The Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) held their annual State Education Convention at the Wisconsin Center. The two-day annual event brings together education professionals from around Wisconsin to attend industry breakout sessions and network with vendors at the tradeshow.

Greenfire hosted a booth on the tradeshow floor for the sixth consecutive year. Pepi Randolph, VP of Business Development, Simmi Urbanek, Director of Marketing, Maureen Carlson, Regional Business Development Manager, Kyle Widenski, Marketing Manager, and Michael Moe, Business Development Coordinator connected with visitors to extend our brand as a resource for education construction.

From this event, we were able to meet with and establish valuable relationships with members of district boards and administrations who play key roles in construction contracts for schools throughout the state. As we continually pursue and grow our capabilities in this sector, we are pleased with the groundwork our team accomplished at this event.

In appreciation of another successful year, the Greenfire team and extended family gathered to celebrate our annual holiday party this month. The party was held at the Milwaukee Yacht Club and was an opportunity to reflect upon our accomplishments this past year along with milestones to look forward to in the future.

The evening featured a special presentation during dinner from our active and veteran service members of the Greenfire team. Chad Greuel and Craig Bailey recognized the Greenfire veterans and active service members and emphasized what it means to be a team no matter how far apart we are. Nate Brown, an active service member on duty in Korea, joined via video chat. The three of them presented the Department of Defense for Patriot Award to Greenfire President, Jeb Meier. Nate nominated our leader and president, Jeb for the distinguished recognition based on the support provided to him and his family during this deployment.

After the presentation, the night continued with socializing and cocktails along with those brave enough to show off their skills in karaoke. We would like to thank all our staff and extended family for your hard work and dedication as it reflects the culture and success of our company.

The team got together again for our annual Greenfire Ugly Sweater Competition and White Elephant gift exchange. The Milwaukee and Wausau offices got in the holiday spirit and donned our ugly sweaters to exchange white elephant gifts and vote on our favorite ugly sweaters. Congratulations to Brian Kraus on winning the Milwaukee office Ugly Sweater contest and Sherrie Harenda on winning the Wausau office contest!

For the sixth year in a row, Greenfire was named by Midwest Real Estate News Magazine in their Top Construction Companies list. Each year, the publication honors the top commercial real estate and construction companies in a thirteen-state proximity for their year-end Best of the Best feature. This year, we came in as the #37 construction company in the Midwest, up four spots from the previous year. We are proud to be included as a top midwestern construction company alongside other notable firms and continue to pursue our vision to be a recognized leader in optimizing construction solutions.

It is an honor to receive the recognition as an established construction company with a further capacity to grow and expand. We are Builders of the Future, but we don’t do it alone. Thank you to our ownership – the Forest County Potawatomi and the Potawatomi Business Development Corporation, to our team of employees across the state, to our customers, and finally to our many partners in the industry and network of amazing subcontractors for contributing to our success!

View the 2022 Best of the Best publication.

Greenfire attended WEDC’s 41st Annual MARKETPLACE Conference at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee. MARKETPLACE is the Governor’s Annual Conference on Diverse Business Development. This event connects businesses from across Wisconsin seeking to partner with state, federal and local governments as well as the private sector.

Greenfire hosted a booth on the tradeshow floor for the fourth consecutive year. Pepi Randolph, VP of Business Development, Simmi Urbanek, Director of Marketing, Kyle Widenski, Marketing Manager, and Michael Moe, Business Development Coordinator, were in attendance and connected with visitors and present Greenfire as a viable construction partner throughout the State of Wisconsin. As we continually pursue and grow our capabilities, we are pleased with the groundwork our team accomplished at this event.

November may have brought the cold, but Greenfire stayed hot with activity this month. We celebrated milestones for a couple projects, partnered with several organizations on various events, and still had time to savor the flavor with our annual Chili Cook-off.

Take a break from your endless scrolling and get caught up here – the November 2022 edition of #TheSpark

#BuildersOfTheFuture

The Greenfire team recently wrapped up interior renovations at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design’s academic building. The project consists of renovations and the build-out of the main and lower floors. Overall, the purpose of this renovation is to enhance the student registration process while simultaneously making a great first impression.

At the lobby, the most notable transformation is the concrete flooring infill. Before renovations, an open section of flooring bordered by hand railing, looked down to the lower level. Prior to pouring any concrete flooring, the team removed existing railing and tied in two structural beams to support the infill. Once the concrete cured, the entire floor was completed to a polished finish. In the lobby, the team built-out a student registration and resource desk. The area is complete with finished wood paneling and three large LED monitors where students’ work and the MIAD culture is on display. The finishing work includes installation of three large light fixtures, painting the mullions at the entrance vestibule, painting and staining the staircase railing along with new tile finishing for the staircase. Just to the east of the lobby, the team built-out an entirely open area into the new administration office. The area is framed by glass glazing and features a reception desk at the entrance. An open work and meeting area is the central focus with six separate offices and a conference room surrounding, each finished with glass glazing entrances as well. The office also includes installation of new electrical and mechanical systems and subsequent light fixtures. At the lower level, the team framed and drywalled the existing and new structural beams that support the main floor and finished with a new coat of paint. The team also installed new light fixtures on the lower level.

All projects are met with challenges of some certainty, and this project was no exception. This project required the building to maintain operations and not impact the students and faculty. In order to minimize disruption to operation, our team worked diligently to minimize construction footprint, noise, and pollution. The project also had a tight schedule meaning we needed to ensure substantial completion by the beginning of the Fall Semester. As all challenges come in 3’s, our team had to navigate a tight urban logistics plan for the downtown building ensuring no street closures or traffic impediments. Overall, we are pleased with how our team navigated these challenges and completed the project to the design’s intent.

We would like to thank the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design for selecting Greenfire as the CM for this transformative project. We would also like to recognize the hard work, adaptability and critical forward thinking of the project team which includes Mitch Berti, Assistant Project Manager, and Paul Hackbarth, Director of Construction.

November is chili month at Greenfire – which means it’s the return of the Greenfire Chili Cook-off! Both offices hosted a cook-off with the judging performed by fellow team members.

The Milwaukee cook-off had eight participants (and one control chili) entered into the friendly event, but competition remained stiff. The Greenfire staff along with the Wgema Campus Police Department had the tough task of tasting, judging, and grading each of the nine chilis. After much deliberation, a winner was ultimately decided,

Congratulations to Cedric Price, Estimator, on being named the 2022 Milwaukee Chili Cook-off Champion! His Chipotle Baconator Chili proved to be the best of them all. His secret recipe, you ask? While he is keeping it close to his chest – or because he probably can’t remember the whole recipe; but hey, that’s just what this writer thinks and is in no way bitter over the stain of defeat, but I digress – he did reveal the secrets to his success:

1. Chipotle
2. Bacon
3. TLC

A big Thank you to the other chili contestants for showcasing their spins on chili!

Kyle Widenski – The Scooter Tooter is back!

Simmi Urbanek – The Root Beer Barrel

Cheryl Bousquet – Texas Roadhouse

Ed Person – Not your Mom’s Chili

Pepi Randolph – Milwaukee’s Best

Brian Kraus – Diablo

John Aperi – Just #8 – aka Salmonella

Control Chili (Hormel Canned Chili) – Tasty

The Northern Operations chili cook-off also declared a winner. Congratulations to John Chinault for crafting the winning chili for the Wausau office!

Greenfire came ready to bowl as we brought two teams to participate in Real Estate Alliance for Charity’s Annual Roll for REACH Outing.

REACH is a non-profit real estate organization that raises funds through interactive and engaging activities, and this month was their annual bowling outing held at Bowlero in Wauwatosa. The event hosted over 70 participating organizations providing food, drink, and a raffle.

This was a great time to connect with our team members, network with attending organizations and showcase our bowling skills.

It was a day of communication, exploration, and ideation at the 2022 Urban Spaceship Conference. This year, the conference examined the idea of Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s vision to “Grow Milwaukee to a Million Person City”.

We had the privilege to partner with NEWaukee and NAIOP Wisconsin to present this progressive and developmental urbanism conference for a third consecutive year at one of our cornerstone projects, No Studios. The in-person event drew more than 250 attendees from all professional backgrounds across the region. Topics included: urbanism and placemaking, construction and design, zoning and entertainment, and much more.

Greenfire hosted the morning keynote discussion that featured a panel of leading women in each of their respective professions. The rest of the day consisted of various breakout sessions led by speakers from across the country. The conference ended with a featured discussion and Q&A with Mayor Cavalier Johnson centered around his vision for Milwaukee. After the conference, attendees stuck around for a happy hour and networking session to discuss the day’s topics and connect with other attendees.

We are fortunate and humbled to be the presenting sponsor for this highly attended and captivating event that draws passionate and motivated professionals. As Builders of the Future, it is inherent that we continue to look for ways to innovate and improve the built environment here in Milwaukee and throughout the region.