GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS 02.10.20 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS American Institute of Architects Bestows Highest 2020 Honors The AIA has announced its top one-per-year awards, its Gold Medal and Firm Award, to be presented at its national conference in Los Angeles in May. The Gold Medal was awarded this year to Marlon Blackwell of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The 2020 Firm Award was bestowed on Architectural Research Office of New York. FULL STORY ON PAGE 3… A Visit to Tuohy This winter we traveled to Chatfield, Minnesota, to visit Tuohy Furniture Corporation – a family business that got its start making church pews and alters. Now, it calls the contract furnishings industry home – specializing in beautiful wood furnishings and much more. Our visit was punctuated by a trip to see St. John’s Abbey church in Collegeville, Minn., a perfect circular rainbow, and, of course, a good old factory tour. FULL STORY ON PAGE 10… Does the Open Office Work for Women? Women are quickly catching up to men in terms of bringing home the bacon. And more and more women are spending their workdays in open plan office areas that have now become the standard in our corporate workplaces. For years, CEOs around the world have led the drive towards open workspaces as a way of reducing costs and making their employees more productive. But, various international research initiatives have indicated open plan environments are not well suited to our growing female workforce. Brian Margerison, Director, of NFS Technology Group, Australia, explores research into the effects of the open office on women workers. FULL STORY ON PAGE 20… CITED: “I’M REFLECTIVE ONLY IN THE SENSE THAT I LEARN TO MOVE FORWARD. I REFLECT WITH A PURPOSE.” —KOBE BRYANT
Transcript
GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS02.10.20 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS
American Institute of Architects Bestows Highest 2020 Honors
The AIA has announced its top one-per-year awards, its Gold Medal and Firm Award, to be presented at its national conference in Los Angeles in May. The Gold Medal was awarded this year to Marlon Blackwell of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The 2020 Firm Award was bestowed on Architectural Research Office of New York.
FULL STORY ON PAGE 3…
A Visit to Tuohy
This winter we traveled to Chatfield, Minnesota, to visit Tuohy Furniture Corporation – a family business that got its start making church pews and alters. Now, it calls the contract furnishings industry home – specializing in beautiful wood furnishings and much more. Our visit was punctuated by a trip to see St. John’s Abbey church in Collegeville, Minn., a perfect circular rainbow, and, of course, a good old factory tour.
FULL STORY ON PAGE 10…
Does the Open Office Work for Women?
Women are quickly catching up to men in terms of bringing home the bacon. And more and more women are spending their workdays in open plan office areas that have now become the standard in our corporate workplaces. For years, CEOs around the world have led the drive towards open workspaces as a way of reducing costs and making their employees more productive. But, various international research initiatives have indicated open plan environments are not well suited to our growing female workforce. Brian Margerison, Director, of NFS Technology Group, Australia, explores research into the effects of the open office on women workers.
FULL STORY ON PAGE 20…
CITED:“I’M REFLECTIVE ONLY IN THE SENSE THAT I LEARN TO MOVE FORWARD. I REFLECT WITH A PURPOSE.” —KOBE BRYANT
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awards
The AIA has announced its top one-per-year awards, its Gold Medal and Firm Award, to be presented at its national conference in Los Angeles in May.
2020 AIA Gold Medal – Marlon Blackwell
Established in 1907, the selection of Gold Medalists has necessarily shown considerable variation in the kind of architects so honored, especially in recent years. Last year, for instance the winner was Richard Rogers of London, one of five international medalist over the past 20 years. (Although he is English, Rogers did earn his master’s degree at Yale.)
In recent years, the Institute has been playing diversity catch-up with its honors, awarding posthumous Golds to
the first woman, Julia Morgan of San Francisco (1972-1957) in 2014 and first African-American, Paul Williams of Los Angeles (1894-1980) in 2017). Both had extensive, highly distin-guished practices worthy of such an honor in their lifetimes. And in 2016 Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown won this recognition under revised rules that permit two partners to share the medal. Since then, there have been only single male recipients, but other husband-wife teams appear to be in line for this honor: Tod Williams and Billie Tsien as well as Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio – both cou-ples leading stellar, globe-straddling practices from New York offices.
The pinnacle of U.S. architectural honors, the AIA’s Gold Medal, is going this year to Marlon Blackwell of Fay-
etteville, Arkansas. In a departure from recent choices, this year’s Gold is go-ing not to an internationally recognized design star, but to the head of a small firm with a relatively modest practice in what Blackwell himself calls “flyover country.”
This is not the first time, however, that an architect from Fayetteville has won this honor. In 1990 it was bestowed on E. Fay Jones, an archi-tect who worked largely in the same territory and, like Blackwell, was also a leading member of the University of Arkansas design faculty.
Jones also designed relatively modest buildings that drew national attention, but his best-known works embodied poetic variations of age-old building techniques. Blackwell, by contrast, achieves a kind of restrained
American Institute of Architects Bestows Highest 2020 Honorsby John Morris Dixon
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awardselegance using everyday building systems. Where more elegant materi-als are called for, he applies them in a similarly straightforward, almost minimalist, way.
Blackwell was born in Germany and lived in various parts of the U.S. before settling in Fayetteville in 1992. He earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture at Auburn University in Alabama (where the earlier design star Paul Rudolph also earned his first architecture degree), then a master’s from Syracuse University. He now heads the architecture department at the Fay Jones School of Architec-ture and Design at the University of Arkansas.
A photo of Blackwell’s firm shows just 11 people, among them the firm’s co-principal, his wife Mervati Johari-Black-well. While the firm undoubtedly applies advanced computer methods to design, the photo of Blackwell himself in the AIA press release shows him drawing with pencil on a roll of “yellow trace.”
Brief text on the firm’s website emphasizes a point too often glossed over – that good architecture results from a collaboration between architect, client, and contractor. And it says that its designers apply “an economy of means to deliver a maximum of mean-ing.” The firm’s work demonstrates the value of both principles.
REPRESENTATIVE BLACKWELL PROJECTS
>St. Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church, Springdale, AR, 2010
A generic commercial structure was transformed here into a distinctive wor-ship place. It was re-clad with box rib metal panels, widely used in industrial buildings. The limited interior space was
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awards
configured so that congregants would face east, with carefully baffled sunlight illuminating morning services. A minimal tower displays a distinctive back-lighted cross that identifies the church’s func-tion clearly from the nearby interstate.
>Shelby Farms Park Visitor Center, Memphis, TN, 2016
One of an ensemble of structures
designed for the largest urban park in the U.S., the building is clad in alu-minum bar grate that filters daylight. Under the longest of the upper story’s two long cantilevers, supersized ceiling fans “thresh” the region’s humid air.
>Indianapolis Museum of Art Visitors Pavilion, 2010
Located in a wooded portion of the
100-acre Art + Nature Park that is part of the museum’s campus, the pavilion is designed for individual contemplation of nature and for educational groups of up to 50. Hovering above the forest floor on steel framing, the structure is subtly shaded by a wood-slat canopy.
>Stephen L. Anderson Design Cen-ter, Fayetteville, AR, 2013
A 37,000 square foot addition to the University of Arkansas design school echoes the volume of the 1930s wing at the opposite end of the structure. Maintaining a kinship with the exist-ing building, which was scrupulously restored at the same time, the new construction is clad partly in matching limestone, partly in glass with multi-story exterior louvers where needed.
Many other projects, including public libraries, schools, health care facilities, office buildings, and houses – most of them in Northwest Arkan-sas – are enough to make Blackwell’s presence there apparent.
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awards
2020 AIA Firm Award – AROAIA’s national Firm Award aims to
be equivalent in prestige to the Gold Medal, stressing the group rather than individuals. Bestowed since 1962 – versus 1907 for the Gold – it has never carried quite as much glory. This year’s Firm Award is going to Archi-tecture Research Office of New York. This firm doesn’t just compete for the customary commissions, but carries out a broad range of unconventional projects.
Founded in 1993, the firm has a staff of 30, led by principals Stephen Cassell, Kim Yao, and Adam Yarinsky. Its commissions cover a remarkably broad range of scales, from urban
design to interiors products. The firm’s materials research led to development of a collection of modular acoustic felt components for Knoll subsidiaries Filzfelt and Spinneybeck.
The AIA citation stresses the way ARO’s operation departs from con-vention and offers potential lessons for other design firms. It is said to “leverage research and an inquisitive methodology” to address the question: “What’s next?”
Letters of support for ARO’s nomina-tion cited as well the firm’s work environ-ment within its office – its empowerment of young staff to play key roles and its encouragement for those who move on to form their own firms. A support letter
from no less that Marlon Blackwell, who was to earn this year’s Gold Medal, expressed his admiration for “their will-ingness to admit that they know enough to know what they don’t know.”
REPRESENTATIVE ARO PROJECTS>Rising Currents: A New Urban
GroundThis visionary plan for Lower Man-
hattan deals with rising sea levels and other issues. It was funded by an AIA Latrobe Grant and carried out with the DLANDstudio landscape firm. Envi-ronmental measures proposed include reconfigured shorelines, new drain-age systems, repurposed streets, and expanded public spaces.
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awards>Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse,
Brooklyn, NYSited in an extensive recently devel-
oped park, the boathouse overlooks the Lower Manhattan skyline. Back-lighted aluminum grilles give the build-ing a glowing presence after dark.
>Tate Library at Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, NY
The building represents the latest thinking in library spatial design and includes an installation of ARO Block felt acoustic wall panels design by the firm for Knoll and produced by its subsidiary FilzFelt.
>Upper Learning Building, Riverdale Country School, Bronx, NY
Designed for the school’s elementary grades, the project provides valuable outdoor spaces and takes advantage of the site’s Hudson River views.
Other ARO projects include: a syna-gogue for Congregation Beit Simchat in New York, the world’s largest LGBTQ congregation; a campus plan, with auxiliary facilities, for the Rothko Cha-pel in Houston; the Nippert Stadium at the University of Cincinnati; a house in the Colorado Rockies; and finally, but by no means incidentally, Knoll show-rooms in several U.S. cities. n
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companies
Tuohy’s Best of NeoCon and HIP Award winning Duende Table. Design: Metrica. Photography courtesy of Tuohy.
I love a family business. I believe fam-ily businesses are a big part of what made America great. And Tuohy Fur-niture Corporation is definitely one of those family businesses. In 1952 the hobby of Joseph Francis “Joe” Tuohy, making church pews and alters, blos-somed into Tuohy Church Furniture. Its first manufacturing facility was a rented former blacksmith shop in Chatfield, Minnesota.
Said his son, Francis Michael “Mike” Tuohy, who joined the firm in 1955, “Every step in the start-up of anything must originate with an inspiration – call it a vision – of what is possible. From there success or failure is really a matter of rugged
A Visit to Tuohyby Bob Beck
Joe Tuohy in his workshop circa 1951.
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companiesdetermination, often against seem-ingly impossible odds.” As you might guess, Mike Tuohy went on to figure prominently in the growth and suc-cess of the company.
While Joe Tuohy loved the manu-facturing side of the enterprise, Mike figured large in the development of the business systems, sales and market-ing. Even though the company was very successful in providing furniture for many of the most prestigious churches built in that period, Mike Tuohy recognized a bigger opportunity in the world of business and institu-tional furniture, and soon the company formally dropped the “Church” from its name, to become today’s Tuohy Furniture Corporation.
Broadening the purview of the company has been rewarded with success in a diverse set of market seg-ments, including financial institutions, law firms, corporate offices, hospital-ity, education and retail fixtures and displays. But Joseph Tuohy’s love for wood and its use in Tuohy furniture has continued unabated, no matter the market segment.
Perhaps that is because Chatfield, Minn., is located in the Richard J. Dor-er State Forest, a hardwood-rich area in southeastern Minnesota. On a recent visit to the Tuohy headquarters and manufacturing facilities, I was struck by the beauty of the rolling topography and the stately hardwood trees – even in their leafless winter dress.
“Wood is still a big part of our business,” said CEO Dan Tuohy. “We own a separate company, Saunders Wood Specialties, which is a nice business employing 45 people laying-up veneer faces. About half of their production comes to us with the rest being used by custom millworkers for store fixtures, large wood panels and custom conference tables where special veneers have been spec’d. So while wood is still ‘what we do’ we realize that we have to speak in other languages. We are also well aware of non-wood materials and many of our current products are of mixed materi-als including steel, aluminum, stone and glass.”
Whatever the materials, the running of the company is now firmly in the hands of the second and third genera-tion of Tuohys. Joseph Tuohy’s eighth son, Bernard is the VP of Marketing, and two of Mike’s sons are very active; Dan as CEO and Michael as COO.
On the afore-mentioned trip to Chat-field, Bernard took me to see the St. John’s Abbey church in Collegeville, Minn., on the campus of St. John’s University. It is a fabulous example of brutalist architecture, designed by Marcel Breuer. When word reached Joe Tuohy that an internationally renowned architect was designing
Archival photo of Joe (seated) and F.Mike Tuohy.
St. John’s Abbey Church on a recent visit.
Archival photo of Marcel Breuer and St. John’s. Interior of St. John’s, note the Tuohy manufactured pews.
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companies
the abbey church at Collegeville, he resolved to win the project for all the wood furnishings. And he did.
Bernard told me, “It was the most prestigious project going in this cat-egory, and my father became nearly obsessed with winning it. And win it he did, though it almost bankrupted the company. The huge solid oak pews cost far more to produce than he had projected, and they were so massive that installing them was nearly impos-sible with the equipment and manpow-er available to lift and move them.”
Nonetheless, the job was finished and beautifully installed, the company endured, and the project became a marketing springboard for the com-pany, nationally. On our visit to the Abbey church I admired the sense of permanence of the solid wood pews – in absolute harmony with the unbe-lievable sense of permanence of the concrete structure itself. The visual rhythm of row after row of pews, facing and behind the alter, and the mini-malist quality of the furniture add to the overall success of one of Breuer’s masterworks.
Today the company has parlayed its knowledge and experience with wood into an ability to deliver large wood projects at a high level of visual con-sistency, from elevator cabs through to open plan workstations, private offices, conference rooms and dining areas.
Tuohy CEO, Dan Tuohy. Tuohy COO, Michael Tuohy. Tuohy VP of Marketing, Bernard Tuohy.
A stack of veneer flitches, wood is a central part of Tuohy’s history and business today.
The machine that stitches veneers together to make a panel “face.”
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companies
BSF, 55 Hudson Yards, Design: Schiller Projects, Photos by David Sundberg
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companies”We are manufacturers, we really
are,” Dan Tuohy said. “But we under-stand design and making our products fit into an environment. We want to complement the interior designer’s vision for the whole picture. We adjust and personalize our pieces to fit to the environment. What we’re seeing now is that client companies are very con-cerned with what their people want, and we work very well in that type of situation because we can adjust and specialize the look of our products to fit what the client and designer want.
“We’re a family business – we’re tight – we know what we’re doing. But we’re not just a little woodshop. It’s a balance of understanding the special qualities of woodworking with the size Uffizi Collection Variant (Originating Design: Archinet)
Conference Table: Univers Collection.
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companies
and capability to deliver 600 casegoods workstations and conference rooms on-time. We are strong across many market segments, but in the workplace segment I’d say we are strongest in the financial services and legal sectors be-cause that’s where the clients still want the richness of wood furniture.”
While at Tuohy I had the pleasure of meeting the product development team and previewing a new chair designed in collaboration with Popu-lous, the global design and architec-ture firm based in Kansas City. The chair is currently called Pleat, and
Bob Beck testing the soon to be released Pleat Chair. Design: Populous
Back view of the Pleat Chair. Pleat Chair arm upholstery detail.
The machine that presses the veneer faces onto the panel substrate.
One of Tuohy’s well-organized and tidy production floors. The several paint pots are heated and stirred to keep the finishes fresh. This arrangement allows for quick changes during production.
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companies
it’s scheduled for introduction in the spring, well ahead of NeoCon. As my friends know, I love product develop-ment and reviewing the new chair was a highlight of the visit. But not the only highlight. When it comes to furniture,
one is allowed more than one love, and I also had a chance to revisit my love of manufacturing with a plant tour ex-pertly provided by COO Michael Tuohy.
The plant tour made it easy to be-lieve Dan’s words about the company’s
capabilities. It is a well-organized, flex-ible plant with many of the hallmarks of lean manufacturing evident. The high-volume output is balanced by the workstation here and there doing fin-ishing touches by hand where that is required. Quick-change features seen on the paint line attest to the ability to meet varied demands without undue disruption.
It was cold outside when I visited, so cold in fact that on the drive to Chat-field from Minneapolis, Bernard and I witnessed a gorgeous phenomenon of very cold weather. We saw a perfect rainbow making a complete circle around the sun, caused, Bernard said, by frozen crystals of moist air refract-ing the sunlight. I took it as a good omen. It wasn’t the kind of rainbow with a mythical pot of gold at its foot. It was a complete circle – implying the continuation of luck, success and good cheer, on and on.n
An infrared oven flash-dries the first coat of finish.
Multiple coats produce a durable finish.
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research
In January 2019, Australian labour workforce statistics showed there were slightly under 6 million women employed in the country. This was a 2.4% increase in 2018, and by No-vember 2019 the number had grown again to 6.117 million. This steady growth has taken place in a market where employment stats for men have shown a slight decline.
So it seems women are quickly catching up to men in terms of bring-ing home the bacon. It also means more and more women are spending their workdays in open plan office areas that have now become the standard in our corporate workplaces, with coworkers sitting side by side at large worktables or at tightly-packed workstations.
For years, CEOs around the world have led the drive towards open workspaces as a way of reducing costs and making their employees more productive – open plan environments
were and are still viewed as an ideal way of encouraging better performance through improved interaction. However, there’s little actual evidence that this view has delivered the expected results without other unintential negatives.
Recent intervention-based field studies conducted in Australia have tended to show both skewed and negative outcomes.
Maybe this shouldn’t be surpris-ing, though, as the current average workspace-per-employee in Australia is fairly low compared with international standards for modern workplaces. The problems associated with open plan offices have been widely analysed and reported, and they are well sum-marised in a recent Business Insider Blog posting.
Studies find that open plan spaces can have a strongly negative impact on employees’ peace of mind, resulting in a decline in productivity.
And, it seems this can be particular-
ly true for women. Various international research initiatives have shown some interesting results indicating open plan environments are not well suited to our growing female workforce.
In the U.K.: Isolation, Discrimination, and the Paradox Effect of Open Plan
In 2018, a study on open plan work-spaces was conducted by members of the independent scientific academy of the Royal Society of London.
Using advanced wearable sensors that produced real-time digital data collected by communication servers, the study gauged the positive or nega-tive behavioural changes of employees as they engaged in face-to-face versus electronic (instant messaging and email) interactions.
Contrary to popular belief and expectations, the results of the study showed that open workspaces had a major negative effect on human interaction in the workplace. While electronic interactions increased, there was a whopping 70% drop in face-to-face interaction between co-workers.
But, decreased face-to-face employ-ee interaction isn’t the only negative outcome of implementing an open plan workspace. According to a differ-ent study, open plan layouts can also be seen as discriminatory.
This research focused on a local government moving its 1,100 em-ployees from smaller traditional office layouts and locations to a single, large open plan environment over three years.
During this period 13 men and 27 women were interviewed on multiple formal occasions as well as being involved in a programme of meetings, coffee breaks and lunch breaks with employees involved in the study.
Does the Open Office Work for Women?by Brian Margerison
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researchThe study concluded that many
women became hyper-aware of being watched on a constant basis, while also reporting that they felt their ap-pearance was on trial.
Several women employees also re-ported that “there isn’t anywhere that you don’t feel watched.” There was no evidence of men feeling similar, or any indication the men had changed their actions as a result of the change in privacy from the open plan workspace.
The United States: The Temperature and the Damage Done
A joint study by members of the United States’ University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Busi-ness and Germany’s WZB Berlin Social Science Center discovered that the average open plan office temperature sits at around 21 degrees Celsius (69.8 degrees Fahrenheit), which is directly based on the “metabolic rates of men,” while leaving women employ-ees uncomfortable at work.
The study found the effects went far beyond women simply feeling uncom-fortable; the amount of effort applied to specific tasks as well as overall perfor-mance in math and verbal tasks were adversely affected by even relatively small decreases in office temperature.
The study shows women are literally being left behind in the cold in open plan spaces in the workplace.
Real Potential: Indian Women Break Through
While women across the western world, and Australia, are progressing in leaps and bounds in the workforce, there is still a lot of work to be done in other countries.
Now we look at India. Less than one quarter of women age 15 and above participated in India’s workforce in
2018. This is compared to an Indian workforce composed of 78.6% of men. However, the low rate of women cur-rently in India’s labour force is partly related to an uptick in numbers of women continuing their education.
This is great news. Increasing the number of women in the workforce by 10% could increase India’s GDP by $770 billion by 2025. It will be inter-esting to watch India change, as more women exit their secondary education and find suitable jobs.
So how should our workplaces evolve?
In general, open plan workspaces don’t seem to have lived up to their expected promise of increased interac-tion and productivity.
Some studies even suggest they may have had the reverse effect – triggering withdrawal behaviour from officemates who then interact more over email and other digital channels.
Women appear to be the group worst affected by the negative aspects of the open office, with reports of unease related to “always being on show” and discomfort associated with environments that have largely been designed from a male perspective.
But, women continue to play an in-creasingly large role in the workplace, and it makes sense to pay more atten-tion to catering to their specific needs rather than simply implementing open plan design concepts that are discon-nected with the real demands of our modern working environments.
We need to consider other options that help alleviate the negative, stress-ful aspects of open plan workspace design – options that may be better aligned to the work that needs to be done or the preferences of our employ-ees, such as traditional office spaces, flexible meeting and conference
spaces, team rooms, collaboration spaces, quiet spaces, huddle spaces and focus pods.
With an increasing number of workspace configurations and op-tions at our employees’ disposal, it has also become essential to provide employees with a workplace technol-ogy solution designed to help in finding the ideal workspace for a particular workday, or selecting the best room layout for a meeting together with its various associated services such as fully integrated catering and hospital-ity services, visitor management and parking space reservation.
Modern workplace technology solutions allow us to fully connect our workspace with everything from meet-ing room scheduling, video conferenc-es, visitor management, digital signage and catering.
For example, the workplace technol-ogy solution offered by NFS Technol-ogy’s Rendezvous Workspace, allows staff to use an app to book meetings quickly across multiple locations and time zones. If the meeting time changes, it notifies you.
In addition, remote employees can easily find and book the desk they need at any time – and they can specify what they want down to small but important details such as a quiet space or a cool temperature.
The way we use our workspaces is continuing to evolve, all around the world, and the workforce is changing too. But if you’re seeking the perfect path forward for your workplace on the route, combining the benefits of open plan with care for each individual worker’s needs could be the perfect answer. n
Brian Margerison is the Director, of NFS Technology Group, Australia,
Tezer and Bodur evaluated the effects of environmentally responsible situa-tions on how people feel. They deter-mined that their “research explores how using a green product (e.g., a pair of headphones made from recycled materials) influences the enjoyment of the accompanying consumption expe-rience (e.g., listening to music), even if consumers have not deliberately chosen or purchased the product. Five
experiments in actual consumption settings revealed that using a green (vs. conventional) product enhances the enjoyment of the accompanying consumption experience, referred to as the greenconsumption effect. Merely using a green product makes consumers perceive an increase in the extent to which they are valued as individuals by society, which leads to warm glow feelings, and consequently enhances the enjoyment of the ac-companying consumption experience. When consumers experience low so-cial worth, the positive effect of using green products on the accompanying consumption experience is amplified. The greenconsumption effect disap-pears when the negative environmental impact of the green product attribute is low.” n
Ali Tezer and H. Bodur. “The Greenconsumption Effect: How Using Green Products Improves Consump-tion Experiences.” Journal of Con-
sumer Research, in press, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucz045
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive sci-entist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesigncon-nections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest re-search findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psycho-logical Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychol-ogy for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwith-science.com) and can be reached at [email protected].
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PRODUCT INTROS>Davis Furniture launched Rho Ottomans, the inau-gural lounge collection by LucidiPevere in collaboration with Davis. Ranging from an individual single-seat to a generous lounge-height ottoman, Rho’s organic shape and variety of heights evoke imagery of the scenic Italian countryside for which this collection is named. While designing this group of ottomans, designers Paolo Lucidi and Luca Pevere concentrated on balancing form, comfort, and versatil-ity for applications ranging from defining areas within a public space to establishing creative hubs in an open-plan office. Rho can even be used singularly, offering options for informal guest seating. It features a linear open chain stitch detail located at the center of each piece which becomes an opportu-nity for additional styling and visual interest. This contrast-
ing stitch is available in 20 thread colors. Rho’s organic forms presented a challenge for the Davis Design Team. How could they upholster the distinct rounded shapes of the ottomans without unnec-essary seams or zippers? The Davis engineers worked to develop an innovative method of ensuring perfect tailoring with Rho’s upholstery. Here’s a hint, it involves a vacuum. The inventive solution entails shrinking the foam before stretching the cover over each frame. When the vacuum is released – voila! – the otto-man is upholstered with ideal precision. Read More
>DeskMakers introduced Ascend, a height-adjustable casegoods line. Extending the benefits and ergonomics of traditional sit-to-stand desking to the casegoods category, As-cend offers a range of heights from 25¼” (seated) to 50” (standing), allowing users to transition for sitting to standing within seconds. Designed in-
house by DeskMakers Director of Product Development, Shaina Panzer, Ascend is characterized by simple, clean lines and thoughtful details with a contemporary look as well as quick and quiet move-ment. The height-adjustable base shroud conceals a large portion of the T-Foot, allow-ing the column and wires to pass into the base for a clean aesthetic. Read More
>Interface’s newest carpet tile collection, NY+LON Streets™, draws inspiration from the bustling avenues and creative corners of two of the world’s most iconic cities, New York and London.
It is a playful carpet col-lection that encourages a new perspective on urban exploration. Wheler Street™, Old Street™, Dover Street™, and Reade Street™ interpret familiar textures in a variety of scales. Mercer Street™ embraces an unconventional grid pattern, which Broome Street™ punches up with contemporary color. Altogeth-er, the collection brings new meaning to the phrase, “Take to the streets.” The styles fea-tured in the NY+LON Streets Collection can mix and match with other Interface carpet tiles or LVT for endless design possibilities. Read More
02.10.20 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS PAGE 24 OF 32
officenewswire
>Keilhauer, with the acquisi-tion of Division Twelve, has expanded its offerings with a distinctive and colorful line of tables and seating. The initial collection of bent metal stools, chairs, tables, and bench feature the designs of Geof Lilge, Scot Laughton and Samuel Petterson. The pieces have an urban, modern de-sign that ranges from straight-forward to sculptural. Twenty different powder coat colors are available to customize each piece and create im-pactful designs and spaces. Each year, the palette will be updated to include the latest Pantone® Color of the Year. 100% recyclable frames, Forest Stewardship Council certified wood, bio-based seat foams, and an environ-mentally friendly powder coat process ensures the Division Twelve line marries seamless-ly into Keilhauer’s sustainabil-ity program. Division Twelve was founded in Edmonton, Canada in 2017 by industrial designer Geof Lilge, who has been retained by Keilhauer to serve as the brand’s Creative Director. Mr. Lilge is best known for founding Pure Design, and has worked extensively in bespoke resi-
dential and hospitality design across western Canada. “This acquisition provides us with a new solution for office design, extends our reach into new markets, and brings excellent design talent into our house. It complements what we do at Keilhauer beautifully,” said President Mike Keilhauer. “From the moment I first saw Division Twelve I was struck by a feeling of joy. I am excited to bring that feeling to the market.” To launch the brand to the global design community, Keilhauer collaborated with the global, award-winning ad agency Cossette to develop a
bold new marketing cam-paign that incorporated tradi-tional ads, printed collateral, a new website and installa-tions. The bent steel tube frames inspired the marketing tagline “Get Bent” and set the colloquial, irreverent tone. The campaign explores joy, individuality, and the creative process through exaggerated scales, unexpected vignettes, and the playful use of color and copy. Read More
>Luum Textiles unveiled Second Sight, a collection of four upholstery textiles with a vision. “As we enter a new decade, opportunities and ideas emerge, encour-aging new ways of seeing. With clarity of intent, Second Sight celebrates the pos-sibilities of design processes that advance environmental thought, sparking a return to purity of raw materials,” said Luum Textiles Creative Direc-tor Suzanne Tick. “Through this interplay of sustainable materials, joyful color, and architectural motifs, new pos-
sibilities are created, crystal-lizing the user experience with a revived energy and outlook for the future.” -Construct elevates the clas-sic wool solid with a wide range of tinted neutrals, rich mainstays, and saturated bright hues that are simple, playful and beautiful. The wool fiber’s worsted quality has an inherent subtle luster and smooth hand, while the nylon content enhances the intrinsic performance of wool. -Flex Wool is a versatile plain-weave textile that embodies a blend of age-old manufac-turing techniques and new design processes to address performance-related opportu-nities. An indirect coordinate of Elastic Wool, Flex Wool’s larger and more textural weave structure is derived from a wool and nylon blend mixed with cationic polyester and elastane, providing a contrasted and vibrant color palette. -Vector borrows its striking rhythmic, multi-color pattern from contemporary architec-ture facades, evoking spatial perspectives and the digital realm. The slender but strong small-scale geometric pattern activates the surface, while color transitions create depth and an undulating effect. Vec-tor is bleach cleanable, mak-ing it suitable for corporate and hospitality areas. -Top Coat, engineered with both the built and natural environment at heart, is a per-formance faux leather made from 100% silicone. Without the presence of additives, silicone inherently rejects mi-crobiological growth, making
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officenewswireit widely applicable in corpo-rate, education, healthcare, and hospitality settings. Top Coat has exceptional uphol-sterability and subtle texture with a color palette range that encompasses deep colors, synthetic brights, and evoca-tive neutrals. Read More
>Wayfair Inc.’s business program, Wayfair Profes-sional, launched its first commercial-use collection of office furniture and decor, Upper Square. The new line includes nearly 700 office-ready pieces for every busi-ness, from start-ups to indus-try leading firms. It features contemporary and mid-cen-tury modern styles designed to accommodate open or private office concepts, col-laboration spaces, reception areas, kitchens and cafes, and more. Offering everything from ergonomic desk chairs, to standing desks, and an array of soft-seating solutions, Upper Square meets the
varied needs of employees in an ever-evolving commercial landscape. Carefully crafted to withstand the everyday use of an active office environ-ment, Upper Square provides affordable options that are flexible enough for new or established businesses, and can be delivered within shorter than average lead times. Read More
NOTEWORTHY>Innovative Office Prod-ucts acquired Louisville, KY-based CompuCaddy. A well-recognized brand within the healthcare industry, Com-puCaddy is a manufacturer of medical computer carts, medical cart workstations and other complementary prod-ucts for medical and health-care facilities. Innovative CFO Kevin McClelland will assume the dual role of President for the business. Patricia Moore, most recently serving as CompuCaddy’s President, will serve as General Manager for the business, reporting to Mr. McClelland. CompuCaddy Owner Greg Linkins will re-main engaged in a consulting role. All CompuCaddy product designed and manufactured at the company’s Louis-ville location will maintain operations at that location. Innovative plans to hire a new sales leader and add to Com-puCaddy’s existing sales force
in the months ahead. The new sales leader will report to IOP’s General Manager, Vice President of Sales Jeff Wolber. CompuCaddy will continue to operate and remain under the CompuCaddy brand name for the immediate future. Read More
>Kimball awarded its 2019 Kimball Premier Partner Award to Innovative Office Solutions of Maria Stein, OH. The award recognizes ex-cellence in sales, partnership, quality improvement, commu-nity involvement, and overall business best practices. Several Kimball Select Deal-ers are nominated each year for this award. The nominees endure a rigorous applica-tion process which narrows down the nominees to two or three finalists. The finalists are reviewed and audited by a judging panel that includes representatives from Kimball and Select Dealer Owners to determine the winner. IOS was started in 2001 and with
Wayfair Professional: Upper Square
Innovative Office Solutions receives 2019 Kimball Premier Partner Award
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officenewswirejust one employee for the first three years and has grown to an innovative solution provider serving clients in Ohio and across the U.S. As a Kimball Select Dealer for eight years, IOS has won the Triumph award for the last five years for market share over 10%. Read More
>NBBJ acquired experience design studio ESI Design. The acquisition signals a new era where buildings will be transformed into immersive and interactive digital experi-ences that engage and de-light. (See officenewswire post for link to video of ESI’s Terrell Place project, pictured.) By joining forces, NBBJ and ESI Design’s multidisciplinary team will be able to integrate digital experiences early in the design process, providing clients with more impactful and streamlined services. Sweeping advancements in technology, from miniaturiza-tion to contemporary light projection technology, will make it possible for NBBJ
and ESI Design to bring the type of immersive experi-ences that are increasingly desired as digital centerpiec-es in museums, stadiums, and transportation hubs to a wider range of industries, including healthcare, educa-tion, civic, commercial real estate, and science. The two firms – which have previously collaborated on commercial real estate and corporate workplace projects in Boston and New York City – will now provide unified solutions as one of the largest and most robust experience design plat-forms in the country. Under the agreement, ESI Design becomes NBBJ’s 18th studio. As part of the acquisition, Ed-win Schlossberg, the founder and principal designer of ESI Design, becomes a partner at NBBJ and will lead the ESI Design studio. Six ESI Design leaders will become principals at NBBJ: Alexandra Alfaro, Angela Greene, Cara Buckley, Emily Webster, Layne Braun-stein, and Susan Okon. NBBJ will retain two office locations
in New York City: The NBBJ New York office at 140 Broad-way and ESI Design, an NBBJ studio at 111 Fifth Avenue. This will create a presence of 160 NBBJ employees in NYC, bringing the firm’s total employees to more than 800 worldwide. Read More
>Scandinavian Spaces an-nounced new sales repre-sentation by Trio, covering Dallas and Oklahoma. “We are excited to have Trio to be part of our family of repre-sentatives. We believe we are building a first class sales force and Trio is a strong contributor to that,” said co-owner Robert Jonsson. Read More
RE-SITED>Greg Reaves joined Lehman Smith McLeish as Partner, leading LSM’s New York Stu-dio. Mr. Reaves brings a wide range of experience, most recently as a partner at Safdie Architects in Boston direct-
ing projects across Asia, the Middle East, and in the US, including the project Jewel at Changi Airport in Singapore. He was a partner at Thomas Phifer and Partners in New York for 13 years, where he was responsible for more than 15 notable projects that garnered 5 prestigious AIA National Honor awards including the North Carolina Museum of Art Expansion. He has also worked with Richard Meier and Partners as a senior project designer on The Getty Center in Los Angeles, as well as Skidmore Owings and Merrill where he started his career. He is chairman of the School of Ar-chitecture Advisory Board at his alma mater the University of Kentucky and is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, the AIA, the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and the Society for College and University Plan-ning. Read More
Trio - Taylor Lummus, Lisa McGovern, and Pagett Smith - now representing Scandinavian Spaces in Dallas and Oklahoma
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officenewswireEVENTS>IFDA NY, participating again in The Bailey House Auction Vignettes, is re-questing donations of items to be auctioned at the Gala on Mar. 5. Desirable catego-ries are furniture, art, lighting, accessories, as well as gift certificates for Restaurants, Theatre and Experiences. Submission forms, one per auction item donated, are due this Wednesday, Feb. 12. Im-ages must be included so that visitors to the online auction site can bid on items during the event. Auction item deliv-ery deadline is Wednesday, Feb. 19. Bailey House got its start in 1983 when a group of visionary and compassionate men and women organized the nation’s first response to homelessness among men living with AIDS. Today Bailey House serves more than 1,800 people living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses throughout New York City. It provides housing and services that help clients ad-dress homelessness, poverty, hunger, substance use, men-tal illness and other critical issues. Read More
>IIDA NY will celebrate the opening of its new Syracuse City Center with a Launch Party on Feb. 27. All in the design community are welcome to attend. Doors open at 4:00 p.m., with “a toast to our future” at 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, but registration is mandatory. For this event, IIDA has chosen to help the families at the Ronald McDonald House of Central New York, and guests are encouraged to bring a household item to donate. Read More
>IIDA NY this Wednesday, Feb. 12 will host “Career Conversations,” a Knowl-edge Forum for Students at the Maharam showroom, 6:30-9:00 p.m. Featuring conversations with industry professionals from various sides of the interior design field, the event will cover both resume building and interview skills. Speakers will include Joseph Muscarella of Knotel, Lawrence Chabra of Robert A. M. Stern Architects, and Dara Osur of Gensler, moderated by IIDA NY Student Repre-sentative Kim Kedem. Read More
WE STAND CORRECTED>Keilhauer informed us about two inaccuracies in our Jan 27 feature about IDS 2020. The article incorrectly stated that President Mike Keilhauer took over the company from his father. “Though Mike’s father was also in the indus-try, Mike started Keilhauer as a new business venture,” the company noted. “We also make more than seating, although understand that is what we are best known for.” The article also listed Keil-hauer’s presence as sponsor of the “Keilhauer Stage” at IDS 2020, but the author may have been working off dated information from the now defunct IIDEX. The company did sponsor a Keilhauer stage at the former show, but at IDS it was only a Stage Furniture Partner. Caeserstone has been the IDS stage sponsor for a number of years.
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businessBUSINESS AFFAIRS>DIRTT Environmental Solutions Ltd. plans to release its 2019 year-end financial results on Tuesday, Feb. 25 after markets close. A conference call and webcast for the in-vestment community is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 26, 8:00 a.m. Mountain Time (10:00 a.m. Eastern). The call and webcast will be hosted by CEO Kevin O’Meara, CFO Geoff Krause, and Director of Investor Relations Kim MacEachern. To join by telephone, please dial +1-877-479-7708 (toll-free in North America) or +1-647-427-2478 (international). Click here to listen to the live webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/2ngtea2g. Investors are invited to submit ques-tions to [email protected] before and during the call. Supplemental information slides will be available within the webcast and at www.dirtt.com/investors prior to the call start. A replay of the call and webcast will later be available until 9:59 p.m. Moun-tain Time (11:59 p.m. Eastern) on Mar. 4 by phone at +1-855-859-2056 with passcode 7242939; and online at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/2ngtea2g or www.dirtt.com/investors/financial-reports/
>HNI Corp. will host its quarterly conference call for inves-tors to discuss fourth quarter and year-end fiscal 2019 results on Thursday, Feb. 20, 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. Central). To participate in the call, please dial 1-877-512-
9166 (Toll-free); Conference ID: 1077266. A live webcast of the call will be available on HNI Corporation’s website at www.hnicorp.com (under Investors – News Releases and Events). A replay of the webcast will be made available at the website ad-dress above and a telephone replay of the call will be available through Thursday, Feb. 27, 10:59 p.m. Central Time at 1-855-859-2056 or 1-404-537-3406 – Conference ID: 1077266. HNI Corporation plans to release its fourth quarter and year-end fiscal 2019 results on Wednesday, Feb. 19, after market close. http://investors.hnicorp.com/
>Interface, Inc. intends to release its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2019 results on Wednesday, Feb. 26, prior to the open of the market, with a conference call the same morn-ing, 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, which will be simultaneously broadcast live over the internet. President and CEO Daniel T. Hendrix and Vice President and CFO Bruce A. Hausmann will host the call. Certain information discussed on the conference call will be available on the Investors page of Interface’s web-site. Listeners may access the conference call live at https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/2151065/9E7DBD2CBD534948DDD21B78514F4529 or through the company’s website. An archived version of the conference call will be available at these sites for one year beginning approximately one day after the call ends. https://investors.interface.com
Second Quarter FY 2020 Highlights (Performance is based upon year-over-year comparison):
-Net sales decreased 4% as expected due to both the Kimball brand realignment plan and lapping strong comps
-Orders increased 13% driven by growth in all verticals
-Operating income margin of 7.4%, or 8.6% on an adjusted basis, increased 220 basis points driven by a 170 basis points improvement in gross margin and a 50 basis point reduction in adjusted selling and administrative expenses
-Transformation savings of $7.1 million realized during the quarter, exceeded expectations
-Net income of $11.0 million, increased 17%
-Adjusted EBITDA of $20.9 million, increased 23%, and adjust-ed EBITDA margin of 10.9%, increased 240 basis points
-Diluted EPS of $0.30, or $0.33 on an adjusted basis, an increase of 27% compared to $0.26 a year ago
“We continued to exceed expectations in delivery of our trans-formation savings, resulting in a significant improvement in earnings again this quarter,” commented Kimball International CEO Kristie Juster. “This delivery of savings increases our confidence in our plan enabling us to increase to our projected full-year savings from $16.0 million to $21.0 million for fiscal year 2020. I am very proud of the organization’s flexibility in embracing this new way of working. The execution of this trans-formation plan and our recently announced plans to centralize our manufacturing operations pave the way forward for both improved profit and increased investment for growth.
“Our sales performance this quarter was in line with our ex-
pectations but below our overall expected organic growth rate of 4% to 7%. I am very encouraged by our 13% order growth in the quarter across all verticals. The increase in our order backlog positions us very well for a strong second half of our fiscal year.”
The decrease in consolidated net sales was attributed to the impact of Kimball brand realignment to higher growth markets and extremely strong comps from the brand’s three focused verticals which had growth in the prior year of: Commercial +29%, Hospitality +16%, and Healthcare +20%.
All verticals reported orders growth in the quarter with hospital-ity leading at 31%. The growth within the hospitality vertical was attributed to the strong Las Vegas market. The healthcare vertical grew 10% following 22% growth in the prior year driven by the Kimball brand’s continued investment and strategic shift to this higher growth vertical.
Sales of new office products, defined as those introduced in the last three years, continued to excel, representing approximately 29% of total office sales compared to 27% in the prior year period. The National brand had new product growth of 28% with much of this focused on ancillary products.
Gross profit margin of 34.0% increased 170 basis points from the prior year. Increases in product pricing and the savings realized from the company’s transformation plan were partially offset by the loss of operating leverage on lower sales volumes and higher employee healthcare expenses.
Selling and administrative expenses declined $1.8 million com-pared to the prior year, but increased 30 basis points to 25.9% of net sales. Lower costs during the quarter compared to the prior year included the benefit from the transformation plan of $3.3 million and lower sales commissions of $1.0 million, partially offset by higher Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan expense of $1.8 million and higher healthcare expenses of $0.7 million. On an adjusted basis, selling and administrative dollars were down 50 basis points year over year. The reduc-tion in selling and administrative expenses was achieved while investing $1.8 million in growth initiatives related to the Kimball International Connect strategy.
Restructuring expenses of $1.4 million were incurred related to the continuing execution of the transformation plan, primarily for employee transition costs and lease-related charges. Total estimated restructuring expenses for the transformation plan are expected to be between $9.0 to $10.0 million for the fiscal year.
Kimball International’s effective tax rate was 28.4% for the quarter compared to 25.6% in the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by nondeductible expenses. The
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businesscompany continues to expect its fiscal year tax rate to be within a range of 25% to 28%.
Net cash flow provided by operating activities totaled $2.3 mil-lion compared to $16.8 million in the prior year. The decrease was driven by a change in payment schedule in the annual incentive program and other working capital changes. Capital expenditures during the quarter were $6.2 million, and the company returned $4.6 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases.
As of Dec. 31, 2019, the company’s cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaled $97.1 million, down $9.2 million since June 30, 2019. The fiscal year 2020 year to date decline was primarily attributed to capital expenditures of $13.5 million and the return of $7.6 million in capital to share-holders, including $6.3 million in dividends and $1.3 million in stock repurchases, which more than offset the $13.4 million in cash flows from operations.
Fiscal Year 2020 – 2022 Financial Targets
-Organic sales growth: 4% to 7% CAGR
-Adjusted EBITDA: 150 to 250 basis points improvement
-Adjusted EPS: 10% to 15% CAGR
Results by End Vertical Market (dollars in millions):
During the company’s conference call, Ms. Juster noted that “All these forecasted metrics were released prior to the recent coronavirus outbreak in China. We are diligently managing this very fluid situation. The safety and well-being of our employees is our Number 1 priority and we are keeping in close contact with our small employee base in China.
“We have implemented a travel ban to and from China. With minimal sales outside of North America, the impacted area for us is our supply base. Approximately 15% of our total mate-rial spend for office furniture is sourced from China and our hospitality business imports approximately 50% to 60% from our supply partners in China.
“We have some buffer inventory because of our planning in an-ticipation of the Chinese New Year. The circumstances are very fluid at this time, and so it is difficult to determine what level of impact this may have on our business. We are keeping in close contact with our employees, suppliers and our customers while actively building contingency plans.
“Setting aside this unique situation, we are in a very healthy place supported by both our improving margins driven by our transformation work and available capital setting us up to take advantage of the opportunities and at the same time manage the volatility. We believe this landscape gives us a solid founda-tion for execution of our Kimball International Connect strategy and related transformation plan as we pursue our three-year financial objectives.” (Conference call transcript courtesy of SeekingAlpha.com)
The full text of Kimball International’s 2Q20 earnings release, including all tables, and a webcast replay of the company’s Feb. 5 conference call, including a PDF of its 2Q20 Earn-ings and Strategy Update with supplementary data, may be accessed at https://www.kimballinternational.com/investor-information
>Knoll, Inc.’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.17 per share. It is payable Mar. 31 to share-holders of record on Mar. 16. https://knoll.gcs-web.com/
02.10.20 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS PAGE 31 OF 32
business>Knoll, Inc. plans to report financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2019 on Tuesday, Feb. 18 following the close of the market. The press release will include expanded commentary reviewing the company’s performance and initia-tives. In addition, Knoll will host a Q&A conference call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, Feb. 18. To access the live Q&A call: North America (844) 778-4138; International (661) 378-9550; Conference ID 3627238. A replay of the call will be available through Feb. 25 by dialing (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406 and entering passcode 3627238, as well as on the company’s investor relations website through Apr. 24. https://knoll.gcs-web.com/
>Mohawk Industries, Inc. will issue its fourth quarter 2019 earnings release this Thursday, Feb. 13, with a conference call scheduled for Friday, Feb. 14, 11:00 am Eastern Time. The live call may be accessed via the Investor Information sec-tion of www.mohawkind.com or via phone at 1-800-603-9255 (US/Canada), 1-706-634-2294 (Int’l), or 1-253-237-1879 (Int’l); Conference ID: 3678629. For those unable to listen at the designated time, the call will remain available for replay over Mohawk Industries, Inc. investor relations website through Mar. 14, or by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (US/Canada) or 1-404-537-3406 (Int’l/Local) and entering Conference ID # 3678629. http://ir.mohawkind.com/
Solomon Coyle is a business management consultancy serving contract office fur-niture dealers and their pri-mary manufacturing partners through our focus on dealer performance and profitability improvement.
Position Overview
We seek a proven, hands-on B2B communicator to work full-time in leading our brand advocacy, content strategy, marketing and business development communica-tions, media relations, and communications support for manufacturer partners. The position also calls for contrib-uting editorially to the firm’s proposals and written deliver-ables. This is a remote-work job with a minimal amount of required business travel. Solomon Coyle will supply ap-propriate hardware, software and furniture as needed.
Major Responsibilities
> Working in consultation with key stakeholders, develop and lead the firm’s B2B communications pro-grams and activities.
> Handle the ideation and creation of compelling content including website copy, blog and social media posts, email campaigns, press releases, service/product descriptions, and digital advertising.
> Develop email campaign strategy, planning, schedul-ing and lists.
> Take end-to-end respon-sibility for email automa-tion, coordinating the use of internal and external resources as needed.
> Provide day-to-day inter-face with external resourc-es such as branding, digital media or web development professionals.
Minimum Qualifications
> Bachelor’s degree in Eng-lish, Journalism, Public Re-lations, Marketing, Digital Media or another relevant discipline.
> Consistent ability for high-quality writing and editing with a strong sense of the audience and their infor-mation needs.
> Good working knowledge of email marketing, SEO, web analytics, CRM-based audi-ence segmentation, Word-Press content authoring, and basic HTML and CSS.
> Practiced user of Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Preferred Additional Qualifications
> B2B writing/editing experi-ence in the office furniture industry.
> Technical experience creating automated email campaigns. Experience with Dynamics 365 and ClickDimensions preferred.
> Experience with Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.
> Familiarity with WordPress e-commerce integration.
Work Environment
We are a small, virtual organization where per-sonal productivity is high and daily effectiveness demands personal accountability and integrity, good interper-sonal communications, time management, adherence to deadlines, and commitment to client success.
Compensation and Benefits
Salary will be set by mutual agreement to reflect relevant experience, competencies, and potential to further the achievement of the com-pany’s business objectives. Benefits include flexible work schedule, healthcare, and paid time off.
Inquiries
The Marketing Communica-tions Specialist position is avail-able immediately. Please send statement of interest, résumé, and three writing samples to [email protected].
Marketing Communications Specialist - Remote Position Based in USA
