Klein and her crew set out an amazing tour this fall throughout the Fargo-Moorhead area to show the community what they have been up to. The party bus was loaded with local architects, interior designers, builders, business leaders, and many more! It was great to see the DIRTT walls in action and clients interacting with them on a daily basis. Stay tuned for next year’s event!
“Klein takes ‘Smartt’ approach to construction
Klein takes ‘Smartt’ approach to construction
FARGO—When Paula Klein heard about a company called Dirtt several years ago, it got her thinking.
Dirtt is a Canadian company that manufactures prefabricated walls and other materials that make rearranging interior spaces and things like electrical and data hookups a breeze.
“Right away, I knew this is the future of construction,” said Klein, whose excitement led to the birth of her own company, Smartt Interior Construction.
Klein’s Fargo-based Smartt partners with Dirtt, taking the products and materials Dirtt manufactures and assembles, and installing them on projects where Smartt also provides onsite management of the work.
Smartt began in 2011, a year Klein said she basically spent “planting seeds” and building awareness of what her company can do.
By 2013, Smartt was doing $2.3 million worth of business and generating lots of attention for Klein, a licensed contractor who is Smartt’s owner and CEO.
Her company’s ongoing success earned Klein the Small Business Administration’s 2015 North Dakota Small Business Person of the Year Award, and last fall she was named woman entrepreneur of the year by the Bismarck-based Center for Technology and Business.
“Pretty cool,” Klein said of the recognition, which she said is particularly gratifying since she is working in a field long dominated by men.
Klein said products made by Dirtt, which she said stands for “doing it right this time,” have been embraced by commercial clients who have spaces to rent but don’t want to follow the conventional course of fixing up a building for clients only to see them eventually depart. This often prompts another remodel to accommodate a new tenant.
All of which leads to messy projects and lots of material heading for landfills, Klein said.
She said what Smartt provides is a clean and easy way to bring beauty and utility to a space while offering flexibility when it’s time to rearrange or remove elements.
One of Smartt’s projects was a retrofit of a downtown Fargo building that was done for Alerus Financial.
Andrew Hanson, a commercial banker at Alerus, said he’s a fan of Klein’s work, especially the sliding glass door of his office that has a controlled, self-closing feature he enjoys demonstrating.
Although Smartt has grown quickly in just a few years, Klein said she is only getting started, and has her eye on expanding more into health care as well as home settings.
“I think we’ve just kind of scratched the surface,” she said.
INFORUM
http://www.inforum.com/business/3744266-klein-takes-smartt-approach-construction
SBA 2015 North Dakota Small Business Person of the Year
U.S. Small Business Administration SBA News Release April 10, 2015
Author : Brittany Sickler
FARGO – Paula Jo Klein, owner of Smartt Interior Construction, LLC in Fargo, has been awarded the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 2015 North Dakota Small Business Person of the Year. This annual award recognizes exceptional small business owners who demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit in starting and growing a successful business. Nominated by The Center for Technology & Business, Klein was selected following a statewide competition. Award recipients from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, will be considered for a National award which will be announced during National Small Business Week, May 4 – 8.
A licensed general contractor and experienced space planner, Klein is filling a niche in the commercial building industry with innovative offerings that include interior elements – walls, doors, millwork, flooring and power solutions – that can be taken apart and repurposed to accommodate new or additional occupants and businesses. Based in Fargo, Smartt Interior Construction serves North Dakota, South Dakota, and Western Minnesota.
Through her hard work, skills and assistance from the Center for Technology and Business in government contracting and certification as a woman-owned business, Klein has grown sales to over $2.1 million in just her third year of business. This has allowed her to add staff and provide economic opportunity to many additional individuals over the course of the company’s projects.
Klein’s vision goes far beyond her own success. She has been active in West Fargo Public School’s STEM program from its inception, and also prioritizes the time to be active with the YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties and the Fargo Lions Club.
In celebration of National Small Business Week, the North Dakota District Office and the West Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center will be hosting a business workshop for all types of makers, crafters and artists. The event will be held the evening of May 4 in downtown Fargo at the Loretta Building, an interior construction project that Klein worked on.
Small Business Saturday: Smartt Interior Construction
About the Owner
Smartt’s founder, Paula Klein, is one of those people who manage to squeeze more into one day than some of us fit in to a week. Seemingly endless reserves of energy and drive help her survive and thrive in an industry with two important features: a reluctance to embrace change and a makeup that is almost entirely male. Her drive has led to success and recognition, including being the first recipient of the Center for Technology and Business’ Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award in October 2014.
But set aside the accolades for a moment and realize that her entry into the construction world almost never happened in the first place. Paula studied communications and marketing in school, never really expressing an interest in architecture or engineering. Only after bouncing around to a handful of jobs did she eventually find herself in the design industry, where she discovered her passion for laying out and constructing spaces.
Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say she rediscovered her passion. You see, after years in the business she found an old scrapbook from her childhood. It was filled with all things you might expect in a little girl’s scrapbook, except there were a handful of sketches that seemed oddly out of place. What was Paula doodling back then, at the age of four or five? Mostly floor plans, as it turns out.
About the Company
Smartt focuses on what Paula calls “lean and clean” pre-fabricated construction for commercial interior spaces in Fargo and the Tri-State area. As the business grows, Paula may expand and begin offering services to residential customers as well.What sets Smartt Interior Construction apart is its approach. Smartt’s methods fuse construction techniques with new technologies. In the process, Paula and her crew try to educate customers and the entire industry, showing them that just because building has been done a certain way for decades doesn’t mean it always has to be done that way. In Paula’s words, “there are smart phones and smart cars, why can’t there be smart construction, too?”
Smartt often works hand-in-hand with a company called Dirtt Environmental Solutions. Dirtt is a nationwide player in the commercial interiors arena, and its vision aligns well with Smartt’s. Both companies embrace new construction techniques, technological change, and sustainability. Smartt is one of Dirtt’s distribution partners and together the two companies have completed a number of projects in the Fargo area and around North Dakota, South Dakota and Western Minnesota.
Why should you consider working with Smartt on your project? There are many reasons, but the most important is that Smartt is driven by relationships. Paula and her team know that creating an interior space is a huge investment for a company, and everyone in the company needs to be able to trust in their builder of choice. That is why Paula gives her cell number to customers, and her team does the same. When questions or concerns come up, the team at Smartt is accessible and responsive, always seeking to build and maintain a strong relationship with the customer through every phase of the project.
About the Alerus Relationship
Paula has a unique relationship with Alerus, and it starts with her Relationship Manager, Blaine Anderson. “Blaine always makes me feel like I am his biggest client, even though I know I’m not,” she says. “He is genuinely interested in how Smartt is doing and how I am doing, and I never feel like he is just saying what I want to hear.”
Paula really enjoys the focus Alerus places on small businesses. “Small companies make a big impact on the economy, and I think Alerus realizes that,” Paula explains. She also values the responsiveness of Alerus employees and the team approach that is emphasized throughout the company. “Alerus wants you to succeed. They genuinely believe in your company and you are not just a customer to them.”
The relationship between Alerus and Smartt is unique because it goes beyond the usual banking relationship; Smartt is a customer of Alerus, but Alerus is also a customer of Smartt. When Alerus moved in to its location at 51 Broadway in Fargo, Paula and her team were hired to be an integral part of the project. Smartt created a beautiful space that achieves an “Alerus feel” and was built with Smartt’s forward-looking techniques.
To see the article follow this link:
http://www.alerussbc.com/blog/small-business-saturday-smartt-interior-construction
SMARTT INTERIOR CONSTRUCTION OWNER PAULA KLEIN AWARDED THE NORTH DAKOTA CTB WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Paula Klein, Owner of Smartt Interior Construction in Fargo received the honor of being the first CTB Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient. The exclusive award is designated to the owner of a North Dakota Certified Woman Owned Business who has demonstrated staying power, innovativeness, forward thinking and contributions to her community. Not only is Klein a woman pioneering a new business in a market segment predominantly driven by males, but her company also brings a new, transformative product to a very mature market. Competency and confidence have solidified her success, allowing her to grow her sales to over $2.1 million in just her third year of business. With Klein’s powerful belief in an exceptional product and her determination to provide innovative and comprehensive services to her clients, she is consistently breaking barriers in the construction industry. Most importantly, her vision goes far beyond her own success. She has been a role-model and mentor for 6th graders in the West Fargo Public School’s STEM program since its inception. Students enjoy Klein’s perspective, great sense of humor and her ability to challenge them. She is a shining example of the type of role model our young people need, especially for young women.
http://trainingnd.com/news/three-exceptional-north-dakota-women-receive-recog
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Build Smarter
“DIRTTbag” by day- Professional speaker by night; Paula Klein, owner of Smartt Interior Construction explains how to “Build Better” in today’s construction chaos.
Paula was invited to speak at a professional learning event called InSourced: a day of professional learning for district educators. InSourced tagline: “tomorrow’s workforce through today’s educators” was designed to provide educators with a morning of dynamic speakers focused on college/career readiness.
Paula shared her experiences and explained how her company is doing it right this time! Paula owns a construction company in Fargo, ND. Her team is creating spaces that are customizable and sustainable. Why have we been building buildings the same way for the last hundred years? We have these beautiful buildings on the outside and the interiors are doomed to fail. Well, not with our DIRTT solution. DIRTT is tilt up/ lean construction. We design space in our cutting edge technology called Ice and use our 3-D walk thru videos to show our clients the space. It’s just like test driving a car before you buy it! Our walls are manufactured in a factory in 3 weeks. WE are SMARTT construction, WE are efficient construction, WE are doing it right this time! Check out the video….
Why 300 People Wore Pajamas on the Streets of Chicago!!
6.12.14 | Chicago, IL | PJs were the order of the day when more than 300 DIRTT distribution partners, employees and guests gathered at Chicago’s House of Blues on June 7, 2014, to kick off the interior construction company’s annual get-together.
ABOVE: Local Smartt-IC team members Paula Klein and Thora Bunke looking fashionable in their PJ’s while they take on Chicago.
The PJs added an element of fun (a staple of every DIRTT event) as the DIRTT family met to celebrate their successes, talk about future plans, and reconnect with colleagues from across North America. The weekend meetings preceded DIRTT’s annual three-day show for clients and public at DIRTT’s Green Learning Center in its penthouse space across the street from the Merchandise Mart, where furniture manufacturers were attending NeoCon.
This year DIRTT unveiled its new Enzo™ Approach. Enzo builds on the core DIRTT framework and provides a significantly greater increase in design freedom. It is part of DIRTT’s committed focus on redefining rapid construction through modular techniques, replacing details that communicate modularity with those that convey permanence.
Reaction from visitors who packed DIRTT’s space was extremely positive as they saw how Enzo could be applied to healthcare, corporate, residential or other spaces.
About DIRTT
DIRTT Environmental Solutions (Doing It Right This Time) uses its proprietary 3D software to design, manufacture and install fully customized prefab interiors. Our customers in the corporate, government, education and healthcare sectors benefit from DIRTT’s precise design and costing; rapid lead times with the highest levels of customization and flexibility; and faster, cleaner construction.
DIRTT manufacturing facilities are in Phoenix, Savannah, Kelowna and Calgary. Our teams support more than 100 Distribution Partners throughout North America, the Middle East and Asia. For more information please visit http://www.dirtt.net.
Comment | Categories: Business/Finance, Events, Mfg. & Distr., Products
Smartt Interior Construction soars high with another FRESH DIRTT feature!
Smartt Interior Construction is happy to be featured again by Fresh DIRTT for the awesome work done in McVille, North Dakota.
DIRTT was the ideal solution when this rural public elementary school wanted to take over-sized classrooms and turn them into efficient multi-purpose spaces.
Happy Holidays from Smartt Interior Construction
Smartt Interior Construction has had a great 2013 and would like to thank all of our great clients with this Christmas video card. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Smartt Interior Construction featured by FRESH DIRTT!
Smartt Interior Construction is happy to be featured by Fresh DIRTT for the amazing work done in Fargo, ND. The financial institution went with a modern and rich design using glass walls, sliding doors, embedded technology and breathe living walls. The space was designed to be a very welcoming, customer based area that reflects the progressive banking solutions.
