By Rachel Schreiber

Being comfortable at work is more than having a good chair to sit in. Being happy and productive at work is more than having a pleasant work environment. For Peggy Kmiec and Joel Miller of iscg (Interior Systems Contract Group), they give the work environment a physical checkup.

Iscg does more than sell furniture to businesses. They take an in-depth look at a company’s physical environment, its employees’ needs and makes recommendations and designs workspaces based on those issues.

Peggy, iscg’s Ann Arbor’s Branch Manager, graduated from Wayne State with a business degree. She has used her sales and design background in her various occupations, including owning her own home and garden store in Rochester. She says, “I was recruited back into the furniture industry in 2002.” She joined iscg in July 2009.

Joel Miller, iscg’s Director of Sales, joined iscg in 1998. He also graduated from Wayne State with a degree in communication. iscg’s main headquarters was established in Royal Oak in 1976 and it is a 51 percent women owned business. In July of this year, they opened an Ann Arbor office. Joel says, “It’s an opportunity for us to establish roots and a presence in the Ann Arbor Market.” They have contracts with UM, Washtenaw Community College and Washtenaw County.

Peggy says, “Every customer has different business objectives that we’re trying to achieve for them. Years ago, we used to sell office furniture, but these days you need to define your company. We are looking at customers and helping them understand their culture, their environment and how they can impact their productivity.”

Joel states, “Our clients’ biggest issue is attracting and retaining employees. Their goal is how do I create a better space to attract a better caliber employee. The furniture industry, from an outsider’s prospective, seems relatively simple, and that’s what we appreciate. But it’s actually extremely complex. We’re not selling a table, we are really selling environments and how people work within those spaces. It’s much bigger than just the material that’s applied. It’s how it’s going to be used and how’s it’s going to benefit the employee and make him or her more productive. I like to say, I don’t know of any employer that has a space the employee walks in to and the employee has no place to sit. If they had that, how would the employee conduct himself or herself? Furniture is the thing that brings people together and makes them think how they’re going to work and to communicate with each other. It can be a negative or a positive impact the way they work. The way we design workspaces, lay them out, and make recommendations, helps our clients understand how to work within those tangible products we represent is the complexity of what we do. The physical aspects of a facility really do tie into creating a productive, healthy and motivating work environment.”

Each company is unique in their approach to their environment and iscg recognizes those aspects of the business. Peggy comments, “Every company has a culture and it’s up to us to understand their culture and their environment. We can create an environment so they can have a stimulating place for people to work and to be productive. We can support their business objective and design a space that’s functional and efficient. We start with the design and see where the company wants to be five years from now.”

Iscg also is a resource for the community by hosting educational events, such LinkedIn 101, a seminar they hosted recently. They will be planning more seminars about the culture, ergonomics and environments for commercial real estate professionals, designers and architects.

ISCG
Jonathan Robinson
601 N. University, Ann Arbor, 28000 Woodward Avenue, Royal Oak
Phone: 248.399.1600
Email:jmiller@iscginc.compkmiec@insginc.com
Website: www.iscginc.com