Forty years ago, on July 27, 1984, Bob Clark started Clayco. It began with his love of architecture and art and his fascination with cranes and building projects, which his father used to take him to see as a child. He was 25 years old, had dropped out of college, had no investors, no business plan, and no guarantee it would work. Today, Clayco employs over 4,000 people in 45 cities and generated $8 billion in revenue in 2025.
In 1984, Bob decided to chase his lifelong dream of being a builder. As an architecture college dropout who still had the bug for design and construction, he made his own path. Practically overnight, he had to find an office at 462 Summit Ave. in Robertson, Missouri, set up a phone line, create a name — Clayco (Cla for Clark) — and even submit a winning bid to Monsanto Corporation on Clayco's very first day.
A lucky break came when a friend connected him with Sverdrup Corporation, which needed interior finish work. The first year was brutal: working out of trailers, building the office while wires hung from the ceilings, painting yellow lines on the floor to mark where offices would be. Bob went home without a paycheck. But 14 months later, Clayco had a $10 million backlog.
Bob's father Harold Clark — who never went to college but built the largest paint maintenance company in the country — instilled in him three key principles that Clayco still lives by today. First: hire the best and brightest people, empower them to have a say, give them ownership in the profits, and allow them to help shape company strategy. Second: follow the Golden Rule — treat people the way you want to be treated and always pay your bills on time. Harold had a special knack for treating everyone exactly the same, whether they were one of his painters or the President of the United States. Third: if you really have the best people and amazing relationships built through trust and even friendship, be selective about where you apply your craft.
When Bob started Clayco in the mid-80s, he went out and bought a fax machine — then called all his friends to get one so they could send copies to each other. In 1985, Clayco launched an IBM 3600 machine and loaded accounting and tracking software, getting ahead of even the largest builders in the country. He has credited that early mindset — stay ahead or get left behind — to much of Clayco's growth and superior customer service. Today, Clayco has over 600 ChatGPT users and uses AI tools from every major tech company as part of its culture.
His morning discipline reinforced this edge. For 35 years, Bob has woken between 4:30 and 5 AM every day — a habit his father challenged him to adopt after noticing he was arriving at the office at 8 AM when others had been there for hours. "For 90 days, try to get in at 5 AM every day," his father told him. "I will never bring it up again if you don't think it makes a difference." Ninety days turned into 35 years.
As Bob wrote in advice to a friend starting a new business: "Hire the best and brightest, curate your team carefully. Don't hesitate to de-select toxic or misaligned people. Don't tolerate gossip, unkindness, or those who don't live by the Golden Rule."
Clayco's first employee, Allen Conner, started on the first day Clayco opened — July 23, 1984. Long-tenured employees like Nancy Russell, who joined as a receptionist and stayed for 40 years, exemplify the culture Bob built: one where people stay not because they have to, but because the company earns their loyalty.
"Beyond These Walls" is not just a tagline. As Bob has written: "It's the very essence of the company, defining what happens inside our buildings as more important than the bricks and mortar. The lives we save with our safety practices, the breakthrough research we fund... we are literally touching everyone."
Clayco is a full-service real estate development and design-build firm founded by Bob Clark in 1984 in St. Louis, Missouri. Now headquartered in Chicago, it operates across 45 cities in North America, employs over 4,000 people, and generated $8 billion in revenue in 2025 — making it one of the largest privately held firms in the design-build industry in the United States.
Bob Clark founded Clayco on July 27, 1984, in St. Louis, Missouri, at age 25. He started with two people, no outside investors, and no formal business plan — just grit, conviction, and a belief that construction could be done with more transparency and purpose. His first client was Monsanto Corporation, secured on the very first day. Fourteen months after opening, Clayco had a $10 million backlog of work.
Clayco's core values, instilled by Bob Clark from the beginning, are built on three principles his father Harold Clark taught him: hire the best and brightest and give them ownership in the company's success; follow the Golden Rule — treat everyone the same, from a painter to a president; and be selective about where you apply your craft — work only on projects where you can truly make a difference. These principles are captured in Clayco's mantra: 'Beyond These Walls.'
Clayco generated $8 billion in revenue in 2025 and employs over 4,000 people across 45 cities in North America. The Clayco enterprise includes subsidiaries: The Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Concrete Strategies, Ventana, Clayco Design and Engineering, and Clayco Systems and Equipment Innovations.
Bob Clark built Clayco's culture on transparency, profit-sharing with key employees, and an unwavering commitment to the Golden Rule. He has emphasized early starts (waking at 5 AM for 35 years), staying ahead of technology, and treating every person on the team — from entry-level to executive — with the same respect. Long employee tenure is a marker of this culture: Clayco's first employee stayed from day one, and some team members have served 35 to 40 years.
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