Robert Powell, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, BD+C

Principal

Robert is fast-paced and a multi-tasker. He keeps us organized and focused on serving our clients. Thriving on success, he manages design team schedules, monitors project budgets, and overall project efficiencies. He is the driving force in making sure our projects are meeting the schedule and budget. Additionally, Robert is the Industrial Group Leader, maintaining the company’s market knowledge in the manufacturing, distribution, and mission critical industries.

He serves as a mentor to our intern architects to ensure professional growth within the company. He provides guidance as they study and meet the requirements to obtain their architecture licenses.

Robert loves to travel with his wife and two daughters, exploring different regions of the country and world. Their recent travels include Hawaii, Italy, Alaska and the Caribbean Islands.

Visit Robert’s LinkedIn profile to see more of his mission critical and industrial projects:  LinkedIn – Robert Powell

Bud Perry

Bud is a native of Oregon, educated in Arizona, and finally landed in Ohio in 2000 because it “seemed like a great place to live”. We agree and we’re sure glad he did!

He has a unique specialization in grocery store and retail design, with a strong eye for interiors. The scope of his projects have varied from complete turn-key architectural services to customer flow studies and shopping behavior analytics.

Also, he writes. He has written everything from novels to comic books to nonfiction. His writings have been featured in textbooks and he’s written articles for various trade journals.
If you get the opportunity to meet and work with him, be sure to ask him about his first job – breeding moths for the USDA. We’ll leave it at that.

Cynthia Ivary

Cyndi has worked for top retailers including Jo-Ann Fabrics and Macy’s. At Arkinetics, she applies this experience and takes care of our brand rollout clients. She manages the architectural and interior design for tenant fit-outs, rebrands and renovations.

She developed an eye for architectural and interior design while visiting Cleveland’s many public spaces as a child – Playhouse Square, downtown library, the museums at University Circle, public square, Wade Oval, and more. She still frequents these places today and appreciates the people and energy that embrace the spaces.

Probably the most unexpected fact about Cyndi is that she is a sci-fi fan and is referred to in her house as GeekMom. In a house of engineers, future scientists and computer engineers, she fills the gap between art and tech, and keeps the “cool geek” factor running strong in her house.

Richard Benton

Richard is responsible for setting Arkinetics’ standards in Revit Software, a building information software for the AEC industry that allows users to design a building in 3D. With his attention to detail and laser focused mentality, he leads the Revit team and manages most Revit projects. His willingness to jump into a project and “whatever it takes” attitude has made him an All-star at Arkinetics.
Like most architects, he decided at a young age that architecture was in his future. For him, it’s the combination of art and science that initially attracted him, and it’s the daily challenges and problem solving that keep him in the industry.
His growing family (four beautiful children!) has kept him busy at home, but he maintains his balance (and relaxed attitude!) through frequent big water fishing excursions.

Dale came to Arkinetics with a strong background in retail, working for big box stores such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, JoAnn Fabrics and HH Gregg. As a Project Manager at Arkinetics, Dale provides coordination and development of drawings and manages the project from start to finish. He assists in material selection and helps to ensure quality control of drawings.  He leads the coordination of sections and details with the engineers, working with the entire team to put a building together.

Dale was influenced by his father at a young age. He’d watch his father, a DIY’er in his free time, draw, fabricate, and paint various things for hours at a time. This inspired him to draw, both freehand and with instruments. By the time he got to high school, he excelled in drafting and then graphic design and architecture in college.

With two teenagers at home, he’s busy watching his kids excel at sports, even coaching his son’s basketball team. He enjoys spending time with his kids, golfing, and skiing.

Shae is expertly trained in Revit and can put together a mean rendering. She rolls up her sleeves on any project she is involved in and offers her valuable perspective. Her interest in architecture was sparked in grade school, having had the opportunity to participate in a learning program where she created floor plans for her dream home. That early influence propelled her career to where she is today.

An outdoor enthusiast, she enjoys camping, fishing, hiking, skiing/snowboarding. She is the assistant soccer coach for Trinity High School. She does have the tendency to flip out, back flips that is! She takes adult gymnastics classes and tells us she can do some crazy flips. We may clear out the conference room one day to see her prove this statement.

When she retires, which we hope isn’t any time soon because we enjoy her engagement at Arkinetics, she wants to own and operate a farm to table restaurant. We can get behind that!

Eric is gifted with equal talent in geometry and creativity and hence made architecture his college major. A licensed architect, Eric brings retail and commercial design experience to our team. He keeps our standards high at Arkinetics with his attention to detail.

What will you find on his coffee table at home? Illustrated books on astrophysics, sure to strike up a good conversation on astronomical phenomena. Speaking of stars, one of his favorite places to visit is Las Vegas, combining a love for architecture, food and live shows. Coming from a past life as a casino dealer, he is no stranger to the bright, lively, red-carpet atmosphere in Vegas.

Rounding out his interests, he enjoys watching movies, particularly James Bond movies, movie trivia, and collecting comic books. He’s also in a middle of a few half-written fiction stories. In fact, he may or may not have written this narrative.

Eric was an early adaptor of AutoCAD, latching on to the computer-aided design technology long before it became the preferred software in the design industry. His favorite part of working in design is being part of a complex, creative process and watching that come to fruition as people work, stay, dine, or shop in the finished product. At Arkinetics, he brings his experience drawing in architecture, MEP, structural and civil design and keeps the office smiling with an endless supply of Dad jokes.

Outside of the office, Eric has many talents. He can play the guitar AND sing, and is a part of his worship band at church. A longtime Northeast Ohio resident, he longs for the 3 months of warm weather so he can enjoy his favorite pastimes, which include riding his motorcycle, water sports, SCUBA diving, and going to Cedar Point. Lucky for him he also loves watching movies, so he can spend the remaining 9 months watching anything from the Marvel Universe. Lastly, his words to live by, which sum him up perfectly, “Growing old, unavoidable. Growing up, optional!”

As a young girl, Kendra would tear out the floor plans in her mother’s Better Homes and Gardens magazines and save them in a binder with her redlines. So when it came to applying for college and planning her career, a degree with a focus on interior design was a no-brainer.  Kendra has a knack for getting to know her clients and designing a space that matches their brand and culture. She loves using the language of color and texture while helping clients select furniture, finishes, and fixtures that really work with real budgets. She also loves the problem solving, puzzle-like quality of space planning and how gratifying it is to see space and design come together.

Kendra works hard and plays hard. Her first passion is her young family and she enjoys competitive sailing as a favorite pastime.

Jesus is a lucky person to be doing what he loves. At a young age, he was constantly drawing and trying to figure out how things are put together. This curiosity led him to the field of architecture, his passion.

At Arkinetics, he helps manage projects in all phases of design and construction. He is comfortable managing multiple tasks with a strong ability to complete detailed documentation with speed and accuracy. He can also put together great architectural visualizations such as renderings, animations, and virtual reality.

After hours, he loves spending time with his growing family and playing guitar. He’s traveled to many beautiful countries, his favorites to date being Italy and Mexico. He is fluent in Spanish, which makes traveling a little easier! When he finally has time to relax, one of his favorite pastimes is watching war movies, Black Hawk Down being his favorite.

Elizabeth is motivated by a great working environment, where people collaborate seamlessly, fostering teamwork and facilitating the company’s journey towards new possibilities and growth. As a key member of the Administrative Team, she manages accounting, marketing and operations tasks, contributing to the achievement of daily tasks and goals.

Her best productivity hack is maintaining an organized calendar of to-dos and events.

Elizabeth is a dedicated volunteer coach, and passionate about volunteering her time to different organizations. In her free time, she finds joy in estate sale hunting and exploring the ever evolving and exciting aspects of our city, making the most of every opportunity for adventure and discovery!

Kurt brings an artistic background with experience as a graphic designer and art director. His careers have included over 12 years as a full-time college and university professor and program manager/ director. His experience in teaching and project management combined with a lifelong interest in learning complements Arkinetics’ core values and commitment to professional development.

His interest in design carries over to his home. His favorite pastimes include architectural model-making, 3D printing, and CNC machining. His favorite books involve contemporary and historical architecture. A distraction from design could include cycling, gardening, ephemera collecting and of course, his greatest source of pride- his wife and two kids.

Bruce Taylor,

 AIA NCARB

PRINCIPAL + MANAGING PARTNER

Bruce is a visionary. He keeps the firm in step with the latest process and technology innovations in our industry. He loves to learn.

He’s passionate about making connections between people to help clients grow their businesses. This is why he heads up our office and retail markets, where relationships drive the industry. For over 25 years, he’s positioned the firm for growth by forming deep, trusting relationships with clients who become friends, creating successful projects together.

“A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work…” forget it, Bruce loves his day job. BUT, if he’s not in the office, you will find him trout fishing, perhaps with Scotch and a cigar. But not all at the same time.

Personal Associations:

Bruce is a member of Trout Unlimited.

Dan Barney,

 AIA NCARB

PRINCIPAL | Architect + Director of Design

Dan loves to draw and understand how things work. True story.

He also loves to golf, build and fix things, watch Buckeye football, go to Indians games, and Browns games…he’s your All-American architect.

When Dan joined Arkinetics in 2003 he kicked off our growing presence in the hospitality industry. Hotel owners love him. Whether it’s their first hotel or their twenty-first, Dan knows the right questions to ask to get inside his client’s head to give them what they envision, even if they don’t yet know what that is.

This talent has led Dan to becoming the firm’s Director of Design, ensuring a cohesive connection between creativity and constructability.

Jeff Parkinson

Jeff makes sure the team is on track, making deadlines and ensuring that nothing slips through the cracks. A trained professional in CAD, he is a behind-the-scenes problem solver attending to every last detail. He originally joined Arkinetics in 1997, and has more than 20 years of experience with the development of architectural contract documents. He has worked on a wide variety of project scopes and building types (meaning Jeff has worked on just about anything and everything that comes through Arkinetics’ doors…).

Jeff is an adoring pet owner. When a cat had taken up residency in Arkinetics’ back alley, Jeff took her in and Ruby is now a healthy, happy cat and part of his family.

Liana Lake

Principal | Marketing + Business Development

Liana creates and implements the firm’s marketing strategies and oversees business development. She keeps the team focused on their core market strengths and ensures maximum exposure in the hotel, industrial, office and brand rollout industries. She has been marketing in the AEC industry for over 12 years.

Liana is a regular attendee of networking events and national conferences, representing Arkinetics at SPECS, Hunter Hotel, and the Phoenix Lodging conference on an annual basis. She is a past president of the Northeast Ohio chapter for Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and an active member of ULI, CREW and Manufacturing Works.

Liana’s favorite pastime is skiing. She and her husband make an effort to ski in the Rockies every winter.

Linda Reed

Administrative Assistant

Linda has been keeping the company organized with a smile on her face, or at least a sense of humor, since 2000. Time sheets, project process reports, production schedules, accounts payable, she does it all. She proofreads, edits, adds, subtracts and multiplies—in her head!  But really, her biggest responsibility is keeping the principals in line.

Now that’s a fulltime job!

Michael Couch, LEED green associate

In high school, Michael took every type of art class available and enjoyed every minute. Then he took a drafting class and never looked back. For someone who sees the world a little differently, expressing himself and creating art with a T-square was a way to turn his passion for art into a career.

At Arkinetics, he takes new challenges in stride with his laid back, get the job done attitude. On a daily basis, he produces construction documents and coordinates with engineers to wrap up jobs.

At the end of a typical day, he runs. A lot. Constantly training for half marathons and full marathons, he uses running as a way to release stress and stay in shape. He’s the captain of a running team, competing with other teams based on how many miles the group collectively runs per week.

Rick Taylor,

 CDA

Principal + CFO + Director of Administration

Rick is the numbers guy at Arkinetics. A certified design accountant (CDA), he handles our accounting, finance, reports, project budgeting. Give him a spreadsheet and he’s in heaven.

And he does double duty as our Administrative Director. Don’t you love titles? What that means is he handles HR and other day-to-day management stuff. He’s the guy to send your resume to if you’re looking at our website and think, “Hey, I’d like to work at Arkinetics”.

Rick is a member of the Certified Design Accountants Association (CDAA).

You won’t find him in Ohio on his day off. Rick loves to travel. Passport travel that is. The last few places he’s been are China, Europe, and Mexico, to name a few.