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Business Lessons from a Founder

I have worked with and learned from amazing people on my journey – let's build together.

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Lululemon

Although Clayco and Lululemon are very different in terms of the services we offer (us in design/build and the other a technical athletic apparel company for yoga, running, training, and most other sweaty pursuits), in a sense, we are both types of “builders” – one of structures and the other of good health! While Clayco took on the organization’s 175,000-square-foot warehouse expansion for product storage and secondary office space with additional breakrooms, offices, conference rooms, and employee amenities, Lululemon is helping people build their health and wellness. With a covered outdoor basketball court and outdoor patio spaces with canopies, our renovations may help others discover their love for fitness and the outdoors too!

St. Charles Riverpointe

If there is one strength that our team at Clayco has, it is knowing how to transform and optimize spaces for communities. Clayco and CRG have started construction on the first phases of Riverpointe, a $350 million development in St. Charles, Missouri that has been more than a decade in the making. The project aims to reverse 200 years of overlooking the incredible potential the local riverfront has. Over the next five years, our teams will restore 120 acres along the Missouri River to build on the success of the neighboring 27-acre mixed-use development. With a 30-acre riverside lake, the new waterfront will stretch between the Ameristar Casino and the Family Arena and be lined with office buildings, 500 apartments, 150 hotel units, 100,000 square feet of riverfront restaurants and retail, and more.

Reinsurance Group of America HQ Established in MO

Clayco served as the design-builder for the Reinsurance Group of America’s (RGA) $150 million headquarters in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri! Gensler and Fox Architects also worked on the project as the building design consultant and interior architect to help bring the 415,000-square-foot interactive and connective workplace to life. The design of the corporate campus mirrors RGA’s global brand and the local roots of its people, featuring two high-tech, five-story glass office towers connected through a stone-clad base that conceals the parking structure.

AppHarvest Expands Across Kentucky

The Appalachian sustainable food company, AppHarvest, opened its two latest indoor agriculture facilities in Kentucky! AppHarvest develops and operates some of the world’s largest high-tech indoor farms. Clayco's Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) team is focused on helping solve the company’s challenges to “fight the food fight for a resilient food system.” AppHarvest has locations throughout Kentucky in Berea, Richmond, and Somerset, aiming to operate 12 high-tech indoor farms by the end of 2025. At the Berea 15-acre leafy green farm, Richmond 60-acre CEA farm, and 30-acre Somerset CEA farm, Clayco has acted as lead program manager to greenhouses, headhouses, utility plants, and site work while providing design, engineering, and construction services for the office portion of the projects.

University City Costco has Fantastic Response after Opening

The newest Costco in University City, Missouri, has had a fantastic response since its recent opening! The facility anchors the larger Market at Olive redevelopment at Interstate 170 Olive Boulevard that Clayco is constructing with Larry Chapman, CEO of Seneca Commercial Real Estate. The aim is to transform the area into a commercial hotspot with almost 50 acres of retail space, restaurants, apartments, offices, a hotel, and more. Costco was the first retailer to open in the U City structure, which will add increasing value to the region as more businesses prepare for their grand opening.

Clayco Continues Collaboration with Dollar General

The development of a Dollar General distribution center in Salem, Oregon, officially marks Clayco’s seventh project working with the company. The 1,100,000-square-foot distribution center will feature cold storage, freezer space, truck maintenance, and on-site dispatch. It includes 71 acres of site work, off-site improvements, and more. Our team in Blair, Nebraska, also celebrated a milestone with the 800,000-square-foot dual distribution site we are creating with Lamar Johnson Collaborative – and reached 500 days injury free!

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My Mock Death is Today

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The concept of earning is an instinct of mine

My first job was stamping cans at a little grocery market in exchange for candy at about 10 years old. The concept of earning was an early instinct of mine.

During my teen years, I had a car wash on my home driveway, after which I started doing small painting and odd jobs at neighbors’ homes for extra money, but mainly to avoid mowing my own yard by paying the kid down the street to do it. I could make more money doing the other jobs, which allowed me to pay him very little to do something I didn’t want to do that was much more time-consuming. Looking back, that was an entrepreneurial experience.