News

2nd ANNUAL IMPERIAL COMMUTER CHALLENGE BEGINS JUNE 1, 2008

2008-05-30T18:02:00Z

First, the Imperial Manufacturing Bicycle Challenge begins June 1st, running through August 31st. Employees are asked to bike to work and keep tally of total trips and mileage throughout the summer. “Green” Prizes and rewards will be presented at the end of the summer for individual efforts.

Secondly, Imperial Manufacturing will be participating a second year in the Carefree Commuter Challenge, organized by the Westside Transportation Alliance (WTA). This challenge in the month of July advocates businesses in the metro Portland area to commute to work at least six times, via public transit, walking, bicycling, carpooling or even telecommuting. Last year 21 employees joined over 3500 metro area employees in the challenge, preventing nearly 45,000 gallons of gasoline being exhausted into the atmosphere. Further information is available from the WTA website. For information regarding the Imperial Challenge, contact Rex Plombon at rplombon (at) imperialmfg (dot) com.

Imperial Manufacturing ESOP Now Owns Controlling Interest of Walk-in Cooler Company

2008-04-10T05:37:01Z

The ESOP (and participating employees) now own controlling interest in this 38 year old, Pacific Northwest, walk-in cooler/freezer manufacturing operation. Among the good news given to Imperial employees at the annual ESOP reporting meeting was notice that Imperial stock was at an all-time high. All managers and supervisors agree that the company is functioning much more efficiently as an employee-owned business. All employees know that their contributions count for the good of all. For more information on the Imperial ESOP contact jlsandall using the CONTACTS page.

TriMark Acquires Economy Restaurant Fixtures, Including Big Tray

2008-03-12T20:02:00Z

After acquiring Gill Marketing/Gill Group and S.S. Kemp and Co. last summer (August 2007), TriMark has now acquired Economy Restaurant Fixtures. The acquisition includes Big Tray, the online ordering and replenishment web site.

TriMark was ranked third largest restaurant equipment dealer in the U.S. in April 2007, by FE&S. With the acquisition of 12th ranked Economy Restaurant, TriMark has extended their reach across the U.S. Previous acquisitions Gill, ranked 11th, and S.S. Kemp, ranked 22nd, brought substantial growth in the business and government sectors, as well as contract capabilities.

Read the entire announcement on the Foodservice Equipment and Supplies web site and look forward to their latest report on rankings in April 2008.

FE&S Names Bargreen-Ellingson 2008 Dealer Of The Year

2008-02-21T17:30:00Z

Imperial Manufacturing works with Bargreen-Ellingson on many projects, some of which are reviewed on the Imperial web site as Case Studies.

The Tacoma, Wash.-based dealership will receive the award during FE&Sf annual Dealer of the Year & Industry Awards Gala, which takes place May 17 at Chicago’s Four Seasons Hotel. You can read the entire award announcement at the FE&S web site.

More information on how Imperial and Bargreen-Ellingson work together appears on the Imperial web site Blog , and more may appear under Success Stories and Testimonials.

New Energy Efficient Lighting Installed At Imperial Manufacturing Facility

2008-02-01T17:53:00Z

What are the benefits of high-output T5s?
Switching from HID lamps to HO T5 fluorescent lamps is now a common strategy for increasing energy efficiency in warehouses and other high-bay lighting situations. Both HO T5s and induction fluorescents:

Are capable of instant-on and instant re-strike.
Can be used with energy-saving occupancy sensors.
Can be adjusted through dimming (with dimmable ballasts).
Have lower average mercury content than metal halide HID lamps.

What are the drawbacks of metal halide HIDs?
Metal halide HID lamps have several drawbacks, three of which are related to energy efficiency:

HIDs require several minutes to warm up. During this “re-strike” period, the lamps consume electricity but produce no usable light.
Metal halide HIDs cannot use energy-saving occupancy sensors, which automatically turn lights on when the area is occupied and off when the area is unoccupied.
Dimming systems for HIDs are on the expensive side and are not as efficient as those for fluorescent control systems, reducing the benefits of decreasing light levels during low-use periods to save energy.
In addition to these energy-efficiency factors, HID lamps can contain larger quantities of mercury compared with HO T5s and induction fluorescents.

Metal halide systems use one lamp per fixture. When a lamp fails it requires immediate replacement, since a failed lamp represents a 100 percent reduction in the illumination provided by that fixture. In an HO T5 system, there are four lamps, so when a lamp fails there is only a 25 percent reduction in illumination, allowing a facility to operate safely until it is convenient to change the failed lamp.

David Zell
VP & COO

View of new energy-efficient HO T5 lighting in manufacturing bay at Imperial Manufacturing.

Bargreen Ellingson Opens Denver Office

2007-10-31T18:32:00Z

While this marks the first time the company will have a physical presence in Denver, it’s not the first time Bargreen Ellingson’s done business there. “We have had projects down in Denver off and on for years that were handled by people from our other offices,” said Rick Ellingson, vice president of Bargreen Ellingson. “But we had an opportunity to pick up some people that live and have experience in that market, so this was a people-first kind of move.

“The goal would be to move to our more traditional model, but that will come some years later,” Ellingson added.

Randy Rutsay serves as general manager of the new Bargreen Ellingson office located at 12071 Tejon St.

Imperial’s Commuter Challenge

2007-09-07T17:45:00Z

A total of 21 employees joined the 3,500+ other Portland area employees, successfully c’ommuting to work a total of six times during the month of July. Great job to all those employees who participated!

After the results were tallied, the 160 total companies contributed to saving 441 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere by saving 44,864 gallons of gasoline. Under current pricing, that’s $127,818! Awards issued by the WTA to Imperial employees include Richard Schermerhorn (Mocha Roma Gift Certificate), Nicholas Stahl (Ben & Jerry’s Gift Certificate), April Skelton (Hot Lips Pizza Gift Certificate), and Rex Plombon (Ben & Jerry’’s Gift Certificate).

For information regarding the 2007 Carefree Commuter challenge, visit the website www.wta-tma.org. The event concentrates on raising awareness of alternative transportation, the increasing carbon emissions that lead to global warming, and personal fitness/wellness. Imperial Manufacturing is proud to have not only participated, but expand the challenge over the month of August with its own Bicycle Challenge.

Taking the Wraps off of Thermosteel

2007-08-22T07:03:00Z

Steel door backing is the strongest and most durable method to mount refrigeration door hardware. One drawback to the traditional steel door backing systems are that the steel backing promotes premature corrosion through electrolysis when used with certain exterior finished metal skins, such as aluminum for example. Another condition is created through the conduction created between the two metals contacting one another in cold storage/ambient air conditions. The conduction between these two metals will cause it to sweat and eventually stain and rust the finish metal on the door and frame. This is usually referred to as “telegraphing.”

The ThermoSteel door hardware backing system incorporates the use of 1/2” thick Thermo-Lite ® insulated boardstock sandwiched between the cold storage door hardware and 10 gauge galvanized backing plates. The remainder of the cavity inside the door and frame sections are foamed in place with urethane foam. The Thermo-Lite® board acts as an isolator between ferrous and non-ferrous metals eliminating any chance for electrolysis to occur. The insulating value of the Thermo-Lite® inhibits conduction from cold transfer between the backing plates and the finished wall metals. This will eliminate any rust or corrosion from forming on the exterior finished wall metals. The Thermo-Lite® composite material is present throughout the entire door frame section and provides superior strength without the use of conductive materials attached directly to the door hardware.

Yellowstone gets a face lift

2007-08-22T05:59:00Z

Xantera, with Yellowstone National Parks, contracted Bargreen Ellingson for new, replacement and remodel the existing storage coolers and freezers to be ready for the 2007 season.

Old Faithful Lodge was in need of replacing 3 storage rooms and remodeling one storage freezer; while Canyon village required the replacement of a storage freezer and the addition of a cooler freezer combo in the employee dining area. Kyle Hawkins from Bargreen Ellingson in Tacoma, WA and Todd Sillars from Imperial Manufacturing took to the site in December 06 to evaluate the site for phase 1 thru 3 at the three main camps.

Imperial Manufacturing shipped the boxes and refrigeration to the site in March to there installers from Pitman Enterprises and Bargreen’s refrigeration installer Tim’s Mechanical Plus. The project required approximately 4 weeks completing and cost was approximately $250,000 for Phase 1.

Still to come is phase 2 and 3 for the 08 and 09 season. This will include replacing the remaining boxes at Canyon lodge, replacing the remaining boxes at Mammoth lodge and adding two new boxes. One interior and one exterior, keeping in mind this is Yellowstone National Park. Snow load is not a problem for Imperial Manufacturing.

Spring Training and Spring Renovations

2007-08-22T05:56:01Z

Los Angeles, CA – TriMark Raygal of Irvine, CA was awarded the contract for the 1st of many phases in the renovation of the Dodgers Stadium in December of 2006.
The first phase included adding two new large beer coolers to level 3 of the stadium before the start of the spring season.

Rob Perry, the project manager for Raygal, George Perry, the principal foodservice consultant with Ricca Newmark Design in Greenwood Village, CO, and Rob Loucks from Imperial Mfg in Portland, OR all took to the task in late December 2006.

The stadiums unique design, the stringent codes and seismic requirements for Los Angeles, 1,600 lbs of beer pump equipment and condensing units that were to sit atop each of the coolers and the time constraints all played significant roles in the challenges that lay head for this team of professionals. They began working very closely with the architect, HKS Architects, Inc in Dallas, TX and Miller Consulting Engineers in Portland, OR.

The on site date was nearing and changes were still being made due to last minute field dimensions that were given. The design team at Imperial really stepped up to the plate, pardon the pun, when changes came in the day before this project was scheduled to be released to the production floor. They were able to make these last minute changes, clear it with the Engineers and still release it the next day.

Imperial contracted WW Commercial Refrigeration in Los Angeles to install the coolers and the Heatcraft refrigeration equipment and they did an outstanding job. This was not an easy install as they were only allowed to work in certain sections of the stadium at specific times.

Currently, Ricca Newmark is working on Phase IV of the renovations which includes new walk-in coolers and freezers for the field level concessions due to install before the Fall season kicks off.

Chemical Containment Chamber

2007-08-22T05:53:01Z

Since the chemicals being stored were flammable, the chamber needed to meet Class 1, Division 1 regulations and needed to be FM approved. It also needed to have blow out panels in the event of an accidental explosion. They also needed (1) emergency egress door and (2) 10’ x 10’ doors to allow forklift traffic, but they could not be sliding doors due to the potential to cause a spark. The required interior dimensions of the chamber were 31’ x 37’ 6” x 13’ at the lowest point, and the slab needed to have a slope for drainage of any spilled chemicals.

Imperial was able to meet all of the above criteria with FM approved high density urethane framed panels and double swing doors. Recirculated glycol was used in lieu of heat cables. The chamber was self supporting, utilizing internal posts and beams and girt support for the walls. A concrete curb was poured for the walls to sit on due to the site not being level. Imperial also provided the roofing and weatherproofing materials, and handled the structural engineering utilizing Miller Consulting Engineers, and the installation utilizing Pitman Enterprises.

BASF and Luwa Environmental Specialties were very pleased with the completed chamber.