Clayco Rising — A Hub for Diversity and Inclusion Impact
In building, everything starts from the ground up. 25 years ago, we started building diverse and inclusive practices into our company, while also shifting things in the industry. We were the first to introduce a diversity and inclusion program, and have continued to pave the way by breaking through the barriers of income, race, sexual orientation, and gender that are prevalent in the construction industry. Over the past 25 years, we have focused on developing and nurturing relationships, creating opportunities, and remaining accountable in all our operations when it comes to making sure people of color and women have equitable opportunities. We have done so through many initiatives over the years, including some of our most notable programs like CCDI, M/WBE mentorship, Clayco NOW, and our extensive community outreach. Another key area in which we focus on inclusion is in our subcontractor and partner relationships.
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December 17, 2020
Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella
I recently reacquainted myself with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s book Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone. It is required reading for my senior team. Nadella sums up the book perfectly when he writes: “This is a book about transformation.” It is about the transformation that Microsoft is undergoing with Nadella at the helm, but it is also about how Nadella himself has been transformed in the process, and his philosophy that one of the most important human qualities is empathy. Empathy, Nadella insists, is at the heart of how companies, society, and individuals must transform. The book is written in three main sections: his early life and journey to Microsoft, the story of Microsoft’s transformation-in-progress, and his views on technology and the future. One thing I appreciate is that Nadella wanted to write the book now, while everything is happening, so that the reader can share in the story alongside him, rather than looking back in retrospect. He wants it to be a picture of the mess, not the final product. This is the reality of having a significant leadership role in a company — it is always a work in progress with many obstacles to overcome and things to improve. Nadella shows this magnificently. It’s also written in a way that is really simple to digest and tames the complexity of subjects like the cloud and artificial intelligence for the average person.
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December 17, 2020
Cooking with Bob: Quiche
This is a special quiche because it’s one that everybody likes. Even if you say you don’t eat quiche, you are about to love this one! It’s my favorite and it’s really easy to make.
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December 11, 2020
December's Featured Artist: Amoako Boafo
Teju, 2019. Oil on Canvas. Gallerist: Mariane Ibrahim, Chicago. Ghanian artist Amoako Boafo resides between Vienna, Austria, where he has lived since 2014, and Accra, Ghana where he was born in 1984. He never imagined that his childhood love for painting would turn into a career as an artist. After losing his father when he was very young, he was raised solely by his mother, who worked as a cook. As a child, he taught himself to paint at home while his mother was away at work.
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December 9, 2020
Clayco 2020: A Day in the Life
One of my favorite traditions at Clayco is our much-anticipated ‘Day in the Life’ book. In 2020, this annual tradition is especially meaningful, connecting us all through the photos and stories shared from our job sites and workspaces across the country. We asked every member of our 2,400+ person family to take a snapshot, and this book is the result.
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December 7, 2020
How Clayco’s Award-Winning Photographer Matthew McFarland Stays Inspired
Matthew McFarland is the photographer behind some of the most stunning images of Clayco buildings and job sites. His studio, M Studio West, is based in St. Louis, where he lives with his family. One of Matthew’s photographs from the SK Battery Site in Commerce, Georgia, was chosen as a finalist to potentially appear on the January cover of Engineering News-Record Magazine (you can vote for it here until December 21st). I asked Matthew if he wouldn’t mind sharing with us about his work and inspiration: Can you shed some light on your relationship and history with photography? How did you get to where you are now?My creative journey started as a child growing up in a creative environment. My mother was an interior designer. I was exposed to design, architecture, and visual arts. I explored a broad range of art mediums including ceramics, drawing, and design. Ultimately, I discovered I was able to express my vision most clearly through the lens of a camera. My parents were instrumental in supporting my desire to pursue my vision. I studied photography at The Kansas City Art Institute. Soon after graduating, I opened my first photography studio in 1998 and started my practice photographing advertising work. My eye for architecture was quickly acknowledged through award-winning recognition.
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December 7, 2020
December's Featured Architect: Jeanne Gang
Architect Jeanne Gang, who was named Time Magazine’s most influential architect in 2019, deserves recognition for both her incredible designs and her work in raising awareness about ecological issues in the industry. Gang hails from Belvedere, Illinois, and went on to study architecture at the University of Illinois followed by studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Like some of the most talented architects in the world, she worked with Rem Koolhaas at OMA in Rotterdam and then founded her own firm in Chicago—Studio Gang—in 1997. Gang has been designing award-winning cultural centers, public projects, and other buildings since she founded her firm. Some of her most unique works are Aqua Tower in Chicago, the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Mira in San Francisco, and The Writer’s Theater in Glencoe, Illinois. She is also designing the prestigious Global Terminal at Chicago O’Hare International Airport that Clayco, in partnership with AECOM, is helping to build; it is truly a thing to behold. It is important to Gang to design places that connect people with their environment and she is inspired by ecological systems, both in her design as well as her building techniques. She is also active in research and exhibitions that raise public awareness about ecologically-friendly practices and closing the gender wage gap in architecture and design. Gang believes that cities and buildings can coexist with nature in sustainable and sensitive ways. Her activism, as it relates to architecture, stems from her belief that architecture is not just a “wondrous object,” but a “catalyst for change.” She calls this “actionable idealism.”
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December 2, 2020
The Bottom Line: Appreciation
When it comes to weathering challenging circumstances, the bottom line is appreciation. The most important thing a leader can do is demonstrate a genuine appreciation for the people that show up, day after day, to do their job despite the difficulties at hand. The Job Is The Boss Tour was never just about checking up on job site progress, it was about being physically present with my teams so that I could thank them for everything they are doing for our clients and communities across America. It was phenomenal to see what has been happening on behalf of Clayco, for both our clients and the economy.
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November 26, 2020
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.
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November 22, 2020
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.
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November 21, 2020
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).
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November 19, 2020
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.
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November 19, 2020
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.
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November 19, 2020
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:
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November 19, 2020
SCAD Victory Village Project - Savannah, Georgia
During my recent Job Is The Boss Tour, I got to visit the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) in Georgia, where our Victory Village project has just been completed. This was our fourth project with SCAD, which is one of my favorite organizations to partner with because the buildings service students who are learning about architecture, architectural history, furniture design, interior design, preservation design, and urban design. The Sail at Victory Village is a student housing project that includes two residence halls and a parking garage. In addition to the dormitory rooms, the buildings contain lounges, study rooms, art studios, laundry rooms, and management offices.
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November 19, 2020
Building Buttercup
Every building and every place has a story, a history. The history evolves as buildings and places are built, transformed, lived in, sold, bought, torn down, rebuilt, and everything that happens in between. Buttercup Ranch is one of those places whose history Jane and I, and our family, are thrilled to be part of.Buttercup Ranch is down the road from Rosebud Ranch—our current Colorado home in Old Snowmass. It belonged to Pulitzer Prize journalist, war correspondent, and my personal friend Loren Jenkins (who also happens to be full of great stories). Jenkins made history as a foreign correspondent, spending 25 years overseas reporting for UPI, Newsweek, and The Washington Post. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting of the 1982 Israeli Invasion of Lebanon. After serving as Editor for The Aspen Times, he joined NPR, tripling the number of foreign desk offices around the world and helping NPR’s foreign coverage win nearly every award possible. My favorite of all his stories is the one he recounts about being the last American, along with the Ambassador, his secretary, and the Ambassador’s toy poodle, to be helicoptered out of Saigon when the U.S. finally pulled the plug on its presence in Vietnam. He was even in the last photograph out of Vietnam! The next chapter in the life of Buttercup Ranch is to be transformed as we turn it into our new family ranch. We have plans to expand the property and to relocate and restore historical log cabins, each with their own story, onto the property. Stay tuned for a video cam and regular updates on the progress of Buttercup Ranch that we will post here!
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November 13, 2020
Fulton East - Chicago, Illinois
The Fulton East project in Chicago’s West Loop is the first post-COVID era workplace in the city to be designed with new health and safety protocols in mind. I love this project because we have implemented really cool changes to make sure the building is up-to-date with design and technology that accounts for the pandemic. The building is next to the Fulton Market restaurant scene and will include ground-floor retail space and a green roof outdoor space. Fulton East will be a 12-story office building with three floors of parking and eight floors of white core space for lease. The floor-to-ceiling vision glass will provide unobstructed views of the city while allowing optimal amounts of daylight into the building’s interior.
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November 2, 2020
Racial Equality, Diversity and Mentorship in CRE
A couple of months ago, I was asked to join BisNow’s Webinar on Racial Equality, Diversity and Mentorship in CRE (commercial real estate). I was joined by four other industry leaders and pioneers in racial equality, including Damona Strautmanis who served as the moderator for the event. I wanted to share what we discussed during the webinar because there are few topics as important as diversity and inclusion in the workplace. DS: Thank you for joining us Bob, do you have a fun fact to share?
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November 2, 2020
November's Featured Architect: Bjarke Ingels
November’s featured architect is my friend, the young and charismatic Bjarke Ingels, who is a Danish architect and the founder of Bjarke Ingels Group—better known as BIG. He was born in Copenhagen in 1974 and demonstrated an interest in drawing from a very young age. Ingels dreamed of being a cartoonist and was encouraged by his parents to study architecture so that he could learn more about drawing and increase his career possibilities. He began studying architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts before going to study in Barcelona at the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura. Ingels’ first job was with Rem Koolhaas at OMA in Rotterdam. Ingels achieved success and international acclaim very young in life, when his first architecture firm that he formed with OMA colleague Julien de Smedt—PLOT—was awarded a Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2004. PLOT continued to receive attention and awards for their projects like the VM Houses in Ørestad, Copenhagen, but disbanded at the end of 2005. Ingels went on to form BIG, which achieved near-immediate fame with his Mountain Dwellings residential complex.
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November 2, 2020
The Job Is The Boss 2020 Tour Final Week
Harbor Freight Tools Project in Joliet, Illinois Condor Project in Monee, Illinois
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October 30, 2020
November's Featured Artist: Zanele Muholi
“I’m reclaiming photography as a black female being. I’m calling myself a visual activist, whether I am included in a show or not, whether I am published or not. That’s my stance as a person, before anything else, before my sexuality and gender, because photography doesn’t have a gender.” — Zanele Muholi
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October 28, 2020
The Job Is The Boss: Week Three Update
Full speed ahead! This week we continued The Job Is The Boss Tour with 9 job site visits over 4 days. It’s awesome to see the progress that has been made, and I’ve enjoyed getting to connect with our teams on the ground. On Tuesday we started in Idaho at Project Bronco and then made our way to Washington so that we could get an early start on Wednesday at our MHW projects in Quincy. We then headed to Olympia to visit the NP Hawks Prairie project.
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October 23, 2020
5 Steps To Harness The Power Of Conference Calls To Support Small Businesses
A number of large businesses have been helping small, minority-owned and women-owned businesses since the beginning of the pandemic. JP Morgan Chase donated $8 million to small businesses to help them avoid economic hardship during the pandemic. Arizona-based AvAir, an aftermarket aviation company, gave every global employee $500 with the idea that they spend it at small and local businesses in their communities. Experts have said we won't return to normalcy until the end of 2021, which means this assistance needs to continue. Large companies in the real estate industry, including my own, have a chance to help provide this assistance. Giving money is one way to help other businesses, but there are nonmonetary ways as well. An idea that reaches across the social distance is hosting conference calls to provide helpful advice.
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October 21, 2020
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The writer, James Clear, and I both had traumatic and life-changing experiences in our formative years. And, for both of us, these experiences changed us into who we are today. Clear’s life-changing injury occurred when a baseball bat hit him in the face on the last day of sophomore year in high school. It easily could’ve killed him and definitely could’ve held him back from the amazing success he’s had since. When I was 14, I was in a shooting accident. I was in the hospital for months and had over 15 procedures and surgeries. In addition to losing my right eye, I basically lost an entire year of my life and, by the time I was 15 years old, I considered myself a grown-up. I learned many things I was glad to know, and many things I didn’t want to know, but nonetheless, all those things influenced my later successes.
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October 19, 2020
The Job Is The Boss: Week Two Update
EDGE West in Creve Coeur Wow, Week 2 managed to keep up with the pace of week 1 with 10 more job sites in three days! We started out the week visiting Project Belmont in Indiana, Project Cougar in Michigan and then Etna Park 70 East in Ohio. On Wednesday we headed south to Kentucky to see the project for Nicklies in Louisville before heading over to Kansas City, Missouri to visit Horizon XI in Riverside and then Project Smile in St. Peters, Missouri. We finished out the week close to home in St. Louis with visits to the EDGE West in Creve Coeur, Centene’s Urban Campus in Clayton, One Hundred Above the Park St. Louis City and Delmar Divine in University City.
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October 16, 2020
The Job Is The Boss: Rounding Out Week One
What a whirlwind! The Job is The Boss 2020 Tour got off to a great start this week with visits to 10 different amazing job sites. It is so invigorating to finally get to meet with my teams in person instead of these ZOOM calls. Nothing replaces face to face.
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October 8, 2020
Cooking with Bob: Bolognese
Bolognese sauce is easy to make but it does take a little time. And since the global pandemic has me spending more time at home, I decided to use the extra time to make one of my favorite Italian sauces (and the pasta to go with it of course)!
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September 29, 2020
October's Featured Architect: Gyo Obata
This month’s featured architect is Gyo Obata, my friend and the gifted architect behind HOK (Hellmuth, Obata, Kassabaum)—the St. Louis architecture firm of international fame. Obata is Japanese-American and was born in San Francisco, coming of age in the turbulent era of World War II. In 1942, Obata narrowly missed being sent to an internment camp for people of Japanese descent when, the night before internment, he received word of having been accepted into the architecture program at Washington University in St. Louis. He left that night. Both of Obata’s parents had been artists—his mother, Haruko Obata, was a floral designer and his father, Chiura Obata, was a painter whose work is also part of my private art collection. Gyo Obata himself has been one of the most influential architects of his time. Following his graduation from Washington University, Obata went to graduate school outside of Detroit, studying under the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen at Cranbrook. Some years later he was recruited to work for architect Minoru Yamasaki, with whom he designed Lambert Airport in St. Louis—one of the first modern airports to invoke the glamour and ingenuity of travel while the traveler was still on the ground. As Yamasaki’s health declined, Obata joined forces with colleagues and Washington University alumni George Hellmuth and George Kassabaum to form HOK. This was in 1955 and allowed Obata to focus completely on design while Hellmuth worked on marketing and Kassabaum dealt with operations. From the beginning, it was important to them to create a highly diversified firm that had a fully integrated architecture, engineering, and design practice, allowing them to expand quickly and become the extensive firm it is today with more than 1,600 employees and 24 offices worldwide.
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September 29, 2020
Unvarnished by Eric Alperin and Deborah Stoll
This book is an interesting behind-the-scenes look at bartending, but also gives great recipes and methodologies to please even the most sophisticated drinkers. I’ve often fantasized or thought that if I wasn’t one of North America’s largest builders, I would’ve been a bartender. Anthony Bourdain sidetracked me for a short bit, thinking I might become a famous chef, but I was too loose with a knife and figured I would cut my fingers off eventually.
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September 29, 2020
October's Featured Artist: Sanford Biggers
This month’s featured artist, Sanford Biggers, is a New York City-based multidisciplinary artist who defies categorization. There is hardly a medium that Biggers has neglected to experiment with, boasting an oeuvre that includes sculpture, painting, mixed media, performance art, conceptual art, and film. Mr. Biggers, however, has not limited himself to the visual arts. As the lead and keyboardist of the multimedia concept band Moon Medicin, he also operates as the creative director, putting together performances in collaboration with other musicians featuring backdrop images of “sci-fi, punk, sacred geometry, coded symbology, film noir, minstrels, world politics, and ceremonial dance.” Born and raised in Los Angeles, Biggers received his master’s from the Art Institute of Chicago with a specialization in painting, before landing in New York City in 1999 to complete an artist residency at Harlem’s Studio Museum. Place is an important notion in his work, as he draws from his experiences of growing up in Los Angeles, teaching English in Japan, and spending a large part of his adult life in New York City. Biggers’ work in general is an act of “material storytelling” that employs motifs related to his concerns with the Black experience, violence in America, Buddhism, and the narrativization of the cultural and political history of the United States.
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September 29, 2020
Climbing Capitol Peak
My first recollection of being inspired by mountains was as a 10-year-old in elementary school seeing a documentary of Martin Luther King eloquently speaking of having been to the mountaintop. I think it was his last speech before his untimely death. Later, I kiddingly told my dad that a buddy and I were thinking about driving to California. We were almost 17. My dad laughed and walked away, but a little bit later he came back and said, “Are you really interested in driving out to California?” He offered to let us take one of his painting company’s old cars to the West Coast, and we quickly accepted. All kinds of visions of the mountains, valleys, deserts and other landscapes went through my head, and it was almost too much for my imagination to bear. We drove the southern Route 66 to San Diego and then came back via the northern route up through Sacramento, through the mountains where the Donner party had their disastrous run-in with the snow, and then across Nevada and along the route many of the wagon trains took westward. The ruts are still visible over 100 years later. But it was the mountains, in Colorado, that I liked best.
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September 23, 2020
The New, New Workplace
My Design/Build company, Clayco, delivers approximately 4,000,000 square feet of class A office and call center space per year to Fortune 100 companies and other major employers. For us, creating productive work environments has always been second to the safety, security and well-being of our clients’ employees. That was before COVID-19. Now those three are even more of a priority. During recent conversations with CEOs, facility managers and chief talent officers/HR executives, we’ve speculated about what preparations may be necessary to return the workforce to the office. CEOs want their employees back for various reasons, and there are important decisions to be made, both for a few months from now, hopefully, and far beyond. A number of us working from home are struggling with tools we may have dabbled in before but which are now front and center for conducting business. Between the user interface, an overloaded Data Center capacity because of the unanticipated surge in use of Microsoft Teams, Webex, Zoom and other products, it’s been challenging. While the option of having some our workforce at home is probably here to stay, it’s often easier to collaborate, communicate and find efficiencies in the office. However, the executives I’ve talked to are eager for a return to normal, but ONLY when it’s safe. We will certainly require new guidelines, CDC recommendations and suggestions from major health institutions. As employers, it will be our job to create work environments where “de-densifying” and social distancing can work in every department. Some companies have already started thinking about a “care package” to be distributed to their workforce before they return to work. This could include guidelines and maps for new routes to their workspaces, healthcare products like hand sanitizer and masks, and even goggles. Work hours may be staggered in some facilities. Making workers feel that their managers care about them and their families will be critical. The front-line facility people will be more important than ever. Property management, security, compliance and life safety should be top of mind. Re-evaluating every step from receiving for deliveries to the dock door itself, as well as the best cleaning products to use, will need to be scrutinized to protect those involved. Safeguarding up-close contact areas with plexiglass separations, to having more sophisticated UV protection in the HVAC system, more fresh air overall, and other mechanical changes, will be required.
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September 23, 2020
Mentorship, Empowerment, and Leadership Development
Building the world that we want to live in is our responsibility, and this goes beyond just constructing buildings. If we only focus on creating opportunities for ourselves alone, the industry and the community suffer, which in turn limits the potential for everybody. Clayco is in the fortunate position to have the resources and brain power to invest back into the community and I am personally energized by our work for the business community beyond our walls.
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September 22, 2020
Renzo Piano
“The architect cannot change the world, only materialise its changes. I prefer to do public projects, because they make the city. Places of acquaintance make people more curious and the city better.” -Renzo Piano
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September 15, 2020
Mindset by Carol Dweck
You can have the most sophisticated strategy in life or in business, but if you don’t have the right mindset and positive attitude, you can still prevent yourself from achieving to the height of your potential. Dweck details the difference between those with a fixed mindset, and those with a growth mindset, demonstrating how having a growth mindset can dramatically enhance your talents and success in all facets of life.
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September 11, 2020
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
Until reading this book, I was unaware of how truly critical sleep is, not only for the basic health of our bodies, but also for our problem solving, creativity, learning, memory, logic, and inspiration. Essentially, sleep is one of our greatest allies in reaching our goals in our personal lives and in our businesses. A must-read, especially for us workaholics that may be convinced sleep is a waste of time.
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September 11, 2020
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg
Effective communication is everything. In times of crisis, in everyday relationships, and especially as a business leader. Rosenberg’s revolutionary text is one of the most insightful books of our times, offering stories, information, and exercises to change your approach to communication and help you get what you need in a peaceful way.
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September 11, 2020
Aimé Mpane
Aimé Mpane is a Congolese artist who splits his time between Brussels, where his studio is based, and Congo, where he grew up and continues to do research for his work. Originally trained in sculpture before moving onto painting, Mpane’s pieces are a mixture of sculpture, painting, and installation that speak to the legacy of colonialism—something that Mpane has experienced firsthand. Because of this, he felt convicted to address these issues through his work. Despite the atrocities of colonialism and globalization, Mpane infuses his work with hope and a sense of endurance, appealing to human solidarity and courage. He does, however, remind viewers that colonialism and racism are not simply things of the past, they are very much alive and present in the experiences of people in Congo and those who are living in the diaspora. It is not just scars from the past, there are still wounds being inflicted. When asked how he manages to remain so positive, despite his experiences of racism and colonialism, Mpane responds that it is important that people are able to understand one another, to see the experience of the other and put oneself in their shoes. If people don’t have dialogue, if they are unable to speak to one another openly, then there will be no advancement. Mpane has created works that are on display in public spaces and in museums, such as his sculpture in front of the Belgian Embassy in Kinshasa and the monumental sculpture he designed especially for the re-opening of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. He also creates exhibitions and aims to work with galleries that are not African-art themed. Mpane’s reasoning for this is that he wants his work to be viewed by American and European curators so that his reach and messaging can go beyond the classification of “African art.”
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September 9, 2020
Rare Disease
Rare disease, and in particular cerebroretinal vasculopathy (CRV), is acutely personal for my family, having lost two beloved family members to this devastating illness. The first member of the family to succumb to CRV was David Lending, Ellen’s father, who died at the young age of 52 in 1989. At the time, little was known about CRV, and we ourselves were clueless as to what was happening to him. It was as if all of a sudden his vision was failing, he was limping, and he seemed distant, which was very much unlike him. A little over ten years later, when Ellen was in her early 40s, she too began to exhibit inexplicable signs that something was off. She started to forget simple words and was having trouble with her vision. We saw experts around the country and were unable to figure out what was happening to Ellen until we came to the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where she was diagnosed with the genetic disorder that leads to the development of CRV. Dr. John P. Atkinson was part of the research team that originally identified the rare blood vessel disease in 1988 and then the genetic defect that is responsible for CRV in 2007.
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September 8, 2020
Diversity and Racial Equality
My real wake-up call to racial inequality and the lack of diversity in my industry occurred on the very first day I opened the Clayco office in St. Louis. It was in a disadvantaged part of town and an 11-year-old African-American boy approached me asking for a job. When I told him that he should be in school, he replied that he needed to be taking care of his family, which not only made me sharply aware of the reality of inequality, but also sparked my lifelong engagement with these issues through Clayco and my personal efforts.
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September 8, 2020
Despite work-from-home hype, CEOs want employees in the office
Because of Covid-19, a vast number of companies and other institutions have been scrambling to put infrastructure in place for working from home. Although people have been somewhat pleasantly surprised that current technology has made it easier than they thought, I think the romance of working from home is wearing off — quickly!
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September 7, 2020
The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
Written as a portrayal of the future of humanity that is coping with the devastating effects of global warming, this book doles out a large dose of reality by describing our possible future in terms of what our daily lives might look like. While guiding us through how we might make sense of such a crisis, Wallace-Wells ends the book by suggesting we find empowerment in our ability to contemplate and act upon what might otherwise be the demise of our existence.
Inspiration
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September 7, 2020
Business Lessons From Climbing Capitol Peak
When I stepped past my comfort zone this September and summited Capitol Peak in Colorado, a dream of mine for many years, I realized that the skills I needed during the climb and the emotions I felt when topping out have often helped me in business. Capitol Peak is the most difficult/dangerous of the 14ers -- a group of 54 mountains in Colorado that are over 14,000 feet, and believe me, it’s not for the faint of heart. A number of people have had serious injuries or lost their lives attempting this climb.
Adventure
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Business
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Mentorship
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September 6, 2020
Death of a Riverguide by Richard Flanagan
I rarely dabble in fiction, but this book is beautiful and well-written. I really loved it. Through the death of the main character, Aljaz, the reader is taken through a journey of his ancestors, his life, and most of all—his resiliency and ability to push through despair and start over. Other important themes touch on immigration, culture, and imperialism.
Inspiration
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September 3, 2020
1353 W. Fulton Street
Fantastic developments are coming to Fulton Street! A new residential tower is coming to 1353 W. Fulton Street, with Clayco as the builder, Shapack Partners as the developer, and architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). We are aligning as a collective with a shared purpose to bring this 29-story development to life and revolutionize this Chicago community.
Business
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August 14, 2020
December’s Artist of the Month: Jerrell Gibbs
A provocative artist whose work I admire is Jerrell Gibbs. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he was self-taught. Despite never completing a bachelor’s degree, he earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2020. When he was still a student, four of his paintings were chosen to be part of the 2019 exhibition “Blackface: A Reclamation of Beauty, Power, and Narrative” at Galerie Myrtis. This was a significant turning point in his career. His first solo exhibition was Sounds of Color: Recorded Memories at the Mariane Ibrahim Gallery in 2021.
Inspiration
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August 4, 2020
Josef Kristofoletti
Josef Kristofoletti is an internationally working mural artist whose towering murals are distinct in their use of vibrant colors, geometric shapes and patterns, and their large scope that covers the entire sides and exteriors of buildings. He considers his work as existing at the intersection of painting, architecture, and public space, and their captivating appeal draws the viewer in. Kristofoletti is an artist who always takes into account the specific site his work will be displayed, making it large scale and wholly unique to its location and placement in the world around it. His murals also involve a human element, encouraging an interaction between everyday people and their environment.
Inspiration
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July 27, 2020
Mauricio Ramirez
Mauricio Ramirez is the muralist behind the stunning artwork that adorns the exterior wall of the A.M. 1980 Residences in the urban Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. Located less than 500 feet from the Western CTA mass transit station, the artwork not only is widely-seen by thousands of commuters each day, but also reflects the distinct character and history of the surrounding community. Ramirez’s goal with the design was to foster a dialogue with people in the community by connecting them with a local cultural icon of the Logan Square Eagle. By taking this symbol of the neighborhood and including it in the mural, Ramirez reflected its vibrancy and meaning while showing it in a new and modern light.
Inspiration
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July 27, 2020
Christin Apodaca
Christin Apodaca is an illustrator and muralist living and working in El Paso, Texas. She draws inspiration from nature and the different ways it relates to our surroundings, and she primarily works using line drawings to depict native plants, animals, insects, and humans. By blending these different subjects together into surreal, dreamlike compositions, Apodaca’s murals are both memorable and captivating. Christin Apodaca has created more than fifteen murals throughout the El Paso community, and she believes strongly in creating values and textures that can sometimes take precedence over the use of color. It’s a unique technique that allows for color to be imagined by the viewer themselves, and creates a symbiotic relationship between the person and the art.
Inspiration
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July 27, 2020
Progress on The Standard at Columbia
I have high hopes for our South Carolina high-rise project! Our Clayco, CRG and Lamar Johnson Collaborative teams are using our integrated approach to build The Standard at Columbia. The 17-story student housing tower will create a fresh experience for students downtown with 441,980 square feet of fully-furnished units, a podium-level rooftop pool, hot tub, grilling stations, jumbotron television, and other world-class amenities.
Business
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July 17, 2020
Tyson Foods Processing Facility
Too late to “chicken” out now! Clayco is building a 330,000-square-foot processing facility for Tyson Foods in Danville, Virginia. This project will benefit our businesses and communities as our partnership and the structure evolves. The poultry plant will bring quality goods closer to consumers and boost Tyson Foods’ investments in this regional market – including their commitment to purchase 60 million pounds of Virginia-grown chicken over the next three years.
Business
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July 12, 2020
11111 Jefferson
An elegant new mixed-use space is coming to California! Clayco is working with WHY Architects and Architects Orange to transform 609,000 square feet in the Culver City community. This project is converting a triangular site into a mixed-use space with significant public access to create lasting connections between people, cultures, and places in various ways. Modern retail and restaurants, multi-family housing, as well as a publicly accessible park, plaza, paseo, and courtyard space will improve the look and functionality of the property.
Business
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June 26, 2020
Expanding Amazon’s E-Commerce Centers
Since founding Clayco more than 35 years ago, our culture has always been to do more than just build. We work to tear down obstacles, rebuild old methods and thinking, and provide creative ideas and solutions that advance society. One of the most integral ways we do this is by partnering with businesses like Amazon that align with our values. Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer and is guided by four principles: customer obsession, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. The company prioritizes its community and economic impact to ensure its operations, products, and services benefit people. It’s great to collaborate with enterprises that advance communities through investment, empowerment, job creation, and more.
Business
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June 5, 2020
Penn State University West Campus Parking Garage and Infrastructure
Clayco and Lamar Johnson Collaborative are implementing our integrated approach to construct The Penn State University Park West Campus Parking Structure. This development will help accommodate growth in the area by adding approximately 1,380 to 1,670 parking spots. The project includes the extension of White Course Drive and a major roadway connection from West College Avenue to the parking structure, expanding the existing stormwater detention basin on West Campus, and more. Our LJC and Clayco teams collaborated closely with Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant, Transportation Services, and CATA teams to design the structure in the center of the West Campus.
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