Shambaugh wins Design-Build Project of the Year award for Chobani Yogurt project

FORT WAYNE, IND. — The Chobani Greek yogurt facility, which opened in October 2012 in Twin Falls, Idaho, and for which Shambaugh & Son, an EMCOR company, performed the design-build and engineering and served as the general contractor, was named by Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) the Design-Build Project of the Year, the organization’s highest national honor. 

This is the fifth time since 1997 that DBIA has awarded a food plant project design-built and completed by Shambaugh & Son a Design-Build Project Of The Year Award; it was the second time DBIA recognized the Chobani project with a national award (it was the recipient of the DBIA Industrial/Process Facilities National Design-Build Award earlier this year).

One of the largest specialty contractors in the U.S., Shambaugh & Son is a subsidiary of EMCOR Group Inc.

"We’re extremely pleased the Chobani plant has been recognized by the Design-Build Institute with its premier award. In conjunction with other awards this project has received, this is a testament to the Shambaugh team’s ability to conceive, execute, and successfully and efficiently complete a highly complex, demanding project using design-build project delivery," stated Mark Shambaugh, president and CEO, Shambaugh & Son. “This is the fifth time since 1997 the DBIA has awarded a food plant project designed, built and completed by Shambaugh & Son a Design-Build Project Of The Year Award; it illustrates our national reputation for ‘design-build done right’ and our unique self-perform executing method, which stands alone among our competitors.”

Lisa Washington, executive director and CEO of DBIA, stated: "The remarkable project for Chobani demonstrates the value of design-build project delivery. The benefits of design-build are manifested in the speed at which this project was completed and the quality of the final product.”

The $450 million, one million square foot Chobani facility was completed in less than a year through Shambaugh & Son’s use of design-build.  The largest yogurt plant in the world, a facility of that size and complexity would traditionally require two years to complete.  The plant was built sized to accommodate 14 production lines, 11 million pounds of milk per day and with infrastructure for future expansion.  The team effort peaked at 1,000 workers, six days a week, divided in two 10-hour shifts to complete the facility in a record 10 months. The project achieved more than two million hours without a lost time incident.

In addition to the DBIA overall Project of the Year award, The Chobani project was the recipient of the DBIA Industrial/Process Facilities National Design-Build Award, as well as 2013 Food Plant of the Year Award from Food Engineering magazine.  The magazine honored the project for its contribution to the Chobani’s long-term business plans; the level of innovation in processing and packaging line design using creative, new technology, and creative use of existing technology; building and site design innovation; productive integration of workforce into the overall plan; food safety innovation; and flexible manufacturing.