develop and design the project to fit within the budget as his own team.

Throughout the design phase of the project, Dan played the role of coach, referee, psychologist, and leader of the design team. He was able to balance the competing interests of all the players and bring the project together. He looked at budget, market needs, and desires of the project owners and was able to make recommendations.

Dan also helped troubleshoot answers when problems arose. The project had a long list of hurdles, including space limitation, parking, cost, infrastructure, utilities, building materials, timing, and the list went on. From Ron’s perspective, it was a difficult and challenging project, but Dan and his solid integrity got them through.

Would Ron work with Dan again? That was an easy decision for Ron. Any time.

When the architects finished the initial design for the project, Dan was able to see immediately from the blueprints that the building was going to be over budget. The architect had over-designed the building and strayed from Christian’s vision.

Dan understood what Christian wanted so he stepped in and helped the design team, making sure the project stayed within budget. His attention to detail enabled him to put together sound numbers for the cost of the project, which enabled Christian and his partners to get financing.

Christian enjoyed working with Dan throughout the design phase of the project. Despite difficulties with the initial design, Dan always maintained his composure, which helped Christian and his partners maintain theirs as well. Dan Tweeton was a diplomatic team member who earned the trust and confidence of his clients once again.

Paris Powell and his business partners were interested in purchasing some land near I-25 in Windsor, Colorado, for a self-storage complex. They had never been involved in a development project before, but fortunately had Dan Tweeton on their team.

Dan started out by putting numbers together for the project, which included determining from the purchase price of the land whether completing the project was a sound investment. His estimates were so detailed that Paris and his partners knew exactly what money was going to be spent in each part of the project.

Once the partners decided the project was a go, Dan took the lead in directing the group. He developed timelines, knew the right architects and engineers to bring in to the design team, and gave the group a heads-up on what to expect throughout the process and in what order it was going to occur. It put Paris at ease to know they were in the hands of someone who had completed many projects before.

Dan also represented the partnership in meetings with attorneys, accountants, and bankers. He knew what should take place in those meetings and knew what questions to ask.

The project took an interesting twist once they received the stamp of approval from the City of Windsor. An out-of-state investor came in and wanted to take over the project. Dan ran the numbers once again to see what kind of return they would get. As a result, they agreed to sell – they would be doubling their initial investment.

According to Paris, Dan’s help on the project was invaluable and because of Dan, the project went smoothly and there were no surprises. And Paris wouldn’t do another project without the help of Dan Tweeton.

Keith Marcott and his business partners needed a design/build project on the fast track. They had created their real property management company to build the building for the company they worked for, Trihydro of Laramie, Wyoming, with the intent of managing the property and leasing the building back to Trihydro. They had a clear idea of the scope of the project, the timeline, and the location. Once they hired their construction company, they also got Dan Tweeton to keep the project rolling.

Dan was involved in the upfront programming, estimating, and scheduling of the project. He worked with Keith and his partners to give them a total cost estimate and provided direction on what the lease payments needed to be in order to make the project a reasonable investment.

Dan played a critical role during the design phase of the project, creating adjustments where necessary to improve the owners’ cost and time savings, and Keith believes Dan was integral to the success of moving from the design phase through construction in only 10 months. His scheduling process went beyond the usual Gantt chart – his critical path scheduling method showed the interaction between all the players involved and the essential activities to better track what needed to happen when.

Throughout the construction process, Dan played a vital role as well. He attended weekly meetings with the owners, making suggestions as to where additional time and money could be saved as the project moved along.

The overall project went smoothly according to Keith, and it owes its success in part to the efforts of Dan Tweeton.

She met with different builders to find the one who would build her building the way she wanted – just like her picture, only scaled to meet her needs. In the process, she met Dan Tweeton.

Dan listened to her describe her vision. Then he helped her find the right site, which was not an easy feat in densely built Cheyenne. They looked at vacant lots and existing buildings that could be remodeled, and ultimately found the right property for her building. Dan took care of all the entitlements and permits, only coming to Sheryl when there were issues that needed to be resolved and he needed her input.

When it came time for Sheryl to approve the blueprints for her building, she signed off – believing she was going to get the building that matched her picture. She didn’t know enough about reading blueprints to know that they didn’t represent her vision.

But Dan did.

He went back to the design-build team and told them what they had planned was not what she wanted. Even though she had technically approved the design, Dan went to bat for her to have the plans changed. He knew what she wanted and that she wouldn’t be happy unless she got it. And he was able to get it for her.

Now Sheryl has the building she always wanted, which is the one she feels is the nicest in Cheyenne. It’s the home of her vision, Cool River Wine and Spirits, which wouldn’t have been possible without Dan Tweeton.

Unfortunately, trying to comply with the county’s 500-page land use code and the demands from the Colorado Department of Transportation because of his building’s proximity to a major intersection became too much for Jerry. After two years and about $50,000, he had to scrap his plans and start over, this time with an entirely new building.

Dan helped Jerry get a building envelope that enabled him to demolish his old building and start over with a new one through a variance from the county commissioners. Jerry chose to manage the construction project himself, with Dan as his right-hand man. Jerry likened the process to being an orchestra conductor, directing the different “sections” that included the architect, the city, the county, the builder, the utility providers, and the engineers. Those sections don’t communicate much with each other, but they rely on the conductor for direction. That was Jerry’s job, and he couldn’t have done it without Dan’s expertise.

Jerry had to run the project, as well as run his business at the same time, and having Dan Tweeton to help answer questions from Jerry’s staff, the architect, the engineers, and others involved was, to Jerry, invaluable.