For our 100th blog, I wanted to do a special feature about our roots and coverage of the great State of Michigan. We have ties to resources and communities from unsalted coast to unsalted coast. Even though we continue to add to our registrations and expertise within other states, we love the nuances of working within the familiar regulations of Michigan, from scheduling to accommodate anticipated weather patterns to known earth types of the Mitten State.
How to Promote Your Business Move
Businesses move for many reasons - for example to accommodate growth, save money, get closer to consumers, or possibly secure a better value of a new building. Additional perks can also happen when relocating including improving your service and also advancing new growth. It’s all about using the move as a promotional opportunity. Encouraging your existing clients to move with you is a must, but you also want to attract new ones, so here are a few tips that will help anyone take advantage of their new business location:
Knowing Long Lead Items Early Speeds up Construction Schedules
Certain building materials or products that have to be ordered, imported, and/or manufactured specifically for a building can take longer than the natural progression of a construction schedule. These are considered Long Lead Items (LLIs). They commonly occur with pre-engineered buildings, elevators, generators, mechanical equipment that is heavy enough to need a helicopter lift, electrical switch gear, fancy finishes, or imported products to name a few.
A Guide to Relocating Your Business When the Time Is Right
In “Five of the Best Reasons for a Commercial Renovation”, I discussed why you should remodel now if you plan to stay at your current location. In this blog, we offer tips on relocating your business/practice because your current location or building is no longer feasible to use. Note: if you own your existing space, it’s best to consult with your real estate agent to discuss the options regarding selling/renting your building.
Top Reasons to Relocate Your Business:
- Traffic patterns change over time. Perhaps you’re no longer in an active area and therefore, you aren’t readily drawing traffic to your business/practice. Seeking space in an area that’s busier could help your bottom line; however you likely will pay higher rent than you're paying now.
- Your building needs a major update either to the structure/ infrastructure/energy efficiencies that exceed the cost of building a new building.
- You need to expand your building to accommodate new equipment or additional staff, but you’ve run out of room or can't meet parking and zoning requirements.
- You originally started your business in a house and now the maintenance costs have become too much and/or you can’t alter the space for efficient use.
4 Reasons Why the Preconstruction Phase Is Key to Project Success
For both Design-Build and Construction Management delivery methods, the start of Preconstruction Phase is Architectural Design and it’s a very exciting time for most building owners. They love the ideas, options, and decorating aspects for their building. And then, when drawings are done, the owner is eager to get to the other main event of Construction Phase. But there is so much more happening during Design than they know and a lot more to be done before this Preconstruction Phase, “Pre-Con”, is complete. This is also when the contractor gets organized to save the most time and money during construction.
The Best Way to Speed up Your Building Restoration
Having a Restoration Company and a General Contractor on the Same Team
The team of Wolgast Corporation and Wolgast Restoration was created to be a high level provider of full-service restoration services to deal with all of your challenges when mayhem strikes your building. Wolgast Restoration specializes in residential and commercial restoration when it comes to structural damage from water, fire, wind, or other mishaps. And Wolgast Corporation is a commercial contractor who has specialized in buildings of all shapes and sizes since 1948.
What to Do with an Old School Pool?
School Districts with older swimming pools that have floated, no longer pass inspection, or pools that are simply underutilized, we have an answer to your dilemma. Other School Districts who have faced this problem just closed the door to their pool room, others use the pool shell to store old desks, chairs, athletic equipment, or general storage, etc., but this is obviously not the most efficient use of space. Plus there is still additional expense of insurance coverage and for the heating costs of the large area.
Building Maintenance Strategies for Small Business Owners
When you’re a small business owner who is responsible for your building, you likely don’t have a budget for a facility manager and building maintenance likely doesn't hit your to-do list until a problem presents itself. However, maintenance is very important to the longevity and cost of building operation. Having a building maintenance strategy can help you proactively catch repairs, leaks, and heating deficiencies early with way less expense out of pocket.
Dos and Don'ts of School Bond Campaign Materials
For more than 20 years we’ve been helping schools to pass their bond elections, and going back further than that, our Education Facility Specialists are former School Superintendents who have worked on their own campaigns while leading their respective Districts. We have a lot of experience and want to help you know what works and what doesn’t when you’re creating your school bond campaign materials.
The History of Wolgast’s Construction Management Division
Experts claim that a form of Construction Management (CM) construction delivery was used in ancient times as far back as the pyramids. However, according to Construction Management Association of America, CM became known as a distinctive construction delivery option in the 1960s1. The need for a new construction delivery method at that time was due to more “sophisticated” systems being designed for large, complicated buildings and stricter regulations. It was a growth time for the HVAC industry with the introduction of air conditioning and computerized control systems2. More complex applications increased the role of the contractor to be more involved with the “specification of equipment and parts”. There eventually was a shortage of HVAC installers and with the increased desire for air conditioning, shoddy applications led to many problems. A problem which was well suited for CM advocacy between the Designer and the Contractor.