At a Glance
Business Name
MiNO Marine
Location
119 Causeway Blvd., Jefferson
Number of years in business
16
Date of opening current facility
June 2016
Architecture and Interior Design
SCNZ Architects
Artwork
David Bourg
Square footage
4,500
Number of Employees
11
Person(s) in Charge
Kenneth Humphreys and David Bourg, managing partners
[gtx_gallery]
When naval architecture and marine engineering company MiNO Marine’s managing partners Kenneth Humphreys and David Bourg went looking to build their company headquarters, one of their main concerns was finding a space large enough for their needs. The company lucked out with a swath of land in Jefferson that enabled them to build their 4,500-square-foot headquarters to their specifications.
“We were fortunate to find an undeveloped, sufficiently large piece of land to develop,” said Humphreys. “The property size eliminated many of the challenges you would expect with a new construction project, leaving the big challenge we all face — the budget.”
The partners worked with SCNZ Architects for the building and interior design, resulting in a striking, modern facility that Humphreys said is designed to create a comfortable work environment that encourages collaboration.
“The architects proposed a ship shape in the design of the building’s entrance and conference rooms,” Humphreys said. “It is well integrated with the rest of the building and subtly conveys the nature of our business. We are an engineering firm that supports vessel owners, operators and builders. We have clients from around the world, with the majority of our business coming from U.S. clients working in the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast and inland rivers/waterways.”
MiNO’s services range from concept design to full vessel production drawing practices. The company has completed more than 30 marine construction and dredging projects.
Humphreys describes the company’s work as “pretty standard fare” for the industry, so in order to seek out an advantage in the marketplace they have worked to incorporate other elements and services into their repertoire.
“We offer high-end engineering analyses using the finite element method and computational fluid dynamics,” Humphreys said. “In addition, we count among our employees a wide variety of backgrounds including a tug captain, a regulatory surveyor, an aeronautical engineer and a jazz musician, to name a few.”
To keep the MiNO Marine crew happy and productive, Humphreys said the company provides flexible schedules, generous leave, competitive salaries and interesting projects.
“Like most small business owners [the biggest challenge is] wearing a lot of different hats every day and the cyclical nature of the energy sector,” he said. But Humphreys said he is looking forward to growth in the coming months. “We’d like to see construction begin on a couple of the concept designs we have prepared for clients in the wind energy and energy exploration sectors.”
