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Process Technology location all about transparency 

At the Process Technology Willoughby location, president Jody Richards says it’s all about transparency, sharing and being open.

Since Process Technology’s Mentor location was a vision of the 1970s, Richards envisioned natural light and an open space for team members to interact with each other.

“People bumping into each other, talking about things, having ideas, promoting our company culture – this was all a part of the idea of the layout and design of the building itself,” she said.

For Richards, Cleveland-based architect Vovon was the answer to Process Technology’s 38809 Mentor Ave. location. While much input was provided in regard to layout and design, Vocon did well with designing around the requests, Richards said.

“We are very happy to be in Willoughby. There are no hidden spaces here,” noted Sid Srivastava, Richard’s husband. “We wanted more interaction to come out in the design of the building.”

Except for the door to a mother’s room in the building, all of the doors are glass, adding to the transparency theme of the modern contemporary building. In addition to offices, there are conference rooms and areas for brainstorming, a café and lobby area as well as an area for staff to do yoga and a gym for staff.

In addition, laboratories used to manufacture semiconductor, medical device manufacturing, surface finishing and photovoltaic manufacturing products, provide for a safe working environment with protective clothing and doors for staff to walk through that blow off particles, Richards said.

Process Technology staff moved into the new Willoughby location in 2018 after construction began in 2017, Richards said, noting the location used to be a car dealership, which was somewhat dilapidated.

“This (building) represents our thought process and where we’re going, and the industries we’re in,” she said. “It’s clean, high-tech, forward thinking and futuristic and that’s the mindset we want people to have.”

In addition to the new location in Willoughby, the offices at the Mentor location have been redone to continue reframing the mindset, Richards said. Currently, there are 200 team members employed between Process Technology’s three locations – Mentor, Willoughby and Wisconsin.

Two weeks after staff members moved into the new location in Willoughby, a staff member had mentioned to Richards that while the Mentor location was fine, with a new space and look, she questioned how work was done at the Mentor location.

“She was like, ‘Now I go back there and I’m like how could we have worked there,’ ” Richards said with a laugh. “This building reshapes your mind and makes you think in different ways. People come to work and they’re happy here.”

The first thing Erin Giddings thought was, “I want to work here” when she came to the new space. She is inspired by her surroundings, she said.

“This building expands your mind, but this is also to expand the company,” Richards said.

Credit – Marah Morrison, News-Herald