The Village of Oregon, Wisconsin had been trying to attract a hotel to serve its growing community for more than a decade. At the end of December 2017, Adam Coyle and S&L Hospitality brokered a development deal to create a new 66-room Sleep Inn & Suites at 1120 Park Street, just a block from the Highway 14/138 Interchange on the Village's southeast corner.

It is hard to know what the total impact of the pandemic will be on our economy here in Wisconsin, but there is some positive news that can help all of us. The recently-passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) provides a variety of assistance programs to businesses and homeowners. We have outlined the programs below that we think can provide the quickest and best help for you, your business, and your employees.

It’s February, which means it’s award season for Friede & Associates. Every year, we enter our most distinctive projects in the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Wisconsin Projects of Distinction Awards. This year, we submitted seven projects for consideration. The award submissions are tedious to prepare and require a long list of documentation just to be eligible.

We’ve all heard the saying, “There is strength in numbers.” Fortunately, for Friede & Associates, we are part of an international construction organization comprised of hundreds of entrepreneurs who share what they have learned on the job site and in the boardroom.

When Matt and Kristin Boegner first contacted Friede & Associates to discuss their plans for a new multipurpose building, we never would have guessed that the project would result in Balanced Rock Winery, one of Wisconsin’s premier wineries, restaurants and event spaces. Located on the south side of Baraboo, Wisconsin on the doorstep of Devils Lake State Park, the new 6,000-square-foot building includes a beautiful tasting area, retail space, outdoor seating, grape crushing pad, and events stage.

Father David Carrano of Sacred Heart Catholic Church was approached by a parishioner in 2018 who was moved to make a major donation to the church. This donation would provide a second worship space attached to the main church to create a closer,  more intimate relationship with Jesus. Nearly 15 months later, the finished project was unveiled to both the parish and the community of Reedsburg, Wisconsin with the dedication of Our Lady of Refuge Adoration Chapel on September 22, 2019.

While Friede & Associates was busy constructing Vintage Brewing Company in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 2017, planning had already begun for a fourth location on Madison, Wisconsin’s near eastside. Vintage Brewing Company President Mark Kraemer disclosed to the Friede team in the Fall of 2016 that they were in negotiations to lease the first floor of a building that would be built at the corner of Livingston Street and the 800 block of East Washington Avenue. 

“We’ll figure it out.” This is a phrase I say to clients fairly often but, until a recent conversation, I didn’t realize how much it crystallizes the holistic client service approach we take at Friede & Associates.

My conversation with our client, Josh, began with his calling me to discuss how we should incorporate and relay to his bank some cost variations for his project—specifically how it would affect his loan structure, and resulting ramifications.

When the Sauk County Parks Department (SCPD) chose to replace their failing park offices, they recognized the potential of building a community space—one that could host events and serve as a hub for park visitors. That’s when Friede & Associates was tapped to construct a new building for the SCPD at White Mound Park, the crown jewel of the Sauk County parks system.

Over the last decade, Friede & Associates has been fortunate to continue to grow exponentially, completing projects that we surely could not have handled 10 years ago. We have truly embodied our slogan “We Do Weird Well,” as we have embarked on some of the most creative, innovative, and, at times, nearly impossible projects and brought them to life for our astonished clients.

For nearly two decades, I was a member of an elite group of construction entrepreneurs from the U.S. and Canada who came together twice each year to present to each other and share war stories. That group—the Jack Miller Network—was a place where I learned how to streamline our business procedures and got help solving problems from other general contractors who had “been there, done that.”

Each year, we dust off the trophy case and make room for more Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) of Wisconsin Projects of Distinction Awards, and this year was no different. The Friede Team earned six awards for local projects and, for the seventh straight year, we were awarded the ABC-Wisconsin Built On Merit Award.

Friede & Associates had the recent opportunity to add to what we—and our client and their guests—believe is the ultimate Midwestern spa. When Sundara Inn & Spa at the Wilderness Resort in Lake Delton opened 15 years ago, it quickly became one of the true gems in the state of Wisconsin. Rated not only one of the top spas in the Midwest and the U.S., it also ranks one of the top spa destinations in the world by the readers of Travel + Leisure Magazine. Our recent work there involved the new construction of woodland retreats and a quiet room designed to build on that legacy.

If there’s a trend crisscrossing the country, it’s the growing popularity and ubiquity of craft breweries. Nearly 1,000 new breweries opened in 2017 and the numbers for 2018 have remained steady. Friede & Associates joined the party in 2018 with the construction of the new, 26,000-square-foot Vintage Brewing Company Sauk Prairie that opened in January 2018.

One of the more violent storms to hit central Wisconsin during the summer of 2017 resulted in one of the more distinctive projects of the year for Friede & Associates. On the evening of July 19, 2017, witnesses reported that a strong thunderstorm had passed through the area, and waterpark guests recalled being startled by a loud noise from the roof. An hour later, a guest at the resort noticed flames coming from the top of the building’s parapet wall.