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w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m N o v e m b e r 2 0 15 • I NSIGH T | 29 [continued ] » Creative solutions McMahon Group launches division to tackle tricky public-private projects F ive neighboring commercial land owners in the Village of Little Chute faced a dilemma: If any one of them wanted to expand their business, they would first have to cough up funds to build a dry pond for drainage. e prospect was daunting for the small business owners — enough to make them doubt the ROI on expanding. As explained by Little Chute Administrator James Fenlon, not only would it cost them, but the time it could take to coordinate their efforts, obtain approvals, contract for the work and see it to fruition would have resulted in lost opportunities. Fortuitously, a solution to such a complicated development problem had been in the works and was at last ready for prime time. McMahon Group, based in Neenah, had buttoned up plans to launch a new division for P H O T O B Y M A R G A R E T L E B R U N By Margaret LeBrun the design-build engineering and architectural firm, Integrated Public Resources. To cut to the chase: IPR helped the Little Chute land owners find an alternative solution that was much less costly — and completed within three months. "For the village, we would have been put in the position where we would have had to work around our five-year capital improvement plan, and in terms of other priorities it would have been a non-starter," Fenlon says. "Any one single property owner wouldn't have been able to do it. IPR facilitates the whole deal." As a public-private partnership firm, IPR was developed to help municipalities and developers find creative solutions to design, build, finance, own, operate or maintain projects that might otherwise never get done, IPR Project Manager TJ Lamers explains. It draws on the engineering expertise of McMahon Group, which includes wastewater treatment plant upgrades or construction, new roads, new park facilities, li station additions or rehabs and more. Public-private partnerships aren't new, says Fenlon, but awareness of such creative solutions has yet to catch on in the Midwest. McMahon President Denny Lamers says the concept is widespread in Europe and Canada but when he introduces the idea to clients he oen hears, "It's too good to be true." He explains that because of the work McMahon does with See the work in progress For a time-lapse look at the recent Little Chute storm water project coordinated by IPR, a division of McMahon Group, go to YouTube and search "McMahon Group, Integrated Public Resources." Online, click here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=uQh8EOmtADA Integrated Public Resources, a new division of McMahon Group, Neenah, recently completed work on a drainage pipe for storm water runoff for five land owners in the Village of Little Chute. The pipe was a collaborative alternative to dry ponds for storm water runoff. IPR coordinated the work, which preserves land and allows the businesses to expand.