Population growth in southern Texas has helped H. E. Butt Grocery Company become one of the largest grocery companies in the United States with stores throughout Texas and in Mexico. To sustain this growth and reduce the impact of increasing transportation costs, H. E. Butt recently made the decision to invest in the design and construction of a new 400,000-square-foot dry grocery facility in Weslaco, TX.
H. E. Butt’s in-house team of construction and logistics professionals understand the importance of a well-built, low-maintenance facility. In partnering with Primus Builders, Inc., the project team elected to install a shrinkcompensating concrete floor slab, and a Sarnafil roof system designed to withstand the South Texas environment. Additional building features include a cross dock with 82 dock positions, an ESFR fire sprinkler system that eliminates the need for “in-rack” sprinkler drops, and fluorescent T-5 light fixtures to minimize energy consumption to light the facility.
For the year-round comfort of H. E. Butt’s associates, the Southern Texas facility is also tempered to 80 degrees F and utilizes insulated metal panels on the exterior of the building to save energy.
Atlas, a solutions provider for refrigerated warehousing,
transportation and logistics across North America, continues to expand its international logistics services by expanding it’s portside facility in Mobile.
Atlas Cold Storage selected Primus Builders to design and
construct the 30,000-square-foot frozen seafood warehouse
expansion through a conceptual RFP process. The facility enables Atlas to provide complete international logistics services to import/export customers.
Built on deep foundations with 85-foot piles and structural
concrete slabs, the facility features ammonia refrigeration
and inrack fire protection. The expansion houses 4,000 pallet positions. In addition, designers incorporated features to help the building withstand tropical storm and hurricane force winds. The expedited schedule of work allowed for a four-month construction duration and made storage available for the fall harvest season.
Primus Builders has built our reputation for excellence by assembling one of the top teams of professionals in our industry. In this issue, we highlight a few members of our team:
As Director of Business Development, Matt sets sales targets, defines strategy to achieve these targets, identifies new business within our company’s niche market focus, manages large client accounts and strategic partnerships. He has more than five years of experience specific to the food and beverage industry. His education in mechanical engineering and operations management give him a unique technical and analytical approach toward projects, and meeting our clients needs.
Russ brings more than 35 years experience in the
engineering, design and construction of food and
beverage processing facilities. Russ is licensed in 20 states. As Vice President, his responsibilities include planning, design and managing of food and beverage projects. His duties include managing and coordinating multiple design teams, subcontractors, and schedules. He places special emphasis on value engineering, constructability and conformance with owner’s design criteria and business objectives.
As Senior Project Manager for Primus Builders, Mark is responsible for all project implementation activities associated with the design and construction of our projects including design review, scheduling, procurement, contract management and cost control. Mark provides direct representation of the Primus team to our Owners, communicating project status, schedule and project financial information on a
monthly as well as organizing owner training sessions and conducting post job conferences. During the course of his 23-year career, Mark has worked on numerous high-profile projects for companies such as Sara Lee, Johnson & Johnson, Pillsbury, Iams, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Perdue, Guinness UDV, Hatfield Quality Meats, C.R. Bard, and H-E-B Grocery Company.
Tammi has more than 15 years of professional experience in the design and construction industry. She has worked in a variety of niche markets
including parks and recreation, school design and renovations, retail shopping centers, office buildings, restaurant facilities and judicial detention centers and courthouses. In addition to designing the H.E. Butt, Richmond Cold Storage, and U.S. Cold Storage facilities described in this issue, she has provided architectural services on high-profile projects for industry leaders such as VersaCold, Sysco, and New Orleans Cold Storage.
Michael’s responsibilities as project manager include managing all aspects of construction, including schedule, costs, contracts, and communication with owners. He works closely with owners’ representatives, the design team, subcontractors, and Primus field
personnel to ensure smooth communication and complete projects on time and within budget. Michael has worked in construction for more than 32 years, during which time he has served as a foreman, general foreman, superintendent, and project manger. Along the way, he has worked on major projects for industry leaders such as LSG/Skychef ’s, Sister Schubert’s, J.J. Jardina, Kmart Corp., Merchants Foodservice, Atlas Foodservice, Atlas Cold Storage, and Stanford Refrigeration.
United States Cold Storage (USCS) has become an industry
leader by offering numerous warehousing services through its nationwide network of 30 facilities, which have a combined total of more than 110 million cubic feet of space.
USCS facilities in Lumberton, NC and Warsaw, NC, Milford,
DE, and Bethlehem, PA, have played especially important roles in helping the company achieve its leadership position in the global exporting and importing of poultry, pork and seafood. So when USCS set out to expand its freezer in Warsaw, the company chose Primus Builders to provide design and construction services because Primus specializes in the design
and construction of food distribution facilities. The warehouse addition in Warsaw, NC consists of 61,848 square feet of 20-degree freezer, six blast cells and 12,382 square feet of over-35-degree truck dock. The completed new addition has a 40-foot clearance with 11 vertical dock
levelers.
Atlas Cold Storage stands tall as one of North America’s largest cold storage companies, and expects this growth to continue for the foreseeable future.
When customer growth resulted in a need to expand its McDonough, GA facility, Atlas never shrugged. Instead, the company called in Primus Builders to assist with the project.
The 86,000-square-foot expansions included a minus-10-degree freezer utilizing penthouses for refrigeration and a 35-degree dock. Other key features of the expansion include vertically storing dock levelers, truck trestraints, a control center, air doors, T-5 lighting, and a ceiling-only speaker system.
With Sixteen total facilities encompassing over 40 million cubic feet of refrigerated
storage space, Richmond Cold Storage ranks in the IARW “Top 20” of public refrigerated warehouse and distribution
companies.When Richmond Cold needed another 110,000 square feet of space at its
Richmond, VA facility, they selected Primus Builders to plan, design, and construct the expansion.
The facility, which is located near the Richmond International Airport, consists
of a minus-20-degree freezer with penthouse units and a 35-degree crossdock. As part of Richmond Cold Storage’s
energy efficiency program, the
expansion utilizes energy-efficient T-5 fluorescent
lighting fixtures. Additional features include shrink compensating concrete
floor slabs which minimize control joints thereby reducing maintenance costs, and
vertical dock levelers throughout, which reduce the infiltration of outside air into
the building.
MISSION STATEMENT: By having a complete dedication to our customers, our people and our projects, Primus is committed to building lasting relationships while growing our business one customer at a time.
VISION STATEMENT: Designing and constructing the most practical and efficient structures possible; Building Better Buildings.
Many of Primus' projects are expansion or renovation scopes working in and around
on-going operations. We understand the importance of keeping your business running efficiently and of being flexible, while still meeting and exceeding project goals.
As Director of Business Development, Matt sets sales targets, defines strategy to achieve these targets, identifies new business within our company’s niche market focus, manages large client accounts and strategic partnerships. He has more than five years of experience specific to the food and beverage industry. His education in mechanical engineering and operations management give him a unique technical and analytical approach toward projects, and meeting our clients needs.
Russ brings more than 35 years experience in the
As Senior Project Manager for Primus Builders, Mark is responsible for all project implementation activities associated with the design and construction of our projects including design review, scheduling, procurement, contract management and cost control. Mark provides direct representation of the Primus team to our Owners, communicating project status, schedule and project financial information on a
Tammi has more than 15 years of professional experience in the design and construction industry. She has worked in a variety of niche markets
Michael’s responsibilities as project manager include managing all aspects of construction, including schedule, costs, contracts, and communication with owners. He works closely with owners’ representatives, the design team, subcontractors, and Primus field
