Case Studies June 2021

Robert Jones feels the impact of his work every day. While a construction crew builds the new Arrowhead Elementary School, students are eagerly watching next door. The school’s principal tells Jones that kids line the playground fence during recess as heavy machinery and people in hardhats dig holes and put up the new structure. Jones, […]

Imagine you’re pulling an all-nighter for a crucial exam at the University of North Dakota, downing enough Red Bulls to fill a bathtub, when you’re suddenly overcome by a craving for a Chick-fil-A sandwich. What do you do? Drive to the fast-food alley in Grand Forks, of course. Before long, though, that late-night run won’t […]

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the country shifted to remote and hybrid models of learning. While many districts invested in virtual infrastructure to help ease the transition (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, for example), others opted for a slightly different approach—investing in physical infrastructure in addition to the requisite tech upgrades. Case in […]

Kris Garnhart knows good looks doesn’t always mean lasting value. When installing new windows at a school, for instance, he needs to weigh his options. Does he go with the large floor-to-ceiling panes that designers want? Or does he go with smaller ones in a large grid frame? The second option might not be as […]

For some, the phrase “safety is a top priority” is little more than a face-saving slogan. For Jerry Mathis, it’s his life’s calling and the basis of a budding career in the facilities trade. A retired Air Force flight engineer, Mathis spent more than 20 years flying some of this country’s top government officials across […]

When Jim Sheeley was a student at Pulaski Central School District, he never thought about how the buildings were repaired and maintained. Now it’s all he thinks about. As the director of facilities at his alma mater, Sheeley knows the schools more intimately than some. After all, he spent 13 years walking their halls and […]

There’s only one Leonardo da Vinci, one Picasso and one Michelangelo. But that didn’t stop a seven-year-old Virginia Howard from pursuing her passion as an artist. From summers spent on Cape Cod painting watercolors with her grandfather to working on her craft for hours each night after school, she was hooked. Her dreams of being […]

He can’t say when it’ll be a full return to Heritage Bank’s new Southern Operations Center in Tacoma, Washington, but it should be a simple transition. Social distancing will be made easy at the 80,000-square-foot former medical facility that Heritage purchased in July 2019, Mat Bergman explains, though at the time nobody could have anticipated […]

Roger Davila doesn’t perform veterinary services, but he helps put pet owners at ease while their animal is being treated. As the director of real estate and construction for Pathway Vet Alliance, he keeps both human and animal comfort in mind as he works. He knows people don’t want to bring their sick or injured […]

With COVID-19 putting already vulnerable populations at even higher risk—including those enduring chronic illness—nonprofits like God’s Love We Deliver have had to step up in a major way. In just the first three months of the pandemic, the organization delivered hundreds of thousands of meals to people throughout the New York City metropolitan area. And […]