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TOP 5 WAYS MILLENNIALS ARE DRIVING OFFICE DESIGN TRENDS

If there’s one well-known distinction separating Millennials from previous generations, it’s that they don’t live to work – they work to live. Priorities have shifted, so at the end of the day, it might not be the paycheck that matters most but rather the culture and a better work-life balance that keeps them loyal to a company. As more Millennials and Gen Z enter the workforce, the offices of the past are evolving into a more relaxed, open-minded, and hands-on environment that better suits the personality of newer generations. They’re driving office design trends that are bringing the workplace fully into the 21st century.

1. THEY’RE KNOCKING DOWN THE WALLS

Millennials prefer a collaborative, social environment, so the days of cubicles are over… long over. In its place has arrived the open floor plan concept. No more walls. No more dividers. No more disconnect betw

een employees. Simply a group of desks grouped together. An open floor plan encourages communication, building strong team connections and fostering camaraderie between employees. And the best part about this from a business perspective? Frequent interactions and collaborations can lead to innovative ideas and developments that benefit the company in its entirety.

2. THEY’RE DECORATING WITH PIZAZZ

Beige walls. Beige carpet. Beige desks – a.k.a. boring, boring, and boring. Modern, comfortable, eclectic – those sound better, don’t they? Yes? Then let’s kick the drab shades to the curb and breathe life into the space where people spend more than eight hours a day. Influenced by Millennials’ desire for an appealing workspace, offices are getting a makeover from floor to ceiling. It’s time for businesses to decorate with pizazz whether they’re drawing influence from the company’s values or inspiration from employees’ personalities. When your office is a medley of vibrant and engaging hues, it increases employee productiveness, so a splash of color really can make all the difference.

3. THEY’RE REPLACING THE OLD TECH WITH THE NEW

Born into the new era of technology between 1977 and ’95, Millennials are the definition of “tech savvy,” so they’re expecting a technologically up-to-date office space. Gone are the clunky desktops and miles of wires commandeering desk space, and in its place are sleek laptops and tablets. These devices can be easily transported from one side of the office to the other (Can you do that with a PC? I think not.), and all the information an employee needs is always right at their fingertips. Using the latest technology also streamlines and automates what were once time-consuming tasks, allowing employees to be more efficient and productive!

4. THEY’RE CREATING A VARIETY OF SPACES

Variety is the spice of life, and Millennials agree – especially in the workplace. Creating a variety of work spaces inspires a more engaging environment. Consider a large conference space with modern tables and chairs for important meetings. A collaborative room with a standup table and monitors for internal discussions. A small, sunlit area with large windows and a cozy couch for an employee seeking peace and quiet. When presented with numerous rooms and areas, employees can find the space that helps them be the most productive for the task at hand.

5. THEY’RE MAKING WORK FUN

The last and certainly the most important office space trend influenced by Millennials is quite simple: make the workplace fun! Remember, Millennials place a lot of emphasis on a company’s culture – will they be expected to work around the clock, or does the company believe in a work/play balance? Whether you put a pool table in the lunch room, place a ping pong table in a spare room, or hang up a hammock in a quiet room, providing engaging activities around the office will help your employees rest and reset their busy brains. After their break is over, they’ll feel mentally refreshed and ready to tackle what the rest of the day has to offer. Who says you can’t live a little at work?

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Lake Tahoe Summit 2017

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — It’s been 21 years since the first Tahoe Summit. Since then, $2 Billion in federal, state and private funds has been collected and spent on keeping Lake Tahoe blue. “We’ve completed more than 500 improvement and restorations projects,” Senator Diane Feinstein, D-California, said. “One hundred thirty-nine are underway now.” But now…

via Politicians Gather for Bipartisan Lake Tahoe Summit — FOX40

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Move for Hunger doing GREAT work around the country.

Summer is a particularly difficult time of year for our nation’s food banks. Donations always decline following the holiday season and reach a nadir during the summer months. The timing couldn’t be worse, either. Food banks also face their greatest need during the summertime. The reason? Families with children who had been receiving free or reduced-cost breakfast and/or lunch at school need to find a way to replace those meals during summer break. So they turn to their local food bank or pantry for assistance.

The National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program provide nutritional assistance to millions of low-income children every year. On a typical day, more than 21 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program, making it “the nation’s second-largest food and nutrition assistance program behind SNAP.” The School Breakfast Program serves more than 12 million children each day. These programs have been proven to reduce food insecurity, offer a number of health benefits, and improve academic performance.

The Summer Food Service Program was designed to ensure that the assistance low-income children receive at school isn’t interrupted when classes aren’t in session. Only 3.9 million children, 1 in 6, who receive free or reduced-cost meals at school, however, continue to do so during the summer months.

Feeding America’s food banks have programs designed to help close this meal gap, but the majority of food distributed during the summer comes from community food programs. Summer meal sites are sponsored by local organizations and are located typically located at schools, parks, rec centers, houses of worship, etc.

Too many children, however, are unable to access these summer meals sites. Nine million children live in communities that are “ineligible to operate” a site. Another obstacle is transportation to and from the locations. Young children with working parents can’t walk through high-traffic areas or dangerous neighborhoods alone. In rural communities, the distance may simply be too far to travel. The Hunger Free Summer For Kids Act, an amendment to the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act with bi-partisan support, would help to remove these barriers by providing children with Electronic Benefit cards and providing off-site consumption options. The bill, however, is part of Child Nutrition Reauthorization, which expired in September of 2015 and remains in limbo.

The infrastructure to help keep kids fed during the summer is there, but the success of these programs depends on us. When they aren’t operating as well as they could be, it places a greater burden on hunger relief organizations that are already stretched to their limits.

What can we do? In the short term, we need to do our part to keep the shelves at our local food banks and pantries stocked. Families who are facing hunger need help right now. Hosting a food drive is always important, but the impact is so much greater during the summer time. Move For Hunger can help you plan and a promote a food drive in your community that will support your neighbors in need.

The long term solution, however, is strengthening our federal nutrition programs. School meals, the Summer Food Service Program, and SNAP safeguard Americans from the dangers of hunger and poverty. We all need to advocate for and support these life-saving programs.

Hunger doesn’t take a vacation and neither can we. Don’t wait, take action today.

Host a food drive in your community.

Can’t commit to a food drive this summer? A donation of $20 will cover the cost of Move For Hunger’s next food drive.

Find a list of summer meals sites in your area here.

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Number of People Moving to Irvine CA Continues to Grow

If you are moving to Irvine CA, or you have in the last five years, you are certainly not alone. Between 2010 and 2015, Irvine’s population increased over 21%, giving the Orange County city the highest percentage increase in resident population among all California cities during that five-year period. Irvine also ranked 7th in the nation. The ranking was based on recently released census data for cities with a population of 50,000 or more by 2010.

Only 10 other California cities were among the country’s top 100 ranked, including Lake Elsinore with a 17.3% estimated population increase and Milpitas with a 16.1% increase.

California cities population growth

California City Rankings based on Annual Census Data

In addition to the five-year ranking, Milpitas, a city in Santa Clara County, also ranked #8 among the nation’s fastest growing cities (with a population of 50,000 or more) between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2015. Dublin in Alameda County ranked 6th.

Dublin and Milpitas were the only two California cities making the U.S. Census Bureau’s list of 15 fastest growing cities, 2014-2015, but three cities – Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco – ranked among the nation’s top 15 with the largest numeric increases:

  • Ranking #3, Los Angeles, the second most populated city in the U.S, increased its population by 34,943 to total 3,971,883.
  • San Diego ranked #13 in the nation with a gain of 12,677 residents for a total 1,394,928.
  • San Francisco ranked #15 with an increase of 12,279 to total 864,816.

Irvine’s Continued Growth not a Surprise

Year after year we see reports of Irvine’s increase in population. A 2012 article in the Orange County Business Journal says “Irvine won’t max out for decades.”

At that time, city officials projected Irvine’s population would grow to 256,300 by 2020. However, the California Department of Finance’s recently released New State Population Report shows Irvine’s population had already reached an estimated 258,386 by January 2016.

Irvine is one of California’s 10 fastest growing cities with populations over 30,000, and is ranked #1 among the top 10 cities under 300,000 with the largest numeric change (6,650) between 2015 and 2016, according to the state report.

Why are People Moving to Irvine CA?

Through the years, the city of Irvine has consistently ranked as one of the Best Places to Live, including by Livability. Some people say they move to Irvine for the city’s highly rated schools and its cultural diversity. Irvine is recognized as an international crossroads city, and education is a priority for its residents. More than 90 percent of high school graduates attend college, with students performing well above state and national comparisons.

Many people move to Irvine because, according to a report on The Safest Cities in California in 2016, it is one of the state’s largest safe cities. For more than a decade Irvine held its status as one of the safest cities in the country based on FBI violent crime statistics.

For various reasons, a growing number of people are moving to Irvine. That growth is not expected to slow anytime soon.

 

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Laboratory Relocation Service for UC Davis an Interesting Project

As an experienced laboratory relocation service provider, Chipman Relocation & Logistics has worked on some interesting projects. One such recent project involved moving the Hoffman Laboratory, Shock Compression Lab from Harvard University at Cambridge, MA to the new Earth and Planetary Sciences Shock Compression Lab at the University of California, Davis.

Moving a research lab can involve relocating heavy equipment, but the equipment is not always as interesting as the large system with blast tank moved for UC, Davis.

“The compression tank system and the experiments they do with the system is very cool,” says Linda Martin, Chipman National Move Coordinator. “They shoot projectiles into ice in the compression tank up to 6,000 miles per hour to determine the effect of how hard objects can hit planets or other things in outer space.”

Why ice? Ice is commonly found in the solar system. By recreating and studying the giant collisions of celestial objects, researchers can not only explain what happens in natural collision events, but also better understand the history and evolution of the solar system. You can  read more about the lab here .

Meeting the Challenges of Moving a Research Lab for UC Davis

The compression tank system was located in a basement. The only way to move the large pieces of the system was to open a hatch at ground level to a chute going up from the basement to the outside of the building. Chipman’s lab moversused a crane to hoist the compression tank out of the basement. An indoor crane was used to remove the wind tunnel motor from its frame to be moved.

The two largest tanks were transported to California on a flatbed trailer.

Compression tank loaded on trailer

“When the shipment arrives in Davis, we will have a crane on-site to lift the tanks from the flatbed truck, have wheels put underneath the tanks and take them into the new building,” said Martin.

The remainder of the system and lab goods were transported in one of Chipman’s special commodities moving vans.  Moving a research laboratory can include moving freezers, refrigerators, chemicals and reagents in a specialized moving van equipped with generators and climate controlled to keep the appliances running and at temperature during transit.

The trucks are fully equipped with a monitoring system. The drivers have the ability to monitor the temperature of each appliance as they are driving from one location to another. Drivers are trained to check LN2 levels in LN2 vessels and LN2 freezers. They are fully prepared to replenish the LN2 during transit, when needed.

Need a Reliable Laboratory Relocation Service Provider?

If you are planning an upcoming project and want first-rate, reliable laboratory relocation services, Chipman Relocation & Logistics is your source. Contact us to discuss your project.