News Releases

Neenah, Wis. – Nearly 40 area high school students interested in architecture teamed together last week at Miron Construction to build projects they designed out of donated canned and boxed food. The event, put on by the Learning for Life Exploring Program, not only tested the students’ creativity but benefited the community. The thousands of food items used in the projects were donated to a local food pantry. (Click here to view a photo gallery.)

The program enabled students to work with volunteer architects to build models for their structures. Students were then able to shop for their food items and began to build their projects. This week volunteer judges (local architects, Miron employees and faculty and students from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College) came together to select a winning team. Each project was judged on creativity, structural uniqueness, massing/proportions and nutritional value of items used. The Overall Competition Winner was the Wolf Pack on a Boat group with their entry, “Parthenon.” The Contractor’s Choice Award went to the W.E. Can Builders group for their entry, “Suspension Bridge.” After the judging, students congregated with career architects, enjoyed snacks and refreshments and discussed what a real job is like in the industry. The event concluded with a recap on the Learning for Life Architectural Program and the presentation of food to St. Joseph’s Food Program.

A special thanks to Festival Foods, who donated the food construction materials; the McMahon Group, the Gries Architectural Group and various Miron employees who worked with the students to develop their projects and taught them about architectural careers; and AIA Northeast Wisconsin, which assisted with judging the projects and awarding prizes to the winning team. All of the food used in the projects will be donated to the St. Joseph Food Program and will help numerous people in the area.

# # #

Miron Construction Co., Inc., recently named Builder of the Year by The Daily Reporter, as part of the publication’s 2011 Newsmakers of the Year awards program, is a forward-thinking, fast-growing private company completing work throughout the nation. Miron is currently listed 94th among all general contractors in the United States and among the top 10 (the largest Wisconsin-based) construction companies serving the Midwest by Engineering News Record (based on revenue figures for 2010). Miron provides innovative pre-construction, construction management, design-build and general construction services and is headquartered in Neenah, Wis., with regional offices in Madison, Wausau and Milwaukee, Wis., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Negaunee, Mich., and Virginia, Minn. For more information, please visit miron-construction.com.