ARCO Design/Build has appointed Brian Shoop as Director of Process Engineering for its Food & Beverage business, a hire the national design-build firm says will let food and beverage manufacturers hand off a project — from initial process design through final construction — to one partner rather than managing multiple firms.
Shoop arrives from Gray, where he served as Vice President leading the firm's Process Engineering practice across a 16-year career. His work has centered on helping manufacturers build production facilities that balance operational throughput, product safety, and long-term equipment reliability — a combination that sits at the core of what food plant operators need from a construction partner.
Why Single-Source Matters
The traditional model for food facility development typically separates process engineering from construction management, creating handoff risk and timeline friction that can push back production launch dates. ARCO's pitch is that embedding process engineering in-house collapses that gap. Aaron Weir, President of ARCO Design/Build, framed the value plainly: "Brian has spent his career helping food and beverage manufacturers design processes and facilities that perform for decades. At ARCO, that expertise lives under the same roof as the team that builds the plant, which means our clients get a single accountable partner and a smoother path from concept to production."
For food and beverage manufacturers navigating tight retail launch windows or capacity commitments, that compression can be material. Shoop put it in operator terms: "Behind every facility is a product launch, a retail commitment, a customer counting on capacity coming online. ARCO's delivery model is engineered for speed, and by putting process design inside that same model, we can take clients from concept to production faster than the traditional approach allows."
Lifecycle Engineering Focus
Shoop's specialization in asset lifecycle management — specifically, engineering facilities and equipment to maximize useful life while preventing contamination — aligns with growing regulatory and consumer scrutiny of food safety infrastructure. He is set to present on the topic at the International Association for Food Protection Annual Meeting, July 26–29, 2026, in New Orleans, where he will join a roundtable panel titled "Asset Lifecycle Management in Food Manufacturing: Engineering Principles for Equipment and Facility Longevity."
The hire reflects a deliberate supply-chain expansion for ARCO, which has spent more than 30 years building cold storage facilities — the distribution end of the food supply chain. Adding food manufacturing and processing capabilities moves the firm upstream into the facilities where product is actually made, a segment with substantial capital investment activity as manufacturers reshore production and upgrade aging plants. Industry professionals tracking food manufacturing facility investment will recognize this as part of a broader pattern of design-build firms competing for integrated contracts in the sector.
For operators and procurement teams evaluating construction partners for food and beverage facility projects, the integrated process-engineering model ARCO is building represents a meaningful alternative to the fragmented consultant-plus-contractor approach that has long dominated the category. Food & Beverage Magazine has tracked similar consolidation moves among design-build firms serving the broader foodservice supply chain.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
