Budnick Converting Inc., a private, woman-owned enterprise, has awarded Kadean Construction an $8 million design-build contract to build a 100,000-square-foot headquarters and production facility, doubling the size of the company’s current operations in Columbia, Illinois, in the St. Louis market.
The new structure will include 75,000 square feet of manufacturing, production and warehousing space, and 25,000 square feet of office space including the ground floor, a mezzanine area, a break room, conference room and other commons areas.
The new structure will eventually replace Budnick Converting’s existing 50,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing operations on an 11-acre tract adjacent to its current location, 200 Admiral Weinel Boulevard in Columbia, which is about 15 miles south of downtown St. Louis.
Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-October and completed in June 2019. The company plans to move into the new facility next summer, said Ann Wegmann, owner and president of the company.
Budnick Converting, which is ISO-certified, specializes in converting adhesive coated tapes, foams, films, foils and other specialty materials for hundreds of clients, including the transportation, appliance, consumer electronics, moving and storage, medical and distribution sectors.
Wegmann acquired the company in 1982, and runs it today with her executive team, which includes her daughter Quality and Communications Manager Christy Hornacek, who is overseeing the new construction and helping to manage Budnick’s growth.
Besides its operations in Columbia, Budnick also has a second converting facility in Tampa, a warehouse in Oklahoma City, and a full-service joint venture operation in Monterrey, Mexico. The company also maintains six sales offices throughout North America.
Kadean has retained Gray Design Group as the project’s architect, J.R. Grimes Consulting Inc. for civil engineering, KPFF St. Louis for structural engineering and numerous St. Louis-area subcontractors for carpentry, electrical, plumbing, concrete and other work.
