Fastenal Co. plans to build an office in downtown Winona, MN, that is expected to have space for 400-600 employees, the Winona Daily News reports.
Designed by The Kubala Washatko Architects, the four-story building will fill a city block. Construction is slated to begin in 2020 and be completed by 2021.
According to Opportunity Winona, TKWA wanted a design that makes a strong connection with the rest of Winona’s downtown, including such details as “being close to the street corner, not set back far onto the property, and the materials and finishes being consistent with what is already present on downtown buildings.”
Fastenal reportedly has been working on the project since early 2018. The structure will house workers in Fastenal’s technology, accounting, supply chain and human resources departments.
Fastenal currently has about 1,800 workers in several buildings in and around downtown Winona, which is about 2 hours southeast of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Web: Fastenal.com

Optimas Solutions CEO Anesa Chaibi is leaving for personal reasons and Optimas named T.J. Rosengarth to succeed her.
Optimas credited Chaibi with leading “significant change throughout the company and created a strong culture of mutual respect, collaboration and innovation with employees, customers and our supply partners.”
Rosengarth has 30 years experience in global industrial businesses. From 2011 to 2018 he was CEO of Northwest Hardwoods – formerly owned by American Industrial Partners. Rosengarth assisted AIP with separating NWH from Weyerhaeuser in 2011.
Previously he had run Weyerhaeuser’s Composite Panels business with operations in Ireland, France and North America from 2001 to 2006 and, after helping to carve out the Composite Panels business from Weyerhaeuser, ran the standalone U.S. business for Flakeboard from 2006 to 2011.
Rosengarth graduated from Portland State University with a bachelor’s in business in 1985.
Glenview, IL-headquartered Optimas Solutions is a global industrial distributor of fasteners and c-class components. Optimas has 1,600 employees in 16 countries. Optimas has 3,500 suppliers to distribute 130,000 SKUs of 10 billion components to 10,000 customers in automotive, heavy truck, high tech, lawn & garden, medical, off-highway, power generation, powertrain, transportation and tunneling industries. Optimas manufactures in Illinois and the UK.
The Optimas brand was launched in 2015, but the company traces its roots to 1890 in North America and Europe.
Optimas is a member of the British Association of Fastener Distributors, European Industrial Fasteners Institute and Confederation of British Metalforming. Web: Optimas.com

1Shot, Böllhoff, Bryce, Grabber, ITW, MaThread, Penn Engineering, Simpson Strong-Tie and Stanley Engineered Fastening were honored with the 2019 Fastener Innovation Award.
Honorees were presented a 12-inch acrylic desk globe by Replogle.
The new award is judged by Mike McGuire’s WorldwideFastenerSources.com. The website “wants to recognize the people and companies that are leading the way to specific performance with new fastener development, innovation and design.”
Fasteners are thought of in specifying fastening applications, not as an afterthought of how to assemble the product.
“A driving force in the evaluation process is that the fasteners be innovative in assemblies today and that they will be tomorrow’s standard.”
For information: mMcGuire@WorldwideFastenerSources.com.