Work Together. Oerlikon Balzers is a metal surface treatment company based in Liechtenstein. Oerlikon Balzers Americas’ Headquarters are located just outside of Chicago, IL. They are one of the world’s leading suppliers of surface technologies that significantly improve the performance and durability of precision components as well as tools for the metal and plastics processing industries.
Due to the weight of the metal components and tools they work with, logistics require they build regional coating centers in close proximity to their customers. Oerlikon Balzers currently has a network of more than 100 coating centers in 35 countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Oerlikon coats components and products for automotive, aerospace and industrial customers with exacting specifications and 48-hour turnaround time at least 80% of the time.
In 2018, Oerlikon Balzers identified the strategic need to build a new coating center in the St. Louis Metro Area. They worked with Lauren Talley, Vice-President of Project & Development Services and Christy Campbell, Brokerage Associate, at Cushman & Wakefield to find the best location and ultimately chose to build the new center in the Westport Industrial Park in Maryland Heights, MO.
Andrew Grant, Project Manager, Global Expansion at Oerlikon told us, “We worked closely with Lauren to help us review bids and organize things. We looked at proposals from several different General Contractors, including G. S. & S. Construction. When we narrowed down to Chris Hyams and his team, I remember asking Lauren, “Would you go with G. S. & S. Construction?” and she said she would stake her reputation on it.”
Andrew continued, “So we made the decision to go with Chris’s group and do the construction, and it’s been a great experience. I couldn’t give a higher recommendation to how professional they are, but also how personable and good they are with communication. Our people who were working on the site, and their people who were working on-site, became very close and were always communicating. Because our team is a group of travelers, who go from town to town and put these buildings together, we needed a trusted General Contractor to be our on-site presence, which Chris was able to provide to us. We had one point of contact for all of that. Oerlikon’s Production Technology Manager in the U.S., Brian Schlebo, and Chris’s job superintendent, Dave Nevois, developed a really great working relationship.”
“They had it, no problem, on time,” said Brian, “Everything was very, very smooth. I would come to St. Louis every week or two during the construction and everything was A-1 quality, and everybody got along. Some of our equipment for the center is very high-tech, so we bring in certain contractors, national contractors, to do process work for the installation. The electrical and piping and things like that need to be extremely specific to our machines. And our guys and the G. S. & S. Construction team got along well. It was just a very, very smooth experience.”
“It’s really gratifying to hear such great feedback from our customers, particularly when it’s a more complicated project with exact specifications and a very tight timeline,” said Chris Hyams, president of G. S. & S. Construction “Having experienced, professional people like Dave Nevois on our team makes my job really easy. It also underscores the advantage we have in the commercial construction market with our people and our ability to self-perform so much of the work instead of counting on a lot of sub-contractors.”
The St. Louis Metro Oerlikon Balzers Center went into production mode on April 21, 2019. The center was on-schedule, on-budget, and on-specification, just like Oerlikon, Cushman & Wakefield, and G. S. & S. Construction planned it from the beginning.
Find out more about Oerlikon Balzers Coatings at www.oerlikon.com/balzers/us
To learn more about Cushman & Wakefield in St. Louis visit: http://cushwakestlouis.com/
With tight scheduling and tenant rights a major factor, it is important to hire a St. Louis tenant improvement company that knows what it is doing. G. S. & S. Construction has been doing tenant improvements, leasehold improvements, office renovations, and warehouse construction for over a decade. We have a dedicated and experienced team that knows how to keep tenants happy during construction projects.
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