NARI Awards 2 CotYs to AMEK Team

Trusted and Tested! We are intentional about earning the trust of our clients to remodel their homes. Another component of our mission is to be among the best in our industry for the Twin Cities. We submit several of our projects for peer review every year to test ourselves to see how we compare to other contractors.

Our AMEK Design + Build team is excited to recently earn honors for a St. Louis Park kitchen and for an Eagan main level remodel. The National Association of the Remodeling Industry – Minnesota (NARI-MN) presented the 2023 Contractor of the Year (CotY™) Award on November 9 at its annual gala. Representing the AMEK team were Lauren Burrows-Cheng, Matt Schmidt, Andrew Schmidt, Paul Schmidt, and Deanne Beaudet.

Our Gold Award CotY is for an entire house remodel. For our Eagan homeowners, they desired an open and thoughtful space to host regular pool parties and family gatherings. Our team rearranged their main level to be focused on the backyard where the pool and deck are located.

There’s so much that now makes this remodel a prime space – it’s the large kitchen with an island and beverage bar, it’s shifting where the powder room and laundry area are for pool guests, it’s the built-ins for organized and clean-looking storage, it’s raising the once-popular sunken living room, and it’s the easy-care selections like luxury vinyl flooring and full-slab backsplash.

Our homeowners are really enjoying their new layout and how guests easily move around – back and forth between the pool deck to the self-service beverage bar and to the living room for movie night or game days. They said, “We now use and enjoy every inch of the house. The best part is that we have had many people over after this remodel, and everybody has different things that are their favorites. The stairway, the laundry room, the built-ins with the window seat, the dining area tray ceiling, our coffee bar, the kitchen and family room. We couldn’t be more happy with our remodel.”

Earning Silver Award CotY honors is a St. Louis Park kitchen that now delights the young family who lives and entertains there. Even with a somewhat recent remodel done before they purchased the house, the kitchen didn’t really make sense to how it connected to other spaces and how it was organized for everyday meal prep for a family.

With a large mechanical stack in the middle of their kitchen, the quest was to make it disappear to allow for a design that allowed for a large island with seating and open space around it to be connected to the den and living room. The cabinetry, lighting, and accent features also have a mid-century appeal like the rest of the home. There is a little extra zip in the island backlighting that is perfect for elevating the party ambiance for their neighborhood beer and cider tastings.

“Our remodels are a concentrated team effort,” says Matt Schmidt, AMEK co-owner, who initially meets with our prospective clients and is engaged in the concept phase with our designers.

“Solving homeowner frustrations so they love living in their homes and sharing with others is a big motivator to the work we do. Our field managers, carpenters, and vendors make the real magic happen once our clients finalize their favorite design. It’s exciting to see our transformations happen every day. Getting to win awards for them is another reward for our efforts and attention to detail.”

Judging is based on problem solving, functionality, aesthetics, craftsmanship, innovation, degree of difficulty, and proven solutions to meet the homeowner’s needs. Entries are reviewed by an impartial panel of out-of-state industry experts with remodeling experience. NARI is a professional association whose members adhere to a strict code of ethics. To be considered for a CotY Award, a company must be a NARI member in good standing. AMEK Inc. has been a member of NARI since 2008 with Andrew Schmidt serving as the Minnesota Chapter President in 2014.