And so it went as eight chapter members went
from house to house with toys and clothing for children, and
clothing, personal products, and food for the adults. In all,
nine children and seven adults were visited because of the chapter's
Adopt-a-Family program carried out by the Community Services
Committee.
Mark Haberman, committee co-chair, said:
"The committee appreciates the assistance
of chapter members and sponsors in making sure that the holidays
were happier for these six families."
Delivery of gifts got underway about 1 p.m. with
a caravan composed of Haberman; Janeen Carson, committee co-chair;
Tom Logsdon; Sally Gardner; Ken Mulligan; Joyce Cavin; Stephanie
Segall, and Angie Castner.
The group left Chemical Abstracts Service with
an array of gifts that included a programmed computer, monitor,
and software; honey baked ham; six "dinners in baskets";
a huge doll house; $100 Big Bear gift certificates for each
family to purchase Christmas dinner; and so many other gifts
that a cargo truck was needed to move them from the lobby to
the awaiting vehicles.
Washers and dryers had been delivered earlier
to four families.
While most of the gifts were from monies raised
by and through the Community Services Committee, Chemical Abstracts
Services donated the computer and monitor, honey baked ham,
and the six dinners in baskets. IFMA programmed the computer
and members Vicki Simons and Lin Smirniotopoulos purchased a
game for it.
Simons, Smirniotopoulos, Dorothy Leachman, Steve
Holcomb, and Mark Zimmer assisted the chapter members mentioned
above in shopping for gifts for the families.
It was a cold day for being out of doors, but
it was a great day for helping make Christmas a very special
day -- and one that won't soon be forgotten -- for families
who might have gone without.
|
After graduating from Bowling Green State University
in1983 with a major in Interior Design and a minor in Business,
Dorothy Leachman spent the next eleven years working as an interior
designer with Wolfgang Doerschlag Architects, Karlsberger Companies,
Bohm-NBBJ, respectively.
In 1994 a market niche was filled when Leachman
and W. Daniel Cordray, president of Commercial Movers Inc., established
Designed Moves, Inc. in Columbus.
Leachman, working at Bohm-NBBJ at the time, said
that she and Cordray did a market assessment and found a definite
need by companies and institutions for a design planning and move
coordination company that was not being met, especially with existing
businesses and offices where renovating or updating and space
reallocation was a necessity.
"Also, in the early 1990s a lot of companies
decided to outsource facility management functions, so it was
a perfect opportunity for us," she said.
Designed Moves filled these gaps by offering professional
services ranging from conceptual interior space design and planning
to move coordination, facility management and inventory assessments.
During the past six years, these earlier discoveries
have taken co-owners Leachman-Cordray and Designed Moves to Cleveland,
Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Charlotte with Louisville and Raleigh,
NC on the horizon. The company, with its new headquarters at 1299
Bolton field Street, Columbus, employs 21 people.
Leachman says the company's growth has been "much
better than expected" and has come from "lots of hard work" and
a constant re-evaluation of the market base.
"About 75 percent of what we do is called 'restacking,'
or reallocating space for a company bringing in a new group of
employees or adding new space," Leachman said.
The company gathers program needs, growth projections
and design concepts from its clients and then develops critical
space, operational and workflow plans to help diagram and block
correct space. Once these block plans are accepted, Designed Moves
then develops these plans into working documents incorporating
all necessary products needed to construct physical workspace.
Designed Moves uses state-of-the-art computer
support software available to the industry and provides site supervision
and project coordination to ensure that the final construction
of the workspace is completed with seamless perfection.
The company's major projects include:
-
Rehabilitation Services Commission -- Reorganization of
500 people within a 143,000-square-foot building,. This involved
project management with coordination of eight vendors and
10 departments.
-
Bank One -- Manager for relocation projects for facilities
department. These projects ranged from 1 to 100 people with
an approximate cost of $500 to $1 million.
-
Cardinal Health -- Responsible for overseeing relocation
project for 1,200 people to new corporate center in Dublin.
-
Nationwide Insurance - Provide ongoing facility management
support to the internal Nationwide team on a daily basis.
-
Fifth Third Bank - Project coordination, inventory services,
and move management for the relocation of 225+ employees to
the new Fifth Third Center.
-
CompuServe - Ongoing project management, coordination and
employee relocation.
-
Huntington National Bank - Provided strategic master planning
study and building audit that is now being implemented and
will save the bank several million dollars annually in real
estate costs.
-
BISYS Investment Services - Provided the reconfiguration
and relocation of approximately 1,000 employees.
Leachman became a member of the Central Ohio IFMA Chapter in
1995, and her company joined the sponsors' list about three years
later. She is chapter treasurer and a member of the Community
Relations Committee. She previously served as co-chair of the
committee.
She joined IFMA for the networking opportunities, continuous
education programs, and for the camaraderie with other facility
managers. She also said that she has found at least two employees
through the chapter's Job Bank.
Leachman also is a member of the International Interior Design
Association. She completed the National Council for Interior Design
Certification (NCIDQ) in 1992. A native of Cleveland, she resides
in Upper Arlington.
|
A friendship that developed several years ago during
his tenure as a contract furniture manufacturer's representative
has carried Barry Longhino into the "executive suite" of Contract
Interiors, Inc. in the historic Smith Bros. Hardware building,
580 N. Fourth St.
It's there that Longhino as president and Denise
Tato as chief executive officer direct one of central Ohio's largest
office furniture dealerships, offering personalized, professional
services such as space planning, furniture sales, installation,
and service.
Contract Interiors has Knoll, Inc., as its flagship
furniture line, but has another 200-plus office furniture manufacturers
to draw from if Knoll is unable to fill the bill. Knoll, of course,
is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacturing of furnishings
for office environments, and Contract Interiors often works what
is known as the "inter-market" with other Knoll dealers across
the country to help meet customer needs.
Longhino said his friendship with the Tatos, and
the success of a Contract Interiors, Inc., in Cincinnati since
1988, led to the establishment of the Columbus company in 1998
with Longhino and Ms. Tato as initiators of the operation.
The company began in December 1998, and without
a showroom until the following April, did $8 million in sales
that year. With the 8,500-square-foot showroom featuring Knoll
and other furniture available to customers for a full year, sales
increased to $10 million this year.
Longhino now has 15 employees and projects that
sales will reach $25 million over the next five to eight years.
In addition to Knoll, Contract Interiors offers
other major lines such as Krug, Bernhardt, Girsberger, Keihauer,
JSI, and KI, where Longhino served as a manufacturer's representative
for 10 years until his new venture.
During its relatively short existence, Contract
Interiors has served such companies as Cardinal Health, IBM, McGraw-Hill
Publishing Co., The Ohio State University, State of Ohio, Mount
Carmel Medical Center, Jones Lang LaSalle Partners, Delaware Bank,
and Ernst & Young.
Longhino joined the Central Ohio IFMA Chapter several
years ago as an allied affiliate and cites the opportunity to
network and to participate in educational programs and classes
as among the major benefits of membership. He served as a board
member for two years and as co-chair of the Membership Committee
for two years. He put on a second IFMA hat when Contract Interiors
came into being and has been an Initiator Level sponsor for two
year.
A 1979 graduate of Capital University with a degree
in business, Longhino resides in Powell with his wife, Barbara,
and sons, Frank and Joe.
|
|
