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Volume 13
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Number 10
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OCTOBER 2016
Family friends
Innovation at work
L-R: Patti Allen and Ashton Sams love working at J&K Cabinetry so much, they’re recruiting their own co-workers.
L-R: Tenbusch Inc.’s Mike Tenbusch and Al Tenbusch
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ord of mouth doesn’t just draw in customers. In the case of J&K Cabinetry, it attracts employees too – and then even more employees. Sales employee Patti Allen in J&K’s Dallas office might have a little something to do with that. After working at another cabinetry company, she joined J&K’s staff last December. Allen was so impressed with the company’s high-end solid maple cabinetry and customer service that, last July, she recruited former co-worker Ashton Sams to come on board as the office’s first interior designer. Sams, in turn, enjoyed working for J&K so much that she too played recruiter, wooing her twin sister to join the company a month ago.
Sams says the company’s nurturing environment is one of the reasons J&K’s staff has tripled since last winter. “It’s really laid back and friendly,” Sams says. “Everybody knows each other. It’s a nice environment. We’ll spread lunch out in the office and eat together. We help each other; there’s always an extra hand you can count on.” That familial feeling trickles down from the top. “It’s a family-owned company, and it’s been in business for 17 years,” Allen explains. “We have 17 locations around the country. Not only does the family own the factory in China where the cabinets are produced, but a family member continued on Page 20
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l Tenbusch started his business more than 40 years ago with the purchase of a single backhoe and a strong desire to put his equipment to work. His company, Tenbusch Inc., adapted over the years from digging trenches in the early days to doing water and sewer work as a utility contractor and then shifting focus to boring and tunneling work. For Tenbusch, innovation was always key and was what he used to ensure continuous work for him and his company. He often created his own equipment to help complete tough jobs and, when he wasn’t creating something new, he was altering something he already had to make it better. This innovative mind-
set led him to shift his company’s focus to solely manufacturing equipment for underground contractors in 2001. Since that shift, Tenbusch has been granted five patents on his equipment and helped author numerous technical papers for the industry. However, for Tenbusch, it’s all about the contractor and the work. “Contractors do not get enough credit for their knowledge and no nonsense attitude needed to get things done,” he says. “They play a huge role. Having walked in their shoes for more than 25 years, I have an appreciation of their mindset and the challenges they sometimes face.” continued on Page 20
Rustic renovation
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exadelphia found an ideal retail center space for its new Richardson restaurant at 100 South Central Expressway – except it wasn’t ideal. A 50year revolving door of retail and restaurant tenants had left the space in clear need of a finish-out. H1 Construction president and senior project manager Craig R. Hebert saw the project as an opportunity to not just correct the 3,300-sf space’s flaws, but to create something better for the client. Working with architect P Shade LLC in McKinney, Hebert and his team overcame many challenges to fashion an eatery filled with rustic charm. “Because it was so old and so many different tenants had been there before, we had to relocate and move things around to facilitate another restaurant. It was quite extensive,” Hebert says. “It was space that had a considerable amount of things that needed to be done to make it work, including relocating the building’s
H1 Construction transformed a rundown retail space into a rustic restaurant with modern, thoughtful touches.
structural components and extensive work outside to receive the plumbing necessary to provide for a restaurant. We had to relocate roof drains that were coming down through the middle of the kitchen area. We also had to relocate main sewer lines and connections throughout the space to accommodate the plumbing needs for the grease interceptors.” Even though the space required extensive work, Hebert says the process was “fairly smooth.” “Complications did come up that caused delays,” he says. “We even had to perform some modifications to the exterior of the building for the landlord for their egress; the sidewalks and approach to the building were dilapidated. Those were upgrades that were improved as well to facilitate the restaurant’s needs.” There was one pleasant surprise in store for the crew, however. When the continued on Page 20