Top: Open house patrons file into Poettker Construction’s new headquarters in Breese on Oct. 12 for a first tour of the facility. Bottom: Poettker Construction owners, management and special guests take part in a ribbon cutting ceremony. (Photos by Bryan Hunt) Officials at Breese-based Poettker Construction ushered in a new era in business with the grand opening and ribbon cutting of its new headquarters on South Germantown Road in Breese on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Saturday’s event was for invited guests, while a second open house for the public will be held on Sunday, Nov. 10 from 2 to 5 p.m.
Construction on the 39,400-square-foot facility, just south of the company’s former headquarters, began in July 2018 with a formal groundbreaking.
The new construction consolidates five separate facilities into a single, central building that is more than 30 percent larger than the previous workspaces.
Chairman and CEO Charles “Chuck” Poettker, prior to the celebration, said employees have been in the new building since Sept. 8, and that following Monday he came to the office and several conferences were already going on.
Company president Keith Poettker credited Ryan Poettker, executive vice president and chief operations officer, with leading the charge on the new building’s construction.
Event-goers were invited to tour the facilities and amenities, contained in a building styled after traditional German bank barns which housed livestock and grain.
Corey Noder, a project director at Poettker, led the first tour of several dozen guests, explaining the building’s divisions — pre-construction and operations — what takes place in each of the offices, and good-naturedly singling out co-workers who happened to be in the room, as to what they do for the company.
“We were wanting something to complement our culture, complement the surrounding area, the rural area,” which is how they came to the bank barns, Keith Poettker said of how the design came to be.
Other design elements include the high-loft ceiling and horse-and-buggy carriage on the backside coming underneath the first-floor level.
The design is such that all the connections are exposed, to showcase the details that go into a building that are normally covered up, Keith Poettker said, “ask about that.”
Among the new facility’s features is an outdoor sanctuary incorporating a lake with a waterfall and two fountain features, landscaping and entertaining areas. The back of the building features a walk-out lower level with a covered gallery that echoes passages built on the sheltered side of German barns.
The Breese Police Department is warning area residents of scam phone calls in which the caller claims they are from the Social Security Administration, with attempts to get information from the recipient of the call.
Sgt. Mark Berndsen said that a person will call claiming to be with the agency, and that the intended victim's Social Security card was compromised.
"The caller is very persuasive and tries to talk to the person to have them give their identification and details," he said, adding that the scammer will say that the person will be arrested if they do not give out their information.
He said these scammers work all day and are good at what they do.
He urged residents to not fall victim to the scams.
"If it is legit, they will not call, email or mail you," he said. "They would contact you in person."
Berndsen said that you should never give out bank or credit/debit information, Social Security information, etc., over the phone to the alleged scammers.
For more information, call Breese Police Department at (618) 526-7226.
| Fri., Oct. 11 |
445.27 |
| Sun., Oct. 13 | 445.70 |
| Tues., Oct. 15 | 445.80 |
| Oct. 9 | .00" |
| Oct. 10 | .00" |
| Oct. 11 | 1.80" |
| Oct. 12 |
.016" |
| Oct. 13 | .00" |
| Oct. 14 | .00" |
| Oct. 15 | .00" |
