Bob Clark Beyond: Business

latest business posts

Michael Kennedy Jr. — The UP Companies

Mike Kennedy is the founder and president of The UP Companies—which provides full-service Electrical, Carpentry, and Laborer Services. Over 25% of their 300-person field workforce is comprised of minority workers and they provide services mainly in Southern IL, St. Louis, MO, Kansas City, MO, while also traveling for select projects around the country with Clayco. Michael is an outstanding role model. He advocates for providing opportunities for minorities in the construction industry and beyond. Kennedy himself works to provide these opportunities and serves on the board of the Association of General Contractors MO, BJC Christian Hospital, YPO Gateway Chapter, and Urban Land Institute. I consider my responsibility as a mentor to Michael very important, and the learning has gone both ways. Kennedy grew up in the construction industry, learning from his father who founded KAI Design & Build, before graduating from Hampton University’s business school and entering the company himself. In 2011 he founded The UP Companies, creating a new business model that brought together a collection of subcontracting companies that integrates vertically and creates a unique collaborative advantage to contractors. Sharing overhead, eliminating cost, but offering a high-quality, high-service experience for General Contractors.

Michelle O’Toole — O’Toole Design Associates

Michelle O’Toole is the principal designer and owner of O’Toole Design Associates, which offers commercial interior design services. She is LEED AP certified and designs in an environmentally responsible way. For O’Toole, design starts with the needs of the people who will work within the space along with those of the clients who will visit the space. People and relationships have been her priority since the beginning, and it has led her to great success over the past 27 years, and even to being named one of the top interior design firms in St. Louis. Michelle and I have worked together on many spaces and her work embodies our brand of “beyond these walls.” We both know that the work that happens in the spaces we create is more important than the physical. However, that space can and should be inspirational. Michelle has done literally all of my private workspaces including my Aspen Rooms in the Clayton and St. Louis offices, and my “living room” in the Chicago office. I like to keep these spaces free of delivering bad or disappointing news (I don’t fire people in these rooms) and only use these spaces for uplifting personal interactions with my team.

Arts Initiative—Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Both in my personal engagements and at Clayco, I do what I can to support and promote the arts because I believe they are crucial to our success. One of the newest initiatives we are taking on through the Clayco Foundation is a Future Leaders Fellowship program. This program is in partnership with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, of which we are members. The Future Leaders Fellowship Program is focused on diversity and inclusion within opera and arts administration. This new program will create a hands-on experience for future arts leaders and administrators from backgrounds that are underrepresented, particularly those who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color).

Sustainability

Designing and constructing for a sustainable future is the backbone of our processes at Clayco. Part of our mission to build the future beyond our walls means building in a way that is environmentally responsible and preserves the natural and cultural resources of the communities we serve. Sustainable building practices that are part of all projects include: site selection principles, high-performance building design, use of sustainable building materials, and sustainable construction practices. We have 100 LEED accredited employees and prioritize working with subcontractors that are LEED accredited. Clayco is consistently ranked in the top green builders in the country. This year we are in the ENR Top 10 Green Building Contractors — a high honor! For more about our vision for sustainable building, click here.

Safety

Zero injuries on the job site is possible. This has been our vision at Clayco from the beginning, and one that I am very proud we have pioneered in our industry. When Clayco started, standard industry safety measures were outdated, and we opted to be proactive rather than reactive. However, safety is not limited to physical safety on the job site — we have created a “safety net” that extends over every single employee, every subcontractor, and every client relationship. Creating a safe place for every person in every aspect of our work is Clayco’s number one priority. No job, in the field or in the office, is so important that it cannot be done safely. Our safety rates have beaten industry averages for the past nine years. We are continually improving our processes to enhance our zero injury culture. One of our latest safety initiatives is the Stretch & Flex Program: a stretching program that provides work-specific stretches to help our employees increase their overall flexibility and range-of-motion. Every job site participates in the program and employees stretch together before their shift, during breaks, and after finishing for the day.

Employee Perspectives: Kori Jamison

I have always had a major role in recruiting because I believe the key to business success is in hiring the best and the brightest. Serendipity often plays a role in discovering truly remarkable people and Kori Jamison’s story of coming to work at Clayco is one of my favorite examples of happening upon a talented young woman who has joined Clayco and made a big impact in our company and for many other young people. Kori shares her story here:

Business

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.