CORE
VALUE
CORNER
The Beginnings of a Winning Formula
Finney ’ s originally contracted with Gausman & Moore , a division of Ayres , following a referral from their lead architect , AB Design
Studio .
“ They recommended the Gausman & Moore team and , with that , Andy ( Wilkinson ) became kind of our point person on the first project ,” said Brad Finefrock , Finney ’ s director of business development . “ We had such a great working relationship with them that we continued to use them the whole way through .”
The synergy between the firms has been remarkable , he noted .
“ At Ayres , we work with clients as partners . Including not only our fellow design consultants but also Finney ’ s ownership in that partnership allows us to foster deep , trusting relationships across the team , enabling us to anticipate needs and work efficiently while producing improved results with each new project .”
“ It ’ s funny . In our last two projects I ’ ve had very little dealings with Andy because everything ’ s so perfect and there ’ s no need to even talk ,” he said . “ When you get to that point it just allows you to achieve greater scale and move more quickly and efficiently going forward to open more locations , which is ultimately our goal .”
Architect Eric Behr , principal and studio director of AB Design Studio , agreed it didn ’ t take long for the team to align and efficiencies to develop , which , in turn , allowed for more time and money to be spent on design and special touches to make each location unique .
“ We understand the cadence and the sequencing of these things , and that ’ s been really successful ,” Behr said . “ We also start to anticipate each other ’ s moves . I know exactly what I need to give Andy and his team and when I need to give it to him to get the result that we need at the finish line .”
– Jennifer Schmidt
Andy Wilkinson
Director of MEP Services
26 | TRENDS Ingenuity , Integrity , and Intelligence .