Oscar Wilde once said, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Well, if that’s the case, then the owners of the newly-renovated Nelson Agri-Center True Value in Viroqua, Wisconsin should be flattered by what their customers were asking for. In 2015, Friede & Associates designed and constructed the award-winning Nelson True Value in Prairie du Chien for owners Mark Brueggen and Dan Kanis.

The Friede & Associates team recently completed the site work and has begun the next stage in a multi-phase plan to more than double the footprint of Kalahari Resorts & Conventions Conference Center in The Wisconsin Dells. The existing conference facility will be expanded to more than 200,000 square feet to make room for additional meeting and banquet spaces.

There was no magic involved, but our clients at Therapy Without Walls in Reedsburg, Wisconsin reacted as though there might have been. That’s because the Friede team began with a big, old red barn and magically transformed it into an inviting, new office space.

What happens when installers aren’t available to get architectural panels prepared and installed on time to meet the schedule? For Friede & Associates the answer was simple: Get the firm’s own staff to cut and form the Trespa Architectural panels needed for HuHot Mongolian Grill's new building – and install the panels so everything was ready for opening day.

We are always eager to read “The Top 10 [Insert A Topic] in Wisconsin” posts from Best Things Wisconsin, USA Today, OnlyInYourState.com, Buzzfeed, and other publications as they draw attention to the wonders of Wisconsin. Many times they focus on restaurants, water parks, attractions, resorts, or retail outlets that Friede & Associates has had the pleasure to build. Who would have guessed when we constructed The Old Fashioned Restaurant about a decade ago that it would go on to be a staple on these lists in both the restaurant and bar categories.

Our client, Sanimax, discovered that on September 11, 2014. That’s when employees of the Deforest, Wisconsin company returned to the plant to find firefighters still on-site. It had been a long night and fire crews from several municipalities were still tending to a major electrical fire that tore through the building that housed the majority of the company’s grease recycling operations.

The 2017 Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin Projects of Distinction Awards Program was held on February 15, 2018, at the Glacier Canyon Lodge Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells. Friede & Associates’ team members, as well as project owners and design-build partners, were present to accept the prestigious awards.

We all need mentors and others to look up to. Fortunately, for Friede & Associates, we have an entire network of mentors. Last week, some of our team members attended the Construction Leadership Network (CLN) conference in Tampa, Florida to practice win-win sharing. The CLN membership is comprised of a diverse group of entrepreneurs, commercial contractors, and construction industry providers from throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Are you a business owner or developer looking to hire a commercial construction company? This month, we turn to commercial construction expert Scott Truehl to offer insights into this sometimes challenging process. As commercial brokers, we have seen plenty of budget and planning disasters in commercial real estate. It really is a breath of fresh air to listen to Scott explain their process at Friede & Associates. A great commercial construction experience starts with finding a contractor you can trust.

In our neck of the Wisconsin woods, Kalahari Resorts & Conventions is one of the most respected and popular destinations for both families and business leaders. With a fun-filled indoor water park, guest rooms, restaurants, meeting spaces, ballrooms, and more, the Wisconsin Dells Kalahari Resorts attracts vacationers and convention groups from throughout the Midwest.

Friede & Associates is pleased and proud to again be designated as an Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) by the Associated Builders & Contractors. This accreditation is important to us—not just because we believe it helps us. We are certain that it also helps our clients. Bottom line: AQC contractors are good corporate citizens, and Friede is one of only three AQC-Qualified general contractors in Wisconsin. In addition, for the last 12 years, we have earned silver or gold in the mandatory STEP (Safety Training Evaluation Process) program.

While Friede & Associates does most of its work for two-legged creatures, some of our most unique design-build projects are built for our four-legged friends. In fact, we recently broke ground on construction on a brand new North American River Otter Exhibit for Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wisconsin. This $355,000 project is scheduled for completion in November 2017.

One of the most exciting projects Friede & Associates has helped bring to fruition recently is the Casa de Oakes assisted living and memory care community in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. This 40-unit, 33,000-square-foot senior housing complex with new corporate offices, could not have been completed without a great deal of teamwork. Between the Casa de Oakes team, the City of Reedsburg’s development corporation, and the Friede team, we worked to identify the perfect site as well as available tax incentives and financing for this much-needed senior and memory care facility.

Sometimes the best gifts to a community really do come in small packages.

The new Reedsburg Municipal Airport Terminal is a case in point. At 2,300 square feet, it’s a construction welterweight, but the combination of superior strength and charming architectural features make it a true asset to Central Wisconsin.

Over the course of a two-year period, Friede & Associates was asked to work with two different clients in the Wisconsin Dells who were experiencing the same problem. Both waterpark clients had 45-foot, wooden slide towers that were showing significant signs of deterioration. They both needed immediate solutions that would result in the replacement of the towers. But that’s where the similarities end.