Statesville, North Carolina is a vibrant community centrally located between the major cities of Charlotte to the south and Winston-Salem to the northeast. Statesville's 30,000 ft2 Civic Center balances its roles as a historic central meeting place for residents, with the modern needs of business meetings and conventions drawing corporations from one of the country's fastest-growing regions.
So when Civic Center Director Kenny Roberts noticed early signs of water intrusion coming from the building's ballasted EPDM roof, he didn't wait for the problem to worsen, and quickly called Garland representative Casey Brandemuehl for an assessment of the situation.
Roberts had two main objectives:
His primary goal was to create and maintain a leak-free environment, prior to the leak issues the Civic Center was experiencing becoming a major intrusion.
Secondly, he needed to make a limited budget work for the project without sacraficing the quality required to deliver on his first objective.
Said Roberts, "We wanted to get out of the cycle of fighting leaks that comes with a lesser quality roof. At the same time, I knew what my budget was and had to stay within certain parameters. I'd looked at virtually every type of roofing system to find something that could meet our needs, and knew Garland had the highest-quality products available. Then Casey brought OMNIA Partners to the table, and everything fell into place."
Casey Brandemuehl is Garland's Territory Manager for the Carolinas. After touring the Civic Center and discussing Roberts' objectives, he recommended the City of Statesville utilize the group purchasing contract between OMNIA Partners and Garland's Design-Build Solutions (DBS) cooperative contract through OMNIA Partners, Public Sector. Section e(3) of North Carolina Statute 143-129 states that any governmental or public agency is authorized to cooperatively purchase from contracts competitively solicited by another government agency for the purpose of increasing efficiency or reducing administrative expenses. Garland/DBS has held an approved contract for roofing and building envelope solutions with OMNIA Partners since 2019.
By leveraging the contract through OMNIA Partners, Robert and his team were able to realize three important benefits:
Choice in roofing system. Roberts and the City of Statesville team could choose the right system for their specific needs.
Assistance in qualifying local bidding contractors. Products are just one part of the solution-without a qualified contractor to install the roofing system, even the best systems will fail. The cooperative contract allowed the City of Statesville to evaluate competitive bids from local, vetted, and approved Garland roofing contractors.
Lower TCO. By utilizing the cooperative contract through OMNIA Partners to source materials directly from Garland, the Civic Center saved on total project cost from its initial estimates, while getting the exact system they wanted.
Local roofing contractor Davco Roofing & Sheet Metal was awarded the project and exceeded expectations as they installed the redundant 2-ply Garland roofing system of StressBase 80 base sheet with a StressPly E Mineral cap sheet. Above waterproofing protection, StressPly E delivered sustainability benefits, with 27% pre-consumer recycled content, 8% post-consumer recycled content, and 2.5% rapidly renewable content.
Brandemuehl partnered closely with Davco, visitng the job site three times each week during installation, and providing weekly status reports and photos to Roberts and the City of Statesville. The finished system received a 32-year No-Dollar-Limit warranty from Garland.
Said Brandemuehl, "Working with OMNIA, we went beyond just providing material - we assisted Kenny with managing the entire process, including proper roof design, qualifying bidding contractors, checking in on the job during installation, and thinking long-term to ensure the Statesville Civic Center is able to continue hosting weddings, trade shows, and community events for decades to come - without leaks. The Garland Company is employee-owned, which means I own a small part of the company. With support from OMNIA Partners and partnership from Kenny, I feel that same sense of ownership in the Statesville Civic Center."
OMNIA Partners helps ensure fairness and integrity within the public procurement industry by implementing best practice procedures, saving participating agencies both time and money. OMNIA Partners is proud to offer more value and resources to state and local government, higher education, K-12 education and non-profits.
As a facilities solutions supplier, Garland/DBS, Inc., a jointly-owned subsidiary of The Garland Company, Inc., and Design-Build Solutions, Inc., has teamed up with OMNIA Partners, Public Sector to provide roofing and waterproofing products and services to all participating agencies through the County of Racine contract.