GMK Associates, Inc., reaches fifty-year milestone
June 22, 2016
Throughout 2016, GMK Associates, Inc., is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a Columbia, SC-based planning, design, and construction services firm. GMK’s half century of providing a high level of professional services began when William “Bill” Geiger, Jr., Don McElveen, and Robert Kennedy, Jr., came together to form a partnership – Geiger, McElveen and Kennedy – that later would become GMK Associates, Inc. The firm has since grown to employ over 70 professionals and operates satellite offices in Greenville, SC, Raleigh, NC, and Augusta, GA, in addition to its headquarters in downtown Columbia. Focused on the healthcare, education, government, utility, senior living, and hospitality industries, the firm is comprised of five distinct divisions — architecture, engineering, interior design, design-build, and construction services.
Since its founding, GMK has designed and constructed projects worth more than $4.5 billion and has gained recognition and awards from the American Institute of Architecture, among other industry organizations, for excellence in design and construction. Also, GMK’s interiors division has established a national reputation for excellence in serving all levels of care in the senior living industry, having provided design services for more than 30 separate Life Plan Communities nationwide. The firm has further been a pioneer in the provision of construction management services and design-build construction delivery.
“Our firm is extremely grateful for the trust our clients have placed in our service delivery for the past 50 years,” said Tom Monahan, treasurer and chairman of the firm’s Board of Directors. “It is those strong client relationships that have directly resulted in our long-term success.”
Over its history, GMK has designed several iconic and award-winning structures within the capital city, including the Koger Center for the Arts, the Richland County Judicial Center, the Capitol Center (the tallest office building in South Carolina), and the original College of Business Administration at the University of South Carolina. GMK’s interiors division also enjoys a long-term relationship with Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community gained through more than a dozen interior design, renovation, and upgrade projects in just the past decade. Other current hallmark projects in the Columbia area include renovations to Allen University’s historic Chappelle Auditorium, design/construction of a new Ronald McDonald House, and design/build construction of a new Headquarters Facility for the Central Electric Power Cooperative.
Additionally, GMK’s major renovation to the Williamsburg County Courthouse in Kingstree, SC, received a 2015 Historic Preservation Honor Award from The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation. This annual award presented in conjunction with the South Carolina Department of Archives and History and the Office of the Governor celebrates successful and exemplary historic preservation projects from across the state of South Carolina that demonstrate a commitment to preserving South Carolina’s rich history. Since 2003, the firm has also served as the primary architect for renovations and new construction throughout the non-nuclear areas of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville, SC.
Further known for its work within the healthcare and K-12 arenas, GMK has provided design and construction services for virtually every major healthcare provider organization within the Carolinas and Georgia. In fact, GMK has been ranked among the top healthcare design/build companies and top healthcare architectural firms in the nation by Modern Healthcare Magazine for the past 15 years. And since 1997, GMK’s construction services division has been providing Program Management Services to oversee all school construction related to Richmond County, GA, School Bond Programs.
GMK’s formal mission is to provide a level of professional service to our clients that is unequaled in the design and construction services market place. GMK strives to place the client’s needs before corporate considerations and to provide a sensitive approach to the client’s concerns.
“This mission statement adopted many years ago remains our ‘compass’ for our relationships with clients today, especially our commitment to place the client’s needs before corporate considerations,” added Don McElveen. “Our motto – happy clients equal future work – is as true now as it was 50 years ago.”
GMK Associates, Inc.
GMK Associates, Inc., is a multi-disciplinary planning, design, and construction services firm focused on the healthcare, education, government, utility, senior living, and hospitality industries. Established in 1966, the firm is based in Columbia, SC, with satellite offices in Greenville, SC, Raleigh, NC, and Augusta, GA. GMK employs over 70 professionals and is comprised of five distinct divisions — architecture, engineering, interior design, design-build, and construction services.
