OFS Awarded Prestigious "Well Certification" at the Platinum Level

COMPANY NEWS RELEASE

HUNTINGBURG -- OFS — a family-owned manufacturer of contract furniture for workplace, healthcare, education, hospitality and government settings — today announced a platinum certification for its corporate office by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). Platinum certification is the highest designation a project can receive. The company’s 49,000 square-foot headquarters is the first in Indiana to receive the leading health and wellness certification.

“We’re honored to receive this certification from IWBI. When we first constructed our corporate office in 2004, we wanted to create an environment that was not only aesthetically appealing and functional for work, but also provide opportunities to improve people’s physical and mental wellbeing,” said OFS CEO Hank Menke. “Without great people, all you have is brick, mortar and machines. We know our employees make our business and culture strong, so we imagined a place where everyone who set foot on campus would have the opportunity to be their best selves.”

Following renovations in 2018, the OFS corporate office earned the distinction based on ten categories of building performance — air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind and community — and achieved a Platinum level rating. Significant features include:

A social hub where employees can collaborate and socialize in a central location
An expansive fitness center with exercise equipment, saunas and a lap swimming pool with adjustable current
Top-of-the-line air filtration with microbe and mold control and UVC filters
Options for nutritious food and beverages
Access to the outdoors
Nursing room to support new mothers
New furniture that incorporates safe, non-toxic materials

"OFS has gone above and beyond to implement design, policy and operational interventions backed by scientific evidence to prioritize the health and well-being of its employees and visitors now and into the future. The organization's Platinum level achievement of WELL Certification serves as a leading example for companies everywhere," said IWBI president and CEO Rachel Gutter.

Launched in 2014, WELL is the premier building standard to focus on enhancing people’s health and wellness through the buildings where we live, work and play. Created through years of rigorous research and development working with leading physicians, scientists, and industry professionals, the WELL Building Standard is a performance-based certification system that marries best practices in design and construction with evidence-based scientific research.

“When the WELL Certification program was introduced, we realized our decade-old space already hit the mark in nearly every category,” said Ryan Menke, senior vice president of sales and marketing for OFS. “We took the opportunity in 2018 to refresh the space with the intent of meeting the latest WELL performance standards and extend our mission of providing exceptional spaces for our employees and customers.”

Currently, more than 200 employees work out of the WELL Certified Platinum office space, with optimal air quality to support social distancing guidelines in the new COVID-19-era working environment.

About OFS

OFS is a family-owned contract furniture manufacturer dedicated to crafting experiences and products that contribute to places where people want to be. Founded in 1937, OFS provides furniture and logistics solutions for office, healthcare, education, lifestyle, hospitality, government, and home office markets worldwide, offering seating, tables, casegoods, and open plan products. The brands, Carolina and Bryan Ashley are OFS companies. OFS is based in Huntingburg, Indiana.

About International WELL Building Institute

WELL is grounded in a body of evidence-based research that explores the connection between the buildings where we spend approximately 90 percent of our time, and the health and wellness impacts on the people inside these buildings. To be awarded WELL certification by IWBI, OFS underwent rigorous testing and a final evaluation carried out by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), which is the third-party certification body for WELL, to ensure it met all WELL Certified Platinum performance requirements.