By KEN CARPENTER
Great Bend Post
While officials in Great Bend and Barton County have been focusing government resources on restoring and improving buildings in downtown Great Bend, some area businesses have chosen East 10th Street to erect new buildings to house their local headquarters.
Wheatland Electric will be holding a grand opening at its new building at 200 10th Street on Oct. 25. The company has consolidated its administrative services and warehouse operations into the 30,000 square foot facility.
Meanwhile, Mpire Properties, Mpire Improvements and Overhead Door and Summit Roofing are establishing their headquarters nearby in a new building at 108 10th Street. Rick Davis, Mpire’s Chief Operations Officer, explained why they chose to go with a new building.
“We’ve moved a few times throughout the years as we’ve grown and expanded,” Davis said. “We wanted some room to grow into. At the time we decided to build this, there really wasn’t anything available to suit our needs so we decided to build the new facility.”
Davis said the three companies will be moving into the 14,200 square foot building this month with a grand opening expected by the end of the year. A 7,400 square foot storage building is also being constructed on the property.
Mpire Realty is a separately owned real estate company. It will be housed at 1315 Main Street after the building there is renovated.