SharpeSoft Newsletter (April 2025)
- Dylan C
- Apr 28
- 8 min read
Inside...
Marble Construction Bids 70% Faster with SharpeSoft.
New Industry Podcast Estimator's Edge.
Looking Ahead at Construction in 2025.
SharpeSoft Employee Highlight.
Easy Material Comparisons in the Estimator.
Living a God Centered Life
Marble Construction Bids 70% Faster with SharpeSoft
The Story
Founded in March of 2010 by the principal owner of R&M Engineering-Ketchikan, Marble Construction is a general construction company that specializes in all phases of construction for private, state, federal and municipality-level work. With a specialization in heavy civil and vertical integrated services, Marble Construction continues to bring consolidated construction services under one roof–from design to final construction–to the Southeast Alaska area.
The Challenge
Joining the Marble team in 2019 after selling his own construction business the year prior, Kris Pearson became an instrumental figure in helping Marble open its branch office in Sitka, where he would take on duties as its operations manager. As the sole estimator in the office; in addition to being responsible for project management, acting as superintendent, and contributing to field work, Kris found Marble’s previous method of estimating through Excel to no longer be adequate for what the company needed.
Previous Solutions
Tired of dealing with the inefficiencies of Excel and recalling experience from a previous firm, Kris first reached out to HCSS for a quote two years ago. The response was disappointing. The price point suggested was too much for the level of work Marble was used to, and the system had not progressed substantially in the years between Kris’s last use of HeavyBid.
"I had used HeavyBid in the past with another firm, and Marble didn’t have any estimating software, and so I convinced them finally after 5 years to do something. I did some research and found SharpeSoft, and it seemed easier to learn than to try and relearn how to use HeavyBid. Marble said yes, and SharpeSoft has been working out for us ever since."
Get In On a New Podcasting Opportunity!
SharpeSoft has been faithfully serving the construction industry since 1986, and we want to give you a voice to tell the world how we've helped! Estimator's Edge is a new podcast hosted by SharpeSoft CSO William Ontiveros, sitting down with Sharpe users to talk about the state of construction, SharpeSoft, and life.
Fill in the form sheet below to take advantage of this opportunity!
It can already feel like a lifetime ago, but it’s only been a few short years since 2022 and the immense impact of the pandemic–the ripples of which we are still feeling strongly to this day. Numerous aspects of life were altered, but perhaps the most glaring is that of the economy and the question of the workforce.
The height of the pandemic in 2019 saw an enormous loss of employment opportunities when over 100,000 businesses were forced to close, be it temporary or permanently. At that time, around 30 million people were without work in the United States. In 2023, and the de facto “end” of the pandemic, the United States added an additional 3.1 million jobs. However, open positions and not enough people to fill them has continued to be a readily apparent issue up until this year.
In its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary for February 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics offered insight into three key factors regarding the workforce: job openings, hires, and separations (includes people quitting, layoffs, etc.) Job openings changed little, with 7.6 million available positions as of February, but had decreased over the entire year by 877,000. Hires also experienced little change, at 5.4 million for the month. Separations were unchanged on average, at 5.3 million. Interestingly, looking deeper into this statistic specifically, we find that people are actively quitting less, while firings and other discharges increased slightly. This is especially noticeable in small companies, designated as having 1-9 employees.
That said, construction appears to be trending in a positive direction. The BSI report continues; tracking the items listed above as they were specifically in February of 2024, January of 2025, and February of 2025. In February of last year there were 429,000 job openings, with 374,000 hires and 356,000 separations. By February of 2025 the total openings dropped to 264,000 while hires and separations remained consistent at 354,000 and 344,000 respectively. Less jobs created but more hires may mean a period of hiring growth without the need to create new open listings.
Ultimately, time will tell when it comes to consistent industry growth. Whether it’s a period of active growth or a time when the industry needs to find its footing again, SharpeSoft will continue to support the construction professionals that made us great through all of our ups and downs.
Sources:
Meet Julie Dantzig
How long have you been with SharpeSoft?
"I’ve been with Sharpe Software for seven years, and during that time, I’ve had the pleasure of building great relationships with our clients and being part of a team that truly values service and excellence."
What does your job entail?
"I focus primarily on Accounts Receivables, ensuring a seamless and efficient process for our clients. My goal is to make every interaction as smooth and hassle-free as possible while maintaining strong client relationships."
What would a perfect weekend look like for you?
"A cozy, quiet weekend with loved ones, watching a great movie—while someone else handles the baking:) Preferably, it’s a rainy or overcast day for peak coziness."
Describe an interesting hobby or pastime you have.
"I’m a researcher at heart. When something catches my interest, I don’t just skim the surface—I dive deep. Whether it’s medical studies, history, psychology, micro and macroeconomics, or other complex topics, I love uncovering the facts, tracing how things came to be, and finding the ‘why’ behind them. For me, it’s not just about collecting information; it’s about understanding the connections and seeing the bigger picture."
What's a cause you are passionate about?
"I’m passionate about advocating for quality healthcare. I believe that staying informed is the key to making the best healthcare decisions, and I admire those who take an active role in their well-being and the well-being of their loved ones."
Tell us a little about your family.
"I feel incredibly fortunate to have a loving and supportive family. Each of them has the biggest heart, always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. Their kindness and generosity inspire me every day, and I’m grateful to call them mine."
What inspired you to join the team here?
"I truly believe in our product and the impact it has on our clients. What makes Sharpe Software unique is that it wasn’t created by business executives or programmers trying to understand the industry from the outside—it was built firsthand by a contractor who lived and breathed the bidding process. That real-world experience is what sets us apart, allowing us to offer a solution that truly understands the challenges our clients face."
"Beyond the product itself, what drew me to Sharpe Software was the culture. Our team is built around the idea of service—how we can help and support our clients—and I think that’s the foundation of any successful business. And it’s easy to be passionate about what we do when we have such incredible clients. The professionals who use our software are some of the best in their field, and it’s rewarding to know that we’re helping them work more efficiently and successfully. "
Organization.
Material packages are set up through the Material Package Wizard, which will guide you through the steps of setting up the package, selecting the materials that will go into it, selecting the bid item that the package will be applied to, and selecting the vendors that you want to include in the quote request.
Once completed, you will be able to review your completed material package in the Material Package Detail window. Bid items are easily identifiable within the table, providing a comparative display of material, its quantity, the unit of measure, and any associated vendor prices. Sort vendors by individual or by price, sort the entire table by bid items containing cuts/adds or by the material itself. The top panel of the window also reflects changes made to the parent bid item in real time.
Speed
Receiving quotes from vendors has never been faster. MatConnect is a subsidiary SharpeSoft product geared towards vendors, designed to make the process of communication between vendors and Estimator’s end user as seamless as possible. Simply send a request from inside the Estimator through SharpeSoft’s email server. Once received, your vendor will make any changes to the prices of their associated items, if any, and just as quickly send it back. The entire process can take as little as a few minutes to complete: now that’s efficiency!
Accuracy
Maintain accuracy of figures, even after the vendor quote has been loaded up into the Estimator. Easily reference takeoff or what-if items for each individual vendor, then continue to adjust final price changes with Cuts/Adds. After working through your selected vendor list, select either the vendor or individual price point as the lowest, which will be easily displayed through color highlighting.
Living a God Centered Life
How God asks us to lead our life is the exact opposite how the ‘world’ tells us we should lead it. God tells us our order of priority should be God, Spouse, Children, Family, Friends, Career, Hobbies, Me. If you take a look around at the world today you can see this order almost exactly flipped for many people. They live their lives with ‘Me’ as the top priority, then maybe hobbies, career, friends, family, children, spouse, God. The order of some items in the middle may be different from person to person, but you can see the most important difference of what is first in many people’s lives.
As a Christ follower, God tells us that He is first, then our spouse, kids, and everything else. Our world screams to us, YOU are first, you do what makes you feel best, you are your own god. I think many, if not all, people that lead their life with themselves ‘first’ will tell you that it is an empty chase that never leads to fulfillment. Only a ‘God’ or ‘Christ’ centered life can truly fulfill you. If we surrender our lives to God and trust him with guiding us each day, he sets everything else in our life up properly because He is first. Because He is first, he can guide us in our marriage, as a parent, as a sibling/son/daughter, friend, colleague; all that we day each and every day. For those of us that are married, after our relationship with God, He calls us to prioritize our marriages. If you allow God to lead your marriage, and not ‘you’, how much better of a spouse do you think you would be? Take this to all of your relationships, that is father, friend, colleague, etc. Imagine if each and every one of us lived our lives with a love for God as our first priority, then if we loved our neighbors as ourselves. Isn’t this a better blueprint for healthy relationships. Isn’t this a better order for fulfillment and Joy?
I encourage anyone who reads this to take a moment and take an accounting of how things are lining up in your life in regard to what is getting priority. Is God getting your first or is He getting only what may be left at the end of each day, if there is anything left. Here is the good news! God gave us the ultimate ‘Reset’ button in our lives when he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross to cover our sins so that we can spend eternity with God, and also be in relationship with Him while we are still here. At any time, we can hit this ‘Reset’ button and re-order our lives the way God intended it and be able to receive the fruit of his Spirit of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. May God be the center of your lives!
Andy Kitts
Account Executive
SharpeSoft is proud to announce its referral program for all current clients. Ever want some extra cash in your pocket? The referral program provides a $500 Amex gift card for any referral given that results in a new customer of SharpeSoft Estimator.
To take advantage of this huge opportunity, simply follow the link in the button below to fill out a referral form. That's it!
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