AIA Grand Valley

Current News

AIA Grand Valley Golf Outing

Thank you to all those who participated in this year's golf outing on Monday, June 1 at Thornapple Pointe. We had a good turnout, and the weather was great, despite a forecast of scattered thunderstorms!

Thank you especially to our sponsors, Belden Brick, Pella, Engineered Structures, Tower Pinkster, Huntington - West Michigan, Centria, and Acoustics by Design. We couldn't do it without you!

We were also able to raise $1,000 for Habitat for Humanity!

We hope that many of you will join us next year for the 2010 AIAGV golf outing!

Canstruction/Canned Rapids

As many of you know, AIA Grand Valley teamed with Kendall College of Art & Design, Miller Canfield, and the Salvation Army in order to create the first ever Canstruction competition in Grand Rapids. This event was also known as Canned Rapids and garnered much local media attention, as well as (and more importantly) providing a significant amount of canned goods to the Salvation Army food bank.

This year’s Canstruction was intended to be a fun and innovative charity competition among local designers, students, architects, and contractors. The event included a total of five teams which completed five sculptures--created exclusively from cans and other packaged food products.

These five teams included three local AIAGV firms--Paradigm Design, Integrated Architecture, and Fishbeck Thompson Carr & Huber. These firms provided the cans for their designs through donations and diligent work while also spending countless hours planning, designing, and constructing their concepts.

The AIAGV board would like to specifically thank these firms for their participation in this event and for their steadfast support of those less fortunate and those in need during these tough economic times. It is through actions like these that we, as architects, can make positive contributions to our communities and become the citizen leaders that our region needs.

This is also an opportunity for all of our members to see the hard work of these three firms, who stepped up and delivered.

We hope that many of you will see this work and decide to join this project next year, when we hope to double the number of teams and, ultimately, the number of cans donated.

This year we collected over 13,000 cans from these five teams, and the AIA Grand Valley was a big part of that. So, again, many thanks to these three companies and their commitment to the profession and the community.

Fishbeck Thompson Carr & Huber

Integrated, JDH, and Pioneer

Paradigm

Sponsors

Platinum Level AIAGV Chapter Sponsor

http://www.beldenbrick.com

To build a successful family-owned business takes commitment, knowledge, hard work, sacrifice and determination. To build a business that spans over one hundred years of growth and development requires more than a firm family commitment. It takes the skill, knowledge, dedication and hard work of countless others who, together, create a reputation for excellence that is reinforced every day at The Belden Brick Company.

Platinum Level AIAGV Chapter Sponsor

www.grandrapids.pella.com

Pella Commercial Division by Horne

2120 Oak Industrial Drive, NE

Grand Rapids, MI 49505

800-235-3600

Silver Level AIAGV Chapter Sponsor

www.veenstra.com

Address: 850 Grandville Ave. SW Grand Rapids MI 49503

Phone: (800) 542-4789

E-mail: mob@veenstra.com

Event Sponsors

Golf Outing Sponsor

www.acousticsbydesign.com

Golf Outing Sponsor

www.huntington.com

Golf Outing Sponsor

www.centria.com

Honor Award Event Sponsor

www.professionalunderwriters.com

Professional Underwriters, Inc., is not just a name, it is who we are. We are an insurance agent whose sole focus is providing quality and cost-effective insurance services for design professionals. For over 35 years, we have focused our efforts on providing customized insurance solutions to our clients. Based upon our unique understanding of the risks inherent to the business of design professionals, we work with our clients to provide individualized services to meet their specific needs.

We and our affiliated agencies are recognized within the industry as a leader in providing insurance products and bonds for architects and engineers. Nationally, we provide insurance coverage for over 1,500 design firms. Professional Underwriters, Inc., was one of the first agencies to identify the need to provide risk management and loss prevention services to our clients. For 15 years we have sponsored annual seminars for architects and engineers on risk management and emerging issues for design professionals.