April 2008 Newsletter

Pat McClure, president of HLH Systems, a Dublin based cleaning consulting company and member of the Central Ohio IFMA Chapter, spoke at an IFMA Industries Forum April 30 in Denver, CO.

Her presentation, Cleaning for a Healthier, Safer Environment, was at 2:30 p.m. in the Hyatt Regency Tech Center Hotel, and several members of the Central Ohio Chapter were in attendance.

In discussing her topic prior to her presentation, McClure said:

“Public health threats that were once rumor are now a reality—staph infections, whooping cough, sever acute respiratory syndrome, and avian flu, to name a few.  As a result, occupants, tenants, and customers are demanding healthier, safer, and more sustainable buildings.”

McClure demonstrated how proper cleaning methods can be the primary weapon in preventing public health threats and outbreaks.  Objectives of the presentation were to help those attending to understand:

• The potential health risks of an unclean facility.
  
• How to implement best practices into cleaning operations.
  
• The criteria for new standards in managing cleaning operations.

This second annual three-day IFMA Industries Forum concentrated on topics relevant to the industry sectors represented by 11 of the 15 IFMA councils.  Councils are special-interest groups reflecting the diverse types of facilities and job responsibilities represented by IFMA members.

Councils provide opportunities for interaction that transcend geographic boundaries, enabling members to meet other professionals who share an interest in a particular facility management practice or who work in the same business sector.

Three experts on workplace design and compatibility told members and guests of the Central Ohio IFMA Chapter April 24 the four generations of employees that makeup the country’s workforce must work to understand each other so they are able to work together.

Speaking at the chapter’s monthly program at the Confluence Park Restaurant were Colleen McCafferty,  Hixson Architecture, Engineering and Interiors; Bettye Russell, Herman Miller; and Chris Dalambakis, Steelcase.

Alternating their comments throughout the presentation, they said the dynamics of multiple generations within the same workplace is a challenge that cannot be overlooked, and employers must understand how each generation operates.

This, they said, is critical for company executives in their recruiting and retaining employees if they expect their companies to continue to grow.

The four age groups are:  Silents (Veterans), those born between 1925 and 1943; Boomers, born from 1943-1960; Xers, born from 1960-1980; and Millennials (Gen Y), born between 1980-1994.

Each is strikingly different, and each has its own motivations and histories that influence and define work style and subsequently the workplace.

For example:

• Silents are those who witnessed the Great Depression, the collapse of banks, high unemployment, and the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.  This generation supports the nation’s war effort, and many learned their leadership skills from the military.  Their formative years in the workforce were characterized by division of labor and a pecking order that created distance between bosses and workers.
  
  Silents have faith in American institutions, loyalty, and willingness to conform, and have learned the importance of hard work — all traditional American values.  Silents are practical, dedicated, and respectful.
  
• Boomers witnessed the first television, the civil right movement, moon landing, assassination horrors of President John Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Woodstock, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Vietnam.  Cars became a big part of their social lives, and they were the first generation that worked for wages they could spend on themselves.
  
  Their relationships are about personal gratification.  They are idealistic, optimistic, driven in the workplace, have a love/hate relationship with authority, lead by consensus.  This is the “me” generation that grew up in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and today represents self-fulfillment in the workplace.  Only 35 percent are computer competent, while their successors are 80 percent.
  
• Xers lack a defining life event but represented 33 percent of the workforce in 2004.  Xers will change jobs five times before the age of 40 and will change careers three times before retiring.  They believe the workplace should be fun and not too serious and formal.
  
  They are not intimidated by authority.  They are techno-literate and believe leadership should be given to the competent.  Xers witnessed the erosion of integrity with Watergate and President Richard Nixon’s resignation, women’s rights movement, explosion of Challenger on television, and they owned the first personal computers.  This group also watched their parents lose long-term jobs and retirements.  They do not expect to have a lifestyle as affluent as their Boomer parents.
  
• Millennials recognize they are growing up in a world of permanent war and even at 18 they have a five-year plan.  One of four lives in a single parent home.  This generation focuses on teamwork, achievement, modesty, and good conduct.
  
  Milennials are global and open to change as well as being honest and caring.  They won’t settle for “one-size-fits-all” and thrive for a challenge.  Millennials are hopeful, collaborative, community and globally minded, comfortable in teams, and seek the guidance of positive role models.
  
  They are confident, dedicated to equality in the workplace, and have a keen global perspective.  They are the most numerous generation, most affluent, best educated, and most ethnically diverse.

The panel offered these things to consideration in bridging the generation gaps:

• Older generations will remain in the workforce as their lifespan continues to increase.
  
• Eighty-five percent of the baby boomers plan to work during retirement.
  
• Older generations believe that young people abandoned traditional work values.
  
• The younger generations really value camaraderie and making the workplace a team friendly environment.
  
• Determining how generations can together and learn from each other.
  
• Determining how to deal with more vision and hearing difficulties, and mobility limitations since there are more aging employees, and the effects this will have on design.
  
• Determining how generations work together since they view each other so differently.

It has been a long time coming, but members and guests of the central Ohio IFMA Chapter, finally got to open the patio doors of Wendell’s Alumni Grille April 16 and bask in the 70-degree weather that has finally reached Columbus.

The only two seemingly content with the indoor atmosphere were chapter vice president J. D. Flaherty and treasurer Ken Mulligan who staked claims to two bar stools and protected them for much of the two-hour social event.

The April social was sponsored by Planes Commercial Services, and a delectable assortment of hors de’ oeuvres and fingerfood was provided.

Next month’s social is expected to take a different twist as an evening of bowling has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, at an establishment yet to be determined.  Stay tuned to the chapter’s Web site for more information on this event.

Eric Riehl, vice president at Corna Kokosing Construction Company, is a new member of the central Ohio IFMA chapter, joining in August 2007.

Corna Kokosing is also a new Platinum level sponsor, the chapter’s highest level.

Chapter membership provides “an opportunity to become more involved with facility managers to hear their needs, so when we bid their projects we can serve them better,” Riehl said.

While he has just begun his association with the chapter, Riehl says, “I need to get more involved.  I’ll probably go to the golf outing and to World Workplace in Dallas in October.”

Corna Kokosing, headquartered in Westerville, is the largest self-performing general contractor in central Ohio, and in his 14 years with the company, Riehl has been involved in numerous major construction and renovation projects that exceed $180 million when totaled.

Recently promoted to vice president, Riehl is now primarially responsible for obtaining industrial work.

“I am the sales person for industrial clients—Honda, Sherman Williams, Rolls Royce, PPG—whatever client base we have opportunities with that have a production-type environment,” he said.

Riehl is well versed for his position.  He has an extensive background in carpentry along with considerable experience as a facilitator to assure quality, project planning, staffing and overall project management

He remains responsible for assuring compliance with all established corporate policies and procedures, and in maintaining and assuring accountability for field operations and the success of individual project teams.

Riehl joined Corna Kokosing as project manager, moving along to senior project manager, vice president of field operations and area manager before being named vice president.

Along the way, he was involved in such projects as the construction of the $25 million, four-story ambulatory care center at Rriverside Methodist Hospital, $11 million design and renovation of the Shonac Distribution Center in the old Rockwell International facility at Port Columbus International Airport, and several multi-million dollar projects for Honda of America and F. T. Precision at Frederickstown.

Riehl said Corna Kokosing, with its 250 employees, is pursuing construction jobs with several companies, including Anheuser-Busch, Honda at Marysville and East Liberty, and Rolls Royce in Mt. Vernon.

A native of Scioto County, Riehl came into the construction industry through Carpenter’s Local. No. 437 in Portsmouth and worked in southern Ohio as a union carpenter until 1986 when economic conditions there took a downturn.

He came to Columbus to work for Setterlin Construction Co., one of the largest open shop contractor in central Ohio at the time.  In 1995, he learned of an opening with Corna Kokosing and joined the company.

While working for Setterlin, Riehl was involved in an industrial accident at Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center that left him with broken legs.

“I was hanging from a concrete form by a safety belt—not a safety harness like they have today—the safety belt broke and I fell out of it,” he said.

Determined to make the best of a bad situation, Riehl enrolled at Columbus State Community College to take courses in construction management.

“I wanted to learn how to do the office work,” he said, “and I have been in the office since August 1989.”

Riehl and his wife, Sheryl, live in Johnstown in a log home they constructed in 1989.  They are the parents of two grown sons, Eric and Zachary.  The Riehls spend their free time boating—“all over Ohio, but our favorite places are the Ohio River and Lake Norris in Tennessee,”—and riding motorcycles.

Riehl prefers the Interstate for day trips on his Harley-Davidson Wide Glide, but his wife, when they ride together, opts for the back roads of Licking, Knox and other nearby rural counties where they can “putt” along at about 45 miles an hour.

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In its 35 years as one of central Ohio’s premier moving companies, Commercial Movers, Inc. (CMI) has undergone considerable cultural change.

Because of this as well as a desire and need to move closer to its 10-year-old slogan of being “More than just a moving company,” CMI has changed its name to Commercial-Works, LLD.

The change occurred January 1 with the combining—or “marriage,” as founder/owner Daniel Cordray states—of CMI with company-owned Designed Moves, Inc. (DMI).  Commercial-Works is a Platinum Level sponsor of the central Ohio IFMA Chapter.

Doug Hollingshead, company president, said, “Combining our resources and renaming the company Commercial-Works is much more in keeping with the variety of services we offer our clients today.  We simply felt we needed to move away from a ‘just-a mover’ image.”

Athough CMI and DMI had always been under common ownership, the merging of the two companies’ resources enables Commercial-Works to promote and provide its numerous services as “one brand, one source, one focus and one name.”

Commercial-Works now offers synergies and efficiencies that are unsurpassed in the business relocation industry.  In addition to a comprehensive list of services, Commercial-Works extends the customer commitment by offering clients many of the nation’s most recognized office furniture products.

Commercial-Works is the central Ohio dealer for Office Furniture USA, a nationwide collaboration between the top manufacturers and dealers of office furniture in North America.

Hollingshead said, “This partnership means great furniture at everyday great prices, rapid product delivery, and most any combination of wood, leather, fabric, vinyl, finish and detail to outfit any office.  Office Furniture USA is a national IFMA sponsor.”

With over 220 associates in offices in seven cities and four states, Commercial-Works has become a recognized leader in planning, furnishing, moving, and managing commercial relocations throughout the country.

Commercial Movers was founded in 1973 with four men and two trucks as a dedicated business relocation specialist.  Through hard work and a focus on customer service, the company evolved into a turnkey relocation system that provides clients a comprehensive menu of related products and services.

In 1986 the company acquired Executive Transfer & Storage, which operated as a household/residential moving company as an agent of North American Van Lines. The company provides these same services today through Mayflower.

The following year, the company moved into a new warehouse and operations facility on the city's west side enabling the commercial and household/residential operations to combine and operate as a one-service organization.

In 1990, the company moved into the Cleveland and Indianapolis markets. The success of these locations paved the way for moves in 1995 into Cincinnati, in 1998 into Charlotte and Louisville, and into Raleigh in 2001.

Designed Moves, Inc., the sister company, was established in 1994 to enable the company to address the growing need form complete project planning and management of business relocations.  Designed Moves ensured that client relocations were completed on time, on budget, and with a minimum of costly business disruptions.

In 1998, CMI began to offer new lines of contract grade furniture to further enhance the company’s ability to support workspace initiatives, and now represents over 50 lines of brand name contract grade furnishings, systems furniture, case goods, chairs, and accessories.

Two years later, the company moved to its present location 1299 Boltonfield St., opening a 175,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art corporate headquarters and warehousing facility. In all, the company's combined warehouse facilities exceed 400,000 square feet.