MMEC Architecture & Interiors LLC plans to cease operations at the end of September due to several postpandemic challenges, says Jenny Cox, principal and business manager at the Spokane-based design company.

Four of the company’s 12 employees have been let go this month, she says. One employee will remain at the its Kennewick office, and the remaining seven employees, including MMEC's four principals, will work at the company’s Spokane office through the end of September to wrap up active projects.

Founded in 1999 by former partners Sue Lani Madsen, Doug Mitchell, Marian Evenson, and Craig Conrad, MMEC specialized in K-12 school projects, which accounted for about 75% of the its work prior to the pandemic, Cox says.

Madsen retired in 2009, and Mitchell, Evenson, and Conrad retired in 2023. Walt Huffman made partner in 2011, and Cox, Heidi Pierce, and Boyd Lusarreta were made partners in 2016. The current partners made the decision to close MMEC in July due to several challenging years after the COVID-19 pandemic, Cox says.

MMEC saw a sharp decrease in K-12 school projects after the pandemic as economic pressure increased construction and project costs, Cox says. As prices increased, school districts had trouble passing bonds to fund new developments, causing work and revenue to decline.

The firm also experienced a decline in client payment reliability and timeliness, and industry changes in recent years added complexity and uncertainty, she adds. 

“If we had faced some of these challenges one at a time, I think we would have decided on a different path,” says Cox. “But when we faced all of these factors at the same time, it was compounding, and it just made it really difficult to find the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Some former MMEC employees have already found positions elsewhere, and some Inland Northwest-area architectural firms had reached out to MMEC expressing interest in hiring people from the firm’s workforce, Cox adds.

“I'm going to speculate that part of that is that we do have a reputation for doing good projects, and we have experienced personnel, which can be easier said than done to find within the industry,” she says. “I can't speak to all of the individuals, but I am happy to say that there is opportunity for them out there.”

MMEC has been involved in hundreds of school facilities, public sector buildings, and commercial developments since 1999, says Cox. Some notable projects include Yasuhara Middle School, Finch Elementary School, The Chronicle Apartments, the Spokane County Sherriff’s Office Real-Time Crime Center, and a new office building for Seattle-based F5 Inc.currently under construction in Spokane Valley, she says.

“We feel that we had high quality projects with creativity and longevity that serve their communities,” she says. “Especially because we’re so heavy into the public sector, we're really proud of the fact that we feel like we made a difference in our communities with our designs.”