Jim Kratzat was in attendance today as Mayor Tom Henry and city leaders presented Rick Kinney of Even Keel Productions  with one of 10 commercial facade grants from the City of Fort Wayne for the renovation of the Old Clyde Theatre at Quimby Village.  Rick’s plans are to turn the vacant former movie theatre into a performing arts center, with a recording studio and art gallery.  Thanks to the City for continuing this successful program.  We’re eager to help Rick bring his dreams to fruition!

Proud to be the architect of the original headquarters (LEED Platinum) and $24 Million expansion of this great company!

Thank you Sweetwater, for your commitment to excellence!

MSKTD’s George Bachnivsky and Tavin Yeiter attended Monday’s grand opening of the new Chobani yogurt processing plant in Twin Falls, Idaho. At $450 mil, 1.0 million square feet, the facility is the largest yogurt production plant in the world.

According to Hamdi Ulukaya, president and CEO of Chobani, “Today marks not only the opening of the world’s largest yogurt plant but symbolizes the revitalization of U.S. manufacturing, we believe that no other yogurt facility is comparable to the size, technology and efficiency displayed in our new Twin Falls site.”

About 3,000 people attended the Ceremony, including the Governor of Idaho.

Marc Abjean, Chobani Senior VP of Global Engineering and Project Management, acknowledged a dozen individuals that greatly contributed to the success of building the world’s largest yogurt plant in 326 days.   MSKTD’s Tavin Yeiter was one of those receiving the praise.

Greenbuild, the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to sustainable design and construction practices, was held in San Francisco from November 12 – 16, 2012.  MSKTD’s Director of Sustainability, Landon Chapman, LEED AP, was among the more than 30,000 design and construction professionals who participated in the outstanding educational sessions, specialized workshops and networking events.  Chapman attended numerous sessions including Environmental Analysis and BIM; Logistics of LEED v4; Integrative Design Process and LEED; and LEED v4 – Tools and Resources.

Understanding the LEED for Healthcare Rating System was another session that particularly piqued the interest of MSKTD’s HealthCare Group.  Chapman is sharing his insights on the subject via a two-part, in-house presentation.  MSKTD looks forward to continuing to share our knowledge and expertise with all of our clients.  But our healthcare clients may find this to be of particular interest in 2013!

Chobani Yogurt has been named Food Processing 2012 Processor of the Year.   Although our work continues on the Twin Falls, Idaho facility, the plant starts production this month and a grand opening ceremony is set for next week.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for two big MSKTD projects recently – Sweetwater’s new office/warehouse addition and Erin’s House for Grieving Children new home.

Sweetwater broke ground on its 110,000 sf expansion on Wednesday, November 14^th.  In attendance for the ceremony were Governor Mitch Daniels, Mayor Tom Henry, city/county officials and economic development staff.   The new addition, a combination of warehouse/office/conference & training space, brings with it 315 full-time positions.   Big thanks to Sweetwater founder and president Chuck Surack on his continuing commitment to the Allen County community.

On Thursday, November 15^th, Erin’s House for Grieving Children broke ground on their new home off St. Joe Center Road next to the new YMCA project.   With a residential/homey atmosphere, the new 14,500 sf facility will include program rooms, a rec room, a craft room, gathering room, and administrative offices and training room.  The site will also include space for a memory garden.   Watch for future opportunities to help support the building project.

Nick Slater, MSKTD principal and architect/Healthcare Group leader; Mary Schafer, MSKTD Nurse Consultant/Practitioner Resource; Michael Bluhm, Weigand Construction project manager, and Patti Hays, Senior VP and Acting COO for Lutheran Health Network presented “Onward and Upward. A Case Study of a Hospital Vertical Expansion Project,” on Tuesday, October 2^nd at the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo in Chicago, Illinois.  The case study on the Lutheran Hospital Fifth Floor Vertical Expansion project focused on how the owner, design and construction team successfully met the unique challenges involved with building vertically above an active hospital.

MSKTD Fort Wayne’s 60 employees plus significant others and MAGTECH/Fortune’s Fort Wayne group filled a back parking lot party tent Wednesday night, at the first of what we hope is our  annual fall  “Thanks for your Hard Work, Let’s Have Some Fun on a Wednesday Night!” picnic/party.   We took a break from busy, busy schedules to get to know each other better – especially the 12+ staff members who’ve joined us this year.  Food by Nelson’s, beverages, and music by Chris Dodds made for a great night.  Amazingly, we were all in the office early this morning hard at work.

Brent Crum represented MSKTD’s Food Facility Group as (l to r) the Honorable Joe Yochum, Mayor of Vincennes, Farbest Foods President Ted Seger, and Governor Mitch Daniels broke ground Tuesday on a new 227,000 sf Turkey Processing facility in Vincennes, Indiana.  Farbest Foods is investing over $70 mil in the new facility and expects to add over 300 new jobs to the community.

for the new Franklin Electric Global Corporate Headquarters & Engineering Center of Excellence at 9255 Coverdale Road. Photos from the event follow – and renderings for the final product too.