Celebrating Project Milestones with Customers

Helmkamp recently celebrated the topping out of a new building construction project with one of our Higher Education clients, Principia College.

The structural steel being placed is for Principia's new School of Government building, scheduled for completion in early 2021 on their Elsah campus. Helmkamp President & Owner, Rob Johnes, suggested in the early stages of the project that celebrating the last beam atop their new building would be a fun milestone to celebrate with Principia. "It's important to enjoy the work we do and celebrate key aspects in the construction process along the way. Building a new space is exciting and there is a lot of work on both sides that goes into it. As a construction partner, we believe it's important for the customer's experience with Helmkamp to be easy and fun. We strive to be a trusted partner who can alleviate most of the stress that typically coincides with these larger construction projects. We also have an amazing construction team of experts here at Helmkamp, who exceed expectations project after project. It's exciting for all of us to celebrate these milestones together."

As the new building structure came together, Helmkamp approached Principia with the idea for the topping out ceremony and including their faculty, student, and staff. Knowing students and faculty see and walk around the construction site on campus regularly, including them in this milestone would get them excited about their new building and perhaps help them understand part of the building process as they walked by the site every day.

Superintendent, Rick Verdun, coordinated many of the logistics for the last beam to be prepped prior to being positioned at the top of the north wing of the new building. The beam was painted white then decorated in school colors and a #iamprincipia decal. It was then put in a common place on campus where it could be signed for a few days prior to the ceremony. When it was time for the beam to be hoisted into place, it was moved to the edge of the construction site where people could safely gather and watch the crane lift it into place.

The below video is a great recap of the event and everyone's involvement.

Helmkamp is proud to have served Principia's construction needs since 2006. We look forward to the opportunity of celebrating future project milestones - such as groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings, and topping out ceremonies like this one - with all of our customers.