Rising to the occasionDowntown SeattleÔÇÖs skyline is accentuated with Dick HedreenÔÇÖs high-rise accomplishments, which he describes to Gary Toushek. Seattle developer Richard (Dick) HedreenÔÇÖs ambitious career began simply enough after his military service was up.

Newfound prosperityAfter more than two decades, operations are starting again in Ming Mine in Newfoundland, Rambler Metals & MiningÔÇÖs CEO George Ogilvie tells Ruari McCallion. Newfoundland has tended to be somewhere people come from rather than go to. The prosperity and energy of Montreal, Toronto and points west have proved to be magnets for the energetic and ambitious, and it has been easy to understand why.   Lack of resources and the sheer distance to markets have contributed to long-term economic struggles.

OntarioÔÇÖs QueenÔÇÖs University takes a realistic approach to sustainability, Jenn Monroe reportsIn one year, September 2009, QueenÔÇÖs University in Kingston, Ontario, is planning to celebrate the completion of Phase I of its QueenÔÇÖs Centre, a new athletics, recreational and student life complex that will feature the new School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, a varsity gymnasium, an aquatic center, a fitness and weight center, and an underground parking garage.

Building on experienceDecades of experience in building multi-family projects have given the Paradigm Companies extensive insight into how to get them done with the highest quality and lowest costs. The firmÔÇÖs principals tell Keith Regan how it is able to embrace projects that others look past. The Paradigm Companies got their official start in 1991, when former principals with the local office of National Development acquired that companyÔÇÖs Washington DC portfolio of projects.

Global presence, local touchKeith Regan finds out how melding big-company resources with a small-company approach has paved the way for OdebrechtÔÇÖs growth in Florida and beyond. Odebrecht is one of Latin AmericaÔÇÖs most formidable construction companies, with a significant presence around the world. The companyÔÇÖs US division is based in Coral Gables, Florida, and has become a fixture in helping to build out the infrastructure of southern Florida over the past two decades.

A reputation for innovationKeith Regan learns how North American Development GroupÔÇÖs comfort level with more complex projects has helped it add some innovative developments to its portfolio. North American Development Group (NADG) has been in the business of developing retail centers for more than 30 years and over that time has had a hand in developing, redeveloping or acquiring some 17 million square feet of retail and related space.

Paving the road to opportunityMichiganÔÇÖs $170 million Gateway Project will make it easier to move between the US and Canada, generate economic opportunities and knit together a neighborhood.

Sticking to the plan About five years ago, Memorial Hermann launched a massive building boom pegged to the systemÔÇÖs 100-year anniversary. Well over $1 billion worth of projects got done on schedule, and Keith Regan reports on the keys to that success story.  Memorial Hermann officially came into being in the 1990s when two large Houston-area hospital networks merged into a single not-for-profit network of urban and suburban healthcare facilities.  Today the system is widely recognized for its acute and specialty care services.

Artful architectureThe ingenuity and unconventional thinking that defines this top-tier institution also defines the campus itself. Kate Sawyer reports. Leave it to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to create a physical structure with enough thought behind it to complete a doctoral dissertation.

Founded with a vision to exploit an abandoned nickel mine, Liberty Mines took control of its own destiny with the construction of a new nickel concentratorNickel has been mined in Canada for over 100 years. High concentrations of nickel-copper ore were discovered on the edge of the Sudbury Basin in Ontario in 1883, during construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.