April’s Architect of the Month: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill
Adrian Smith is an architect that I admire and have featured before on Bob Clark Beyond. The mind behind some of the most recognizable skyscrapers in the world, he also designed the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates, the world’s tallest structure. Born in Chicago in 1944, Smith completed his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Illinois, Chicago in 1969 while working at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill where he later met Gordon Gill.
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April 17, 2022
Keeping it Current – Book Reviews
It’s important for me to keep up-to-date and informed regarding current affairs – not only global politics, but also looking at the world’s business leaders and what has fueled their success. I also get a lot from reading the history of specific issues and events.
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March 30, 2022
March's Architect of the Month: Thomas Heatherwick
Thomas Heatherwick is an English architect and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. His work is outstanding and he has been described as one of Britain's most significant designers. He studied three-dimensional design at Manchester Polytechnic and at the Royal College of Art. In 1994 he founded Heatherwick Studio, which is recognized for its work in architecture, urban infrastructure, sculpture, design, and strategic thinking.
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March 17, 2022
In Memory of Gyo Obata
I am saddened to learn about the passing of my friend, the gifted architect Gyo Obata. The son of renowned painter Chiura Obata and floral decorator Haruko Obata, he was born in San Francisco in 1923. Gyo was one of the most influential architects of our time, and a great inspiration to all who knew him. He co-founded HOK (Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum) and designed many buildings of international acclaim, including the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, and Sendai International Airport in Japan (among many others).
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March 11, 2022
My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future
A great book I read recently is Indra Nooyi’s new memoir My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future. Nooyi, the former chair and CEO of PepsiCo, is one of the only women to run a Fortune 50 company and among the most strategic thinkers of our time. In the memoir, she describes the events that shaped her life as a woman of color and an immigrant, from her childhood and early education in 1960s India to the Yale School of Management to her rise as a corporate consultant and strategist who was appointed to one of the most senior executive ranks in business.
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February 19, 2022
Memoirs to Read for Holocaust Remembrance Day
In light of Holocaust Remembrance Day, it seems like a powerful moment to recommend these three books to read in succession. I’m hoping no one in the world will experience the horror, participate in, or be the victim of these types of atrocities fueled by racism and divisive, egotistical goals again. All The Frequent Troubles of Our Days by Rebecca Donner is the true story of an American woman in the German resistance in Nazi-ruled Germany. Mildred Harnack was 26 when her PhD studies took her to Berlin. From 1932, a small band of activists started holding secret meetings in her apartment.
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January 28, 2022
January's Architect of the Month: EwingCole
Pfizer, Inc EwingCole EwingCole takes a collaborative approach to real estate architecture, engineering, design-build, and construction. Like Clayco, the firm’s objective is to enhance how design and architecture impact the individual.
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January 27, 2022
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
Although I generally don’t agree with this author on many things, including his politics, I believe this book is required reading for entrepreneurs and investors … Zero to One: Notes on Startups, Or How to Build the Future. Written by Peter Thiel, one of the founders of PayPal, the book is assembled from some of the class notes that were taken from his lectures held at Stanford University in 2012. It is very insightful, and I agree with a lot of the main points Thiel makes, especially when it comes to thinking outside the box and innovation. The book starts off with the premise that even though it might not seem like it, we’re currently living in an age of what Thiel calls ‘technological stagnation.’ He basically means that instead of people building new companies or products to solve problems that no one else has thought of, we’re mainly doing much of the same thing that other established companies are already developing. Using examples like the rapid advancements in information technology and companies in Silicon Valley, he illustrates how imitating or copying what another business is already doing isn’t really moving us forward.
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January 20, 2022
Books I Read in 2021
This was a big year for reading for me as I embraced audiobooks and can listen during all my down or travel time. I read a very human story with lots of familiar political friends and relationships Both/And by Huma Abedin and The World As It Is by Ben Rhodes. Both of these books are definitely worth reading.
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January 3, 2022
A Recap of the Year: Best of 2021
The Ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Showing the display of Thomas Jefferson’s 18th century Quran at USA Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai.
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December 31, 2021
December’s Architect of the Month: Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava is a Catalan architect, engineer, and artist known for his beautiful, neo-futuristic buildings and bridges and his amazing ability to create visual statements. I admire his career and his ingenuity and I always look forward to what he will achieve next. Some striking examples of his work are the apartment tower in Malmö, Sweden, its shape suggesting a twisting spinal column. For the Milwaukee Art Museum in Wisconsin, he created a feature that looks like the wings of a bird as it opens and closes. The gravity-defying Alamillo Bridge in Seville is a straight steel-shell tower, filled with reinforced concrete. It leans backwards, counterbalancing a 200-meter span with thirteen pairs of cables.
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December 20, 2021
Two Great History Books to Read Together: Sapiens and A Short History of Humanity
Two great history books that I’ve read and that I recommend reading together are Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and A Short History of Humanity: A New History of Old Europe. Sapiens, written by the historian Yuval Noah Harari, does an excellent job of tracing the great story of the rise of our own species and documents humanity’s creation and evolution throughout the ages. Looking into the intersections of biology and history, Dr. Harari takes his narrative all the way back to 70,000 years ago, when the first beginnings of modern cognition began to take place in homo sapiens. He then goes on to trace the start of the agricultural revolution, the scientific revolution, the industrial revolution, the information revolution, and all the way up to where we were in 2014: the biotechnological revolution.
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December 8, 2021
November's Artist of the Month: Vaughn Spann
Vaughn Spann is one of the most talented artists working today, and he already is off to a great start in his artistic career despite being so young. His current work centers around paintings that seek to explore abstraction, figuration, and formalism in new ways and from different perspectives, and he’s currently been focusing on portraiture and mixed-material abstractions that have enchanted and inspired viewers. Vaughn was born in Florida in 1992 and grew up in Orange, New Jersey. He now lives and works in nearby Newark, and he received his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from Rutgers University in 2014 and an MFA from Yale School of Art in 2018.
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November 29, 2021
Karis Cold Storage
The Sunshine State may be heating up, but our Karis Cold Storage project in Daytona Beach is committed to keeping it cool!Karis Cold Storage is on a 68-acre industrial park in Daytona Beach, Florida. Clayco and Lamar Johnson Collaborative were selected as the design-build team for this food and beverage facility – and we understand that sometimes the best beverages are served cold.
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November 16, 2021
Our Crane at The Standard at Columbia
One of Clayco’s iconic cranes just went up at one of our project building sites, and every time it happens, I think it’s a reason to celebrate. To me, our cranes represent a lot of the hard work, determination, and bold commitment to progress that we bring to everything we build. They also represent who we are as a company and the spirit of innovation that always drives us to do our best work. These photos show the new crane that’s going to help us complete The Standard at Columbia, which will become a 17-story student housing tower in Columbia, South Carolina. They showcase some of the stunning views that residents will get to experience firsthand once it’s finished in Fall 2023. I always love seeing the progress our teams are making on the ground, but it never ceases to amaze me how much you can really take in from above.
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October 20, 2021
An Enjoyable Autumn EuroTrip
Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies. It allows me to reconnect with old friends and make new ones, all while immersing myself in different cultures and spaces. I had an incredible time on a recent trip abroad with my wife Jane, where we ventured to Venice, Italy, Croatia, and Montenegro. We had an enjoyable time in Venice, crossing bridges and watching the gondolas glide through the city’s waterways. You can’t go wrong with rich culture and even richer food! BOB - ANYTHING TO ADD ABOUT YOUR VENICE TRIP?
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October 17, 2021
Brickline Greenway – Pillars of the Valley
When you’re in the business of building communities, you must ensure that the community you have behind you has the right values in place – and Clayco’s partner companies are the best of the best! Lamar Johnson Collaborative never ceases to amaze me with its incredible landscape architecture, planning and urban design, most recently with its work on the one-mile stretch of the Brickline Greenway in my hometown, St. Louis!
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October 13, 2021
October’s Featured Artist: McArthur Binion
So many people have become captivated by the minimalist abstract paintings of McArthur Binion, but he is also an inspiration for me and countless others with the ways he’s dedicated to serving as an educator and mentor and seeks to lift up the next generation of Black artists. Though he found success later on in his career, he’s proven that all artists have the incredible ability to use their voices and platforms to give others a chance to be recognized as well, and he’s a great example of an individual who believes in opening up opportunities for others to rise. Binion has been working as an artist since the early 1970’s. After moving from Macon, Mississippi with his family at age 4, he grew up in Detroit, Michigan with his 10 brothers and sisters. He later enrolled at Wayne State University to study creative writing and poetry, but eventually dropped out to move to New York City. While he was there, Binion paid a visit to the Museum of Modern Art as part of his job at a publication. He was moved by the work of abstract expressionist artists and re-enrolled in school to study drawing. He went on to become one of the first Black artists to graduate from Cranbrook Academy of Art’s distinguished MFA program.
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October 12, 2021
Clayco’s Growth in Phoenix
We’ve been hard at work recently on a lot of projects in Phoenix, including The Cubes at Glendale, Preflight Phoenix, and a new project with Scannell Properties that we broke ground on in April. It’s a rapidly expanding market that we’re really interested in contributing to, and it’s all part of our growth plan to build out our Southwest book of business in the coming months. We also just began construction on a new 26-story residential tower in downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row Arts District. Skye on 6th is scheduled to be completed in 2023, and it will feature 309 apartments, 6,500-square-feet of ground-level retail space, and a 78,000-square-foot parking garage with 201 spaces. With a wellness-focused design in accordance with LEED Silver certification standards, it’s going to be a terrific addition to the city.
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September 14, 2021
A Reimagined Convention Center for St. Louis
Over the years, St. Louis has missed a lot of great opportunities to revitalize its downtown neighborhoods. From losing out on railroads to Chicago to failing to merge the city with St. Louis County, so many things have happened throughout the city’s history that still prevent it from being as good as it can be. With renewed attention on reimagining the downtown convention center, I’m calling for a larger, more ambitious plan to be considered that would completely transform the city for the better. With additional funding opportunities coming from federal infrastructure spending, a potential settlement with the NFL, and additional state funds, we have a real chance to think bigger and put forth even better ideas for America’s Center, like my proposal to build a convention center that would boost business and better connect north city neighborhoods to downtown.
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September 13, 2021
20 Years Since 9/11
It’s been 20 years since the terrorist attacks that took place in New York City on September 11th, 2001. On the anniversary of this unthinkable tragedy, we’re reminded of just how much everything has changed in the years since. We also set aside time to remember the heroes, victims, and their families whose lives were forever changed after that day. The events of 9/11 are some of the darkest in our country’s history, but they also showed us our resiliency, courage, and commitment to come together and help get each other through an incredibly difficult and uncertain time. Together with stories of loss, we saw and heard about acts of great bravery as first responders rushed into the falling buildings to save others. It was a life-changing event that also reminded us of the bold spirit of America that we each have a responsibility to support and uphold.
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September 11, 2021
The Importance of Labor Day
Summer really flew by this year because we never stopped working at Clayco and were busy throughout the entire season. However, Labor Day is an important time for all of us to pause and recognize the hard work, commitment, and service of our team members and generations of American workers and tradespeople who built our country and continue to shape its future. In addition to marking the unofficial end of summer, Labor Day encourages us to show our appreciation and support for the hard work of those who get up each and every day to make an impact. It’s a holiday that celebrates the strength of our country’s labor movement and especially the men and women in the construction sector who fortify the foundation of our communities for all of us.
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September 6, 2021
The Cubes at Country Club Hills
With all of the recent increase in demand for warehouse developments along with the rise of e-commerce, we’ve been hard at work on a lot of projects like The Cubes at Country Club Hills. It’s currently being developed by CRG and it’s our first industrial development in the Chicago market, but it’s also pushing the boundaries on another front. We’re putting a lot of emphasis on hiring minority and women-owned firms to help us build it and opening opportunities for historically underrepresented groups to participate. It directly relates to our efforts as part of Clayco Rising to recruit more diverse candidates onto our teams and further strengthen our partnerships with minority and women-owned subcontractors and suppliers. The model behind this project is one that we’re going to continue to implement and build on, and it’s another big step we’re taking to help increase inclusion and equality in the construction industry.
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September 2, 2021
Blue Origin and Amoako Boafo
Blue Origin just launched some stunning artwork painted by Amoako Boafo into space! Painted directly on the now-iconic New Shephard Rocket capsule, Boafo’s art is literally going to reach new heights in orbit, and it’s exciting to see his work used in such a unique way. Thursday’s launch was a moon landing navigation experiment, and Boafo painted directly on three of the capsule’s parachute panels. The artwork includes a self-portrait, along with depictions of his mother and a friend’s mother, in order to communicate just how powerful the bonds of motherhood are.
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August 31, 2021
August’s Architect of the Month: Adrian Smith
Adrian Smith is another architect with ties to Chicago that I admire, and he is the mind behind some of the most recognizable and enormous buildings in the world. He’s also the amazing architect who designed the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest structure in the United Arab Emirates. Smith’s towering skyscrapers have fundamentally changed skylines in cities across the globe, and all of them are real triumphs of design. Born in Chicago in 1944, Adrian Smith had an early interest in drawing that led his mother to suggest that he go on to study architecture. He started his schooling at Texas A&M University and finished his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Illinois, Chicago in 1969 while working at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
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August 26, 2021
Uzun + Case
Uzun + Case has been a trusted collaborator on many of Clayco’s projects, and it’s a prime example of the kinds of firms that we like to work with. Since its founding in 1993 by Tamer Uzun, Jim Case, Martin Cuadra, and Larry McDowell, Uzun + Case has grown to become one of the largest structural engineering firms in the country, and its extensive portfolio of projects is a testament to its excellence and commitment. With offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and Raleigh, North Carolina, Uzun + Case maintains a presence in two of the country’s key building markets and has worked on a wide variety of commercial, civic, and institutional buildings that are shaping cities for the future.
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August 22, 2021
Thank You to Clayco’s Teams
It’s been a tough year and a half for so many of us at Clayco, and we’ve been asked to deal with so many new challenges that could have very easily set us back as a business. But I can definitely say that it’s the dedication, talent, and unity of our teams that have allowed us to not only grow, but also succeed in all of the projects we’ve been working on since the start of the pandemic. There’s a lot of talk in the media right now about people quitting their jobs after being called back to in-person work environments. A lot of time has been spent covering the differences in productivity, teamwork, and communication that arise when companies move towards new hybrid models of working. I think so much of this kind of talk is unfounded, and we should call B.S. I’m glad to say that no one at Clayco has quit due to being called back to work together in person.
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August 17, 2021
Siebel Center for Design at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Of all the building projects we work on at Clayco, some of my favorites are the ones that we do for universities and higher education institutions, as they really make an impact on the lives of students and the next generation of leaders who will drive our future. We actually just completed construction on a great new project on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and it definitely fits into our mission to go “Beyond These Walls.”
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August 16, 2021
Unmanned Systems and New Tech in Construction
At Clayco, we’re always looking for new ways to innovate our build processes. A big part of this is seeking out partnerships and collaborators that will help us do our best work, and we’ve been actively looking into the ways that the drone industry could complement our own. One of the solution providers we’ve worked with on this front is Skycatch, and our good collaborative relationship with them was important to successfully gain FAA approval to fly the first drones over a construction site. We also worked with them to develop and analyze 3D scans of sites so we can compare them to the original model and plans, which has opened a lot of doors in modernizing our process.
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August 13, 2021
Illumination 2021: A Return to the Light
There’s no denying that 2020 was a dark year for all of us, but we still have a whole lot to look forward to. After a year of postponement, Illumination is coming back this fall on October 23rd, 2021. Held at the Vertiport Chicago Heliport, it’s going to be our largest and most experiential event to date, and we can’t wait to share what we’ve been planning. Illumination 2021: A Return to the Light will be the 5th event we’ve hosted to help raise funds to find a cure for RVCL, a rare genetic disease that affects the central nervous system. Held annually around Halloween, it offers the opportunity for everyone to dress up in their best costumes and immerse themselves in an experience unlike any other.
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August 10, 2021
In Memory of Hung Liu
I was deeply saddened to learn that Hung Liu has passed away. She was a prolific Chinese-born American painter and an artist whose work captivated people around the world, and she leaves behind an incredible legacy that is sure to inspire fellow artists for generations to come. Born in Changchun, China in 1948, Liu immigrated to the United States in 1984, where her distinct style of using layered brushstrokes and linseed oil to give her work a dripping appearance became widely known and celebrated. She went on to produce a variety of great paintings, mixed media creations, and installations that captivated audiences with her unique vision and ability to humanize her chosen subjects that are often drawn from traditional Chinese painting and even pottery.
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August 8, 2021
Clayco Named One Of Fast Company’s 2021 Best Workplaces for Innovators
Clayco just made Fast Company’s 2021 list of Best Workplaces for Innovators, amongst other industry leaders such as Google, Gensler, and Oracle and this is an honor that we’re really proud of. Recognizing the leading organizations around the world that are empowering their employees to improve processes, create new products, or invent new ways of doing business, the annual list highlights the companies that have continued to excel by innovating during a period of so many challenges. We’re the only builder to make the list, and it shows that we are really the best at what we do. When I started Clayco, finding innovative ways to do business was at the core of the company’s foundation, and it still is after over 37 years. From the people we bring on to the projects we build, innovation defines our culture, our values, and our mission. We have found that our practice fosters innovation that goes beyond the bounds of tradition, and this is why we’ve been able to hire the best and brightest in the industry and create a culture where everyone can thrive.
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August 4, 2021
Washington University School of Medicine’s Ambulatory Cancer Care Center
We’re excited that after two years of planning, construction will finally begin on Washington University School of Medicine’s new Ambulatory Care Center. It’s going to consolidate nearly all outpatient cancer treatment in one building, which will allow patients to get more comprehensive care at a single location as opposed to visiting multiple locations in the current medical complex. As anyone who has experienced a serious illness like cancer knows, it’s so important for doctors and medical providers to do as much as possible to make the treatment process streamlined and comfortable for patients. The Ambulatory Care Center will help fulfill this promise and obligation. It’s a huge step forward in making cancer care a better experience for those who are undergoing treatment as well as their families who are there to support them.
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August 2, 2021
July’s Architect of the Month: Carlos Martinez
When I think of an architect who has made an impact on my life in a personal way, I’d say that Carols Martinez definitely holds that title. He’s a genuine and talented person who is deeply dedicated to his craft, and his passion for innovation is evident in the projects he has designed throughout his career as an architect. Carlos Martinez attended The Ohio State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1982. He then went on to attend the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he graduated with a Master’s of Architecture in 1984. His professional career took off at Holabird & Root, and today, he’s been with the renowned architectural firm Gensler for over twenty years. Among his many accomplishments, he’s been inducted into the International Interior Design Association’s College of Fellows and he’s also a recipient of Gensler’s prestigious Don Brinkmann Award for design excellence.
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July 31, 2021
U.S. Logistics Fund II
CRG, Clayco’s development arm, recently launched its second U.S. Logistics Fund to help build even more projects within the industrial sector. It’s exciting on many fronts, and it has raised over $100 million already with goals to raise $300 million more.
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July 29, 2021
Canopy at Centene Park
Artist Liam Gillick designed the canopy at Centene Plaza in Clayton, Missouri, which makes use of the light-diffusing capabilities of glass to illuminate the walkway between two buildings in a new and captivating way. In addition to protecting walkers from the weather and elements overhead, the canopy was also designed to offer a visual distraction and encourage a moment of mindfulness apart from the hustle and bustle of the vibrant commercial center it’s located in. Using Vanceva® color interlayer technology, the canopy lights up the space beneath it in a dazzling array of bright, translucent colors. A passerby using the walkway for its utilitarian purpose also can take an opportunity to observe the canopy’s beauty and functionality, and it plays upon the concepts, similarities, and differences between utility and art.
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July 28, 2021
Chicago Committee on Design
It was great to be selected as a member of the Chicago Committee on Design. We recently had our inaugural meeting, and I’m glad that I was a part of it. The Chicago Committee on Design is made up of 24 local leaders and urban design professionals hand selected by Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development to work with Commissioner Maurice Cox on important development projects and urban design initiatives. Its main purpose is to offer expertise, guidance, and suggestions for DPD as well as the members of the project’s development team, and meetings are also open to the public for feedback and testimony. The Committee will advise the city and developers about innovative, attractive, and cost-effective elements with members who are leading architects, artists, academics, and real estate professionals.
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July 28, 2021
Ellen S. Clark Hope Plaza
The Ellen S. Clark Hope Plaza was designed by the renowned architect and artist Maya Lin to provide a special place of respite and refuge for employees, patients and other visitors to Washington University Medical Center that is a leading center of research on the front of rare disease. It’s design incorporates a harmonious blend of nature with an infinity fountain as a centerpiece. The plaza’s trees, grasses and wildflowers were specifically selected in collaboration with the Missouri Botanical Garden based on what’s present in a self-sustaining Missouri woodland habitat, and it’s a continually changing landscape that grows and develops over time.
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July 27, 2021
Clayco’s Interns
One of the most important things we try to do at Clayco is to build for the future. This means so much more than just construction projects, and we’re always looking to invest in the next generation of builders, planners, and thinkers. Interns form an integral part of the Clayco family, and we give them some of the best hands-on experience in the industry to prepare them for their careers. I recently welcomed some of our interns to my home, and it amazes me how talented, smart, and hardworking they are. They have a lot to look forward to, and I know they’re going to do great things.
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July 26, 2021
Broadway Chapter
Broadway Chapter in Fort Worth, Texas offered a special opportunity to work closely with the Near Southside community and its Art South program to offer a local emerging artist the chance to design a mural for the project’s facade. After receiving submissions from over 84 talented artists, Eric ‘Drigo’ Rodriguez was selected by the community as the winner. Drigo’s mural is titled “Cosmic Journey” and is a 5,000 square foot, five-story piece that speaks to the diversity and vibrancy of its surrounding community with its colorful imagery. Covering the southern facade of the parking garage, the mural is emblematic of a community-first approach to building and also building stronger bonds with people throughout the neighborhood. It was just unveiled in June and has added an entirely unique dimension to the project.
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July 26, 2021
Blue Origin’s Historic Launch
Today’s launch of Blue Origin’s first crewed mission is a first on so many fronts, and it was really exciting to watch. It also signals that we’ve entered into a whole new era in space exploration and travel. The mission’s success is sure to open a lot of new doors for even more people to get to experience what was once unthinkable and unimaginable not too long ago. From the start, I knew that Clayco’s work on the Blue Origin Engine Facility project would be so important to the manufacturing process of their rocket engines. Designed by Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Blue Origin's Engine Plant in Huntsville, Alabama won Engineering News-Record's Best Manufacturing Project in the Southeast for 2020. This facility manufactures seven of the LNG fueled BE-4 rocket engines that provide nearly 4 million pounds of thrust to Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket.
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July 20, 2021
Your Boardroom Sets the Tone Op-Ed
I just wrote an op-ed article that’s featured in Crain’s Chicago Business on the topic of diversity in our boardrooms. It’s something that I really care a lot about, and I think other CEOs need to take a more active role in addressing the barriers that prevent many people from underrepresented backgrounds from becoming members of a company’s senior leadership team. For me, diversity is a core part of doing business and ensuring that everyone has an equal chance to succeed. We have a responsibility to elevate and support the people who work hard for us each day, and Clayco is proud to have a strong set of diversity initiatives that are some of the most groundbreaking and impactful in the construction industry. We set an example for others to follow, and it’s inseparable from who we are as a company.
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July 16, 2021
9th Annual Architizer A+ Awards
When we first built One Hundred Above The Park, we knew that it was going to make an impact with its cutting-edge leaf-shaped design and prime location at one of the most iconic spots in St. Louis. It was an ambitious and creative project that is also Green Globe certified, and it definitely pushes the boundaries of architecture in new and exciting ways. One Hundred was also just named a winner in the 9th Annual Architizer A+ Awards. Celebrating the year’s best buildings and spaces, the Architizer A+ Awards remind all of us in the industry and beyond just how impactful our built world is for our cities and communities.
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July 13, 2021
The Debra and George W. Couch III Biomedical Research Building
One of the most important causes that I support is the search for cures and therapies in the field of rare disease, and it’s part of the reason why I continue to be involved with the Board of Trustees at the University of Chicago Medical Center, the Central Institute for the Deaf, and the Scientific Advisory Council for the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. When Clayco was chosen to help design a new 6-story, 215,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art research lab facility for Washington University School of Medicine, we brought all of our planning and building expertise to the project and ultimately maximized its budget and scope, including adding an additional floor, an additional bay, lab convertibility, and floor-to-floor heights that contained the coordinated MEP systems without excess or costly plenum space.
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July 12, 2021
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
One of the recent books that captured my attention was Shoe Dog, and if you’re also interested in reading memoirs that you just can’t put down, then look no further. Written by Phil Knight, the creator of Nike, it traces the story behind the iconic brand that has impacted our culture in countless ways, and I found it to be a powerful account of the triumphs and pitfalls that can come with building your own business from the ground up.
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July 10, 2021
Todd Weaver — Mechanical Solutions
Todd Weaver is the CEO of Mechanical Solutions Inc., which is an outstanding Minority Business Enterprise headquartered out of St. Louis, Missouri. With a specialization in design/build, engineering, BIM Coordination, installation, and HVAC service, Mechanical Solutions has consistently delivered outstanding results for its clients since its founding in 2006. Throughout its 15-year history, Mechanical Solutions has been an innovator in the HVAC services industry. In 2013, Todd decided to take his company in a new direction, and the business model was changed from a plan & spec contractor to a full-service design-build mechanical contractor in order to keep up with the demand for MBE firms and compete in the wider industry.
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July 7, 2021
4th of July
Celebrating Independence Day is one of our country’s most cherished traditions. It’s a time to spend with friends and family, and also offers us a moment to pause and reflect on the ideas and values that gave birth to our nation. In the words of the wise former First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt: “freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.” These words can’t be more relevant today, and we each have a part to play in the obligation to protect the freedoms that we love.
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July 4, 2021
June's Featured Architect: Ralph Johnson
Ralph Johnson is an award-winning architect who has a deep understanding and appreciation of his hometown of Chicago. His work is instantly recognizable by many who know the city well, and he has added to a long and proud tradition of the Windy City setting new standards with its innovative architectural landscape. Born on the South Side of Chicago, Ralph Johnson was destined for a bright future in architecture, since he grew up right down the street from Frank Lloyd Wright’s infamous R.W. Evans House. He received his Bachelor of Architecture in 1971 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and he went on to receive his Master of Architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in 1973. Johnson found that by entering numerous architectural competitions in the years after graduating, he began to develop his own personal approach to design and forge his own path. It would eventually take him back to Chicago to work for a firm he dreamed of being a part of. He joined Perkins&Will after coming back to his hometown, where he has worked ever since.
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June 30, 2021
Clayco Named ENR 2021 Midwest Contractor of the Year
It is a real honor to be recognized by ENR’s editors as Midwest Contractor of the Year, and it’s something that speaks to the hard work and commitment of our team members across the country who helped make this happen. Last year was a challenge for everyone and being able to come out on the other side stronger than before is something that I’m grateful for. When other companies were cautiously pulling back, we decided to spring forward into action. We made a lot of decisions to fight back against COVID-19, and we always went with what felt right and did so with the safety of our people in mind. From working with the Center for Disease Control to develop better guidelines to keep the construction industry working, to encouraging employees to get vaccinated and doing $3.8 billion in 2020 revenue, Clayco has proven that we can always get it done, no matter what.
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June 29, 2021
June's Featured Artist: Nathaniel Mary Quinn
Nathaniel Mary Quinn is an artist whose incredible work stays with you. Known for his captivating collage-like portraits, Quinn has created a distinct style that is a unique blend between mixed media drawings and paintings of fragmented figures that play with the viewer’s perception of identity. Quinn was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, where he grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes public housing project. It was here that he discovered an early passion for drawing, and when was in the ninth grade, he received a scholarship to study at Culver Academy boarding school in Indiana. While enrolled there, Quinn was told that his mother had passed away suddenly, and when returning home from school for Thanksgiving, he also found that the rest of his family had abandoned his childhood home with no explanation.
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June 26, 2021
Ride the Wave Continues
Yesterday we picked up our Ride the Wave tour in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. We visited several of our job sites across the metro area and it was great to see all of the progress being made on these ambitious projects. First, we stopped off at Project Millie, a 270,000 square-foot warehouse distribution center near the St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Next, we checked up on our Delmar Divine project, which is a renovation and reimagining of the former St. Luke’s Hospital campus that will transform a historic building into an innovative hub for social innovation and enterprise. Our final stop took us to Chesterfield, Missouri, where we visited Wildhorse Village. Once completed, it will be a brand new 80-acre urban center that includes cutting-edge offices, beautiful apartments, and natural public spaces.
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June 23, 2021
Juneteenth
As Founder and Chair of Clayco, I stand by our company’s commitment to advancing inclusion and opportunity for the Black-owned businesses and organizations in the communities in which we build. Juneteenth is an important time to reflect on what this means in the present moment as well as on the historic struggle of so many people who fought to secure freedom and equality. Now designated as a federal holiday, The Clayco Foundation and our Juneteenth Fund will celebrate Juneteenth this evening to honor this milestone in Black history and renew our commitment to spread its powerful message of hope. Tune in at 6 pm to watch the live stream of our event here.
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June 19, 2021
The Importance of Finding Your Core Values
When I was in junior high school, my principal, Mr. Graham, made a big push for all of us students to identify and develop our own set of values. Of course he gave some great examples to follow. The assignment stuck with me, and years later after getting married and starting a family, I made it a point to write down and remember some of the values that would become a guiding light for me through some tough challenges. They’re still the ones that hold true for me to this day, and I can’t stress enough how important it is for each of us to find what we value in life and do everything we can to remember and stick to those ideals. My values have shaped me into the person I am today, and I think it’s also important to constantly share your values with others.
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June 9, 2021
LGC’s Building an Inclusive Chicago Event
On Friday, I had the opportunity to join with Chicago’s Deputy Mayor for Economic and Neighborhood Development Samir Mayekar in an important conversation organized by Leadership Greater Chicago for its 2021 Daniel Burnham Fellows cohort. “Building an Inclusive Chicago Part 1: Race, Equity and Economic Development” focused on how we can all pitch in to make our city a more level playing field for every Chicagoan, and I was happy to be a part of it. During our conversation moderated by Maria Wynne, the CEO of LGC, we spoke in-depth about the ways that we can work together to help ensure an equitable reopening of Chicago and its core business district. As more and more people return to downtown offices after working remotely during most of the pandemic, it’s more important than ever that we help build our city back stronger and more inclusive than before.
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June 7, 2021
Come Back to the Office Now!
There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about how to best bring employees back to the office after over a year of working remotely. It’s a conversation that has changed a lot in recent months, with the vaccine becoming more widely available, proven methods of a safe workplace, and cities and towns lifting restrictions on everything from indoor dining and exercise classes to mask mandates and social distancing. While most of our competitors in the industry, especially on the design side, are working from home and have been for over a year, Clayco and our subsidiaries, Lamar Johnson Collaborative and Ventana, are fully back in the office, and we never left the field. In fact, we were busier than ever on job sites across the country, and we have been leaders in proving that you can work together in-person safely, even during the uncertainty of the pandemic.
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June 4, 2021
Wildhorse Village
In Chesterfield, Missouri, not too far from where I grew up, we’re currently hard at work on a massive multi-use development that’s going to be a complete transformation for the area. Serving as a brand-new urban center for the suburb, Wildhorse Village is going to offer 1 million square feet of office space, 150 for-sale residences, 500 apartments, and 100,000 square feet of retail space that spans across 80 acres of land. We’re delivering on this outstanding project through Clayco’s integrated services that leverage both CRG and Lamar Johnson Collaborative. Once completed, Wildhorse Village will include scenic lakefront locations for working, living, and playing and will include some amazing amenities like boardwalks, parks, an amphitheater, and a boathouse.
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June 3, 2021
May's Featured Architect: Frank Gehry
There are very few architects that are as widely celebrated and recognized today as Frank Gehry. Honestly, at this point, Frank stands alone at the top. A constant innovator, a disruptor of traditional practices, and a creative visionary, Frank has designed iconic buildings that are found all over the world, and each of them is more stunning and unique than the next. His works stand alone and are unaligned with any traditional styles, and he’s played a crucial role in shaping a whole new chapter of architecture and design. In addition to being known as a revolutionary, Frank is also famously known for being unapproachable and is often dubbed by people in the industry as being difficult to work with. In my personal experience spending some time with Frank a few years ago, I found the complete opposite to be true.
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May 30, 2021
ENR Midwest’s 2021 Contractor of the Year
Clayco has just been recognized by Engineering News-Record Midwest as the 2021 Contractor of the Year, and it means a lot to me that we’re being honored after a year that was full of countless challenges and setbacks. One of the things we always stay true to at Clayco is our commitment to safety and putting our people before everything we do. In the wake of the pandemic, we extended that commitment even further than before, and we assumed a leadership role by showing other companies how to do things right to keep their team members safe and engaged.
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May 27, 2021
Supporting Alderman Burnett at Fulton East
As the first next-generation office building in the nation, Fulton East is built for the future. In addition to 85,000 square feet of floor-to-ceiling glass skyspace, this groundbreaking project includes health protection measures, like a hands-free elevator system, plasma disinfection technology, and touch-free secure access systems. My favorite feature of Fulton East is its amenity deck that includes 2,925 square feet of vegetated space and reflective roofing that earned the building LEED certification for reducing the project’s urban heat island effect. There was no better place to host a fundraising event for Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. who currently represents Chicago’s 27th ward. For 26 years, Alderman Burnett, Jr. has been a great advocate for the communities he serves, and he’s a leader who has shaped Chicago in many ways.
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May 26, 2021
PayneCrest
David Payne is an electrical engineer and the CEO of PayneCrest, an award-winning electrical contractor company that handles highly complex electrical and communications projects for commercial and industrial customers nationwide. David acquired PayneCrest around the same time that I started Clayco and has successfully grown his company to what it is today, weathering many of the storms in the industry over the past 35 years. He was even named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014. Like Clayco, PayneCrest has strong ties to the St. Louis community while continuing to grow its presence nationally. We have worked with PayneCrest on important projects like the Washington University School of Medicine Mid Campus Center, and more recently we worked together on Pfizer’s Research and Development Facility. Their expertise in electrical service distribution has helped us build stronger foundations for our buildings and delivered some outstanding results. They take on projects that span industries and consistently help solve challenges with their engineering capabilities.
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May 24, 2021
Midwest Testing
Rich Laughlin is the current President of Midwest Testing, a full-service geotechnical, environmental, and materials engineering consulting firm that provides a wide variety of services, including field exploration, laboratory testing, engineering analysis, and construction observation. Headquartered in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, Midwest Testing was founded in 1985. Ever since, it has provided creative solutions for its clients while also offering the best and most accurate testing services possible. Midwest Testing’s state-of-the-art lab maintains the highest standard of testing for oil, concrete, asphalt and other materials used in the construction industry.
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May 24, 2021
Recent Feature: ENR’s Critical Path Podcast
I recently had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with Jeff Yoders and Aileen Cho for ENR’s Critical Path Podcast. It has always been one of my favorites to listen to, and it’s a great platform for industry experts to share their knowledge and views on everything that’s happening in construction. During the Exec Talk, we spoke about a wide range of topics, including the terrific response I’ve received from the Ride the Wave tour, the many ways Clayco has adapted during the pandemic to keep our team members safe, and how important I think it is to get everyone back in the office. I also shared some of my thoughts on OSHA’s vaccine guidelines, current trends in the economy, and how far we still have to go to improve employee diversity in the construction industry.
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May 19, 2021
McCormick Distribution Center
If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that good food brings people together. Any family chef knows just how important different spices are to bringing out the flavors of all kinds of dishes.
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May 14, 2021
In Memory of Art Gensler
Art Gensler was a true leader and a constant changemaker in the field of architecture, and his impact will never be forgotten. Over the years, our firms worked together on over 30 projects, and each one of them is a testament to Art’s unyielding commitment to create buildings that changed our lives for the better.
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May 11, 2021
In Memory of Helmut Jahn
I am so saddened to hear of the passing of my good friend, Helmut Jahn, who passed away in a tragic bicycle accident. He was truly one of the great architects of the world, and also one of my greatest inspirations. By designing iconic buildings like Terminal 1 at O’Hare International Airport and the James R. Thompson Center, Helmut played an important role in shaping Chicago’s architectural landscape, as well as its continued growth and future. Helmut also designed one of my all-time favorite projects, The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library at The University of Chicago. He had a personality as big as the scope of his buildings, and he was definitely a “star-chitect” who brought so much joy and light into the lives of all those who had the pleasure of knowing him.
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May 10, 2021
Ride the Wave: Week 3 Update
We headed way out west on our most recent leg of the Ride the Wave tour, and we sure saw a lot of great things happening on the ground at all of our building sites this past week. We started Monday off with a visit to Washington, and I stopped by Project Fireball in Spokane Valley and Quincy MWH06 in Wenatchee. I also visited Project Winlock in Winlock on Tuesday morning before heading on to the NP Chewy project in Reno, Nevada and Project Shelby in Sacramento, California. On Wednesday, we toured Project Big Bird in Tracy, California and a confidential facility in Bakersfield, California, before heading down to Otay Mesa (San Diego) to see progress on the Arcilla and Herminito building sites. We finished the week with stops at “The Cubes” and 303 Glendale, two of our new projects in Glendale, Arizona.
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May 7, 2021
Clayco’s West Coast Expansion
Clayco is experiencing record-breaking growth, and so much of what we are doing has been concentrated on the West Coast, including states like Nevada and Arizona. This area of the country is growing in almost every market sector, and it has emerged as a center of commerce, innovation, and exploration on so many fronts. We’re proud to announce that we are expanding Clayco’s presence with the opening of a new office in the Los Angeles area to support all of our western work.
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May 5, 2021
Pfizer R&D Facility - Chesterfield, Missouri
At Clayco, we believe that every one of our projects is important and play a crucial role in the neighborhoods and communities they are located in. Over the past year, perhaps none of these buildings has taken on a more important role for the entire world than Pfizer’s new research and development facility located just outside of my hometown of St. Louis in Chesterfield, Missouri. Designed in accordance with LEED sustainability certification standards, Pfizer’s cutting-edge research and development campus includes a combined 295,000 square feet of flexible laboratories and open office space, supporting its development capabilities in biologics and vaccine therapy. This brand-new project has not only become an important hub for Pfizer in the Midwest region, but is also currently the place where every Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine dose originates.
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May 3, 2021
Ride the Wave: Week 2 Update
We really hit the ground running again this week on the Ride the Wave tour, starting off with a stop on Monday at one of my favorite building sites on the Atlanta campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design. SCAD’s new project will feature a brand new residence hall for its students as well as a dining hall, dedicated academic spaces, an auditorium, a campus store, and a parking garage. I love getting to be a part of SCAD’s growth, and I know this project is going to be such an important resource for its community!
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April 30, 2021
April's Featured Artist: Bisa Butler
Known for her stunning and colorful quilted portraits, Bisa Butler seamlessly blends a passion for storytelling with the dynamic medium of textiles to create vibrant works of art that document the Black experience. Butler was born in New Jersey in 1973, where she first learned sewing techniques passed down to her from her grandmother and mother. Her father was an immigrant from Ghana, and Butler drew inspiration from the colorful fabrics and garments of his homeland, as well as batiks from Nigeria, and prints from South Africa. After majoring in Fine Art and graduating cum laude from Howard University, she wanted to use art as a way to communicate and highlight the stories of people who far too often have been marginalized.
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April 29, 2021
April's Featured Architect: Maya Lin
Artist, architect, and memorialist Maya Lin was born in 1959, into a family of artists. Her mother was a poet and literature professor and her father a ceramicist and the dean of Ohio University’s College of Fine Arts. Both of her parents fled China in 1948 in order to escape Communist rule. During her childhood, Lin already demonstrated a propensity for mathematics, ceramics, and a keen interest in nature—all of which have become central in her works. Though she was trained as an architect, she prefers to describe herself as a designer. Lin has designed a range of works from public and private buildings, to memorials and landscapes. She is best known for her memorials that have a historic character—the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. and the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. It was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that earned her success very early in life, winning the competition for her design at the age of 21. Remarkably, she had not even completed her undergraduate studies at Yale University when she won. She has also completed several large sculptural landscapes of note, such as Groundswell at Ohio State University, Wave Field at the University of Michigan, and Eleven Minute Line in Wanås, Sweden. Lin and her work have received many awards, including the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, both awarded to her by President Barack Obama.
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April 26, 2021
My Conversation with Bisnow
In this series, Bisnow highlights people and companies pushing the commercial real estate industry forward in myriad ways. Clayco is one of the nation's design-build giants, undertaking commercial and residential building projects nationwide for the likes of Amazon, Illinois' Cook County, Kohl's, Pfizer, Penn State University, Zurich and the University of Chicago Medical Center. Even during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the company took in $4.8B in revenue and had about 2,000 employees.
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April 24, 2021
Ride the Wave: Week 1 Update
We’ve already hit the ground running with our Ride the Wave tour, and it has been a busy few days! I’m so glad to have the opportunity to meet with my teams again face-to-face, and you just can’t beat getting to see all of the great work they’ve been doing in person. The return from remote work can’t come soon enough! Our week started off strong on Monday, with a stop in Pontiac, Michigan to see the progress on Project Cougar, a regional distribution and fulfillment center for Amazon. Next, we went to New Windsor, New York, and University Park, Pennsylvania to visit the sites of two different parking garage projects.
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April 23, 2021
Earth Day Book Review
On Earth Day, when Shawn was about 7 years old, I was working from home for some reason (very rare) and Shawn ran by me and I noticed he had a shirt on with an animated cartoon of the Earth. I beckoned him over so I could get a better view and was horrified to see that he had a t-shirt on that read “SAVE THE TREES” on the front in bold letters. My immediate reaction was to tell him to get rid of that shirt because we (Clayco) are who the trees are being saved from. That was true then and it’s still true now. My company probably cuts down more trees that are “in the way” at our projects than any other building company in America. Although we now work hard to mitigate our footprint, we have a long way to go. Now we try to not just understand our footprint and completely mitigate it, but also take into account the BIG picture and work towards helping our clients achieve their ambitious plans in this same regard. Like SAFETY, these types of initiatives require a top-down/bottom-up strategy within a business. The first step to that is “The Greening of Bob Clark”. It’s a journey, and I can promise my company and I are on the right path.
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April 22, 2021
Mapping a Path Back Downtown - Crain's Chicago
In spite of all the uncertainty that came with the past year, there is one thing I know to be true: working from home sucks. And it’s now time to get everyone back into the office as quickly and safely as possible. We have the tools to make this happen, and Clayco is proud to be setting an example for other companies as we begin to welcome our employees back to work on May 10th. My announcement was just featured in Crain’s Chicago Business’ “Chicago Comes Back” series that is focusing on how leading businesses in Chicago are planning and preparing for a new normal, as well as the return to the downtown corridor. You can read more here.
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April 12, 2021
The Future of Work at Clayco
As more people are getting vaccinated for COVID-19 and returning to offices, they are being greeted by both physical and policy changes in the workplace. Before Clayco employees are all back, I wanted to do two things: thank them for their extraordinary performance this past year and let them know about some policy changes we’ve made that we think they’ll appreciate. Here are parts of the company-wide email I sent recently.
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April 10, 2021
Recognizing the Women in Clayco
Clayco is more than just a design-building firm, we are strongly driven by social impact and what we can do to make a difference both Within and Beyond our Walls. We are well aware of the statistics related to women in construction. While women make up 47% of the U.S. workforce, they only make up 9% of the construction workforce. That is one of the reasons we are passionate about providing an equal opportunity for all and promote initiatives for our office and field to become more diverse and inclusive.
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April 6, 2021
March’s Featured Architect: Lamar Johnson Collaborative
Clayco added the discipline of architecture and engineering to the enterprise back in 1999 with the founding of Forum Studio. The idea from the start was to be a creative force with extraordinary technical strength to cultivate a culture of design-build within the Clayco brand. Three years ago, we merged Forum Studio with the Lamar Johnson Collaborative to expand into a full-service design and architecture firm. This move provided innovative designs that stimulated positive change and further expanded our brand nationwide. The united companies have given a boost to the “integrated” platform we have and also bring the true meaning of Art and Science to the purposeful projects we work on.
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March 31, 2021
SCAD Spring Street
Working with the Savannah College of Art and Design is always rewarding because it is genuinely about combining the ART and SCIENCE of building. Even with the completion of SCAD Forty, there was still a need to meet the demand of SCAD Atlanta’s growing student population. That’s when discussions began to re-imagine an adjacent residence hall, Spring House. The design team of Mackey Mitchell Architects and our own Lamar Johnson Collaborative began working with SCAD in October 2018 and multiple options and iterations were studied before the current concept was selected.
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March 24, 2021
March’s Featured Artist: Candida Alvarez
March’s featured artist of the month is Brooklyn-born, Candida Alvarez. She is well-known for her bold and colorful creations such as the piece featured above. I became acquainted with her work through her involvement within Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago. The painting featured in the Clark Collection, titled “No Chickens,” is particularly special because we added it while it was still being made. Since 1998, Alvarez has been a tenured professor of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Alvarez works in a range of diverse mediums, including but not limited to sculpture, collage, and painting. Her work is often highly complex. It is full of pop, historical, and modern art references, while also incorporating world news and personal memories.
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March 21, 2021
Do Your Part
I’m SHOT! And I’m asking you to get vaccinated as soon as you possibly can.
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March 13, 2021
Cooper Steel
Gary Cooper is the CEO and Chairman of the Board at Cooper Steel in Nashville, TN. Cooper Steel is a national leader in steel fabrication and erection and one of Clayco’s most valued subcontractors. Clayco and Cooper Steel have worked on projects together such as the Volkswagen Battery Plant and The Cubes in Alabama.
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March 7, 2021
Stock & Associates
George Stock is a civil engineer and the president of the firm Stock & Associates, based in St. Louis. He is also a great friend, citizen, and family man. We started our careers around the same time and have helped each other hone our crafts. In total, we have worked on over 1000 projects together all across the country.
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March 7, 2021
Some Of My Favorite Books
I was recently asked to create a list of my top 5 books of all time. It’s difficult to narrow down my top 5, or even my top 50 books of all time. If you ask me in 6 months, my answer may even be different. However, here are some that come to mind.
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March 4, 2021
Dollar General
Texas Clayco is always thinking of the bigger picture. We are at our best when we can work on large-scale projects, developing long-term relationships with our clients. It’s always fantastic when we are able to work with companies on projects that grow the economy, create long-term jobs, and impact communities in a positive way.
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March 2, 2021
The Lesser-Known Reality of Rare Disease
Memorial at the Ellen S. Clark Hope Plaza, Washington University School of Medicine. The pandemic has demonstrated a lot of things about the medical community and the reality of disease in this day and age. For one thing, when something like COVID affects the entire global population, all hands are on deck in figuring this thing out. There is no end to the necessary resources like time and the energy of the greatest minds in the scientific community. Many of us can see the value of putting so much into solving one of the most difficult challenges of our time.
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February 28, 2021
Blue Origin Engine Facility Named ENR’s Best in Manufacturing in the US
I am proud that every one of our employees at Clayco is committed to producing top-quality work across the country. Although we don’t do what we do to win awards, it’s always great to be recognized for the work that we do. Our Blue Origin Engine Facility project has been named Engineering News-Record’s (ENR) Best of the Best winners for 2020. We were already named Best of Manufacturing for the Southeast, and now have won the same category for the entire country.
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February 26, 2021
Beyond Black History Month: Celebrating Black Artists Year-Round
We’ve entered a new year, and we have a new administration, yet the challenges that we face as Americans are as old as any of us can remember. Every February, we celebrate Black History Month and then feel like we have done our part in recognizing both the adversity and the contributions of Black Americans in the making of America as we know it. However, I would argue that recognition limited to this one month, the shortest month of the year in fact, is not enough. Understanding and celebrating Black history is critical to the unification and healing that our country so deeply needs. What has been obvious to Black communities for the past couple of centuries, has finally made its way into broader American awareness, amplified by the events of 2020. This awareness is most welcome, but it is our response to the awareness that will be the most important thing.
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February 24, 2021
My Morning Routine
How we get our mornings started sets the tone for the rest of the day. There has always been a lot of interest in the benefits of establishing a morning routine by highly successful people.
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February 22, 2021
The Books That Inspire Me to Think Big
Recently I decided to read, in quick succession, an assortment of books about phenomenal business and tech leaders. I’ve found that reading related books one after the other usually leads to new insights that come from seeing the similarities and the differences.
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February 14, 2021
February's Featured Artist: Theaster Gates
My great friend, Theaster Gates, is a visual artist and urban planner who describes himself as “equal parts artist, bureaucrat, and hustler.” As an artist, Gates creates multimedia projects, installations, and performance art that confront issues of social justice, racial inequality, and poverty in the United States.
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February 12, 2021
Centene Centre - Clayton, Missouri
My relationship with Centene dates back to 2008 when Clayco won its first project with the company to build a 21-story office tower, complete with a beautifully-designed public plaza and a 1,700-space parking garage. Working with Mr. Neidorff at Centene has been one of my greatest experiences. This first project was completed in 2010 and brought new life to Clayton, Missouri. Before the construction of Centene’s headquarters, the area was suffering from the financial collapse brought on by the economic recession. Clayco managed to develop a strategic financing plan, resulting in the entire facility being nearly fully leased in less than 15 months. The entire district was elevated as businesses quickly moved in and more people were present and supporting the businesses in the area. After this first success, of which we are very proud, Clayco was awarded the $770 million project of expanding Centene’s headquarters, providing a new structure that is adjacent to the current Centene Plaza. This expansion is also expected to create 2,000 new jobs for the state of Missouri, which is particularly important in these times.
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February 9, 2021
Delmar Divine - St. Louis, Missouri
Delmar Divine, in my hometown of St. Louis, is a project that is near and dear to me. Located on Delmar Boulevard, the project is currently underway turning the original building of St. Luke’s Hospital into a community hub for at least 30 of St. Louis’s nonprofit organizations. Beyond that, it will be the epicenter for the transformation of an entire community. It is a rare example of a project that doesn’t necessarily excite me from a building perspective, but because of the potential it has to positively impact a community that has long been neglected. The building itself has a symbolic significance in the neighborhood. St. Luke’s was important historically because it was a catalyst for hospitals becoming a place of training, research, and medical advancement. In the same way, Delmar Divine proposes to be a place of social innovation and advancement. It will do so by providing the space and the resources to nonprofits who are doing important community work. St. Louis is a national leader in terms of nonprofits, and Delmar Divine will help to increase their impact and bring about shifts in the neighborhood. It will not, however, be a space solely for nonprofits — Delmar Divine will also have a community meeting space, 150 residential units, and a cafe for the tenants, residents, and surrounding community.
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January 30, 2021
January's Featured Architect: Mario Botta
Two architects that altered the way I think about design and buildings are Eero Saarinen and Mario Botta. Both have a striking shift in the paradigm of what buildings can do to change the very way we think about our everyday surroundings. Botta was born in Switzerland in 1943 and attended a high school for the arts in Milan before going to study architecture at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia in Venice, graduating in 1969. While he was living in Venice, he had the opportunity to work for Louis Kahn Carlo Scarpa, and Le Corbusier, who influenced his work greatly. Shortly after finishing his studies, Botta founded his own practice in Mendrisio, Switzerland.
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January 27, 2021
January's Featured Artist: Kerry James Marshall
Untitled (Pen), 1998. C-Print. Gallerist: Kavi Gupta, Chicago Kerry James Marshall was born in 1955 in Birmingham, Alabama before his family moved to South Central Los Angeles where he was raised in the Watts neighborhood—known for the riots in 1965 that were a response to police brutality. Marshall witnessed the riots and grew up surrounded by the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s, which impacted him deeply and shaped his perspective as an artist.
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January 22, 2021
Titan Electric
For over 12 years, Titan Electric has been a strong partner for many of Clayco’s projects in the Chicago market. Successfully performing design-build electrical work, they’ve helped us quickly complete complicated projects such as the Zurich North American Headquarters parking garage, Cook County Hospital, Berner Foods in Cherry Valley, IL, Project Tarpon (Amazon traditional non-sort), and Crossroads building “A” in Channahon, IL, among many others. Titan Electric consistently works to find cost-effective ways to adhere to budget constraints on projects, all while delivering top quality work, with the utmost attention paid to safety. Led by Vice President Derek Olenek, the communication, planning, coordination, and overall leadership have led to projects being finished on time and achieving excellence in terms of client satisfaction. Olenek is always the first to say “How can I help?” or “What can I do?” when a hurdle presents itself in the midst of a project. Titan Electric is a partner that I never have to worry about on a project team. They help lead the way and get it done, time and again.
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January 12, 2021
ICON Mechanical
ICON is a full-service design-build mechanical firm that has on-site pre-fabrication ability. ICON has been working with Clayco since 2004 when we first partnered together on the design-build of the Cortex One facility. From the beginning, ICON has been a solid and capable partner. They have been an advocate for the advancement in technology and creative thinking that Clayco brings to the table, helping to improve the project delivery process and overall end-product for our clients. They are always eager to help us with our most difficult assignments. ICON was recently instrumental in helping us implement our new approach to prefabrication and modularization. This method was successfully applied to our Pfizer project in Chesterfield, MO, where they built all of the pre-fabricated core walls that lead to millions of dollars saved and a tremendous improvement to the overall schedule. The President of ICON, Mike Bieg, said: “The collaboration between all of the partners involved is what made this project a big success. By communicating with our partners during the process, we were able to adjust traditional decisions to minimize risk while ensuring we were not only completing the work on time but also ahead of schedule.”
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January 12, 2021
100 Above The Park - St. Louis, Missouri
100 Above the Park, a luxury residential tower designed by Jeanne Gang and built by Clayco, is the latest addition to the city’s diverse architectural splendor, and hopefully just the beginning of a new era. It is certainly one of the most incredible buildings to be built in St. Louis in the past century. It is a spectacular monument to modern architecture and has the important job of shaping up St. Louis’s western skyline. In terms of design, the facade is scalloped and the building is leaf-shaped, making it incredibly unique. It has been designed in such a way as to help residents connect with nature, and the shape of the building allows for plenty of outdoor space for a quarter of the building’s apartments. There are also communal outdoor spaces providing excellent views and shared luxury amenities. One of the coolest things about the design of the building is that it maximizes light and efficiency and it has been Green Globe certified for sustainable and energy-efficient design. Every unit in the whole building has a corner living room with floor-to-ceiling windows.
Business
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January 11, 2021
A Habit for Success: The 5 AM Club
The FIVE AM Club is a real thing. 15 years before Robin Sharma’s genius book The 5 AM Club, my dad taught me to implement a practice that would change my life and the course of my business.
Adventure
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January 6, 2021
Inspiring Trust — An Interview with Jason Hartman
As part of my series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times," I had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Clark. Bob Clark is executive chairman of Clayco, which he founded in 1984. The enterprise ranks among the top builders in North America and in 2019 achieved 3 billion dollars in U.S. revenue. The company focuses on large projects in the corporate and commercial, mission critical, logistics, aviation, manufacturing, healthcare, higher education, life sciences and public-sector markets.
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