With over 25 years of experience in the construction industry, Doug VonGunten is one of Ancon Construction’s many valuable project managers. Doug’s responsibilities as a project manager begin long before construction actually starts, leading the design-build team in programming, design, budgeting, and cost estimating. The project manager continues his leadership role throughout the construction process until the project has been completed and handed-off to the customer. Doug has managed a wide variety of projects including industrial projects, manufacturing facilities, streetscapes and infrastructure, zoo animal exhibits, ice skating parks, educational facilities, and more.
Some of Doug’s accomplishments include awards for Excellence in Merit Shop Construction for a new TLCU Financial building and a multi-purpose center at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Additionally, Doug’s Eddy Street Commons Streetscape project won an Associated Builders and Contractors Merit Shop Image award and the North American River Otter Exhibit project he managed at the Potawatomi Zoo earned an ABC Award of Honor. Through all of the projects that Doug has managed, he is most proud of making a client’s ideas and dreams about their project a reality.
Onsite Making Sure Projects Run Smooth
Aside from his work at Ancon, Doug finds many ways to serve and give back to the community. He is a member and Past President of Goshen Noon Kiwanis, serves on the Apprenticeship Committee for the local chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors apprenticeship program, and is an active member of his church, Walnut Hill Mennonite in Goshen. Doug also serves on the Board of Directors for Ryan’s Place, a not-for-profit organization that provides grief support to children, teens, and families who have experienced the death of a family member or loved one. Most recently, Doug has been serving on a committee with the Goshen Parks Department that is designing a playground for children of all ability levels.
Doug lives just North of Goshen with his wife of 21 years, Jolene, and their three children: Jack (16), Garrett (13), and Molly (9). In his free time, Doug enjoys attending his kids’ sporting events and music programs and being active outdoors, including cycling, running, camping, and hiking. Doug and his family also enjoy spending time at the beach in North Carolina with their extended family.
Doug says about his work, “I really enjoy the construction industry and the challenges that it brings. There are new challenges every day and no two projects are ever the same.” Doug is an invaluable part of the Ancon team. Both Ancon and its customers greatly benefit from his vast experience and tireless work.
South Bend, IN- Ancon Construction, premier design build construction firm, held a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open their new downtown South Bend office. Located inside the newly renovated mixed use building The LaSalle the office has premiere corner street level visibility set inside the historic LaSalle building. Although the office is inside a historic building the design is ultra modern and minimalistic. Matt VanSoest, Designer, researched office spaces like Tesla and Google and used that for design inspiration. Local artists have donated some sculptures and historic photos of downtown South Bend have placed them throughout the office.
Why downtown South Bend? For over 40 years Ancon Construction has served South Bend, Mishawaka and the entire St. Joseph County region. Nearly everyday there is an Ancon Construction employee in the region working on projects. “We have a known presence and excellent reputation in this region….now we have the physical location to match. The revitalization of the downtown corridor is exciting. Many of the projects that started the downtown revitalization Ancon Construction were a part of, so South Bend seemed like the natural choice when we looked at potential locations.” noted Ryan Kring, Vice President of Business Development.
Kring went on to say, “This space is a communal area which our employees can use to give our clients a comfortable place to meet and have a great experience. Having this space allows our customers a closer place to meet and plan out our projects together. We use a team approach to project design and delivery in which our clients are involved heavily throughout the entire process. The office is designed to be a living showroom of various types of materials so our clients can see them in actual space. Periodically we will change out the furniture and flooring to highlight the latest available designs and materials.”
Ancon Construction is not the only tenant in the building, recently The Hideaway opened. The Hideaway is a 1920’s speakeasy steampunk whiskey bar that was designed and built by Ancon Construction. South Blend, a new coffee house, is also under construction and will be opening its doors in the next few months.
We have been building this region for over 40 years and we look forward to the next 40.
Are you ready to start your project? Click HERE and let’s get your project started….together.
Goshen, IN-Don Carrico serves as the Operations Manager and Safety Director at Ancon Construction. Don spends countless hours making sure that all of Ancon’s jobs are adequately staffed and running smoothly – ensuring the best overall product for our customers in the shortest time possible. He also helps ensure the safety of Ancon’s field employees by monitoring job sites and conducting safety training when necessary. Don holds OSHA 10-hour certification relating to scaffolding, forklifts, scissor lifts, trenching & shoring, confined spaces, and many other areas of construction. During Don’s 20 years with Ancon Construction he moved from sweeping floors to working as a journeyman steel worker and foreman, eventually taking on his current role of Operations Manager and Safety Director. Don takes great pride in completing a job on time and under budget, knowing that the finished product is second to none.
Don Preparing a Safety Program for an Upcoming Project
Even outside of his work at Ancon, Don is active in our community. He works part time as an on-call fire fighter for Southwest Central Territory in South Bend, filling in when full-time employees take time for vacation and when the department is short on manpower. When he isn’t working, Don also enjoys riding ATVs and his Harley touring bike, camping, and spending time working around the yard and house.
Don has two children. His son, Don Jr., is a junior at Mishawaka High School and his daughter, Taylor, is a Purdue grad who lives and works in Chicago. Don and his wife, Shauna, have been together for 12 years and married for 5. They live in South Bend. Don looks forward to the next 20 years and retiring to a warm climate!
Don is a huge asset to Ancon, its customers, and the community and we are glad to have him as part of our team.
Ancon Construction, premier design|build construction firm, announces another high tech robotics clean room project is underway. Ancon served as the architect and builder for this project. Our architectural team collaborated with our client’s engineering team to design a space that is functional, takes into consideration future growth, satisfies HVAC/Humidity/Dust requirements and is aesthetically pleasing.
Our client is a large manufacturing company in South Bend and has asked to remain nameless due to the competitive industry they work in. Our team was able to identify various value engineering options to save on cost and brought a team of engineer’s vision to reality. Often times, when working with a larger team a unified vision can be hard to accomplish. Ancon’s design|build process served to bridge that gap and bring their team together. Our outside perspective brought clarity and moved the project along 30%-40% faster versus their in-house traditional method.
Stock Photo Due To Client Privacy Request
Design has been finished and construction is estimated to take 8 weeks. In addition to this project, we are also working with Lippert Components on a clean room project as well.
Ready to start your project? Contact us HERE. Let’s get your project started….together.