May 2022
7
Up-Front
PROCON Celebrates Groundbreaking
Golden Announces Departure from BPDA Boston – Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) director, Brian Golden, announced he is concluding his tenure after serving for more than eight years as the chief executive of the agency. As chief executive, he has managed the biggest building boom in Boston’s history, while ushering in holistic reforms designed to improve how the agency supports the residents of Boston. He focused on improving transparency, accountability, and community engagement, while furthering equitable outcomes throughout Boston’s neighborhoods. Appointed as permanent director by Mayor Martin J. Walsh in 2014, Golden is the longest serving leader in the agency’s 65-year history. Over the past eight years, he has steered more than 90 million square feet of development approvals through the BPDA’s permitting process. He grew the BPDA’s planning capacity, dedicating the resources and personnel necessary to complete the first general city plan since 1965, Imagine Boston 2030, which the BPDA board formally adopted in 2017. In 2020, Golden announced the creation of the first ever Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI).
Brian Golden
Today that office is led by a director of DEI and supported by a team of community engagement managers. “The board has seen firsthand the instrumental work Brian has led to support economic development and new housing opportunities that lift up our communities, while creating a more transparent, accountable BPDA that better serves the people of Boston,” said BPDA board chair, Priscilla Rojas. “On behalf of the board, I thank Brian for his many years of service to our city and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
Suffolk Encourages Next Generation
Boston – Suffolk announced it took a unique approach when installing fencing around its jobsite at 401 Park in Boston. The project team decided the fence surrounding the project should generate warmth and inspiration for children at a nearby daycare center rather than serve as a barrier separating the project site from the community. The company wanted students at the Bright Horizons daycare center to feel engaged in the building process. Suffolk hosted virtual classes for the children to spark their interest in construction and encouraged them to draw what they saw on site, right outside their windows. Using their artwork, the team designed custom scrim (the wrap on the fence) with lookout holes so students could have a sneak peek at the action
At the groundbreaking (l-r): Matt Mecum, chair of board of selectman, Town of Boylston; Kim Ames, chair of planning board, Town of Boylston; Adam Tominsky, general manager, Rand-Whitney Container; Nick Smith, president and CEO, Rand-Whitney Container; Christopher Harrigan, CFO, Rand-Whitney Container; Ted Fire, VP of construction and development, The Kraft Group; and from PROCON: Matt Wirth, SVP architecture; Phil Germain, SVP of preconstruction; Jen Stebbins Thomas, managing director; John Stebbins, managing director; Daniel Messier, SVP of construction operations; and Tom Haubrich, senior project manager.
Boylston, MA – Rand-Whitney officials were joined by business leaders, Town of Boylston officials and their designbuilder, PROCON, for the groundbreaking ceremony of a 384,000sf packaging facility in Boylston. The state-of-the-art facility represents the latest investment by the company in equipment and capacity to meet the significant growth in worldwide demand for packaging that was accelerated by the COVID pandemic. When fully operational, the new packaging facility will have the potential to manufacture 300 million boxes annually. Operating in Massachusetts since 1938, Rand-Whitney chose to build the facility in Boylston due to its proximity to major transportation corridors and access to a skilled workforce. The sustainable facility will feature energy efficiencies and the industry’s most efficient robotics and automation equipment. Rand-Whitney’s vertical integration will allow the facility to manufacture packaging that uses a very high percentage of post-consumer waste, using 100% post-consumer waste linerboard produced in the company’s own mill in Connecticut. Rand-Whitney is one of several companies owned by New England Patriots’ Owner Robert Kraft and is the largest independent corrugated
DIETZ & COMPANY ARCHITECTS
Rendering of Rand-Whitney packaging facility in Boylston, Mass.
packaging manufacturer in New England with areas of expertise in cost-saving package re-engineering and custom lean manufacturing programs. The company also produces and ships corrugated displays, shipping containers and folding cartons to a variety of industrial and consumer end-users. The Boylston facility is its fourth collaboration with PROCON. “Working with the leadership at RandWhitney over the past decade has been incredible,” said John Stebbins, PROCON managing director. “The design and construction of the Boylston packaging facility will reflect that leadership by featuring innovation, energy efficiency, and cutting-edge automation.” DESIGN THAT LOOKS GOOD, DOES GOOD Shirley Meadows - Devens , MA
happening inside. From these classes and conversations, the kids also constructed their own buildings at Bright Horizons using wood and recycled materials.
DIETZ
55 Frank B. Murray Street Suite 201 Springfield, MA 01103 (413) 733-6798 www.dietzarch.com
CO.
Architects
www.high-profile.com
