Community Food Bank Design Competition

TETER Designing Central California Community Food Bank’s Donor Wall and Lobby

The Central California Community Food Bank sought an innovative design for a donor wall and lobby at their new facility. TETER fulfilled their vision for a unique, fresh design by facilitating an internal design competition among staff.

Kym Dildine, Chief Administrative Officer, and Denise O’Canto, Corporate Relations and Community Engagement Manager, judged the first round of design concepts at TETER. The top creative concepts will be presented to the Community Food Bank’s board and staff for a final selection.

“We are so grateful for the support and the amazing designs the TETER teams provided us. We are so excited to see this dream come to life!” – Kym Dildine

TETER is honored to support the Community Food Bank’s mission to end hunger in the central valley with our pro bono design services for their donor wall and lobby.

Job Shadow Day at TETER

Academy of Architecture & Engineering students spend a day job shadowing TETER’s architects and engineers.

Redwood High School students in Visalia Unified School District’s Academy of Architecture and Engineering program learned the importance of college planning, community involvement, real-world internships, and professional communications from architects, engineers, and design professionals at TETER’s Visalia office.

“I enjoy mentoring students and showing them what I do. I believe in paying it forward. I hope these students will take advantage of all of the opportunities that are given them, then turn around and help others to have even more opportunities. Living in the Central Valley you understand what a small world it can be at times. I hope I can show students how we’re currently working to build a better valley and how they can start building as well!” – Megan Chang, Professional Engineer, TETER’s Visalia office

“We  are grateful to have members of the community like TETER who open their doors to allow our students to do job shadowing. Kids these days don’t know what they want. So when they can shadow professionals like TETER, they have an idea if engineering is the direction they want to go in their higher education. The Work Based Learning Coordinator of Visalia Unified formed a bond with TETER. It’s been a good partnership.” – Russ Brown, Digital Engineering Instructor, Redwood High School

“Today was great. My favorite part was learning about the details that go into a building.  There are so many different people involved with making a building.” – Miguel M., Student, Redwood High School

Foundation for Clovis Schools’ Students of Promise

TETER proudly supports the Student of Promise program.

Each spring, TETER attends the Foundation for Clovis Schools’ Student of Promise scholarship and awards gala, which recognizes high school juniors who succeed in school and overcome extreme obstacles despite challenging personal situations. Students are rewarded for persevering though difficult circumstances with a $2,000 post-secondary educational scholarship. TETER partners and staff were deeply affected by the students’ stories as they honored and celebrated these Students of Promise.

“As a former CUSD student, it makes me proud to have been part of a district who honors these students not just for their academics, but more importantly, for the incredible young people they are. These students face trials most of us will never endure, and they do it with a positive inner strength. Seeing some of my former teachers continue to pour their hearts to help their students, recognize their potential, and encourage them along their journeys was equally inspiring. Nights like these remind me who I am really working for, and inspire me to do whatever I can to help these deserving students and teachers through our designs.” – Megan Armendariz, PE

CSU, Bakersfield students approve $37M Student Union expansion and new aquatics facility

CSUB’s new Student Union, conceptual designs by TETER, is featured on The Bakersfield Californian.

CSUB just keeps on growing.

Students at the ever-expanding university have approved a $37 million expansion of the Student Union and a companion aquatic center, voting 61.4 percent to 38.6 percent in a two-day referendum that ended Friday. The tabulated results were announced Monday.

Cal State Bakersfield will now move ahead with plans to more than triple the size of the Student Union and build a nearby aquatics facility. The announcement came from the university’s Associated Students Inc., which facilitated the vote.

A total of 1,768 students voted on the referendum, with 1,086 voting “yes” and 682 students voting “no.”

The expansion “will encourage student development, improve student life, provide exceptional services and advance the CSUB community,” ASI President Mariela Gomez said in a statement.
The campaign, she added, gave “students the power to leave a legacy and ultimately impact the future of our university.”

The 80,000-square-foot expansion will include about 40,000 for the two-story Student Union expansion and 40,000 for the new aquatics facility.

The existing 17,000-square-foot Student Union was originally built in May 1987 when the campus population was about 5,100. Since then, CSUB has grown to about 11,000 students.

The $37 million price tag includes $27 million for the Student Union and $10 million for the aquatics center. It will be funded through a combination of sources, including a $40-per-semester increase in student fees, tiering up after the first year to $160 per semester over a four-year period. Fees for the aquatic facility will be roughly $20 per semester and will not increase.

“We currently have the reputation of being a commuter campus, but I see it becoming more of a metropolitan campus,” Gomez said. “We’re really thinking about the future.

“I personally am thinking about the future, especially my own family. I have a younger sister who is graduating high school in two years and I have two nephews in middle school, and they’re already actually talking about attending CSUB. To me, that’s so exciting.”

ASI leaders plan to meet soon with campus administrators to decide when the fee collection will begin. Students who currently receive financial aid will have all fees covered without any out-of-pocket expenses.

University officials say it’ll take three years of fee collection before construction of the Student Union expansion can begin. Planning for the construction of the aquatic facility, which will be located on the dirt lot on Kroll Way across the street from parking lot K2 and next to the soccer field, will begin immediately. The timeline for completion is not yet set.

The projects will create 80 to 100 jobs. CSUB says the Student Union expansion will include:

– A flexible and large event space in the form of a ballroom that will be able to accommodate a capacity of 1,450 in theatre/lecture format and 800 in banquet;

– 12 conference rooms with a capacity of up to 100 in a theatre/lecture format and 50 in a meeting format;

– A game room large enough to include gaming consoles, computer gaming and pool tables;

– The CSUB Food Pantry, which will be moved from its current location near the student union;

– A food prep area to include multiple microwaves;

– Multiple lounge space with soft seating for students to use between classrooms or events;

– A hallway lined with small study rooms/cubicles for studying, meeting preparation, and/or storage;

– Club work space with a media room to collaborate on projects, presentations and events;

– A loft feature lounge overlooking the first-floor lounge.

Originally published in THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN on February 26, 2018.

TETER Mentor Program at The Escape Room

TETER’s Mentor Program held their first group activity at the Escape Room!

As part of the Mentor Program, mentors and their protégés participate in group activities that are focused on team building. The goals are to: build relationships, learn each other’s strengths and restraints, and share knowledge.

The Escape Room group activity was specifically aimed towards working as a team under high pressure situations. After the game, each team debriefed the others and shared their experience and what they learned about each other.

Hanford FFA Ag Farm Grand Opening

HANFORD — Students, educators, elected officials and community members gathered Friday to celebrate the ribbon cutting for the new Hanford agricultural school farm and learning laboratory.

Combined, Hanford High School, Hanford West High School and Sierra Pacific High School have over 900 students in agricultural programs, making it one of the largest in the nation. Of all the Future Farmers of America programs in the state, Hanford was one of only two programs that didn’t have a school farm.

Now all that has changed.

The farm sits on a 3.9-acre site behind Sierra Pacific High School, near the intersection of Centennial Drive and Greenfield Avenue.

The farm includes a 8,621 square-foot sheep and cattle building, a 3,442 square-foot swine building, a 10,268 square-foot arena building and a 2,521 square-foot small animal building.

Originally published on THE SENTINEL on January 20, 2018.

Leadership Team Expands

TETER is pleased to announce the promotion of four TETER staff to “ASSOCIATE” status: Dana Stahl, Stuart Hendricks, Eric Bailey, and Lee Avila.

  • Dana Stahl, a licensed architect with over forty years of building design experience, is an invaluable resource. As a new Associate, Mr. Stahl will further leverage his knowledge to benefit clients and staff. His promotion provides new avenues for Dana to deliver high quality project management and building design to clients.
  • Stuart Hendricks, a licensed architect and a Certified Access Specialist (CASp), has provided technical knowledge in construction documents, code compliance, and disabled access for over twenty (20) years. Continually improving the process of creating quality construction documents will be Mr. Hendricks’ focus as an Associate.
  • Eric Bailey, a licensed structural engineer, is the “go to” structural expert for designing public education buildings. For almost twenty (20) years, K12 clients and contractors have relied upon Mr. Bailey’s budget-conscious structural solutions for their facilities.
  • Lee Avila, a licensed architect with an emphasis in healthcare, has worked with hospitals for twenty (20) years to design their medical facilities. Mr. Avila, who is based out of TETER’s Modesto office, offers specialized healthcare design experience. His promotion to Associate enables him to mentor and provide higher-level leadership to staff.

TETER is celebrating our 39th year of providing quality architectural and engineering design services.  The expanded leadership team and promotion of the four (4) staff members ensures that TETER will continue to “build a better valley” for generations to come.

Sophia Nyberg, E-I-T, Receives CFO of The Year Award

ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) has recognized Sophia Nyberg, TETER Mechanical Engineer-In-Training, as “CFO of the Year” at their annual conference. Annie Foster Courtney, Treasurer of ASHRAE Region X, spoke of Sophia’s outstanding financial management of the local ASHRAE chapter and going “above and beyond” her position as Treasurer. Thanks to her unrelenting commitment, Ms. Nyberg has improved the local ASHRAE Chapter’s financial standing and helped them achieve solid financial solvency.

High-Speed Rail construction relocating factory that has called downtown Fresno for 80 years

Modern Custom Fabrication, designed by TETER’s architects and structural engineers, is featured on ABC 30 Action News.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Modern Custom Fabrication makes giant tanks that hold water, petroleum products, chemicals, and just about any liquid. They ship all over the country and around the world from its 80 year old plant in Downtown Fresno.

Because High-Speed Rail will come right through where they are located they have to move, and city leaders are happy they chose a new site in Southeast Fresno.

“It’s a pleasure to celebrate Modern Custom Fabrication and their decision to stay and grow in Fresno,” said Fresno Mayor Lee Brand.

The city worked with the High-Speed Rail Authority and the Fresno Economic Development Corporation to keep the plant and its 40 employees here.

“We wanted to make sure that you kept your jobs, that you were able to stay in the city you love and raised your family in,” said Lee Ann Eager with the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation.

The groundbreaking on the new site of the more than 100,000 square foot building came five years after Plant Manager Jim Gray was first told High-Speed Rail is coming through.

“Like a lot of people did, at the time I shrugged it off and said, this will never happen.”

Eager said companies in the path of High-Speed Rail are given incentives to relocate.

“They get paid for the property they have now, they get moving expenses, and they get paid to relocate to another place.”

The new plant is expected to open in March of next year.

“It has turned out okay for us, it’s been a long long process,” said Gray.

Big companies like Ok Produce have also moved to new facilities, along with small businesses like Cosmos Restaurant. Many more moves are expected as the pace of High-Speed Rail construction, which is years behind schedule, is starting to pick up.

The High-Speed Rail Authority has successfully relocated 178 Fresno businesses so far, and 90-percent have stayed in the city.

The rail line connecting the Central Valley to Silicon Valley is expected to be completed in eight years. The eventual connection from San Francisco to LA through Fresno is expected to be about 12 years away.

TETER Moves Up in Private Sector Employer Rankings

TETER is proud to see our recent growth reflected in The Business Journal’s 2017 list of Top Private Sector Employers. TETER jumped from 32nd largest Private Sector Employer in 2016, to 24th largest in 2017. Providing career opportunities to local architects, engineers and a wide range of professionals is part of TETER’s commitment to Building a Better Valley.

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