June 10, 2015
NORTH AUGUSTA — Robby Grant and Renee Pettinato are two happy employees. And they aren’t alone.
Looking at the view, both inside and out, from the second-floor conference room at Medac Inc., it’s easy to see why. The longtime employees of the anesthesia billing and services company are still coming to grips with the expansive, bright new building they have to work in.
Located just across from the North Augusta municipal building, Pettinato, an assistant account manager for Medac’s clients in the Southeast, looks out of the window toward Augusta. She has been with the company 10 years, and appreciates all the additional space the 60,000-square-foot building now provides over the cramped former location off Scott Nixon Memorial Drive in Augusta.
“This has been an awesome week,” she said. “I love the building. I can be lazy and take the elevator or be healthy and take the stairs. I was telling someone the other day that I think we are all going to be a size smaller this time next year because of the length of the building and the stairs.”
Medac employees began the first part of a move into the building last Saturday, with other employees arriving throughout October.
“And it’s not just the fact that (the building) is six minutes from my driveway, but we have new desks and new chairs,” Pettinato said. “They left the old (furniture) and got us all new (furniture). We have a mini convenience store in our break room. We are up with the times, I guess you could say. It’s feels like 2015.”
Grant is Medac’s director of purchasing and project management. He watched the building’s construction turn into reality. He says the company and its employees have a building they can be proud of.
“I was here when they dug out the first spoonful of dirt, and there’s not an inch of this building that I do not know,” Grant said. “Look at the view. The building we were in didn’t have a lot of windows. It’s bright, it’s open and it’s sunny. Look at where we are and what we get to look at. This is really a state-of-the-art building and everyone just seems to be in love with it.”
One of the biggest perks has been the ability to communicate with colleagues quickly and easily.
“You can see that (communication happening) now. People are up and they are walking around and talking to each other,” Grant said. “It’s something that we needed. It’s a family – a large family – but a family. That’s how we work. It’s all of us together.”
Both employees feel the new location lifts the company’s profile and positions it for future growth.
“It’s going to help with the progression of our company. You wouldn’t think that a new building would do that, but I think it’s going to open some eyes,” Pettinato said. “People will see how committed this company is to doing what we do for our clients. It will help us bring in new clients.”