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Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Students donate to

memorial fund / P3

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Chamber, city honor year’s best and brightest / P10

Enterprise Awards

10 December 3, 2013Current in Noblesvillewww.currentnoblesville.com COMMUNITY

COvEr STOrY

Business of the year IDI Composites International

IDI Composites International is the premier global formulator and manufac-turer of thermoset industrial compounds for custom molders and original equipment manufacturers

“Composites International started in No-blesville in 1966, known as Industrial Dielec-trics, Inc. - IDI - which is what we all still call it,” said Executive Vice President Jay Merrell. “We make polyester modeling materials for electrical, automotive, appliance applications – many different things that you use in your household but don’t think about very much that would come from Noblesville.”

The business, started by Merrell’s father, John, began as a stamping business. His first customer was RCA.

“The business at the time was built for electrical insulating materials, mostly for TVs and radios. If you think back to the old days of the TV turners where you actually had to walk up to the TV and twist the knob, the switch on the inside we made the parts for those.”

The company started to make the ma-terials themselves for the same insulated parts and the chemistry of making materials transferred into the modeling materials that it makes today.

“The business is going to continue to grow. It will continue to grow here in Noblesville and that’s one of the main reasons we did our remodeling project,” Merrell said.

The company also has plants in Puerto Rico, England, France and China but the markets the company touches are as equally broad as its global business. From automo-tive to electrical applications for switch gears and circuit breakers, Composites Internation-al makes things that help distribute electric-ity. Merrell said the Noblesville plant makes bulk molding compounds and sheet molding compounds.

“These are raw materials that are then molded into all these various products,” Mer-rell said.

The annual Enterprise Awards are present-ed to local businesses and people for their exceptional work by the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce and the City of Noblesville.

Enterprise Awards

Young Professional of the YearAlaina Shonkwiler, Economic Development Department

The inaugural Young Professional of the Year Award went to Noblesville native and city employee Alaina Shonkwiler.

“I’m being rewarded for doing something I love,” she said. “I feel the pressure that I have to set that stan-dard and keep on doing what I’m doing.”

The 2001 Noblesville High School graduate earned a degree in public affairs management and a minor in nonprofit management from Indiana University.

“Like many of my fellow (NHS) graduates I decided I needed to leave Noblesville and experience something else and with that I packed up and moved to Wash-ington, D.C.,” Shonkwiler said, adding she worked as a budget analyst for the corporation of national and com-munity service for three years after graduation.

Shonkwiler, 30, returned home in 2009 after brief stays in Fort Bragg, N.C. and Columbus, Ohio. She worked part-time at the Noblesville Chamber of Com-merce before becoming an economic development specialist for the city.

“Before I started working for the city I had no idea the focus the mayor and city had on the quality of life aspect for our citi-zens,” Shonkwiler said.

Shonwiler, whose focus is on community development in the down-

town and Old Town areas, is a stable at Nickel Plate Arts, Hamilton Coun-ty Convention and Visitors Bureau, Noblesville Main Street and Kiwanis meetings and events.

“What I love about going into work is building rela-tionships and talking to people who have such a pas-sion for downtown. We’re all trying to make it a better place,” she said. “Being from Noblesville I remember coming into downtown for different events. I like we are creating that sense of place for the community.”

One of Shonkwiler’s favorite aspects of her job is her involvement in the future of Noblesville.

“One of the most beautiful things about my job and my role in this community is I do get to have an impact on it. We’re talking about the Westside Park and having it be an 85 to 100 year park. We’re talking about the materials that might be here for someone else. We’re building a community for the future and someone did that for us so I want to be able to do that for them, my grandkids and the future generations.”

Her wide range of topics makes each day at work unique and different.

“I love that I can go from a very serious project submission to going to an arts council meeting. Some are serious, some are fun – it fits my personality well,” she said. “I’m so glad the mayor see’s that. It’s his vision I get to act it out.”

Business Person of the YearDarren Peterson, Peterson Architecture

By Robert Herrington robert@youarecurrent.com

A leap of faith and one dedicated lunch break helped Darren Peterson, 46, start his architecture firm 17 years ago.

“Somebody once told me if you don’t start your company before you’re 30 you won’t start it until you’re 50. So four months before my 30th birthday –

four months before my first daughter was born – I went out on my lunch hour. They were widening 116st Street and I went door to door with all those businesses that were affected, negotiated a contract (with one business) and went back to my company and quit my job,” Peterson said.

Peterson said a secret of his success has been the company’s willing-ness to take on any project. The original focus was on outpatient medical facilities, which was hit and miss, so the firm expanded to design gas stations, factories, warehouses and restaurants. Peterson has buildings in 37 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.

“I’m the author of the fourth largest building in Oregon, a 1.5 million square foot Lowe’s distribution center,” he said. “While we were working on that we were also getting a building permit for a dog house here in Hamilton County.”

Among his clients are five Fortune 500 companies including Lowe’s, Frito Lay and Pepsi Co.

“I try to make everyone feel unique. I’ve designed 50 Taco Bell restau-rants and every one is a little different,” he said.

Peterson Architecture is at 298 S. 10th St. – a place he is very familiar with.“Fifteen years ago we designed the area that used to be a spa,” Peter-

son said.Peterson graduated from Ball State University in 1991, when the

economy “was pretty bad.” His first job out of school was as a graduate architect at Ernst Bliem Architect in Tirol, Austria.

“I spent every penny I had traveling around Europe,” he said.When he returned stateside, Peterson landed in Noblesville as he

stayed with friends.“I had no home or car. Noblesville got to be home pretty quick,” he said.

“My first client was in Noblesville. “Fishers and Carmel didn’t have the same home feel.”

Peterson said it’s important for the success of your business to be active in the community.

“You have to be a part of the community to better understand your clients better. I know why I moved to Noblesville and understand why they moved to Noblesville,” he said. “The goal is to work, play and live all in the same place.”

Outside of work, Peterson is involved in the Noblesville Riverwalk Com-mittee, Façade Grant program, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Noblesville First United Methodist Church and Nickel Plate Arts. He also is the vice president of Noblesville Main Street where he created the Thursday eve-ning produce market this summer.

“It was a nice intimate marketplace. There was a big variety this first year,” Peterson said. “We made use of a lost space on the square.”

In his free time, Peterson enjoys spending time with his family. While helping his daughter, Emily, on her 4-H cake decorating project Peterson discovered a new hobby that utilized his skill background.

“It’s a hobby that I could get paid for and do with my daughter,” he said. “I’m a Wilton Cake decorating teacher at the new Hobby Lobby in Noblesville.”

Jay, left, and John Merrell.