Benhar Office Interiors is extremely proud to recognize the 5th anniversary of employment for Junior Project Manager Fran Mazzaglia on October 18th. Fran's outgoing demeanor, dedication and loyalty are not only apparent in her professional life but her personal life as well. She is a valued member of the Benhar team. We are also delighted to announce she is getting married in August 2010. Congratulations Fran!

Create. Connect. Contribute. That was the theme of the September 29th Novo Arts Studio benefit for the Give Your Art Foundation. The first event in a series of three Studio Nights was designed as a way for members of the S.A.S. (Secret Art Society) to show their stuff in a variety of creative media including drawing, painting and sculpting. The point? Come June 2010, the art will be exhibited and auctioned to raise funds that will go directly to providing art to local shelters, AIDS facilities, hospices and non-profit hospitals.

The Give Your Art Foundation is dedicated to providing art to charitable institutions that have little or no funding to provide art for their facilities. Benhar Office Interiors, as part of their on-going commitment to the design community, is proud to be a contributing sponsor.

For more information on how you can participate in the next event in January, visit Novo Arts and follow the S.A.S. Studio Nights link for details.

It’s not just the beautifully designed, midtown loft space. It’s not just fifty-plus years of experience between its two principals. What differentiates Benhar Office Interiors from its competitors rests deeper than that, at the company’s core. For one of New York’s premier Herman Miller dealers, the true differentiator is its ongoing commitment to innovation excellence.
 
At Benhar Office Interiors, innovation is not just a buzz word or concept. It is a management process requiring specific tools, rules, and discipline that have taken decades to develop, define and master. Innovation excellence finds its way into every facet of the organization, so that the end result is a customer experience unlike any other out there.
 
The foundation of the organization comes from the strong leadership and dedication of its two principal-owners, Mark Benhar and Bob Maurer. Personal believers in constant progress, Mark and Bob instill the passion for positive change into each of their employees, offering unique opportunities for their team members to grow as a unit and as individuals through highly specialized, continuous training programs – from classic sales coaches to creative improvisational simulations. What Benhar Offices’ clients get is an unmatched sense of service and professionalism. That’s different. That’s innovation excellence.
 
If you have ever found yourself waiting at a loading bay at seven in the morning for a truck that just is not going to show up, you can immediately appreciate the innovation Benhar Office has taken with its Project Management Experience. Before the purchase order and beyond the punch list, Benhar project managers are fully dedicated extensions of their client’s best interests. A comprehensive but flexible program is rigorously maintained, monitored and measured to make sure that every step of the buying process if completely covered, yet flexible enough to meet changing demands. Created by a team of industry service experts and always evolving to be better, the process allows clients complete transparency and control throughout the entire sales process. That’s different. That’s innovation excellence.
 
And at Benhar Office Interiors, they don’t just talk the talk but they walk it, as well. Understanding the need to create dynamic workplace solutions that fit a diverse workforce and ever-changing job requirements, when Benhar Office moved into their midtown space a few years back, they designed it to not just fit their needs then, but to work for them as they changed and grew into the future. With collaborative workspaces, impromptu meeting spots and highly specialized work areas for design and management, the Benhar Office design and layout has given Mark and Bob the flexibility to meet market changes as well as a fantastic location to entertain guests or hold a Wii bowling party. That’s different. That’s innovation excellence.
 
The difference at Benhar Office Interiors is that change there is not on accident or circumstantial; it’s not frowned upon or feared. At Benhar Office, change is about always being better - as leaders, as employees, as service providers, and most of all, as people. It’s about improving the process; creating the best spaces to live, work, learn and heal; and going beyond the fine print. For their clients, that means unparalleled service, a commitment to sustainable design, and a partnering that doesn’t end with a signed check. That’s innovation excellence. That’s the Benhar difference.

After interviewing visiting clients and doing extensive research, Herman Miller found there is a growing need for controlling office environments and how facilities were both used and managed. In response to this, Herman Miller created Convia, a programmable and electrical infrastructure that rethinks the way power and data is delivered through a building. This system reduces energy costs within the open plan environment and allows programmable solutions within a facility to be controlled with a simple hand-held wand.

Being the first company to invent the open office cubicle, the ergonomic chair, the revolutionary mesh chair in Aeron, Herman Miller has already prided itself on being ahead of the pack when it comes to innovation. Through this new sector, called Convia Sustainable Infrastructure, the product is exclusively offered through the company Wiremold. Realizing the expanded need, Herman Miller is creating related energy products which will be housed in their office furniture as well.

Curt Pullen, leader of Herman Miller North America, recently told Office Insight, "The Herman Miller brand goes beyond office furniture."

Renovating space can be a time consuming and expensive objective; With the Convia products the user can make quick and easy program changes within an area or electrical reconfigurations that could take days can be completed within minutes and at no additional cost.

"The introduction of Convia has helped us speak to our clients regarding more than just furniture," says Benhar Office Interiors President Mark Benhar. "Although the Convia infrastructure is sold exclusively through other selling channels, I am excited that Herman Miller will be introducing the same control into their furniture for us to provide to our clients."

For more information, please visit: www.convia.com.

As part of our commitment to continually improve our product offerings and service capabilities, Benhar Office Interiors conducts Quality Audits on recent projects. By monitoring every aspect our project performance, we are able to understand how our customers feel about us and what areas we need to improve.

In a survey after completing space for Farouk, Furman and Faccio, we were delighted to get back a "report card" any mother would be proud of! Said FFF's Jasmine Cintron, Benhar Office Interiors "...Exceeded our expectations with great service, cost and product information. It is a great company to trust and complete your office projects."

Benhar employees helped spread holiday cheer this December by participating in the Herman-Miller/Geiger sponsored We Care event. 125 underprivileged children from the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem, NY filled tables hosted by area design and architecture firms.  The goal of this event was to provide the children with the opportunity to make creative, heartfelt gifts for their friends and families during the holiday season.

"The best part about the We Care event was not only the fulfillment of giving something back to the kids, and also seeing the excitement of the children not to get something themselves, but to make something for someone else," said Benhar employee Fran Mazzaglia.

Benhar’s craft was such a hit this year, to the delight of the children.  Benhar hosted a craft station centered on the idea of creating festive tote bags, where the children can customize their bags using fabric markers.

 

“It is always a delight to see the smile on a child’s face, after they’ve made something that is unique”.  “I think that cultivating a child’s creativity, bolsters their self esteem”, says Benhar employee Carla Parker.

ACCORDING TO BOB MAURER, Principal and Co-founder of Benhar Office Interiors, charity is not something he does, it is how he lives. Benhar Office Interiors’ Vision Statement finds strength and resolve in its unwavering and intrinsic pledge to charitable service and support.

The list of what the Benhar Office organization does and how it is involved in the community keeps growing, and it all stems from well-watered seeds planted at the firm’s inception. As Bob Maurer sees it that will never change. “

My partner, Mark Benhar, and I believe that we have a responsibility to the people that we sell furniture to that goes beyond the furniture, and we believe that responsibility extends to all of Benhar offices stakeholders – our employees, our strategic partners and the community at large.

As long as Benhar Office Interiors exists, we’re giving back.” This year alone, they have been involved with Habitat for Humanity, the Special Olympics, the Ronald McDonald House, City Harvest as well as numerous personal charitable acts generously performed by Benhar employees and their families.

In an effort to better serve our expanding customer base, Benhar Office Interiors is delighted to announce the opening of our new Long Island location.

Contact:   Fran Mazzaglia
174B Miller Place
Hicksville, NY 11801
516-513-0044
516-513-0045
FAX: 516-827-4590

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in August Benhar employee Urszula Kossarska wed Michael Pellegrino at an outdoor ceremony in Lord Thompson,  CT.  Complete with guitar, horns and Michael’s version of the Miracles’ “I Second That Emotion”, the couple exchanged vows in front of an intimate party of family, friends and well-wishers.  In attendance were several of Ula’s colleagues from Benhar Office Interiors, as well as Mark Benhar & Bob Maurer.  A great time was had by all.

BOI has just won a project with Disney to work with both Disney and the architect HLW. The project is NYC’s world renowned New Amsterdam theatre. The New Amsterdam is a landmark space and Disney is converting the tower upper floors to corporate offices for their theatre creative team. These are the people who created The Lion King and Mary Poppins etc… There will be approximately 125 employees populating this wonderful space and BOI is using a colorful palette of Etho space with random color screens and fabric that are different in each station. The space will have an open and fun feel, of course!

There's a new resident on the world's most famous TV Street! Since Sesame Street was running out of room at their current NY location, they needed to reconfigure some existing areas. With the help of their internationally reknown architect, Giuseppe Boscherini of Freehand Projects, they approached both BOI for Herman Miller and a NYC Steelcase dealer. After a month of quotes and revisions Sesame Street awarded the project to BOI. When asked why, the client said, "BOI’s professionalism in dealing with the process in the main reason for being chosen." The current project is for about 50 people and includes Herman Miller products such as Vivo and Resolve open plan,Vivo private offices as well as files and a mix of some Eames classics. In addition, BOI’s wall division will be providing there new Infinium Refine wall system. Mark Benhar says “ BOI is very excited to partner with Sesame Street on this project and look forward to developing a long lasting relationship with the organization. It’s a organization we all grew up knowing about, it’s special”.

Pablo Vega has come back to NYC!! Benhar Office Interiors is happy to have Pablo Vega join our team. Pablo, who will serve as a Project manager, for us joins us with over 10 years experience in the office furniture business. Pablo worked at 2 of the largest Herman Miller dealer’s in the country, most recently in Arizona. Upon his return, Pablo wanted a fresh start with a new and exciting firm and chose to approach Mark Benhar. Mark is always looking to add experienced professionals and thought Pablo would be a great addition to the growing Benhar family.

It was a wonderful summer for us here at Benhar Office. So what did we do on our summer vacation? Mark Benhar, President of BOI and an avid golfer had to go all the way to Ireland to get his first hole in one. On July 9, 2008 Mark hit a pitching wedge 110 yards in the rain at Greg Norman’s newly designed course Doonbeg.

Benhar Office Interiors is delighted to have been a part of furnishing the Sports Museum of America which opened May 7, 2008. The spectacular grand opening was, led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning. Other iconic athletes on hand included Billie Jean King (who spoke about SMA as home to the first-ever Women’s Sports Hall of Fame), Tony Dorsett (who spoke about SMA as new home to the Heisman Trophy and Ceremony) and 30 other hall of fame athletes from all sports. It is the United States' first national sports museum dedicated to the history and cultural significance of sports in America. It is located at 26 Broadway, in Lower Manhattan across from Bowling Green. The museum contributes to the revitalization of the area following the events of September 11, as it's situated footsteps from the Statue of Liberty Ferry, near Wall Street and the former site of the World Trade Center.