Healthcare is evolving – and its facilities need to keep up. Building an outstanding hospital requires meeting or better yet, exceeding the expectations and ever-changing needs of patients. Healthcare providers are inclining more and more towards value-based care. Hence, they want to build or redesign hospitals in a way that works for both the staff […]
2019 continues to bring negative and positive factors that contractors will need to address. These factors include: Labor The shortage of labor for the commercial construction industry looms as the primary challenge faced by construction firms. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports employment rates are on the rise in most states, making it difficult to […]
Harsh winters in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) are not surprising. In fact, Gwinn in the center of Michigan’s UP averages 163 inches of snowfall per year. What may be surprising is that commercial construction companies in the Northern Great Lakes region can continue to build during the winter months. Of course, some factors need to […]
Gundlach Champion, Inc. (GCI) is the marriage of two of the nation’s most storied and inventive construction companies: Herman Gundlach, Inc. founded in 1898, and Champion, Inc. founded in 1921. For over a century, GCI has been providing services with exceptional service and value to the commercial, industrial, educational, healthcare, and municipal. Today, the GCI […]
MARQUETTE — The water is turned on, and the $34 million Marquette Ojibwa Casino expansion project is on-schedule to open its doors before 2020, officials say. “The project is moving along very well and we are actually slated to open most of the new facility in December of this year. The only item that will […]
On a sunny summer afternoon, Bill Verrette is sitting at his desk at Champion, Inc.’s headquarters in Iron Mountain, Michigan with an eye on the real-time feed of a current construction project being streamed on his computer screen. Although Bill is no longer the President of Champion, Inc., following a long and successful tenure, and […]
MARQUETTE — The Lake Superior Community Partnership recognized its 2019 Distinguished Service Award winners Feb. 20 at Northern Michigan University. The business service award went to Champion Inc. of Iron Mountain. Having served the region for almost a century, Champion Inc. has expanded to three divisions, Champion Concrete, Champion Charter and Gundlach Champion. A few […]
When a local hospital wanted to take over the existing Municipal Service Center for an expansion, the City of Marquette was faced with the need to promptly replace the Municipal Service Center with a new facility. The design-build team of Gundlach Champion; Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber; and GEI Consultants was retained by the city […]
GCI has been focused on the safety of our job sites since we were founded in 1898. We are continuing that tradition by participating National Safety Stand-Down Day on May 7, 2018. The focus for this year is a leading cause of death for construction employees, fall-related incidents. Of the 991 construction fatalities in 2016, 370 fatalities were […]
On Friday April 13, Kellie Klossner (GCI Project Coordinator) and Liza LaJoice (GCI Operations Manager) had the opportunity to attend the Women in Construction Day at Northern Michigan University (NMU). The event is hosted by the Construction Management Project at NMU and its aim is provide young women from grades 7 to 12 the opportunity […]