By Logan Braman

In today’s economic situation, giving back to the community might seem like the last concern on the minds of CEOs and presidents of companies nationwide. That’s not the case for Schneider Electric, a $45 billion global company with ties to Indiana through the Square D factory in Peru.

Amy Huntington, president of Schneider Electric U.S., flew to Indiana to visit the build site before the Cowan-Brown’s new home was complete. She said Schneider Electric’s involvement with the build was a way for the company to give back.

“Giving back to the community is a big part of our philosophy and our culture,” she said. “It’s been exciting for us to see so many of our employees from the Peru plant come out and lend a hand.”

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We are happy to present a second set of photographs provided to us by Janel Bantz Photography.

More pictures are available after the jump. And for more information on Janel Bantz Photography, go to http://www.janelbantz.com

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By Logan Braman

Paul Schwinghammer, president of Hallmark Homes Inc., was an integral part of the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build. If you were on the site during the week the house was torn down and rebuilt from the ground up, you were sure to run into Schwinghammer. Schwinghammer said most of his time on the site was spent helping people by answering questions and solving problems when they came up. He was also responsible for making sure people were where they needed to be so the build would get done. All in all, Schwinghammer sums up the project in one sentence.

“[The project was] an intense month of preparation culminating to a fast paced, highly coordinated effort by hundreds during the week of the build,” he said.

The project also endured long days, because Schwinghammer still had the same responsibilities for Hallmark Homes as he does on any other week. The build did help in one aspect that one wouldn’t expect: family.

“It brought us closer together in working toward the common goal both before and during the project,” Schwinghammer said about the effects of the project on his family.

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Many photographers were on site outside of the Hallmark media crew. Janel Bantz photography has donated several great shots to us to use on the blog.

More pictures are available after the jump. And for more information on Janel Bantz Photography, go to http://www.janelbantz.com

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By Dawn Fluhler

Six weeks after the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” reveal, the Wilder family is settling back into pre-build life – almost. It isn’t over quite yet. They’re still looking forward to the episode airing sometime in January.

Hallmark Homes CEO Derek Wilder and his wife, Jennie, have three teenage children: Kylene, Courtney and Connor. The entire Wilder family was involved in the Cowan-Brown house build.

Kylene, an Anderson University sophomore, was on site all week in between classes. She carried a phone and a walkie talkie, drove a Gator and helped her dad with whatever she could.

“She did whatever anybody asked her to do,” Jennie said.

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By Rhett Umphress

Anyone who came to volunteer at the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build likely met Anita Knepp. Knepp was the volunteer coordinator at the build. She would check in both skilled and non-skilled participants as they came through the volunteer tent for each day of the build.

Knepp is a sales manager at Hallmark Homes. She became the volunteer coordinator when she was asked to do lead that effort by the producers from ABC.

Along with finding volunteers for some of the non-build tasks, Knepp also traveled the site performing miscellaneous activities. She would make sure that trash dumpsters were empty, make sure that everyone had the proper apparel and badges, and just fill in where she was need, she said.

And what the hardest part of the build?

“Lack of sleep,” she said with a chuckle.

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By Logan Braman

A new house wasn’t all the Cowan-Brown family received during the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build. The children, Ryan, Trevor, Mason and Kori, also received a gift from Ball State University.

The day after the build was finished, the Cowan-Browns met in their new front yard for a press conference with a twist. Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for Marketing and Communications at Ball State, came to the build site on behalf of President Jo Ann Gora. The news he carried was a shocker to the Cowan-Brown family.

“If you continue to work and study hard and if you apply and are admitted to Ball State University, we will provide each of you with a scholarship to support the full cost of tuition for in-state students,” Proudfoot told the family. “Working through the Ball State Foundation, we will supplement any state or federal gift aid to cover tuition.”

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By Rhett Umphress

Jayson Manship is the director of operations at URBaCS. Along with partner and president Rob Wagoner, they are 50/50 partners of their technology and software company that works with small to mid-size businesses on their Web site, social media, blogging…basically all the online aspect that a company needs today.

URBaCS became involved in the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build when Derek Wilder, CEO of Hallmark Homes, called him and asked him to work on the build as a media liaison. They asked him to put together a social media strategy for Hallmark.

This is not URBaCS’ first build. The duo worked on the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build in Indianapolis along with Estridge, the construction company that worked on the Indy home. When Wilder went to Estridge looking for people that had experience at that build to help in Bunker Hill, they recommended URBaCS. URBaCS had worked with Hallmark before and was willing to join the numerous sponsors that the construction company was recruiting.

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By Dawn Fluhler

Maconaquah School District assistant superintendent Dr. James Callane coordinated the school bus shuttle service between Grissom AFB and the Extreme Makeover build site.

Callane met with “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” location managers a week before the Cowan-Brown build. Together, they devised an inclimate weather transportation plan for the build week. Following the downpour early in the week, the plan was put into effect.

“We had a rotation of bus drivers working three hour shifts,” Callane said. “Since our corporation has four spare buses, we were able to use those buses during the hours when we were transporting students to and from school.”

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By Dawn Fluhler

Bus drivers from the Maconaquah School Corporation drove spectators and volunteers from Grissom Air Force Base to the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build site for five days because of the rain and muddy field parking areas. Buses would run 24 hours a day, shuttling workers back and forth between the two sites.

In total, 27 regular and substitute bus drivers participated in the round-the-clock shuttle service.

“There was such an outpouring of people that we just kept going,” said Karen Grove, a 32-year bus driver with the school corporation.

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