Campus Tour

Tour

Main Building:

Zone 1: Farmer’s Market Café & Visitor Entry/Lobby

  • The goal of our campus is to be an interactive, educational farm experience.
  • As you tour the building, note the design of the building, which draws its inspiration from agriculture and barns. For example, the east and west towers of the building are meant to remind us of the long day of the farmer. The East sunrise tower and West sunset tower are symbolic of the sun rising and setting each day on a farm. The Heritage Hallway connects the two towers, as Bob Evans Farms history connects employees and guests from past to present.
  • The main lobby welcomes visitors with wood barn slats reminiscent of a barn, bearing the Bob Evans Farms logo which can be seen from 161 in the evening.
  • Note the end of the lobby desk features a portion of trunk from a Black Walnut which was felled on the campus property and includes a keyhole shape at the top – a nod to our restaurant roofline and logo.
  • Next to the café, a timeline of the company allows visitors to learn about the company as they wait for their host. Note Founder Bob Evans’ trademark Stetson hat and glasses on display next to the timeline.
  • The Farmer’s Market Café features acoffee station with specialty drinks, a Bob Evans Express (our second unit!) with Bob Evans favorites for breakfast, lunch & dinner, a fresh deli station, a pizza station, a salad bar and fusion station which features freshly made seasonal entrees each day.
  • Ample indoor and outdoor seating at the café doubles as impromptu meeting space when needed.
  • The artwork hanging in the café is called “Evans Essence” and is by University of Rio Grande art professor Benjy Davies. It is an expression of the iconography of our Founder Bob Evans and draws inspiration from the Farm in Rio Grande, Ohio.

Zone 2: Heritage Hallway

  • The Bob Evans Heritage Hallway and the corresponding timeline in the lobby introduce vendors, partners, visitors, potential employees and others to the Bob Evans brand.
  • The Heritage Hallway features nine bays that tell the Bob Evans story through the lens of the company’s values – Teamwork, Diversity, Respect, Excellence, Integrity, Customer-Driven, Accountability, Quality & Safety, Innovation, and Service.
  • The last bay featuresiPads to display the company’s current activities and events to keep employees and visitors informed.

Zone 3:Supply Chain Management offices & “light harvesting”

  • When Bob Evans Farms started the campus project, we surveyed employees for their opinions on workspace features. They asked for ample desk space and collaborative space to easily work with team members as needed. The office design reflects both of those requests with personal workstation, informal collaborative spaces, and a variety of conference rooms.
  • For informal meetings employees may use the collaborative spaces in open areas, “first come first serve” conference rooms, the Farmer’s Market Café, outdoor spaces by the pond or in the gardens.
  • Unlike our former facilities, each cubicle has the same size specifications across the board. This “one BEST way” is also reflected in office size and structures.
  • As you’ll notice the building was also designed to make the most out of natural sunlight throughout the space. Daylight will be provided to 75% of the occupants through use of skylights and clerestory lighting, tall windows, etc.
  • Solar panels on the roof also supply power to run our lighting.
  • The lighting used throughout the building is also energy efficient. The overhead lights detect the amount of sunlight reaching the space and calculate the amount of artificial light needed. Notice that the lights that are closer to the windows are not as bright as those that are further from windows. We’ve also implemented solar panels and numerous other energy efficient features to reach Gold LEED Certification for this building.

Zone 4: Fitness Center & Food Products

  • This space offers stationary cardio machines (elliptical, recumbent bikes and treadmills) as well as free weights, weight machines and free mat space for classes.A full-time fitness center associate from YWCA will offer personal training and classes for employees.
  • Outside, notice the orchard where we’ll grow apples, pears, chestnuts and blueberries.
  • Also outside employees can enjoy the walking/bike path that is approximately one mile and will eventually connect to the New Albany bike path. Our goal is to encourage wellness for our employees.

Zone 5:Test Kitchen & Sausage Truck

  • From the second floor, visitors can see the Test Kitchens. Since Bob Evans is a food company, we wanted to make the kitchen the “heart of the home.” Everyonehas visibility to the test kitchen to see what’s being tested and created by the team.
  • A true investment has been made in this innovative test kitchen space, from the state-of-the-art equipment, to the energy-efficient design.
  • Surrounding the test kitchen on the first floor are the departments that work closely with the chefs, food innovation, FSQA, operations, marketing,
  • Another interesting item here on the second floor is this historic sausage truck that is a focal point in the building. This truck is how we used to distribute our sausage to grocery stores before we moved to a warehouse model, now required by large retailers like Kroger and Giant Eagle.
  • Also note the chalkboard drawings with brand icons. The benches beneath were also built by our friends at the University of Rio Grande woodworking shop and features wood from Gallia County.

Zone 6:Shipping & Receiving Building (viewable from the second floor, west)

  • To the right of the main building is the Shipping and Receiving Building. Our shipping and receiving building will allow for more efficient incoming and outgoing deliveries to take place for our teams. We’ll also have numerous storage spaces in this building to accommodate for various departments.

Zone 7:Training Center & Founders Garden - Joe Eulberg

  • This state-of-the-art training facility can host up to 500 people with full technology and AV capabilities. We’ll host our managers in training in this building, BEST University colleges, community events and more.
  • Our Founders’ Garden celebrates Bob Evans, Dan Evans, and Emerson Evans with living gardens, reflective overlooks, and outdoor meeting spaces.
  • Two pieces of artwork to note in the garden… one is the stainless installation called “Farmland Forest” – built by University of Rio Grande art professor Kevin Lyles. It’s inspired by the tree line of the Farm in Rio Grande and is filled at the base with river rocks from the Ohio River, so we “remember our roots.” The second piece is a pair of metal horses donated to us by Dan Evans’ widow, Temmy Evans. Dan was a champion in cutting horses and an avid equestrian.
  • Our hope is that community members will participate in gardening and harvest events, and schools will visit the campus to learn more about where “real food” comes from.