FabriTec Structures

Our People

As FabriTec has grown and evolved, we have been committed to finding and developing highly qualified and disciplined people. A key factor in our success as a specialty construction company has been the ability to utilize the expertise of experienced and dedicated professionals to manage and build the ground breaking structures that have earned us the leadership of our industry. Over the years, we have assembled a team of exceptionally talented people with unique capabilities in this technically advanced and detail orientated market.

Claude Centner

Claude Centner is a founder and principal partner for USA SHADE & Fabric Structures, Inc. He has degrees in Civil Engineering from Witwatersrand College of Engineering in Johannesburg, South Africa and Construction Management from the University of Witwatersrand. Mr. Centner has 20 years experience in the shade and fabric structure industry that covers both the modular and custom tensile structure areas. He currently serves as Senior Vice President of National Accounts for FabriTec Structures. Claude has been involved in many groundbreaking projects for the company including: Premium Outlets Mall (Las Vegas, NV), Nautica Pavilion (Cleveland, OH), SkySong ASU Innovation Center (Scottsdale, AZ), Rosa Parks Terminal (Detroit, MI) and the MGM Light Rail Station (Las Vegas, NV) just to name a few. He is a member of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) and the Lightweight Structures Association.

Garry Becker

Garry L. Becker is Senior Vice President of the Project & Proposal Management Department for FabriTec Structures, a brand of USA SHADE & Fabric Structures. A graduate of the University of Buffalo with a Degree in Civil Engineering, Mr. Becker has been involved in the Tension Structure field since 1979 working for elite companies such as Graboplan, Birdair Inc. and FabriTec Structures. Garry has been involved in just about every aspect in the life of a fabric structure including Proposal Writing, Design, Engineering, and Construction. Some notable projects that he takes pride in include: Schalke Stadium (Germany), King Fahd International Stadium (Saudi Arabia), Denver International Airport, and Burswood Dome (Australia) just to mention a few. Mr. Becker is a member of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) and Tech Textile. He was a past member of the Board of Directors for Graboplan and Birdair.

Gary Haymann

Gary Haymann is a principal and the Executive Vice President of Sales for USA SHADE & Fabric Structures. His focus is to manage the sales force of FabriTec Structures, the architectural membrane division of USA SHADE. He is a graduate of Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business. Over the last 10 years, he has proven to be an extremely positive, motivated and dynamic team leader who brings energy and ideas into the organization. Gary has been involved in several notable projects which include: Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Chivas Stadium, Arvest Ballpark and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Steve Neidig

Steve Neidig is a Registered Professional Engineer and Vice President for FabriTec Structures, a brand of USA Shade and Fabric Structures. A graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, Mr. Neidig has been working as a structural engineer for twenty five years, eighteen of them in the specialized field of custom tensioned fabric structures. He has been involved in the engineering and design of numerous marquis fabric structures, both domestic and international, including Reliant Stadium in Houston, Tx, Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, and Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China.

Martin Brown

Martin Brown is the Director of Engineering and a Project Director for FabriTec Structures – a brand of USA SHADE & Fabric Structures, Inc. Martin is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering. Mr. Brown was previously Principal Engineer for the Wade Consulting Group and for 22 years served as Chief Engineer and Director of Technology for Birdair, Inc. The numerous groundbreaking projects that Mr. Brown engineered at Birdair include: the Millennium Dome (UK), BC Place (Vancouver, BC), King Fahd Stadium (Saudi Arabia), VolksPark Stadium (Hamburg, Germany), University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, Arizona) and the Denver International Airport (Denver, Colorado). Mr. Brown is also the developer of NDN, the specialized FEM modeling and analysis software that is used worldwide by leading consultants and fabricators for the engineering, design and patterning of tensile membrane systems.

Gary Henry

Gary Henry is the Engineering Design Manager for FabriTec Structures, a brand of USA Shade and Fabric Structures. He is a graduate from Genesee Community College with continuing education from New York State University at Buffalo. From college he went to work in the nuclear construction industry gaining valuable first hand large project construction experience while working on a number of nuclear power plant construction sites within the United States. Since 1987, he has been working in the tension fabric structure business working his way up from a drafting position to the Design Manager position. He has worked on wide variety of projects around the world including the Denver International Airport, Houston Reliant Stadium, Chivas Stadium in Mexico, The Millennium Dome in England and Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Chris Griffin

Christopher Griffin is the Design Development Manager for FabriTec Structures, a brand of USA Shade and Fabric Structures. A graduate of Cal State Long Beach with a B.S. in Industrial Design, Chris started his professional career in the Tension Structure Industry and has been with the company since 2001. Throughout his career, Chris has worked as a drafter, engineering designer and project manager as well. Although appreciative of the wide variety of experience, he is glad to be back to his real passion of design development where he leads a team of highly creative individuals in creating hundreds of concepts, renderings and animations annually to help communicate all kinds of projects to the client. Chris' other passions lie in conservation and green design and he is currently studying to be LEED certified.

Samuel Armijos

Samuel J. Armijos is an Architect and Vice President for FabriTec Structures, a brand of USA SHADE & Fabric Structures. A graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Mr. Armijos has been involved in the Tension Structure field since 1987. He has coordinated the design, engineering and construction of a variety of fabric structures around the world and is a member of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) and a contributing writer to Fabric Architecture. He was a Visiting Professor in the School of Architecture at Philadelphia University from 1993 to 1996. He has presented his AIA/CES presentation on Architectural Fabric Structures to a number of firms nationwide and has spoken at many AIA, IFAI and Fabric Structure symposiums. He is the author of Fabric Architecture: A resource for creative solutions in Shade, Signage and Shelter.

Andy Stack

Andy Stack has over 20 years experience in the shade structure industry. For the past 12 years, Mr. Stack has been a key member of the Sales Team at FabriTec Structures (a brand of USA SHADE & Fabric Structures, Inc.) where he has served as Sales Director. Andy has a vast array of knowledge and years of hands-on experience in every aspect of the industry including Conceptual Design, Engineering, Fabrication, Project Management and Construction. He travels the country extensively giving lectures and providing AIA accredited Continuing Education Seminars. His expansive knowledge of all aspects of the Tension Structure design/build process enables him to provide visually dynamic and cost-effective solutions for his clients’ shade requirements. Andy has worked on numerous groundbreaking projects, both large and small, throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

John Douds

John W. Douds is Vice President of Southeastern Sales for FabriTec Structures, a brand of USA Shade and Fabric Structures. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University with an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, John has been involved in architectural sales since 1985. Before joining Fabritec in May of 2007, he was employed by Birdair, Inc. in a wide variety of domestic and international sales positions for 15 years. Among the many tensioned membrane projects of note that he has been involved in developing and procuring include the BART Station at Millbrae, CA, La Plata Stadium near Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the New Indianapolis Airport Parking Garage.

Larry Keene

Larry Keene began his career in fabric structures with Owens Corning Fiberglass back in 1975. One of his first major projects was as Foreman for the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan; the worlds largest air-supported dome structure. For over 20 years, Mr. Keene was on the front lines as a Site Superintendent for Birdair Inc., installing world-class fabric landmarks around the world on 5 different continents. For the past 14 years Larry has been in Sales and Service for fabric structures and is currently the Service Manager for FabriTec Structures (a brand of USA SHADE & Fabric Structures, Inc.) the premier architectural fabric structure company in North America. Larry’s 34 years of tensile fabric structure experience have proven to be invaluable to FabriTec and are a major reason why his clients keep coming back. He sums up his philosophy of doing business in simple terms, “Treat customers as you would like to be treated.”

Patti Abrecht

Patti Abrecht is the Senior Architectural Specialist for USA SHADE & Fabric Structures, Inc. and represents the FabriTec Structures, Shade Structures, Sun Ports and VPS brands. Ms. Abrecht works with Architects and Landscape Architects primarily across the Southern California area from San Luis Obispo to San Diego helping to educate, coordinate and implement the design, engineering and construction of a variety of fabric structures. An alumni of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in Landscape Architecture, Patti brings a strong background and understanding of both project construction and design elements. She works closely and effectively with clients to see their projects through to successful completion. Patti has worked with USA SHADE since 2004 following a career of landscape design and project management as a Landscape Architect as well as nearly 12 years as a Director of Parks and Landscape, all in the Southern California area.