Black also took the opportunity to applaud the chapter's accomplishments, noting its strong foundation of sponsors "who have given us the financial ability to be the best chapter"; great programs; and a generous volunteer base responsible for programs such as Adopt-A-Family.

He reflected on the chapter's national recognition for the best IFMA website in the year 2000; on its partnership with Columbus State in offering a two-year degree; on its extensive professional development programs; and on its support of those in need. "We've reached beyond our core mission with our community service group that goes out and helps those who are less fortunate…. My hats off to those volunteers."

But Black was reluctant to take credit for the chapter's accomplishments. Rather, he turned the mirror out into the audience saying, "The people here, you have made the Ohio chapter what it is. Thank you."

Fred Timm, the chapter's new president, also took the podium, thanking Black for his leadership and guidance. "He is a real doer, a real achiever," Timm said. "He is one of those people who has great vision. He has been an inspiration for me."

Timm presented Black and his wife Sue with gifts from the chapter membership before wishing them good luck in their venture overseas.
Black also took a moment during his last night of official duty to announce the new list of sponsors for the 2002 campaign:

Initiator Level - Chemical Abstracts Service; Commercial Movers, Inc.; Construction Systems, Inc.; Continental Office; Corporate Interior Concepts; Dan Binford & Associates; DuPont; and Thomas W. Ruff & Company.

Facilitator Level - Aetna Building Maintenance; Bill Thomason & Associates, Inc.; Capital Services, Inc.; Contract Interiors; Designed Moves, Inc.; Excel Interiors Inc.; Fiber-Seal of Central Ohio; Four Seasons Environmental, Inc.; Frank Messer & Sons Construction Co.; King Business Interiors, Inc.; Knoll, INC.; Landscape Forms; Mannington Commercial; Nationwide; NBBJ; Robert S. Davis, Ltd.; Singer Wallcoverings; The Trane Company; and Urban Environments.

Manager Level - Clara I. Brown Interiors, Inc.; HAWA Incorporated; Re:Source Ohio; Timm Facility Management.

Associate Level - Accent Draperies, Inc.; Armstrong World Industries; Bodkins & Associates; Carlson Group, Inc.; Central Business Group; Danis Building Construction Company; Globe Instant Office; Hamilton Parker Company; Spectrum Lighting, Inc.; The Art Exchange, Ltd.; and Wanner Associates.

As of November 12, the chapter has raised nearly $20,000 during the 2002 sponsorship drive. The chapter hopes to raise $30,000 by December 31.
But this year's dinner wasn't all farewells and goodbyes. Excitement was in the air as Stephanie Segall, Janeen Carson, and Dorothy Leachman took center stage to conduct the drawing for the annual Adopt-A-Family raffle. The prizes and lucky winners were:

• Karen King -- A table for 10 at next summer's Picnic with the Pops on the grounds of Chemical Abstracts Service, table donated by The Columbus Symphony Orchestra.
• Stephanie Segall -- Blue Jackets tickets for four donated by Mannington Commercial.
• Tom Vaughn -- A Haworth CIT 10 chair donated by King Business Interiors.
• Kim Ryan -- Lunch and golf for two at the New Albany Country Club donated by DuPont Flooring.
• Charles Popovich -- Blue Jackets tickets for four donated by Designed Moves.
• Mary Mika -- A Herman Miller Caper task chair donated by Continental Office.
  
• Stephanie Segall -- Blue Jackets tickets for two donated by Thomas W. Ruff.
  
• Dawn Johnson -- A KI manager chair donated by Bill Thomason & Associates.
  
• Anthony Perry -- A Knoll ergonomic chair donated by Contract Interiors.
  
• Deanna Speas -- A gift certificate for landscape services from Buck & Sons.
  
• John Tucker -- Gift baskets donated by Sanese Services and The Callard Co.

The night wrapped up with dancing to the music of Fortune. As the light's dimmed, there was a consensus: this year's annual president's dinner was once again a success.

Community Service Adopt-A-Family Program

With an urging to "Get in the spirit and help make this year our most successful yet," the Central Ohio IFMA Chapter's Community Service Committee is issuing a challenge to all members for its Adopt-a Family program.

Committee Co-chairs Janeen Carson and Mark Haberman announced a slight departure from previous years with expenditure of funds raised through donations, sale of IFMA items, and the Adopt-a-Family Raffle that will be conducted at the President's Dinner November 16.

This year the committee has adopted three families--10 children and four adults--instead of the customary six families from St. John Center, 640 S. Ohio Ave. In making this change, the committee is adopting the Youth Program at the center.

"Those in charge of the Youth Program are renovating a small duplex apartment building into a new Youth Center," Haberman said, "and they need our help. The committee will be donating funds to assist in this renovation, but we hope to offset this with donations of materials or furniture from members and/or their companies. This would allow our cash donation to be used for programs."

Items needed include:

• Wood or wood laminate flooring for the 15/10x13/3 youth room.
  
• VCT for the kitchen, hall, and bath-call Haberman at 466-5959 for dimensions.
  
• Bound area rugs, two 6x8 and one 9x12.
  
• Two sofas and two chairs for the youth room.
  
• Vertical blinds for all windows-call Haberman for sizes.
  
• Two desks, two task chairs, five or six file cabinets, two small computer stands, computer/printer, three or four bookshelves, an office-type recliner, six to eight folding tables of six or eight feet, and 40 to 50 stack chairs.
  
• Outdoor furniture for the porch and picnic tables for the yard.

Anyone able to make a donation of flooring or equipment for the Youth Center should contact Haberman or Carson at 447-3622.

Haberman also said anyone wishing to assist with shopping for Christmas gifts for the three families to contact one of the co-chairs or sign up for the activity at the President's Dinner. These three families will receive Thanksgivings Day dinners as well as gifts and food at Christmas. For Thanksgiving, each will receive a certificate to be exchanged at a local grocery for a prepared turkey dinner with all the traditional trimmings.

A highlight of the President's Dinner is the annual raffle. Haberman said 12 great prizes have been donated for the drawing, and all ticket stubs and proceeds must be delivered to the co-chairs no later than Wednesday, Nov. 14, or brought to the President's Dinner November 16.

The prizes are:

• A table for 10 at next summer's Picnic with the Pops on the grounds of Chemical Abstracts Service. The Columbus Symphony Orchestra donated the table.
  
• Blue Jackets tickets for four donated by Mannington Commercial.
  
• A Haworth CIT 10 chair donated by King Business Interiors.
  
• Lunch and golf for two at the New Albany Country Club donated by DuPont Flooring.
• Blue Jackets tickets for four donated by Designed Moves.
  
• A Herman Miller Caper task chair donated by Continental Office.
  
• Blue Jackets tickets for two donated by Thomas W. Ruff.
  
• A KI manager chair donated by Bill Thomason & Associates.
  
• A Knoll ergonomic chair donated by Contract Interiors.
  
• A gift certificate for landscape services from Buck & Sons.
  
• Gift baskets donated by Sanese Services and The Callard Co.

In addition to the raffle, the committee will sell IFMA logo items-golf shirts and sweatshirts-at the dinner. Proceeds from the sale of these items also are used to support the Adopt-a-Family program.

The Central Ohio IFMA Chapter's New Member Drive Contest, which ended October 31, resulted in eight new members, two ready to join, and three potentials, according to Membership Committee member Shelly Sensenbrenner.
If all 13 prospects become members, this will push chapter membership to 196, only four short of the committee's 200-member goal.

The contest was open to those who recruited new members for the chapter. Members who qualified for the prize drawing were Eileen Smith, who brought in two members, and Michael Cornett, Vicki Simons, Shelly Sensenbrenner, Stephanie Patton, Ken Mulligan, and Gary Moshier, with one each.

The Membership Committee placed each qualified recruiter's name into a hat for the drawing, and the winners were:

• First Prize-Eileen Smith, two tickets to the Nutcracker and brunch at the Hyatt.
  
• Second Prize-Vicki Simons, $50 gift certificate for dinner at Moretti's
  
• Third Prize-Shelly Sensenbrenner, four tickets to the Arena Grand Theatre.
  
• Fourth Prize-Ken Mulligan, two tickets to the President's Dinner.

Sensenbrenner congratulated the recruiters "who worked hard to increase the chapter's membership base. We appreciate all of your efforts!"

Sponsor Spotlight Designed Moves, Inc.

Designed Moves, Inc. (DMI), headed by Dorothy Leachman, Central Ohio IFMA Chapter treasurer, in now in charge of "churns" at Humana Healthcare headquarters in Louisville and at four other Humana operations in that Kentucky city.

For those not familiar with the vernacular of companies in the commercial interior relocation market, "churns" refers to moves, additions, and changes that take place within a building as a business' needs change.

Humana's health benefits coverage includes health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations, administrative services products, government-sponsored plans, and health plans for U.S. military dependents and retirees.

Leachman said DMI entered into a contract with Humana last summer after a two-year marketing effort with the company.

The agreement also involves working with Humana Military, providing project management for all of its facilities in military regions 2-5, which include Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

DMI gathers program needs, growth projections, and design concepts from clients, and then develops critical space, operational, and workflow plans to help diagram and block the correct space. Once these block plans are accepted, DMI then develops the plans into working documents, incorporating all necessary products needed to construct physical workspace.

DMI also 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 accomplished with perfection.

Leachman said Humana has a churn rate of about 75 percent. While all of the company's resources are used to meet Humana's needs and requirements, one person from the Cincinnati office is responsible for the Louisville offices and one from Columbus is assigned to Humana Military.

Leachman and W. Daniel Cordray, founder, principal, and chief executive director of Commercial Movers, Inc., started the company in 1994 to meet a need by companies and institutions for a design planning and move coordination company.

Commercial Movers and DMI are "sister companies," and operate from 1299 Boltonfield St. Both are strong IFMA supporters and sponsors. (Commercial Movers was a featured sponsor in the October newsletter.)

Since its founding, DMI has expanded into Cleveland, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Charlotte, and Raleigh. With the company's involvement with Humana, Leachman says there is a great possibility of establishing a regional office in the Louisville area. The Chicago market is another possible target for the company.

While Columbus remains as the company's major market, Leachman is "extremely pleased" with the business coming from the Raleigh office where former chapter member Daphne Swayze is regional manager.

Swayze started the Raleigh office last spring and "is doing a great job in getting a lot of doors opened there. Our other regions are still growing, but our fastest growth is in Raleigh," Leachman said.

Locally, DMI has been involved in many projects, including:

• Cardinal Health, as the project principal with the responsibility for overseeing the relocation of 1,2000 people into its new corporate center in Dublin.
  
• Bank One, as a facilities out-tasking partner, managing projects ranging from one to 100 people with budgets ranging from $500 to $1 million.
  
• The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business, provided services for a furniture and equipment inventory.
  
• Rehabilitation Services Commission, reorganization of 500 people in a 143,000-square-foot-building. This involved project management with coordination of eight vendors and 10 departments.

Leachman has been active in IFMA since 1995. In addition to serving as chapter treasurer, she is a member of the Community Relations Committee. She previously served as co-chair of the committee. DMI became a chapter sponsor about four years ago. Leachman also encourages her staff to be professional members. Currently, two in the Columbus office and two in branch offices belong to IFMA.

Sponsor Spotlight Singer Wallcoverings

For 60 years, Singer Wallcoverings, a Cincinnati-based family concern founded by the late Joe Davidson, has served the contract finishes market throughout a multi-state region as the exclusive distributor for RJF International Corporation.

The company today is headed by Davidson's son, Steve, president and chief executive officer, and grandson, Matt, vice president and chief financial officer, who continue to profess:

"Superb service paves the primary road to success, distinguishing us from others and convincing our customers to choose Singer Wallcoverings. We take great pride in bringing products of quality and value to market."

These products include RFJ's KorosealÒ and VictrexÒ lines of 54" commercial vinyl, KorogardÒ Wall Protection Systems for high-traffic areas, and the increasingly popular WalltalkersÒ Dry Erase Wallcoverings, according to Dave Deters, Singer's manager of sales and marketing.

These products can be found in almost every walk of life, including hospitals and similar institutions, large and small companies and businesses, schools, or "anywhere anyone needs commercial vinyl or high-end residential wall coverings," Deters said.

The company, with 32 employees--13 in the Cincinnati home office and trade only showroom, and a field sales force of 17--has a strong presence in seven states: Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Missouri, Tennessee, and Ohio.

Stephanie Segall, secretary of the Central Ohio Chapter, is the company's district manager for Columbus.

The sales force presents RJF products to architects, interior designers, facility managers, and those who purchase commercial-grade wall coverings for national business and food chains such as Wendy's, Damon's, Donatos, and White Castle.

"WalltalkersÒ Dry Erase Wallcoverings, introduced some 10 years ago, is enjoying exceptional acceptance and success," Deters said. Walltalkers consists of a wide variety of presentation surfaces that replace or resurface chalkboards, and last and perform to the highest standards.

These products have found wide acceptance, particularly in schools, where they have eliminated troublesome chalk dust and the often-punitive task of dusting erasers. Walltalkers also is found in numerous offices, conference rooms, training facilities, programming/marketing departments, and graphic design environments throughout the country.

Singer Wallcoverings is a strong supporter of business organizations and charitable groups in the communities it serves. In addition to sponsoring the Central Ohio Chapter, the company participates in IFMA chapters in several other cities, including Dayton and Cincinnati in Ohio.

"The largest bonus we receive from our involvement with IFMA is our ability to network with dedicated professionals and use those contacts to help them and to help ourselves," Deters said. "For example, Stephanie has been very active in the Central Ohio Chapter, and her level of involvement has paid huge dividends for us.

"People realize she is dedicated to her profession. We even use her as a model for salespeople in areas where we are expanding the company of how beneficial being involved in IFMA can be," Deters added.

In addition to her position as chapter secretary, Segall served as co-chair of the Education Committee for three years, co-chair of the Program Committee, as a member of the Community Service and Education committees, and as chair of the World Workplace Committee. She assumed the responsibility for getting chapter members off to IFMA's national meetings, and for assisting in plans to help them have an enjoyable and educational trip. It usually takes about 100 hours of work to bring things together for the World Workplace trip.

Segall joined Singer Wallcoverings about five years ago. During her first three years, she dramatically increased sales for the company and received two consecutive Salesperson of the Year awards.